Ecclesiastes · chapter 8 of 12
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Ecclesiastes 8 begins by praising wisdom and advising respect for the king's authority, and it admits that no one has power over the day of death. It then raises the puzzle of justice: the wicked are buried with honor and punishment is slow, yet the Preacher affirms that it will go well with those who fear God. Even so, he sees that sometimes the righteous receive what the wicked deserve, so he recommends enjoying life and confesses that no one can find out the work of God.
After confessing in chapter 7 that wisdom eluded him, the Preacher continues to explore how to live wisely. This chapter deals with authority and with one of the oldest problems of faith: why God's justice is not always seen in this life.
The chapter opens with a question: who is like the wise, and who knows the interpretation of a thing? A person's wisdom makes his face shine and changes the hardness of his countenance. He then advises obeying the king's command, because of the oath taken before God, and not being hasty to leave his presence or persist in a bad cause, for the king does what he pleases. Where the word of the king is, there is power, and no one can say to him, what are you doing?
The wise heart knows the proper time and way, for there is a time and way for every matter, though the misery of man lies heavy on him. No one knows what is to be, no one has power over the spirit to retain it, or authority over the day of death; there is no discharge in that war, and wickedness will not deliver those who practice it. There is a time when one man rules over another to his hurt.
The Preacher has seen the wicked buried with honor, who had gone in and out of the holy place and were praised in the city where they had done such things. Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the hearts of people are fully set to do evil. Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and prolongs his life, the Preacher knows that it will be well with those who fear God, and that it will not be well with the wicked, who will not prolong his days like a shadow.
Yet there is another vanity on earth: righteous people who get what the deeds of the wicked deserve, and wicked people who get what the deeds of the righteous deserve. So he commends joy: there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat, drink and be glad. When he applies his heart to know wisdom and to observe what is done on earth, he sees that no one can find out the work that is done under the sun; even though the wise claims to know it, he cannot find it.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
Who is like the wise, and who knows the interpretation of a thing? Wisdom brightens the face and softens its hard look. The chapter begins by celebrating the value of understanding life from the fear of God.
No one has power over the spirit to retain it, or authority over the day of death. Neither kings nor sages can avoid it, a reminder that human control is limited.
Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and lives long, the Preacher knows it will be well with those who fear God, and not with the wicked. It is an affirmation of faith that holds his trust in God's justice even when present life seems to contradict it.
He saw that no one can find out the work done under the sun, however hard he tries, and even if the wise claims to know it he cannot find it. Humility before the mystery of God's ways is part of wisdom.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: It makes his face shine and changes the hardness of his countenance. — Ecclesiastes 8:1
Answer: To keep it, because of the oath before God. — Ecclesiastes 8:2
Answer: Over the spirit to retain it, or over the day of death. — Ecclesiastes 8:8
Answer: Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily. — Ecclesiastes 8:11
Answer: To those who fear God, who fear before him. — Ecclesiastes 8:12
Answer: To enjoy life, since there is nothing better under the sun than to eat, drink and be glad. — Ecclesiastes 8:15
Ecclesiastes 8 is honest about a question many believers ask quietly: why do evildoers sometimes prosper? In a Sunday school class or youth group you can talk about that pain without fear and without repeating easy answers. The Preacher does not give them: he holds that God will do justice, and at the same time admits that we do not see all of his work.
The text also teaches us to live wisely under authorities, without servility and without impatient rebellion. And it reminds us that the joy of eating, resting and sharing with others is a form of faith, because it confesses that life is a gift of God even when we do not understand everything that happens.
Ecclesiastes 8 makes clear that no one can find out all of God's work, but that the fear of God is the only sure support. Chapter 9 will take that idea to the limit by considering death, which comes to all, and by calling us to live with joy and energy while there is time.
The Preacher does not offer a complete explanation. He observes that the sentence against evil is not executed quickly and that this encourages others to do evil. Still, he affirms that it will go well with those who fear God. This balance between observation and faith is part of the book's honesty.
No. The Preacher describes what he sees under the sun: sometimes the righteous receive what the wicked seem to deserve, and the reverse. He calls it another vanity, a puzzle. The book does not deny God's justice, which he affirms in 8:12-13 and in 12:14, but admits that people cannot understand how he exercises it in each case.
The Preacher advises respecting authority and not rushing into rebellion, giving as the reason an oath before God. It is not a text about every possible case; elsewhere in Scripture, as in Daniel 3, God's people refuse to obey an order that contradicts God's will.