"The dead know not any thing." What does this mean? Does this passage teach that those who pass away have no memory of things that transpired in their lives while they were on the earth? No! Look at the verse (Ecclesiastes 9:5-6) "For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not anything, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion forever in anything that is done under the sun."
"For the living know that they shall die:" The first part of this verse is simple; it teaches that we who are living know that we will die. "For I know that thou wilt bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living." (Job 30:23) "It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment." (Hebrews 9:27)
"But the dead know not anything," After a person dies, a member of his family may be honored or brought low, but he will never know it; he is no longer living on the earth. "His Sons come to honour, and he knoweth it not; and they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them." (Job 14:21)
It does not appear that the dead know anything of what is done by those they leave behind. Abraham is ignorant of us; "Doubtless thou art our father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not: thou, O LORD, art our father, our redeemer; thy name is from everlasting." (Isaiah 63:16)
"Neither have they any more a reward;" Those who have passed from this life are no longer rewarded for their toils about the world; all they received was left to others. They will receive a reward for the way they lived their lives while on the earth; they will receive that reward on the other side, but not their worldly reward. Everything they worked for was left to others.
"For the memory of them is forgotten." When a person dies, he is soon forgotten, "he shall return no more to his house, neither shall his place know him anymore." (Job 7:8-10)
"Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more portion forever in anything that is done under the sun." Evidently, this verse is speaking of the dead, those who have passed from this earth. They are no longer under the sun; therefore, they do not know anything that is done under the sun. There are few whose names survive them very long; the grave is the place that survivors soon forget, for the memories of those who lay there are soon forgotten.
"Yea, I hated all my labor which I had taken under the sun: because I should leave it unto the man that shall be after me. And who knoweth whether he shall be a wise man or a fool? Yet, shall he have rule over all my labor wherein I have labored, and wherein I have showed myself wise under the sun. This is also vanity. Therefore I went about to cause my heart to despair of all the labor which I took under the sun. For there is a man whose labor is in wisdom, and in knowledge, and in equity; yet to a man hath not labored therein shall he leave for his portion. This also is vanity and a great evil. For what hath man of all his labor, and of the vexation of his heart, wherein he hath labored under the sun?" (Ecclesiastes 2:18-22)
Death is the end of one's earthly existence. At the time of death, all of our struggles and trials will be over. One's only concern at death is where--in comfort or in torment--he will find himself awaiting the resurrection. Worry about here will not be a problem there, but if one finds himself unprepared to meet God in judgment, the ability to worry about things here would be a welcome relief!