Joseph Prince’s use of Ecclesiastes 9:11 as the key verse for his 2023 vision is out of context – By Rev George Ong (Dated 11 Jan 2023)
Though I am currently very busy with my other commitments, I cannot help but to squeeze out time from my busy schedule to contend against Joseph Prince’s false teachings.
This has to do with the key verse that he uses for his vision casting for 2023 – which he interprets out of context.
(This article was also sent to Rev Dr Ngoei Foong Nghian, General Secretary, National Council of Churches of Singapore (NCCS) office, and for the attention of the Executive Committee Members.)
In a weekly Sunday sermon aired on YouTube on 8 Jan 2023, 3 days ago, in his vision casting, Joseph Prince said;
Please click here to view the 1-minute video on what Joseph Prince said:
“I returned and saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift. Nor the battle to the strong, Nor bread to the wise, Nor riches to men of understanding, Nor favor to men of skill; But time and chance happen to them all. Time and chance happen to them all (Ecclesiastes 9:11).
So it says the race is not always to the swift. The battle is not always to the strong. Bread not always to the wise. Favour not always to the men of skill. Nor riches to men of understanding. It’s that they find themselves at the right place, at the right time.”
“So, God says, you’ll find people, all of a sudden they encounter great riches.”
“Guess what, what is that? Time and chance. A lot of things is time and chance. Amen. I say time and chance. The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, Nor riches to men of understanding, Nor favour to men of skill. But time and chance happen, Right time, Right place. Amen. Sit back, are you ready for the theme of the year?”
“The Kairos year of time and place. Right time, Right place.”
In this sermon on 8 Jan 2023, Joseph Prince casts his vision for his New Creation Church.
The key and the first verse (among a few others) that he adopts to support 2023 vision is Ecclesiastes 9:11:
Ecclesiastes 9:11 NKJV
11 I returned and saw under the sun that – The race is not to the swift, Nor the battle to the strong, Nor bread to the wise, Nor riches to men of understanding, Nor favor to men of skill; But time and chance happen to them all.
Joseph Prince teaches that just as the unlikely people, who were implied in Ecclesiastes 9:11 (not the swift, not the strong, not the wise, not having skill), who became winners because they were at the “right time and right place”, (being the theme of Joseph Prince for this year in 2023),
so will believers in his church (and those listening to his sermon) be in 2023.
Joseph Prince has put words into Solomon’s mouth, and worst of all, into God’s mouth,
when he said that the teaching on Ecclesiastes 9:11 is that God will place Christians to be at the right time and right place in 2023, in order for them to succeed.
Regarding Ecclesiastes 9:11, Joseph Prince specifically said,
“So God says, you’ll find people, all of a sudden they encounter great riches.”
This is because it was never stated nor implied that that’s what God said or would do in Ecclesiastes 9:11.
I am astounded that Joseph Prince, being a world-famous grace teacher,
don’t even understand what “under the sun” means at the beginning of Ecclesiastes 9:11;
Ecclesiastes 9:11 NKJV
11 I returned and saw under the sun that—The race is not to the swift, Nor the battle to the strong, Nor bread to the wise, Nor riches to men of understanding, Nor favor to men of skill; But time and chance happen to them all.
I am not saying that Joseph Prince’s theme, “right time, right place” is wrong.
I am saying Prince’s theme, “right time, right place” is based on the wrong text.
Why the wrong text?
This is because Joseph Prince has once again interpreted a text out of its context.
This time, he has committed the same error in Ecclesiastes 9:11 that he is frequently warning others from committing – that a text must be interpreted in its context.
He has once again proven that he is a serial-hypocrite.
For those who are new to my website, you may wish to consult this link for the details of what I mean, when I said Joseph Prince is a serial hypocrite for repeatedly interpreting a text out of its context (kindly click on the link below):
In this sermon on 8 Jan 2023, Joseph Prince has spent quite a fair bit of time into the study of words, such ‘time’ and ‘chance’, in Ecclesiastes 9:11.
But if a text is interpreted wrongly – out of context in the first place, no amount of the study of Greek or Hebrew words can reverse or change that fact.
Once the exegesis of a text is wrong, any application that follows would be faulty.
Understanding the term “under the sun” is one of the keys to interpreting the Book of Ecclesiastes.
The phrase “under the sun” is used 29 times in Ecclesiastes (besides Ecclesiastes 9:11) and probably nowhere else in scripture.
(2 Samuel 12:12 MEV may be an exception, but the same term “under the sun” in 2 Samuel 12:12 MEV is used in a different context and has a different meaning as in Ecclesiastes 9:11.)
Life “under the sun” is an earthly approach to life, and not having God at heart.
To live life “under the sun” is to live life with an earthly point of view and with a carnal perspective and not from God’s perspective.
And Solomon refers to this phrase as Life “under the sun” over and over again. That’s his pet phrase.
Living “under the sun” refers to life on earth apart from God. This is basically life as man sees it.
What Solomon in Ecclesiastes is doing is telling us that there are 2 ways of life.
You can either live “under the sun” or under the hand and direction of God.
One Bible teacher has noted,
“The key to understanding the Book of Ecclesiastes is the term “under the sun.” What that literally means is you lock God out of a closed system, and you are left with only this world of time plus chance plus matter.”
Solomon looked for the meaning of life “under the sun”.
“Under the Sun”, “under the sun”, “under the sun” – this same phrase keeps coming up in the book of Ecclesiastes.
Solomon said that he has tried everything “under the sun”. And this was why he came up with the wrong answers to life.
The meaning of the phrase, “under the sun”, means everything of what you can observe in this world, and merely, with an earthly perspective.
And once you start looking for the meaning of life “under the sun”, you are bound to conclude that life is meaningless, useless, pointless and not worth living.
So, when Solomon said;
Ecclesiastes 9:11 NKJV
11 I returned and saw under the sun that—The race is not to the swift, Nor the battle to the strong, Nor bread to the wise, Nor riches to men of understanding, Nor favor to men of skill; But time and chance happen to them all,
this verse in Ecclesiastes 9:11, is definitely not referring to a promise for believers as Joseph Prince has postured.
It is referring to unbelievers who see life as “under the sun” which Solomon reflects at the beginning of the verse.
It has also nothing to do with God sanctioning believers to be in the right time and right place to make them succeed as Joseph Prince has said in the video on 8 Jan 2023.
How can God bless people with success by placing them in the right time and right place when they are living their lives “under the sun” apart from Him?
For Joseph Prince, a grace teacher who is adored by the world to make such a silly and basic mistake at Bible interpretation is indeed shocking and unacceptable.
Second, Solomon tried to find meaning in this life by not having a concern for the life after death because there is another key phrase that comes in again and again is ‘as long as I live’.
As long as people just live for this life and have no concept of life after death, their search for meaning and purpose would also be fruitless.
And as long as one lives life as a humanist or a secularist “under the sun”, he would come to the conclusion that life is pointless and meaningless.
But as Christians, we have a heavenly approach to life. We do not live “under the sun”.
We live “above the sun” in the heavenlies with Christ. Our life, according to Colossians, is hidden with Christ in God.
Since we are risen with Christ, we ought to seek the things that are above where He is!
And that’s how life is finally defined because we are living “above the sun” not “under the sun”.
Furthermore, we are not merely living in this life that is bounded by time.
We are already living the eternal life that starts from now, and physical death can never obliterate it.
And that is what gives real meaning and purpose in life.
Someone once said that if you look above the sun (not under the sun), you see God, and if you look beyond the grave, you see Jesus preparing another life for you.
In other words, life here on earth is a preparation and a pilgrimage because it’s leading somewhere to glory.
And once you see that, every day on earth and even “under the sun” becomes a glorious day.
Every day is full of promise, meaning and purpose as opposed to life living “under the sun”.
In the end, Solomon writes this:
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 NASB
13 Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind. 14 For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.
Solomon had tried everything “under the sun”, and then he realized one can either live life just under the sun, or one can live under God and in obedience to Him.
In other words, life and real living involves more than what happens “under the sun” and on this time-bound earth.
Solomon concluded that the meaning and purpose to life is not “under the sun” but it is living in obedience to God and in fear of Him.
Fearing God by obeying Him, is indeed, the goal of life.
And everyone will be judged by God – believers to their glory, but for unbelievers; referring to those who live life under the sun and apart from God – to their destruction.
The Christian life is not meaningless as opposed to those who live “under the sun”.
There may be nothing new under the sun, but Christ Jesus will one day make all things new;
Revelation 21:5 NIV
5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
Next, how do we understand Ecclesiastes 9:11 in particular and Ecclesiastes 9:1-12 in general:
Ecclesiastes 9:1-12 NIV
1 So I reflected on all this and concluded that the righteous and the wise and what they do are in God’s hands, but no one knows whether love or hate awaits them. 2 All share a common destiny—the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad, the clean and the unclean, those who offer sacrifices and those who do not. As it is with the good, so with the sinful; as it is with those who take oaths, so with those who are afraid to take them. 3 This is the evil in everything that happens under the sun: The same destiny overtakes all. The hearts of people, moreover, are full of evil and there is madness in their hearts while they live, and afterward they join the dead.
4 Anyone who is among the living has hope—even a live dog is better off than a dead lion! 5 For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; they have no further reward, and even their name is forgotten. 6 Their love, their hate and their jealousy have long since vanished; never again will they have a part in anything that happens under the sun. 7 Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for God has already approved what you do. 8 Always be clothed in white, and always anoint your head with oil. 9 Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun—all your meaningless days. For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun. 10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.
11 I have seen something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all. 12 Moreover, no one knows when their hour will come: As fish are caught in a cruel net, or birds are taken in a snare, so people are trapped by evil times that fall unexpectedly upon them.
Let me interpret this text in context for you as opposed to what Joseph Prince has done – out of context:
What Solomon is saying, in what I have summarised, is that:
V1-3: Both the righteous and the wicked share the same destiny of death, and is that fair? – as if to say that there is no fairness – this is because whether you are righteous for all your life or whether you are wicked in all your doings, all will die the same death. This is how man sees it under the sun (V3).
V4-10: Death would overtake both the righteous and the wicked. For the dead, nothing could be done. But for those who are still living, the right thing to do is eat all you can and enjoy life to the fullest, and do what you ought to with all your might; for when death strikes, you would have no more chance of doing it. This is because death is the end of everything (with no conception of life after death) This is how people view life under the sun (V6).
V11-12: The unpredictability and unfairness of it all is that it makes no difference whether you are strong or wise or brilliant, as you may not win in the end because of luck and chance. In the end, it’s all a matter of luck and chance as those who are deserving, such as the wise and the strong, may not win, while those who are undeserving, such as the unlearned and the foolish, may well be the winners of life. What is worse is that those who are strong or wise or brilliant may not only become losers, but may also end up with a tragic end like a fish that are caught in a net and birds in a snare. This is the perspective of those who live life under the sun (V11).
You would have noticed that the phrase “under the sun” occurs 3 times in Ecclesiastes 9:1-12.
So, verses 1-12 of chapter 9, are the thought process and perspective of one who is living “under the sun” and not a believer.
But Joseph Prince has interpreted Ecclesiastes 9:11 out of context by postulating that God can make you a winner by making sure you are at the right time and right place, as this is what he said;
“So it says the race is not always to the swift. The battle is not always to the strong. Bread not always to the wise. Favour not always to the men of skill. Nor riches to men of understanding. It’s that they find themselves at the right place, at the right time.”
“So, God says, you’ll find people, all of a sudden they encounter great riches.”
“Guess what, what is that? Time and chance. A lot of things is time and chance. Amen. I say time and chance.”
“Sit back, are you ready for the theme of the year?”
“The Kairos year of time and place. Right time, Right place.”
Of course, God can put any believer in the right time and right place according to His will, but this is not what Ecclesiastes 9:11 is talking about.
Joseph Prince has falsely applied Ecclesiastes 9:11 to believers, when the text clearly states that that is the perspective of those who are living “under the sun”,
– either referring to those who are unbelievers, or like Solomon, though he knew God at the beginning of his life, had, for the major part of his life, been living in gross disobedience like unbelievers, under the sun.
Last and most importantly – why do I raise this issue?
Interpreting Ecclesiastes 9:11 out of context is not the most important issue of my contention or the most damaging.
My real contention is the habitual manner in which Joseph Prince has interpreted a text out of its context to prove his grace theology, which is false anyway.
That is my real concern.
When a preacher like Joseph Prince, interprets scripture out of context,
anything can be proven by him, and as I have said before, even a cat can be proven to be a dog.
Friends, that’s what Joseph Prince frequently does to prove many of his grace doctrines.
Because Joseph Prince constantly uses this out-of-context exegesis to support his grace theology, many who are unsuspecting and unalert, have been fooled.
So, people of God, be warned that you don’t fall into this out-of- context deception of Joseph Prince ever again.
Rev George Ong