Ecclesiastes 8 Wisdom is great…if you don’t get stuck on yourself!
“There’s nothing better than being wise, knowing how to interpret the meaning of life. Wisdom puts light in the eyes and gives gentleness to words and manners.” Is Solomon referring to himself here? Possibly. Here in Ghana, there are many lorry drivers who turn their rear-view mirrors so that they can admire themselves, rather than watching traffic. Solomon is busy admiring himself…and it gets worse, just wait.
No One Can Control the Wind
2-7 “Do what your king commands; you gave a sacred oath of obedience. Don’t worryingly second-guess your orders or try to back out when the task is unpleasant. You’re serving his pleasure, not yours. The king has the last word. Who dares say to him, “What are you doing?” Carrying out orders won’t hurt you a bit; the wise person obeys promptly and accurately. Yes, there’s a right time and way for everything, even though, unfortunately, we miss it for the most part. It’s true that no one knows what’s going to happen, or when. Who’s around to tell us?”
Okay. No doubt about the reference here. Solomon wants to make sure that everybody KNOWS that he is king and that HE HAS THE LAST WORD AND YOU HAD BEST GET WITH IT AND OBEY NOW!!! But even powerful King Solomon has his limits.
8-9 “No one can control the wind or lock it in a box. No one has any say-so regarding the day of death. No one can stop a battle in its tracks. No one who does evil can be saved by evil. All this I observed as I tried my best to understand all that’s going on in this world. As long as men and women have the power to hurt each other, this is the way it is.”
Well, this is fascinating. Immediately after declaring that he is sovereign and everybody must follow orders, now Solomon is backing off, talking about the wind and death and battle and how uncontrollable those things are. And then Solomon follows up those statements by figuratively shrugging his shoulders and saying, “As long as men and women have the power to hurt each other, this is the way it is.” Does this mean that Solomon realizes that some things are not under his control? And then Solomon proceeds to register more complaints.
One Fate for Everybody
10-11 “One time I saw wicked men given a solemn burial in holy ground. When the people returned to the city, they delivered flowery eulogies—and in the very place where wicked acts were done by those very men! More smoke. Indeed. Because the sentence against evil deeds is so long in coming, people in general think they can get by with murder.”
Obviously, there were plenty of sycophants (boot lickers) in Solomon’s day, prepared to publicly praise the wicked at elaborate funerals in hopes of gaining something from the dead person’s family or supporters. Why doesn’t God punish wicked people immediately for their evil deeds? God gives the wicked many opportunities to repent; in fact, God is far more merciful than most of us.
12-13 Even though a person sins and gets by with it hundreds of times throughout a long life, I’m still convinced that the good life is reserved for the person who fears God, who lives reverently in his presence, and that the evil person will not experience a “good” life. No matter how many days he lives, they’ll all be as flat and colorless as a shadow—because he doesn’t fear God.
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14 Here’s something that happens all the time and makes no sense at all: Good people get what’s coming to the wicked, and bad people get what’s coming to the good. I tell you, this makes no sense. It’s smoke.
15 So, I’m all for just going ahead and having a good time—the best possible. The only earthly good men and women can look forward to is to eat and drink well and have a good time—compensation for the struggle for survival these few years God gives us on earth.
16-17 When I determined to load up on wisdom and examine everything taking place on earth, I realized that if you keep your eyes open day and night without even blinking, you’ll still never figure out the meaning of what God is doing on this earth. Search as hard as you like, you’re not going to make sense of it. No matter how smart you are, you won’t get to the bottom of it.”
Solomon is completely frustrated with God! Why can’t God simply deal with people the way Solomon would? Punish the wicked! Reward the virtuous! Settle everybody’s problems at once, instead of allowing evil to continue to triumph! Many of us might share Solomon’s feelings, but the Bible has a different answer.
Isaiah 55:8 tells us, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are My ways your ways,” says the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.”
One of our pastor friends was fond of saying that we are only in Advertising while God is in Management. God is the One who knows the end from the beginning, and only God can judge the human heart. There’s a saying in the American South that “Everybody’s trying to swallow something he just can’t get down.” No matter how wise we might be, we still have no idea of the challenges others are facing and therefore we are not qualified to judge. Besides that, let’s remember Jesus’ admonition to his disciples “Judge not so you won’t be judged.” Many of us are ready to make snap decisions about others’ behavior; however, the last thing we want is to be on the receiving end of somebody else’s verdicts.
May God help us to be gentle and merciful with those around us, just as we hope they will be gentle and merciful to us!
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and caring for us. Lord, help us to remember that You are the Ruler of the universe and You are the only One qualified to judge. Help us to be gentle and merciful to those around us. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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