Ecc 3:16 | KingComments | STEP | The Preacher goes on with his observations and sees something else, a new problem of life. This problem is “wickedness” happening all over the world, especially “in the place of justice” and “in the place of righteousness”, which are the places where one might expect the maintenance of law and justice ( ). He has seen concrete examples of the distortion of justice, such as oppressive rulers, unjust judges and religious hypocrisy in courts where justice must be done. He has seen the same in secular or religious council chambers where the law of Divine justice must be applied. In those places people are selfish and ambitious. The greatest injustice in the place of justice is the trial against the Lord Jesus. The whole world is a place where wickedness occurs instead of justice. You may have thought that you’ve bought a good item, but you are deceived. Your hard-earned money is gone. Someone had bought an article on a certain website. The address where he could pick up the article, was the address where I live in Middelburg. One Sunday, when we came back from the church meeting, he was in our front yard. He had come from Amsterdam to pick up the article for which he had paid. Of course I could not give him that. [I offered him something else: a cup of coffee and the gospel. Unfortunately, he didn’t desire for either.] Other examples are that you do not get the promotion you deserve because of injustice or that your company is competed out of the market by mafia practices. The whole world is a place of wickedness and injustice. How we would like to have a world where evil would be punished directly and justly and good would be rewarded directly and justly. However, we must reconcile ourselves with the reality that this – until Christ comes to earth – is a utopia. This leads us to the question of how we should deal with the injustice that is present and how we should react to it. We would like an answer to that question. The Preacher’s research helps us to find that answer. After the injustice he saw “under the sun”, again his comment follows in , beginning with “I said”. It is in the form of a consideration, for he says it ‘to himself’. In his consideration, which as it were automatically rises into his heart when he sees injustice, he takes refuge in God as the righteous Judge. God will judge injustice in the future. This judgment concerns both the consideration, “every matter”, and the actions, “every deed”. God’s judgment is not confined to expressing the judgment, but also means the execution of the sentence. The thought that injustice also has a time limit, and that God sets that limit, is a consolation when we see all injustice in the world ( ; ). We cannot change that injustice, but God has set a time for everything ( ). God has also determined a time, a day, when He will judge ( ; ). Any unrighteous trial will be reopened and revised before the judgment seat of Christ. “The Judge is standing right at the door” ( ), which is Christ. He will judge perfectly.

‏ Ecclesiastes 3:16

In the Place of Justice Is Wickedness

The Preacher goes on with his observations and sees something else, a new problem of life. This problem is “wickedness” happening all over the world, especially “in the place of justice” and “in the place of righteousness”, which are the places where one might expect the maintenance of law and justice (Ecc 3:16).

He has seen concrete examples of the distortion of justice, such as oppressive rulers, unjust judges and religious hypocrisy in courts where justice must be done. He has seen the same in secular or religious council chambers where the law of Divine justice must be applied. In those places people are selfish and ambitious. The greatest injustice in the place of justice is the trial against the Lord Jesus.

The whole world is a place where wickedness occurs instead of justice. You may have thought that you’ve bought a good item, but you are deceived. Your hard-earned money is gone. Someone had bought an article on a certain website. The address where he could pick up the article, was the address where I live in Middelburg. One Sunday, when we came back from the church meeting, he was in our front yard. He had come from Amsterdam to pick up the article for which he had paid. Of course I could not give him that. [I offered him something else: a cup of coffee and the gospel. Unfortunately, he didn’t desire for either.] Other examples are that you do not get the promotion you deserve because of injustice or that your company is competed out of the market by mafia practices. The whole world is a place of wickedness and injustice.

How we would like to have a world where evil would be punished directly and justly and good would be rewarded directly and justly. However, we must reconcile ourselves with the reality that this – until Christ comes to earth – is a utopia. This leads us to the question of how we should deal with the injustice that is present and how we should react to it. We would like an answer to that question. The Preacher’s research helps us to find that answer.

After the injustice he saw “under the sun”, again his comment follows in Ecc 3:17, beginning with “I said”. It is in the form of a consideration, for he says it ‘to himself’. In his consideration, which as it were automatically rises into his heart when he sees injustice, he takes refuge in God as the righteous Judge. God will judge injustice in the future. This judgment concerns both the consideration, “every matter”, and the actions, “every deed”. God’s judgment is not confined to expressing the judgment, but also means the execution of the sentence.

The thought that injustice also has a time limit, and that God sets that limit, is a consolation when we see all injustice in the world (Gen 18:25; Psa 73:17). We cannot change that injustice, but God has set a time for everything (Ecc 3:1-8). God has also determined a time, a day, when He will judge (Acts 17:31; Psa 37:13). Any unrighteous trial will be reopened and revised before the judgment seat of Christ. “The Judge is standing right at the door” (Jam 5:9), which is Christ. He will judge perfectly.