Ecclesiastes 8:1-17
1 Who is as the wise man? and who knoweth the interpretation of a thing? a man's wisdom maketh his face to shine, and the boldnessa of his face shall be changed.
2 I counsel thee to keep the king's commandment, and that in regard of the oath of God.
3 Be not hasty to go out of his sight: stand not in an evil thing; for he doeth whatsoever pleaseth him.
4 Where the word of a king is, there is power: and who may say unto him, What doest thou?
5 Whoso keepeth the commandment shall feel no evil thing: and a wise man's heart discerneth both time and judgment.
6 Because to every purpose there is time and judgment, therefore the misery of man is great upon him.
7 For he knoweth not that which shall be: for who can tell him when it shall be?
8 There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither hath he power in the day of death: and there is no dischargeb in that war; neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it.
9 All this have I seen, and applied my heart unto every work that is done under the sun: there is a time wherein one man ruleth over another to his own hurt.
10 And so I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from the place of the holy, and they were forgotten in the city where they had so done: this is also vanity.
11 Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.
12 Though a sinner do evil an hundred times, and his days be prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear before him:
13 But it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong his days, which are as a shadow; because he feareth not before God.
14 There is a vanity which is done upon the earth; that there be just men, unto whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked; again, there be wicked men, to whom it happeneth according to the work of the righteous: I said that this also is vanity.
15 Then I commended mirth, because a man hath no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry: for that shall abide with him of his labour the days of his life, which God giveth him under the sun.
16 When I applied mine heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done upon the earth: (for also there is that neither day nor night seeth sleep with his eyes:)
17 Then I beheld all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun: because though a man labour to seek it out, yet he shall not find it; yea further; though a wise man think to know it, yet shall he not be able to find it.
The Teacher searches for
the purpose of our lives
Book of Ecclesiastes
Hilda Bright and Kitty Pride
Chapter 8
The wise way to obey the people who have authority – Ecclesiastes 8:1-9
v1 Nobody else is like a wise man.
Nobody else can explain things so well.
Wisdom takes away the severe expression from a person’s face.
It causes a person to smile.
v2 You made a serious promise to God that you would serve the king. So you must obey the king’s commands. v3 Do not be in a hurry to leave the king. Do not argue with him. The king can do anything that he wants to do. v4 The king’s word is the law and king’s word is very powerful. So nobody would dare to ask what the king is doing.
v5 Whoever obeys the king’s command will not have trouble.
Wise people will know how to approach the king.
They will know the proper time to do things.
v6 There is a proper time and a proper way to do everything.
But a person may be unhappy because of his troubles.
v7 Nobody knows the future.
So nobody can tell a person what will happen.
v8 Nobody can control the wind.
And nobody can choose the day when they will die.
The army will not allow a soldier to leave during a war.
And wicked acts will not free a wicked person.
v9 I saw all these things and I thought seriously about them. I studied everything that people do on the earth. Sometimes a person has the power to hurt other people. But, in the end, a person who does that hurts himself.
Verse 1 The Teacher is telling us what a wise person is like. People’s faces usually show what sort of character they have. A wise person will not have a severe expression. Instead, wise people will have pleasant faces. This will show that they are kind people.
Verse 2 People made a serious promise to obey their king. All King David’s important officials and David’s other sons promised to be loyal to his son, Solomon (1 Chronicles 29:24). They asked God to be a witness to their promise. They made a serious promise to God. So they had to do what they had promised. If not, they had agreed that God should punish them.
Verses 3-4 To act against the king would be foolish. The king had absolute authority. So it was better to remain loyal to him. The king could punish people in whatever way that he chose. Nobody should ask him to explain his actions. Before the *Israelites had a king, God’s servant, Samuel, warned them. If they have a king, then they will have problems and difficulties (1 Samuel 8:10-18).
Verses 5-6 Wise people will choose the right time and the right way to approach the king. They will do right things and they will do them in the right way. Esther is one example. She chose the best way to speak to the king on behalf of the *Jews. She invited the king to eat some wonderful meals with her. So he became very curious (Esther 5:1-8). In every difficult situation, you must be wise and you must think carefully. You must consider the most suitable time and the most sensible way to act in that situation.
Verse 7 People feel unhappy because they cannot know their future. And nobody can help them to know about it.
Verse 8 There is a limit to people’s authority. Nobody can control the ‘wind’. This is the *Hebrew word ‘ruach’, which also means ‘*spirit’. So this ‘wind’ includes people’s *spirits. The same word also means ‘breath’. Death happens when a person does not breathe. Nobody can choose the day when they will die.
During a war, the army do not allow a soldier to leave. And, in the same way, wicked people cannot win the war against death.
Verse 9 People cannot choose how long they will live. But they do have the power to affect other people’s lives. They can cause trouble and pain for other people. And sometimes they can control other people. The *Hebrew words do not make it clear which person has the pain. It may refer to the person who is causing the pain. Or it may refer to the person who is receiving the pain. Both meanings are true. Those people who cause pain to other people damage their own character.
Things happen that are not fair – Ecclesiastes 8:10-14
v10 Then I saw that wicked people received honour at their public funerals. They went often to the place where we *worship God. And people praised them in the city where they did their evil acts. These things are difficult to understand. v11 When nobody punishes people quickly because of their crimes, then everyone wants to do wrong things. v12 Wicked people may have done many crimes, so they are very guilty. But they may have a long life. However, I am certain that God’s way is the best way. He will *bless all those people who are afraid to make him angry. v13 God will not *bless wicked people. Because they are not afraid to make God angry, their life will not be long like a shadow.
v14 There is another thing on the earth that is a problem. Some people always obey God. But they get the punishment that wicked people deserve. And some wicked people get the reward that good people should have. This is impossible for anyone to understand!
Verse 10 The Teacher saw many wicked people. They would visit the place where people *worshipped God. Perhaps this was in the city called Jerusalem. But they did not *worship God sincerely. They would act in evil ways. And the Teacher could not understand why other people respected those wicked people. He thought about why people gave honour to wicked people at their funerals. Perhaps people believed that they were *worshipping God in the right way. Or perhaps a person’s wicked deeds had gained wealth and success for him. Then people might praise him because they wanted to benefit in some way.
Verse 11 It is not good to delay the punishment that people get for their crimes. It encourages bad people to do more bad things. Because everything seems normal, sometimes other people start to do bad things too.
Verses 12-13 Wicked people think that God does not care about their actions. They forget that he is patient. God’s time is different from our time. And God wants everybody to have the opportunity to change their behaviour. Finally, God will punish wicked people. They may live for a long time, but one day they will die. A shadow becomes long in the afternoon, but it disappears quickly at night. God will *bless those people who are afraid to make him angry.
Verse 14 The Teacher repeats the problem that is a puzzle to him. People who deserve rewards receive punishment. But wicked people seem to receive rewards.
The Teacher’s advice – Ecclesiastes 8:15
v15 So I advise everyone to enjoy their life. That is the best thing to do in this world. There is no better way to live. So eat well and drink well. Then you will be happy while you work hard. God has given a certain time on the earth to each of us.
Verse 15 Many things are not fair in the world. But there does not seem to be any immediate answer to this puzzle. So the Teacher encourages people to enjoy their life. He has already given this advice 3 times Ecclesiastes 2:24-25; Ecclesiastes 3:13; Ecclesiastes 5:18). God decides how much time each person can live on this earth. So, people should enjoy all the days that God gives to them. Then they will enjoy the hard work that they do.
Nobody can understand God’s ways completely – Ecclesiastes 8:16-17
v16 I could not sleep during the day or during the night because I was trying to understand everything. I wanted to be wise. And I wanted to watch everything that people do on this earth. v17 I saw everything that God has done. But nobody can understand completely what happens on the earth. People may try very hard to understand. But they cannot discover what everything means. A wise person might say that he knows. But it is not possible for him to discover everything about God’s actions.
Verses 16-17 The Teacher was eager. He wanted to discover the purpose of our lives. So he spent days without rest and he spent nights without sleep. He thought in the end that there is a limit. People cannot understand everything about God’s ways. Even wise people cannot do that, whatever they might say. They will never understand everything about the purpose of people’s lives. Because we are human, we must just trust God.
Israelite ~ a person that belonged to the nation called Israel.
Israel ~ the nation that God chose to be his special people or their country.
Jew ~ a person who was born from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children.
Hebrew ~ the language that the Israelites spoke.
Israelite ~ a person that belonged to the nation called Israel.
Israel ~ the nation that God chose to be his special people or their country.
spirit ~ part of a person that we cannot see and that remains alive after death; sometimes it may refer just to a person’s or to an animal’s breath.
worship ~ to thank God and to praise him.
bless ~ to be especially good and kind to someone.