1 Kings are greatly to be respected. 6 The divine providence is to be observed. 12 It is better with the godly in adversity, than with the wicked in prosperity. 16 The work of God is unsearchable.
Ecc 8:1 Who is like the wise? Who knows the explanation of things? A person’s wisdom brightens their face and changes its hard appearance.
The wise man. Wisdom, Solomon affirms, is superior to all other possessions.
Who knows? The truly wise man will know how to interpret the experiences of life. Daniel was a noble example of this (Dan. 5:10–29).
The apostles Paul (1 Cor. 2:15) and John (1 John 2:27) stress the same truth. The Aramaic form of the word translated “interpretation” is found 31 times in the book of Daniel.
Brightens their face. Inward serenity and wisdom are reflected in the face of one who is truly wise (see Job 29:24; cf. Num. 6:25; Ps. 4:6).
Hard appearance. In description of a face that lacks gentleness, culture, and the finer virtues.
The grace of God transforming the heart will be reflected in the face by an expression of serene joy.
Ecc 8:2 Obey the king’s command, I say, because you took an oath before God.
Oath before God.
The king was regarded as the Lord’s anointed, appointed by Him to rule. The “oath” refers to one of obedience to the king, uttered in the name of God (see 2 Chron. 36:13; Eze. 17:13–19). Compare the teaching of Paul with respect to the conscience (Rom. 13:5).
Ecc 8:3 Do not be in a hurry to leave the king’s presence. Do not stand up for a bad cause, for he will do whatever he pleases.
The king was all-powerful; therefore one should not withdraw allegiance from him hastily, nor forsake his service. The monarch’s absolute power often caused him to be dictatorial and unreasonable, and his servants must therefore remain calm and self-possessed.
Do whatever he pleases. The king’s servant may be in the right, but the king’s power is supreme. It is therefore the part of wisdom not to oppose him unnecessarily.
Ecc 8:4 Since a king’s word is supreme, who can say to him, “What are you doing?”
Ecc 8:5 Whoever obeys his command will come to no harm, and the wise heart will know the proper time and procedure.
Intelligent submission to the law of the land, and the law of God, is requisite to peace and security, both here and hereafter.
Time and procedure. The wise “heart,” that is, his mind, discerns the right time to speak and the right time to remain silent. He knows and follows right methods and correct procedures. He recognizes opportunities and seizes upon them as they arise.
Ecc 8:6 For there is a proper time and procedure for every matter, though a person may be weighed down by misery.
Each undertaking calls for thoughtful planning and appropriate methods, lest it miscarry and accordingly bring trouble rather than blessing.
Ecc 8:7 Since no one knows the future, who can tell someone else what is to come?
It is one of man’s weaknesses, and the cause of no small part of his anxiety, that he cannot foretell what may befall him and when it may happen (see Isa. 47:13).
Ecc 8:8 As no one has power over the wind to contain it, so no one has power over the time of their death. As no one is discharged in time of war, so wickedness will not release those who practice it.
Life may be cut off at any moment (Job 21:17, 18; 34:14, 15).
Discharged. As mercenaries could not secure a discharge from their duties during time of combat, neither can man avoid death when it comes.
Ecc 8:9 All this I saw, as I applied my mind to everything done under the sun. There is a time when a man lords it over others to his own hurt.
Solomon had a variety of experiences in life, and learned much by observation. Hurt. Some men “hurt” others, some bring injury to themselves. In the final analysis the one who hurts his neighbor destroys himself.
Those Who Fear God Will Do Well
Ecc 8:10 Then too, I saw the wicked buried—those who used to come and go from the holy place and receive praise in the city where they did this. This too is meaningless.
Some wicked men are buried with great honors (2 Chron. 16:13, 14; cf. Jer. 22:18, 19).. Some men, unconverted and evil, attend church, conform to the outward requirements of church membership, and at death are accorded expensive church funerals.
Receive praise. That is, had ruled over others to their own hurt (v. 9), had lived ungodly lives, and had enjoyed the “praise” of their subordinates. After death, their names passed into oblivion.
Ecc 8:11 When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, people’s hearts are filled with schemes to do wrong.
Ecc 8:12 Although a wicked person who commits a hundred crimes may live a long time, I know that it will go better with those who fear God, who are reverent before him.
The sinner often does wrong and seems to escape paying any penalty for his misdeeds (see Prov. 17:10).
It will go better. Nevertheless, in God’s own time judgment will be meted out (see Isa. 3:11; Matt. 16:27; Rev. 20:11–15). It shall be well. All will finally be well with those who fear God (Ps. 37:11; Isa. 3:10; Mal. 3:16).
Ecc 8:13 Yet because the wicked do not fear God, it will not go well with them, and their days will not lengthen like a shadow.
Man Cannot Know God’s Ways
Ecc 8:14 There is something else meaningless that occurs on earth: the righteous who get what the wicked deserve, and the wicked who get what the righteous deserve. This too, I say, is meaningless.
Despite Solomon’s conviction stated in vs. 12 and 13, he nonetheless feels distressed because of certain perplexing paradoxes.
The righteous. The Hebrew term thus rendered suggests men who practice righteousness. Job faced the same problem (Job 9:22; cf. Eccl. 9:2, 3; Eze. 21:3, 4).
Wicked. Compare Job 21:7; Ps. 73:3; Jer. 12:1. The inequalities of the present life should not be allowed to weaken one’s faith in God’s ways of dealing. In the eternal world all wrongs will be made right.
Ecc 8:15 So I commend the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany them in their toil all the days of the life God has given them under the sun.
Enjoyment. That is, living for pleasure. This suggests the eclipse of Solomon’s faith by a materialistic point of view.
Eat. The activities here listed are not wrong in themselves. God gave man the capacity to eat, drink, and enjoy the good things life has to offer. Solomon’s meaning here, however, is that since self-control and denial of appetite had apparently brought no reward, he had, at one time, concluded that it is better to live to satisfy the senses, to extract everything possible from the material things of life.
Be glad. Solomon continues his description of the feelings that once overwhelmed him.
Ecc 8:16 When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe the labor that is done on earth—people getting no sleep day or night—
Solomon refers to man’s incessant round of arduous toil.
No sleep day or night.
Men often work long hours, but labor was designed as a blessing (see on Gen. 3:19). Too often man in his fallen state fails to use leisure time wisely. Man’s daily toil is disciplinary and builds character. But after a day of toil, rest is sweet (Prov. 3:21–24; cf. Jer. 31:23–26).
Ecc 8:17 then I saw all that God has done. No one can comprehend what goes on under the sun. Despite all their efforts to search it out, no one can discover its meaning. Even if the wise claim they know, they cannot really comprehend it.
All that God has done.
That is, God’s eternal purpose and His dealings with men (see Rom. 11:33–36; cf. Job 11:7, 8).
The wise claim.
Man is privileged to study God’s created works, and His revealed Word; but he must beware of being “wise in his own conceit” (Prov. 26:5) and of thinking himself able to comprehend the depths of divinity (see Job 11:7).
Man’s correct attitude toward God is disclosed in the apostle John’s picture of the redeemed (Rev. 15:3, 4).