We conclude by giving the structure of the passage just considered.

A1 | 6-8. The Word of God.

B1 | 6-8. To Isaac a seed reckoned. |

a | All out of Israel, these are not all Israel.

b | The seed of Abraham, these are not all children.

c | In Isaac the seed shall be called.

a | The children of the flesh, these are not the children of God.

b | The children of promise.

c | Counted for a seed.

A2 | 9. The Word of Promise.

B2 | 9. To Sarah a child promised. |

a | At this time.

b | Will I return.

c | Sarah shall have a son.

A3 | 10-13. It was said unto her.

B3 | 10-13. To Rebekah, a nation chosen. |

a | Rebekah . . . Isaac. Common parentage.

b | Purpose according to election.

c | Greater, lesser, loved, hated.

Ecclesiastes, after making its initial pronouncement `Vanity of vanities . . . . . all is

vanity', places first on the list the fact that "one generation passeth away, and another

generation cometh" (Eccles. 1: 2, 4). This succession of generations is so universally

recognized as a part of the present scheme of things, that it may never have occurred to

us, that it is of itself an evidence that some `breach of promise' some alteration of the

Divine plan may have taken place. Had the passing away of one generation in death been

normal, could it at the same time have been listed with "Vanity of Vanities"? When

Adam by his disobedience let sin into the world and death by sin, man made in the image

of God became `subject to vanity' (Rom. 8: 20), not willingly certainly, and in hope

most blessedly, but subject to vanity nevertheless. The doom pronounced in Gen. 3: 19

"Dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return" is seen by Ecclesiastes as something that

reduced man to the level of the beast of the field. He comments `as the one dieth, so

dieth the other' (3: 19). If the coming of death has necessitated the successive passing

and coming of the generations of men, then the question arises, what would have been the

state of things had Adam remained unfallen?