Wisdom From Ecclesiastes: The Righteous and the Wicked I. Base Text: Ecclesiastes 8:5-17 II. Context A. Ecclesiastes 1:1: the words of the Preacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem 1. The same, we are told, wrote many proverbs (Ecclesiastes 12:9) 2. Thus Ecclesiastes is a "sermon" of sorts by the Preacher, directly associated with King Solomon (1 Kings 4:32, Proverbs 1:1) B. All is vain, there is nothing new under the sun, all is forgotten, knowing wisdom, folly, madness as striving after wind (Ecclesiastes 2:1-18) C. The Preacher experienced pleasure and labor to the utmost: all vanity, striving after wind, does not last but goes to another; best to enjoy one’s work (Ecclesiastes 2:1-26) D. A time for all sorts of things, God understands the value of things more than mankind, wickedness and righteousness everywhere, yet all, like animals, will die (Ecclesiastes 3:1-22) E. Oppressor and oppressed both die; people seek wealth even without descendants to obtain it; two are better than one; better to be wise than foolish yet all are forgotten (Ecclesiastes 4:1-16) F. God to be feared and respected; the lover of money is never satisfied; man cannot take anything with him, best to enjoy life and labor and all he has while he has it (Ecclesiastes 5:1-6:12) G. Maintaining recognition of one’s mortality a benefit; wisdom has value yet in balance; wisdom has its limitations; man has corrupted what God made straight (Ecclesiastes 7:1-29) H. Fear and honor the king (Ecclesiastes 8:1-5) I. The Preacher then returns to the righteous and the wicked in Ecclesiastes 8:5-17 (cf. Ecclesiastes 3:16-17) III. Meaning A. Wisdom Regarding Life Under the Sun (Ecclesiastes 8:5-9) 1. In light of the need to obey the king, the Preacher affirms the value of keeping commands and knowing the proper time for things and the just way (Ecclesiastes 8:5) 2. There is a time and a way for everything, but man does not have the benefit of knowing what is to be; thus his trouble remains upon him (Ecclesiastes 8:6-7) 3. Death comes to all; man has no power over maintaining the spirit or choosing when he will die; once one is in war there is no way out of it, and wickedness cannot rescue those who maintain it (Ecclesiastes 8:8) 4. The Preacher observed these things while seeing what is done in the world by those who have power over others to their hurt (Ecclesiastes 8:9) B. The Righteous and the Wicked (Ecclesiastes 8:10-13) 1. The Preacher saw the wicked buried: they maintained the pretense of religiosity but not the substance thereof, and it was vain (Ecclesiastes 8:10) 2. Since judgment does not come quickly the heart of people are set on evil (Ecclesiastes 8:11) 3. Yet the Preacher maintains confidence in the ways of those who fear God despite the prosperity of the wicked (Ecclesiastes 8:12-13) C. Theodicy (Ecclesiastes 8:14-17) 1. Sometimes the righteous suffer and the wicked prosper; the Preacher twice calls this vanity (Ecclesiastes 8:14) 2. The Preacher commends joy, for man has nothing good in life save eating, drinking, and being joyful (Ecclesiastes 8:15) 3. As the Preacher seeks to know wisdom and what is done in life, he perceives the work and hand of God and thus that man will never really fully understand what happens under the sun; if a wise man claims to know he is delusional (Ecclesiastes 8:16-17) 4. The Preacher’s point is not terribly subtle: questions about God’s goodness in light of the evil endured in life are ultimately unprofitable, detract from the good God has given mankind, and anyway, man will never really be able to understand! D. In wisdom the Preacher understands the value of righteousness over wickedness but also must come to grips with the limitations of human knowledge in light of the unanswerable questions regarding what the righteous and wicked experience in life! IV. Application A. The Value of Righteousness 1. Throughout Ecclesiastes the Preacher seems to be “down” on most aspects of life “under the sun,” yet not so in terms of righteousness 2. He is distressed that the righteous and wicked will both share in the fate of death yet maintains conviction that it is better to be righteous (Ecclesiastes 8:12) 3. This emphasis is not merely theological or spiritual: the one who fears God has learned to fear/respect and thus recognize their own limitations and the need to respect authority, and in so doing their lives will tend to be less troublesome and longer than those who revel in wickedness (Ecclesiastes 8:12-13) 4. Thus “under the sun” righteousness maintains value; righteousness will dwell in the “new heavens and earth,” and believers are to be obedient in righteousness (Romans 6:17-23, 2 Peter 3:11-13) B. Pervasiveness of Wickedness 1. The Preacher does affirm the value of righteousness but is not deceived or clueless: he sees rampant wickedness on the earth 2. He associates it with justice not speedily accomplished on earth: since people think they’re getting away with it, they keep doing it (Ecclesiastes 8:11) 3. Such is an easy temptation into which to fall: no one sees it, no one knows about it, others are doing it and getting away with it, etc. ! 4. But a day of judgment is coming (Acts 17:30-31); all will be accountable! 5. Yet we should not be surprised to see rampant wickedness; evil is firmly in the human heart C. Theodicy, Knowledge, Joy 1. In all these matters the Preacher has attempted to come to an understanding based on wisdom 2. Yet then he comes to the matter which he describes as vanity: righteous who suffer and wicked who prosper (Ecclesiastes 8:14) 3. This question is continually poised in various forms: why do bad things happen to good people? Why do good things happen to bad people? For that matter, why is there evil anyway? How can a loving God allow evil to exist? 4. These questions gnaw at a lot of people; many leave the faith or avoid the faith on account of them 5. Yet to the Preacher the matter is vanity, a vapor, absurd, and for good reasons a. If we consider the matter “under the sun,” in earthly terms, what do any of these terms mean? What is “good” or “bad” and on what basis are these judgments rendered? Why would we expect “good” things to happen to “good” people or “bad” things to “bad” people? “Under the sun” things just happen; they just are b. The minute we expect answers we have to confess that there is a God, that He is the Creator, and that He established the creation in justice (cf. Psalm 33:4-9); all that is necessary to expect there to be “good” and “evil” and proper recompense 6. So then how can God allow the wicked to prosper or the righteous to suffer? The question remains vain but for another reason: it is beyond mankind 7. Ecclesiastes 8:16-17 comes after Ecclesiastes 8:13 for good reason! a. The Preacher saw the cyclical nature of life and the end of pleasure and labor (Ecclesiastes 1:2-2:23) b. Through wisdom he has been able to understand many things c. But after mentioning issues of theodicy he declares that man cannot fully see the work of God, even in terms of life “under the sun,” despite what any “wise” man might tell you d. Are there other aspects of the creation beyond human understanding? Of course, but with the question of theodicy it becomes quite apparent very quickly 8. Since at least Job people have cried out and wanted to know why the righteous suffer, the wicked prosper, justice is flaunted, and why evil not only exists but seems to prosper 9. And since Job humans have gotten no closer to an answer! a. Sin and free will explain the “mechanics” but not the reasoning nor why evil exists in the first place b. Understanding of temporary power of forces of darkness and confidence in the vindication of God and His triumph in judgment may explain the situation on the ground but fails to explain the cause c. Meanwhile other religions just accept evil as part of the way things are (Buddhism) or suggest an evil god with power in continual contest with the good God (dualism; Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism) d. Philosophers struggle with the question as well 10. So we return to the wisdom of the Preacher: the matter is vain, beyond our understanding, and we are left to recognize that since God is responsible for the structure by which we understand good and evil and why good should triumph we need to trust that He will see it through (e.g. Psalm 73) 11. God understands; we do not and may never understand, and even if we could, that understanding would not allow us to change the reality on the ground, so the Preacher wisely calls it vanity! 12. Instead the Preacher commends joy and for good reason (Ecclesiastes 8:15) a. Dwelling upon questions of justice has a corrosive effect on life and the soul, hindering the questioner from finding any enjoyment in life b. Instead there is great value in joy (Philippians 4:4) c. Joy is not dependent on circumstances; humanity has been made so as to be able to find enjoyable things no matter how terrible life otherwise might seem (and likewise humans can find misery and sadness no matter how well and beautiful life otherwise might seem) d. Thus Philippians 4:11-12: contentment despite circumstances! e. What is given for man to enjoy? Food, drink, joy, for those abide with labor throughout his life f. Most can enjoy at least some of that at any time no matter the circumstances; our trouble again is that we take for granted what is given for us to enjoy and live in continual frustration and despair because what we are seeking does not really satisfy! 13. Life is far more pleasant when one entrusts the things beyond understanding to God and finds joy in the little things in life! V. Conclusion A. We have seen the Preacher’s wisdom in terms of the righteous and the wicked B. Wickedness is pervasive, but it is still better to be righteous and fear God C. Yes, bad things happen to good people; good things happen to bad people; evil exists; it shouldn’t be that way but it is D. Deeper exploration of such matters is vanity; humans haven’t figured it out because it is beyond us, and it is for us to enjoy food, drink, joy, and life E. While we may never know why evil exists, we can know what God did about it: He sent His Son to die for our sins and raised Him from the dead, and thus Jesus gained victory over sin, evil, and death (Romans 5:6-11, 8:1-25)! F. We can gain victory over the forces of evil as well but only in Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-58); let us do so! G. Invitation/songbook Scripture, Meditation, and Application 1: Though a sinner do evil a hundred times, and prolong his days, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, that fear before him (Ecclesiastes 8:12). The Preacher discerned the wickedness in man’s heart yet maintains his confidence in the superiority of righteousness. The one who fears God has learned to fear; such will be better for him than the wicked who have not learned reverence. Let us respect God and all authorities which He has appointed! 2: There is a vanity which is done upon the earth, that there are righteous men unto whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked; again, there are wicked men to whom it happeneth according to the work of the righteous: I said that this also is vanity (Ecclesiastes 8:14). Why do bad things happen to good people? Why do bad things happen to good people? These questions have consumed humanity for millennia. The Preacher calls the matter vain, a matter of God’s understanding and one beyond our own. To ask the question presumes God as Creator and a creation rooted in justice; all that is left is for us to trust in that Creator and His steadfast loyalty to us! 3: Then I beheld all the work of God, that man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun: because however much a man labor to seek it out, yet he shall not find it; yea moreover, though a wise man think to know it, yet shall he not be able to find it (Ecclesiastes 8:17). The Preacher has found the limits of knowledge and wisdom even in terms of life “under the sun”; beyond is God’s domain purely to Himself. Technological development may lead to greater plumbing of the depths of knowledge but we will never exhaust them. It is a burdensome task to seek to know everything; we do better to trust in God who does understand all things instead! 4: Then I commended mirth, because a man hath no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be joyful: for that shall abide with him in his labor all the days of his life which God hath given him under the sun (Ecclesiastes 8:15). Labor and pleasure cannot be ends unto themselves; sometimes bad things happen to good people, good things happen to bad people, and life does not turned out as planned. The Preacher understands what is best for man under the sun: joy. We can all find joy in food, drink, and relationships regardless of whether things seem bad or good. Let us enjoy what God has given us to enjoy and not presume greater things!