Ecclesiastes 8:10-17
The Preacher lives in the real world. He declares those hard truths that we don’t want to face. We like to think, like Job’s friends, that “good things happen to good people, and bad things happen to bad people”, but — like Job — the Preacher observes otherwise. He sees the reality 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. (v. 14) And it shouldn’t take much looking around for us to see that the Preacher is correct. To deny it is to deny reality.
In similar fashion the Preacher declares another hard truth: Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil. (v. 10) This truth flies in the face of those currently implementing and promoting cashless bail and other criminal justice reforms who seem to believe that the heart of the children of man is fundamentally good and needs only the mildest of nudges to find the right path. Poppycock! Any honest examination of one’s own heart without Christ should reveal that if granted impunity, each of us would descend rapidly into evil. Again, to deny it is to deny reality.
But the Preacher does not give in to the temptation either to shake his fist at God for apparent injustices or to give up and join the wicked. He remains confident that in the end it is better to fear God and be joyful. Why? Because he is a realist. He understands that God’s ways are beyond us. (Ecc. 8:16,17) So he accepts the ultimate reality, which is God Himself.
I especially liked Ecc. 8:17 referring to work of God. However much man may toil in seeking, he will not find it. Even though a wise man claims to know, he cannot find it out.
He gives us some understanding in the situations we face but it’s never a complete understanding. Sometimes quite baffling! The bottom line for us is that we gotta trust Him.
I also liked that he (in Ecc. 8:15) commend[s] 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.
Good reminder to have some fun in life!