Ecclesiastes Chapter 8

Okay. General impressions of Ecclesiastes 8:

I like the way Solomon begins the chapter, kind of like a quote at the beginning of a book which stands for the meaning of the work. Here Solomon says that of all the things which man can aspire to, nothing is as good as wisdom. With wisdom an entirely new outlook on life is available, and it shows. How a person lives, how they walk and talk, all are affected when approached with a heart of wisdom. But it is not the wisdom of humanity that brings about this change and fullness of life; it is the wisdom of God. Solomon now begins to discuss some very important things concerning wisdom.

Verses 2 and 3 could be classified as "common sense" verses. Solomon does what any good teacher will do: he compares an earthly situation to a spiritual situation so that we might be able to draw the appropriate conclusions. I want to say a little something about each of the verses from 4 through 8.

Verses 4-5 – The king is in charge; no doubt about it. No one comes to the king and questions him because he has absolute power. Question the king and there will be repercussions. Go against the kings commands and there is a price to pay. This is not illustrating that God is a tyrant, but is trying to convey the level of respect we should show Him. Our duty is not to question Him or break His commands simply to suit ourselves. We are to live as His servants, knowing that if we obey His commands we have nothing to fear. We also know there is a time and place for everything, and that everything has its purpose. Therefore we can have confidence in our God who loves us so much. Wisdom is being able to recognize this simple truth.

Verses 6-8 – Chances are that as life proceeds, our problems increase accordingly. It just comes with the territory. We don't know what the future holds, and no one can tell us. Therefore the only thing we can do is live right before God no matter what happens. He is there for us, He is still in control, and He still has the ultimate victory over everything we face in life. One day we will face death. If we have given our life to the Lord, we know that He will carry us home. Our wickedness, our own power or wits will not help us in that moment of death. King or peasant, all face their earthly end. Since we don't have that kind of power, and we know that only One does, would it not be wise to place our trust in Him and serve Him?

Verses 10-13 explain a great spiritual truth. People live and die and are forgotten (at least in some measure). No matter how great they may have been, their greatness is only temporary. It does seem that the wicked are the ones with all the breaks, that their evil ways seem to prolong their days here on earth. But Solomon reassures us that all is well with a godly person. No matter what happens to us in this life, we know we have a friend in Jesus. Solomon talks about the life of the wicked being just a shadow. A shadow looks like something but has no substance in and of itself. Even a long and fruitful life here is nothing compared to eternity, and if we don't know the King of eternity, we have no hope at all.

The Preacher concludes this chapter by plainly stating the facts. He used God's gift of wisdom in order to know the things of man and of God. But even this wisdom, if applied day and night for a lifetime, can never grasp it all. Try as he might, no matter how much wisdom he had, it was never enough to fully understand God, much less man. Even the wisest man on earth couldn't understand it all. Therefore Solomon encourages us to find those things which we do know, such as obedience to God and living for and trusting in Him, and do it with all our heart. In this we find true wisdom.

There is great comfort here. We can't know it all, even though we try. But God isn't interested in how much we know, but how we apply what we know. He is not concerned with circumstances and results, but our faithfulness within those circumstances. If we trust in the Lord, no matter what we might go through, we know the ultimate result will be in God's will and for His glory. If this is wisdom, then please sign me up!

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