Ecclesiastes 8 Commentary
“…There are just men to whom it happens according to the work of the wicked; again, there are wicked men to whom it happens according to the work of the righteous.” Verse 14.
The teacher represents human observations and what the world makes of them. Countless atheists sound this observation to carelessly discredit God’s justice.
But there is one just man who suffered the death of the wicked so that my wicked self could live the life of the righteous. That’s the gospel!
An important side note is that those who are saved are called to “replicate” the life of Jesus. He calls them to a “walk” where they suffer together with their Savior while on His mission to save others.
The teacher makes it sound terrible, but the yoke of Jesus is easy. It’s not a scandal. Saints count themselves blessed when they experience suffering under these circumstances. Then it’s not vanity!
“So I commended enjoyment, because a man has nothing better under the sun than to eat, drink, and be merry.” According to the Teacher, this, too, is vanity since everything is vanity!
There should be more to the life we know. This book wants you to discover it, but the teacher warns you about the “tools of discovery” that never work – human tools.
The prophet-cum-teacher drives the point that all human schemes aimed at discovering meaning are useless. It is a chase after the wind.
The Book of Job has labored to explain this paradox. The teacher is in no mood to search for explanations. His conclusion? Meaningless, useless, illogical, or simply nonsense.
But the teacher is not exactly clueless.
Though a sinner does evil a hundred times, and his days are prolonged, yet I surely know that it will be well with those who fear God, who fear before Him. But it will not be well with the wicked; nor will he prolong his days, which are as a shadow, because he does not fear before God. Verses 12 and 13
The section on obedience is apparently a reference to an earthly ruler. Clever writing. The author hasn’t written the rule book for earthly governance. The author is talking about the King of kings.
A proper time may be a reference to a time when the LORD makes everything new in His own time. A proper procedure may be a reference to the right way. Read as the Way. Probably the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
Then we have an all-important statement on evil. The wicked always feel evil is a shop they visit once in a while. They think life is all righteousness with doses of evil here and there. And they are wrong.
The proper ‘procedure’ defines who is wicked and who is righteous. No wicked man ever escapes the trade by his own means. Think about it. There is a time and a procedure for everything.
Salvation comes when you find the “time” and the procedure!
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