ABC Equipping Class Fall 2022 – Ecclesiastes

Lesson 8: Ecclesiastes Chapter 8

The Mystery of God’s Judgment

The backdrop to understanding this chapter – The key to interpreting this chapter properly is seeing how its two parts are related. The chapter begins with a question and a statement that magnify the value of wisdom (v. 1) and closes with an acknowledgment of wisdom’s limitations (v. 17). Wisdom enables a wise man to avoid the king’s wrath (vv. 2–9), but not even a wise man can figure out the enigmas in God’s distribution of justice (vv. 10–17). - BKC

1. The Wise Can Avoid the King’s Wrath (8:1–9)

Proverbs 24:21–22 ESV

21 My son, fear the Lord and the king, and do not join with those who do otherwise, 22 for disaster will arise suddenly from them, and who knows the ruin that will come from them both?

Proverbs 16:14 ESV

14 A king’s wrath is a messenger of death, and a wise man will appease it.

Proverbs 20:2 ESV

2 The terror of a king is like the growling of a lion; whoever provokes him to anger forfeits his life.

a. A Wise Person Understands Proper Restraint (8:1) –

Ecclesiastes 8:1 ESV

1 Who is like the wise? And who knows the interpretation of a thing? A man’s wisdom makes his face shine, and the hardness of his face is changed.

· A wise man can assess a situation and know how to behave.

· “knows the interpretation of a thing” pēšer occurs only here in Hebrew. Interpretation of a dream Dan 5:12 (Aramaic)

· A wise person’s behavior can save his skin.

· Soft Skills – Love INC

Proverbs 14:35 ESV

35 A servant who deals wisely has the king’s favor, but his wrath falls on one who acts shamefully.

· What do you think the last part of this verse is alluding to?

· His or her countenance

b. Obedience to the King is A Big Deal (8:2-4) –

Ecclesiastes 8:2–4 ESV

2 I say: Keep the king’s command, because of God’s oath to him. 3 Be not hasty to go from his presence. Do not take your stand in an evil cause, for he does whatever he pleases. 4 For the word of the king is supreme, and who may say to him, “What are you doing?”

· Solomon now gives examples of how to behave in front of the king.

· Keep the king’s command because of his God-given position (Romans 13:1-7)

· Vs. 3 – Heb is “do not be hasty in resigning your service to him.”

· Vs. 3 – Don’t stand for an evil cause that he is against.

· Why?

· He does what he pleases

· The king has ultimate power (God actually does and He is not evil)

· Who dares question the king?

· Application?

c. Proper Restraint Avoids Harm (8:5–9) –

Ecclesiastes 8:5–9 ESV

5 Whoever keeps a command will know no evil thing, and the wise heart will know the proper time and the just way. 6 For there is a time and a way for everything, although man’s trouble lies heavy on him. 7 For he does not know what is to be, for who can tell him how it will be? 8 No man has power to retain the spirit, or power over the day of death. There is no discharge from war, nor will wickedness deliver those who are given to it. 9 All this I observed while applying my heart to all that is done under the sun, when man had power over man to his hurt.

· Vs. 5 – Again, Solomon is speaking to the value of keeping one’s nose clean and living an upright life. (1 Thess. 4:11-12) Wisdom knows and follows the proper way.

· Vs. 6 – Ecc 3:1-8 A Time for everything, but there is one consistent – heavy trouble. Trouble is inevitable.

· Vs. 7 – Why is there trouble? Because we are not able to prognosticate the future. Not knowing the future causes trouble because we don’t always get things right.

· Vs. 8 – We humans have very little power over life. We cannot keep our spirit (stay alive) (also translated “wind.”) and, try as we might, we cannot delay the day of our death (Job 14:5). We can’t get away from an inevitable war. And wickedness does not deliver from wickedness.

· Vs. 9 – Solomon circles back to the idea of life under a King.

Verses 1-9 are more proverbial and best-case scenario. These verse spoke to the teachings of retribution. AKA People getting what they deserve.

However, there is a shift coming in the next batch of verses. And this shift speaks to the reality that not everything fits in a nice, neat box. Life is hard and unpredictable and just hard to understand.

2. Even the Wise Cannot Fully Comprehend God’s Judgment (8:10–17).

a. Failure to punish wickedness is a great mystery (8:10–14)

Ecclesiastes 8:10–14 ESV

10 Then I saw the wicked buried. They used to go in and out of the holy place and were praised in the city where they had done such things. This also is vanity. 11 Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil. 12 Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and prolongs his life, yet I know that it will be well with those who fear God, because they fear before him. 13 But it will not be well with the wicked, neither will he prolong his days like a shadow, because he does not fear before God. 14 There is a vanity that takes place on earth, that there are righteous people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked, and there are wicked people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity.

· Vs 10 – The wicked, after their death, are treated with honor. They were perceived as holy, but God knows their wicked hearts. Solomon says what’s the point. It is vain!

· Vs. 11 – When justice drags on, it emboldens people to do more evil. Why? Because they can get away with it. Jeremiah 17:9

· Vs. 12 – “Solomon firmly believed in the doctrine of retribution: life is better for God-fearing people (cf. 3:14; 5:7; 7:18; 12:13)

· Vs. 13 - but does not go well for the wickedwhose lives will be shortened (cf. Prov. 2:22; 10:27; 29:1).” BKC

· Vs. 14 – But it doesn’t always work out this way. Sometimes it goes great for the wicked and not so well for the righteous.

· This is vanity!

So, what are we supposed to do when the doctrine of divine retribution doesn’t work out the way we think it should?

b. Enjoy the life God gives (8:15) -

Ecclesiastes 8:15 ESV

15 And I commend joy, for man has nothing better under the sun but to eat and drink and be joyful, for this will go with him in his toil through the days of his life that God has given him under the sun.

· Vs. 15 - Don’t worry, be happy! Solomon commends joy!

· What does joy look like?

· Eat and drink

· Be joyful – choose Joy. What is joy? A deep seeded hope in the promises of God, which are rooted in the character of God.

· This joy will affect his toil!

· Application?

c. No man can grasp God’s providence (8:16-17) -

Ecclesiastes 8:16–17 ESV

16 When I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done on earth, how neither day nor night do one’s eyes see sleep, 17 then I saw all the work of God, that man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun. However much man may toil in seeking, he will not find it out. Even though a wise man claims to know, he cannot find it out.

· Even though Solomon applied his heart to know wisdom

· We work and work and work.

· But

· It is the work of God behind the scenes that actually gets things done.

· And we have a hard time understanding it.

Isaiah 55:9 ESV

9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Romans 11:33 ESV

33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

Summary

8:1–17 Wisdom helps us navigate the world of politics and power. The wise may have little influence; but still, they can stand out by their radiant gentleness (v. 1). It is foolish to provoke or to snub a ruling authority; but there are ways to be wise in such a situation, hard as it is to wait patiently (vv. 2–6). Human government inevitably disappoints because human knowledge is limited, power fails, sin backfires, and pride abuses (vv. 7–9). In the present, we see the wrong people honored and the wrong deeds reinforced; but we can be sure God will make it right in the end (vv. 10–13). This crazy world is not run on rational principles; rather than letting that embitter us, it is better to enjoy with gratitude the simple pleasures God does give (vv. 14–15). The one thing the wise come to believe and rest in: the real story in this world is not our restless activity but God’s quiet work, unseen though it is (vv. 16–17).

David Gundersen, “Psalms,” in The NIV Grace and Truth Study Bible, ed. R. Albert Mohler Jr. (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2021), 891–892.