Part 2 of 2
In our previous article, we were looking at Ecclesiastes 8:1-5 under the theme fearing the king. We continue with the next section, from verses 6-13, on fearing God.
Fearing God (vv. 6-13)
Verses 6 and 7, “Because to every purpose there is time and judgment, therefore the misery of man is great upon him. For he knoweth not that which shall be: for who can tell him when it shall be?”
Solomon had just written, in verse 5, about the wise man who knows that there is a proper time and a proper procedure for everything and he acts accordingly. Here in verse 6, he reaffirms the fact that there is a proper time for everything, but very interestingly, he gives that as a reason for man’s great misery.
The difference between verses 5 and 6 relates to the difference between the revealed will of God and the secret will of God. In verse 5, the wise man discerns what is the proper time and procedure for acting based on what God has revealed in His word. But in verse 6, Solomon is referring primarily to the secret will of God when he says that to every purpose there is time and judgment. Yes, there is a right time for every purpose but this is known only to God and is concealed from man.
And this secret will and purpose of God brings great misery to the man who tries to live by it or who bases his happiness on his ability to plan and exercise control over events, which have yet to come to pass. No man knows the future. Only God knows, and God has not revealed it to man. If you are trying to order your life according to the secret will of God or if you think you have control over the future, then you will be miserable indeed.
The point of verses 6 and 7 is that man is ignorant about the future. The wise person will act and make decisions based on what God has revealed in His word and not on what he thinks God is going to do or not do in the future. Not only that, but the wise person will leave the future in the hands of God and not think he has the power to control it.
But ignorance of the future is not the only limitation of man. In verse 8, Solomon gives four further instances of human limitation. He writes, “There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither hath he power in the day of death: and there is no discharge in that war; neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it.”
Let’s look at these 4 things briefly. First, human beings have no control over the wind. The Hebrew word for “spirit” may also be translated “wind.” Man has no ability to control the wind. Think of a typhoon or tornado. Nothing that modern man has invented can even come close to preventing or controlling something like that.
Second, human beings have no control over death. Man is impotent in the face of death. There is nothing he can do to put it off or to delay the time of his death, which has been appointed by God.
Third, man has no power to get out of a battle. That is what the phrase “there is no discharge in (or during) war” means. When a battle or a war is in progress, and the soldiers are in the thick of the action, there is no getting out of it for them until it is all over.
We must remember that ancient battles were fought with foot soldiers packed closely to each other shoulder to shoulder, and front and back. There is simply no way out when you’re in the midst of the fighting.
Fourth, Solomon tells us that wickedness shall not deliver those who are given to it. There are some who think that they will be able to find deliverance from their troubles by choosing the way of evil and wickedness, but that is no way of escape. In fact, we read in scripture that God will never allow the wicked to be delivered while they continue in their wickedness.
Next, in verse 9, Solomon makes a transition from human impotence to the issue of injustice, wickedness, and retribution. He begins his new line of thought in the second part of verse 9, “there is a time wherein one man ruleth over another to his own hurt.” Solomon is referring to the harm or hurt that comes upon the people because of the rule of a wicked man.
Then verse 10 provides another instance of an unjust situation. “And so I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from the place of the holy, and they were forgotten in the city where they had so done: this is also vanity.”
This is a difficult verse to understand. Solomon seems to be saying that he saw the wicked person die and was buried, and his deeds were forgotten in the city where they were active in carrying out their wicked deeds. The “holy place” could either refer to the city of Jerusalem or to the place of judgment.
On the surface, that sounds like good news to the righteous. After all, what could be better than to have the wicked man’s deeds forgotten and the memory of his life slide into oblivion? But then Solomon says that this is vanity or meaningless. How can that be? There are various solutions to this dilemma.
The one which I think best fits the context is to see that the word translated “forgotten” is better translated as “praise.” In the original, the difference between the word “forgotten” and the word “praise” is very tiny in terms of how it is written and many of the ancient versions indeed have it as “praise” instead of “forgotten.”
If this is so, then what Solomon is saying is that the wicked may die and be buried, and yet they are praised in the very city where they did their evil deeds. This fact frustrates Solomon and leads him to say that it is vanity or meaningless.
Indeed, the absence of retribution and judgment for the wicked is very frustrating to the righteous. Verse 11 explains why the wicked continue in their wickedness. “Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.”
When there is no apparent punishment for evil, then evil will flourish. Instead of repenting of their evil, they are emboldened to do yet more and more. That is the depravity of the human heart. And so Solomon observes that the lack of swift judgment tends to encourage wicked people to continue in their wickedness and even to go further in it.
But then in verses 12-13, he states the true and right way to look at things. “Though a sinner do evil an hundred times, and his days be prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear before him: But it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong his days, which are as a shadow; because he feareth not before God.”
A wicked person may do a hundred evil deeds and he may live for a very long time, but that is no argument against the doctrine of God’s justice and divine retribution.
The phrase “neither shall he prolong his days, which are as a shadow” means that the lives of the wicked will not grow longer as they approach the end of their days. The sun will go down on them, sooner or later, and then they will experience the darkness of God’s wrath.
Notice how at the end of verse 13, the wicked person is described as one who does not fear before God. In fact, his lack of fear for God is the reason for his wicked and evil deeds. The fear of God not only brings wisdom and knowledge, it also leads to righteous thoughts and actions.
In contrast, Solomon knows that it shall be well with them that fear God. They may not appear to be so at the moment but there is no question that the one who fears God will be infinitely better off in the long run.
Conclusion
And so we’ve considered two important subjects in these two articles, namely, fearing the king and fearing God.
A fitting way to end this article would be to remind ourselves that the Lord Jesus is both King and God, and that we would all do well to fear Him.
When Solomon said of the king in verse 3 that he doeth whatsoever pleaseth him and again in verse 4 that his word is supreme and that no one has the right to argue with him, we must understand these things in a limited sense for no earthly king is perfect and certainly none is all powerful. But Christ the King is. He is the only king who can do all His pleasure and whose word is absolutely powerful.
And again when Solomon speaks of God eventually bringing sinners to judgment and working all things well for those who fear Him, we must not forget that Christ Jesus has been appointed by the Father to be the judge of the whole world in the last day. If Christ is the Great King and Judge, then we must fear Him and submit to Him. If we should honour and fear earthly kings, how much more should we honour and fear the One who is even now sitting as the King of kings and reigning over all things from heaven!
Furthermore, let us trust in Him and follow Him wholeheartedly. He is our Good Shepherd. He will lead us safely to our heavenly home. Those who serve Him will not lack any good thing. He will see to it that all will be well for His people in the end.
Indeed, true wisdom is found in fearing the Lord Jesus, who is both king and God. If we have Christ as our king, then we will have true joy and peace in our hearts. Amen.