Ecclesiastes 8 ~ it will be well with those

A Jew at the Wall of the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem, by Jean-Leon Gerome, 1877, The Israel Museum

Ecclesiastes 8

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.

2 I say: Keep the king's command, because of God's oath to him. [Your oath to God]. 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?” 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 [evil] 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.

10 Then I saw the wicked buried. They used to go in and out of the holy place and were praised [forgotten] 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. 15 And I commend joy, for man has no good thing 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.

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.

God knew what He was doing when He.... Where was God when my loved one became ill and died....

Israel was just a few decades from the time of judges during the reign of Solomon. Just as a Doctor in charge of the Emergency Room decides never to have children because of the suffering seen in the E.R., Solomon has lived days of supreme command; he has spent days making judgments over evil and suffering. Jesus agrees with Solomon & says in the New Testament He knows what is in the heart of man. Solomon has not been left on his throne on high, he has compassion and wonder over the events in life.

He comments evil might go on for years unchecked, and has seen the vanity of expecting good things to come to the good and evil things come to the evil. This portion of the Scriptures is overlooked in Judea during the time of Jesus. Jesus is asked what sin brought about the blindness of a man and what sin was punished when men were crushed by a falling wall. Solomon's wisdom has largely gone unheeded in a country priding itself upon Solomon.

Solomon never declares people with evil events are under the judgment of God. After years of hearing trouble and trauma, Solomon is not embittered and will still proclaim joy in the goodness of God's judgments for eternity. Solomon sees the joy in looking for blessings and understands this gratitude to be the secret of happiness.

He reminds us we will not understand God's plans, because we are not God.

Abba, we thank you for the blessing of prayer. We give You thanks, You are the hope in difficult circumstance, You have promised to hear our prayers. We ask forgiveness for turning away with a judgmental spirit from the trouble of others. We seek Your help to look for the joy and to be a bringer of joy. We give You praise for Your goodness in times of blessing and we look forward in anticipation. We pray for Your will to be done in Heaven and on earth. Put the light of Jesus Christ in us, that our words, and our work may bring goodness and mercy. Amen.

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