Ecc 8:12-14 | KingComments | STEP | The Preacher not only sees, not only observes with his eyes, but he also applied “his mind to every deed that has been done under the sun” ( ). The words “[another] man to his hurt” refer to those over whom authority is exercised. Power corrupts. A man with power, but without God, always uses his authority wrongly. The Preacher has seen another thing and that is the treatment that “the wicked” received when they were “buried and going away” (Darby Translation) into the grave and what happened to those who “used to go in and out from the holy place” ( ). There are few things as appalling as the sight of wicked people that are prosperous. What makes you even sicker is when wicked people die and people honor them with the blessing of religion. They are given a solemn funeral and are buried with splendor. The wonderful words that are spoken about them, come from the mouths of their admirers who are just like them or would like to be like those wicked people. What really makes you sick, is the destiny of the ones who acted rightly, “those who used to go in and out from the holy place” against the background of the honor that those wicked people are given. They are forced to go “out from the holy place”, Jerusalem. Jerusalem is so called because the temple is there . These troublemakers, those pious men who did not participate in the admiration of the wicked people, must be forgotten. In their behavior and words they remind people of the righteous God. Therefore: Away with them! That also means that there is no funeral for them in the holy city, which is a horrible thing for a God fearing Jew. The corrupt man thinks that there is no judgment at all and that God is absent, because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed quickly ( ). And if there is any thought of God, then heaven's patience is interpreted as proof of approval. That is an extra stimulus to continue doing evil. The “hearts of the sons of men among them are given fully to do evil”, which means that the heart is wicked; the heart is the source and it remains wicked. Man is not interested in the patience of God Who wants him to repent. Instead man continues to sin and in that way he is “storing up wrath for himself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to each person according to his deeds” ( ). The first part of is directly connected to the observation of . On earth we see that a sinner can sin “a hundred times” without having any obstacle on the way. He experiences – of course unconsciously – the truth of , that the sentence against his evil deed is not quickly executed. That is why he continues tirelessly to sin, a hundred times, without even noticing the slightest hint of a judgment. Then we see in the second part of something of the faith of the Preacher. He cannot reconcile with the thought that the wicked can always go on and that they will also prevail. It is not like that either. He knows there is coming a moment that God will judge. The Preacher has knowledge of God. He knows that God is not with the sinner, but with those who “fear” Him, which is reverence Him and take His will into consideration. He adds a confirmation to it that such men “fear Him openly”, meaning that they live in fellowship with Him, with their hearts and eye focused on Him. It will be well for them. But for the evil man, who apparently can go his own way undisturbed, it will not be well. He will not lengthen his days, for he does not fear God. He has lived his life outside fellowship with God and end up in eternal death after his life, outside of fellowship with God. His life now is like a shadow: empty and worthless (cf. ). It is not real life, the shadow of death lies over it. In the Preacher adds what the fate of the wicked man is. When we read it, it seems that there is a contradiction between and . In it says that the sinner may lengthen his life and in it says that the evil man will not lengthen his days. The false contradiction disappears when we see in the light of life on earth and in the light of eternity. To see that the one verse does not conflict with the other, we need to look beyond this earthly life. That is what the Preacher does here, without explicitly mentioning that aspect. His words contain faith in resurrection. The days of the sinner can be lengthened on earth, but after his death he will rise to a resurrection of judgment because he has committed evil deeds ( ). It will be well at the resurrection for those who fear God. They will take part in a resurrection of life because they did the good deeds ( ). They will live forever in God’s presence.

‏ Ecclesiastes 8:12-14

The Mystery of God’s Government

The Preacher not only sees, not only observes with his eyes, but he also applied “his mind to every deed that has been done under the sun” (Ecc 8:9). The words “[another] man to his hurt” refer to those over whom authority is exercised. Power corrupts. A man with power, but without God, always uses his authority wrongly.

The Preacher has seen another thing and that is the treatment that “the wicked” received when they were “buried and going away” (Darby Translation) into the grave and what happened to those who “used to go in and out from the holy place” (Ecc 8:10). There are few things as appalling as the sight of wicked people that are prosperous. What makes you even sicker is when wicked people die and people honor them with the blessing of religion. They are given a solemn funeral and are buried with splendor. The wonderful words that are spoken about them, come from the mouths of their admirers who are just like them or would like to be like those wicked people.

What really makes you sick, is the destiny of the ones who acted rightly, “those who used to go in and out from the holy place” against the background of the honor that those wicked people are given. They are forced to go “out from the holy place”, Jerusalem. Jerusalem is so called because the temple is there . These troublemakers, those pious men who did not participate in the admiration of the wicked people, must be forgotten. In their behavior and words they remind people of the righteous God. Therefore: Away with them! That also means that there is no funeral for them in the holy city, which is a horrible thing for a God fearing Jew.

The corrupt man thinks that there is no judgment at all and that God is absent, because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed quickly (Ecc 8:11). And if there is any thought of God, then heaven's patience is interpreted as proof of approval. That is an extra stimulus to continue doing evil. The “hearts of the sons of men among them are given fully to do evil”, which means that the heart is wicked; the heart is the source and it remains wicked.

Man is not interested in the patience of God Who wants him to repent. Instead man continues to sin and in that way he is “storing up wrath for himself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to each person according to his deeds” (Rom 2:5-6).

The first part of Ecc 8:12 is directly connected to the observation of Ecc 8:11. On earth we see that a sinner can sin “a hundred times” without having any obstacle on the way. He experiences – of course unconsciously – the truth of Ecc 8:11, that the sentence against his evil deed is not quickly executed. That is why he continues tirelessly to sin, a hundred times, without even noticing the slightest hint of a judgment.

Then we see in the second part of Ecc 8:12 something of the faith of the Preacher. He cannot reconcile with the thought that the wicked can always go on and that they will also prevail. It is not like that either. He knows there is coming a moment that God will judge. The Preacher has knowledge of God.

He knows that God is not with the sinner, but with those who “fear” Him, which is reverence Him and take His will into consideration. He adds a confirmation to it that such men “fear Him openly”, meaning that they live in fellowship with Him, with their hearts and eye focused on Him. It will be well for them.

But for the evil man, who apparently can go his own way undisturbed, it will not be well. He will not lengthen his days, for he does not fear God. He has lived his life outside fellowship with God and end up in eternal death after his life, outside of fellowship with God. His life now is like a shadow: empty and worthless (cf. Ecc 6:12). It is not real life, the shadow of death lies over it.

In Ecc 8:13 the Preacher adds what the fate of the wicked man is. When we read it, it seems that there is a contradiction between Ecc 8:12 and Ecc 8:13. In Ecc 8:12 it says that the sinner may lengthen his life and in Ecc 8:13 it says that the evil man will not lengthen his days. The false contradiction disappears when we see Ecc 8:12 in the light of life on earth and Ecc 8:13 in the light of eternity.

To see that the one verse does not conflict with the other, we need to look beyond this earthly life. That is what the Preacher does here, without explicitly mentioning that aspect. His words contain faith in resurrection. The days of the sinner can be lengthened on earth, but after his death he will rise to a resurrection of judgment because he has committed evil deeds (Jn 5:29b). It will be well at the resurrection for those who fear God. They will take part in a resurrection of life because they did the good deeds (Jn 5:29a). They will live forever in God’s presence.

Which Is Done on the Earth and God’s Work

In Ecc 8:14 the Preacher is back to his observations under the sun. He makes that clear by speaking about “what is done on the earth”. He has come to the conclusion that things are upside down, that things happen that are contrarian, that fill every sincere human being with disgust. It is about the situation that there are righteous men to whom it goes according to the deeds of the wicked and conversely that there are evil men to whom it goes according to the deeds of the righteous.

If things happen like that on earth, it is pointless for one to make effort to make something out of life. When the existence of man would be limited to his life on earth, then it would indeed be “futility”, something like a vapor, which is seen for a short time and then disappeared. Only in the light of eternity the volatile transits into permanency.

The observation of Ecc 8:14 makes the Preacher lament that man is better off with simple forms of pleasure (Ecc 8:15). It does not change anything about the labor, but it makes it more bearable (Ecc 2:24). Everything is better than getting no gratitude or small gratitude or no appreciation because the wicked runs off with the honor you deserve. Pleasure is the most beautiful thing that a man, who is only focused on his earthly career, can achieve. He does not bother one single moment about the unsolvable mysteries of Providence, but he carelessly enjoys the good gifts of the Creator daily, even though it is without thanking Him for it.

The joy of the new testament believer is not related to the things that the earth offers, but to heaven, where he can enjoy the fellowship with the Father and the Son (1Jn 1:4). That fellowship gives a full joy. Christ is the Source of our joy (Jn 15:11 ; Jn 16:22). We can help one another to know joy and be a support to make others become joyful (2Cor 1:24), so that they can go their way with joy (Acts 8:39).

The research that the Preacher has done wholeheartedly, in order to find out the deeper meaning of life, has yielded only the awareness that all deeds done on earth produce no lasting results, even if someone would do things day and night without a moment’s sleep (Ecc 8:16). All effort, when seen horizontally, makes no sense.

There is something else that the Preacher has discovered, and that is that God works (Ecc 8:17). It is not about His creation work, but about His hand in history. In the light of eternity, God’s work takes place in world history and also in our own lives, whereby God goes straight to His goal. There is where the deeper sense of life lies.

The conclusion that God works, does not however, give the Preacher the answer to the question why God works as He does. To see that God works does not mean that we know how He works and what He is up to. Not a single person can discover that, no matter how hard he labors to discover it (Ecc 3:11; Job 11:7-9). And if there is a wise man who claims that he knows it, it is arrogance, for no mortal man can discover the depths of God’s work.

Still, the conclusion that God works, can give peace. We do not have to wear ourselves out to search the work of God. We simply cannot. With all the mysteries we can encounter in life, the distortion of good and bad, we can trust that right through everything God does His work and accomplishes His purpose. That we only have questions and no answers, does not have to make us desperate.

Let’s realize that God is God and that He is not obliged to account to us for His actions. He can keep things to Himself because He does not find it useful that we know them. Job has experienced it in his search for the meaning of the suffering that came upon him. With all his why-questions he could only rely on God. God let Job rage till he was finished and then asked him more than 70 questions. Those questions make it clear that He directs everything in His creation, that He is at work and that nothing is out of His control. He Himself is the answer to Job’s questions.