Ecclesiastes 8:9-13

The book of Ecclesiastes, chapter 8 and verses 9 to 13 for our text and study this evening. 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 heart. and so I saw the wicked buried who had come and gone from the place of the holy and they were forgotten in this city for they had done so or so done. This is also manity. Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is full. set in them to do evil. Though a sinner do evil are hundred times and his days be prolonged, yet surely I know that it will be well with them that fear God which fear before him. 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. May God bless to us is sacred and holy word. This evening, the film director, Alfred Hitchcock, wrote a series of suspense stories. And I always liked, when I was growing up, I liked to read mysteries and suspense stories. And there was always always, and wherever you deal with him, there’s always some kind of twist to the story. In one story, you find a couple that’s cordially speaking to one another’s, they’re driving through a small town. And as they’re driving along, all of a sudden, they hear the scream of a siren, and there’s lights flashing. As they slow down, a police car passes them, cuts them off, and forces them. them into the wall there next to the road. The man gets out of the car, looks and sees that his wheel has been broken, and he turns around and was going to say something to the officers about cutting him off like that. Why did they have to do that? But the burly officer who got out of the car, along with his companion, were right next to them by this point. So as he began to say something about it, the burly officer hauled off and smacked him right in the face with his fist. And then he said to his companion officer, you saw him try to hit me, didn’t you? To which his companion said, I sure did. The next thing we, we, the next scene is the tow truck driver shows up, hauls it, the car off that’s damaged to the repair shop where he is, is going to do the repair. Well, when the repairs are done, there’s an astronomical charge for the towing and for the repair work. Then they’re brought before the judge, actually a justice of the peace at the time. And they’re charged. with speeding and with assaulting an officer. And they’re giving this huge astronomical fine. And you’re watching all this and you’re saying, this can’t be right. How can they be doing this to this poor couple? You know, this is not the way they should be treated. Not getting any justice here. So the man pays the fine. He and his wife get back in the car and they slowly drive out of town. When they get beyond the town limits, the man turns to his wife and says, did you get all that? She opens her purse and said, I sure did. And there’s a recorder in the purse. And she’s recording everything that took place. And here you find out they’re government agents that are investigating a speed trap that was set up in this town. And they’re going to bring them. bring them all to justice for what they have done. And vindication is on the way. You feel a lot better about the whole story when you get to the end. But as you’re going along, you say, man, this can’t be right. This can’t be right. This isn’t fair. When you get to the end, you realize it’ll all turn out okay. These guys are going to go to jail for what they’ve done. It would be all, it would be great if all stories ended like that. The truth is, however, there is much injustice in the world in which we live. You may get cheated, you may get defrauded, you may get defrauded, you may find justice can be bought, so to speak, bribes paid to the judge that turn their eyes away from evidence, policemen, that are not always just and fair, they can be crooked. Solomon is no stranger to the problem. And he talks about it here in this text of scripture. He fully understands there can be injustice in the courts and the cities in the places of this world, even the palaces that were the king reigns. And this is another reason why you need spiritual wisdom to guide you, to cope with the injustice that you’re going to find in the world in which you live. Now, you will often find injustice flourishing. You may find injustice in high places. Verse 9, all this I have seen, and applied my heart unto every work that is done under the sun. There’s a time wherein one man ruleth over another to his own hurt. Now, he talks about rulers here that are ruling over other people, and they’re doing so in an unjust manner, taking advantage of people. Abuse of authority is very commonplace in our modern world. The ruthless men come to power and abuse the power that they have. Even nations that have checks and back, with regard to freedoms and rights and so forth, it still occurs. In fact, the little guy has to keep constant watch against rulers who might want to lord it over them, bring some kind of control, some kind of restraint upon them, some limit to them. We recently realized that our speech could be curtailed in this. this country, even though the bill of rights says we have freedom of speech, your right to bear arms can be taken away from you, even though we’re supposedly able to have that right to bear arms. You can be burdened with high taxes beyond what we should be paying more, way more than we should be paying. should be paying. Your police protection can be removed from you, as we see in some of the cities today. Even the right to worship can be taken away from us, and we can be attacked in that way. Solomon has carefully evaluated every work that’s done onto the sun in this world, and this is something that occurs frequently enough that he mentions it. Those in authority become an enemy to us rather than a protector of us. Obviously, those oppressed by this abuse of power are hurt. But that’s not exactly what the text says. The text seems to indicate they hurt themselves by ruling in this manner as well. Ultimately, this evil ruler is setting up a himself up for trouble. Solomon will address that more fully when he gets to verse 13. But he only hints at it here. You remember when Solomon died and his son, Rehoboam, took over and began to rule in his place. Well, the people came to him and said, you know, the taxes have been excessive under King Solomon. Could you reduce the taxes for us, you know, because Solomon had a heavy tax burden upon the people. Well, Brea Baum requested three days to consider the matter and he would get back with the people. Well, when he consulted with the men who served his father, Solomon, they said, if he would be a servant to this people this day, and will serve them and answer them and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever. In other words, yeah, I think you ought to lighten the taxes. However, Ray of Bowen wasn’t satisfied with their wisdom, so he went to those who he had appointed as counselors, more men, his age, his peers, if you would, and they advised them to say, my little finger shall be thicker than my father’s loins. And whereas my father did laid you with a heavy yoke, I will add. to your yoke, you’re not going to get a tax cut, you’re going to get a massive increase, so just shut up and go back home. And so what happened when the people gathered? He answered them roughly or harshly. I’m going to add to your taxes. He was the king, and he was going to make greater demands upon them, even than his father. And what happened? Well, the people were very upset by this, and they thought, well, what portion have we in David? They rebelled. They revolted. They broke away from the southern king. So he was left with two tribes, and the other ten went north, you know, formed another country, Israel, to the north. So Judah was in the south, and Israel was in the north. So he ruled over to people harshly to his own heart, because it ended up costing him a split kingdom in this situation. so many times a ruler will rule for a long time before his evil catches up with him, but he can rule to his own heart. And this is what is troubling. It often appears that injustice reigns in high places. So we see that as a problem. You may find injustice may be prosperous. Verse 10, he says this. 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 a vanity. The wicked may come and go with great pomp and ceremony from the place of the holy. This seems to be the place of judgment, a place where those who ruled, some of them were a priest even, the people would deal with various issues, problems in the kingdom. And so here they come from the place of judgment. It’s classified as holy as because that’s where God sat by his representatives pronouncing judgment upon the nation. Psalm 82, 1 to 6 seems to indicate that to us. They called them gods because they ruled over the people. That Psalm deals with those who are unjust in that capacity. So these wicked rulers lived a long time, and they continue in power until the day of death. They died in their beds. They seem to have some type of magnificent funeral given to them. They didn’t deserve even a burial. Solomon indicates here that he saw these vile men had some type of splendid funeral situation, parade maybe down the streets or whatever the case may be, a big production, where the streets are lined with people and flowerly words are set. by maybe the religious leaders at the time about this individual. It’s interesting that Jeremiah prophesied concerning King Jehoia Kim, he shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem. That’s the way some people ought to be buried. They’ve been evil and wicked and opposing God and the things of God. that should be thrown out the city like some dead donkey to rot. For when the evil queen Jezebel, when she was cast out of the window down to the ground, and the dogs ate her up so they could only find some palms of her hands. I mean, it was like the dogs just chew her up and hauled her away. Evidently, most of her box. She didn’t get a proper burial either, but that’s what she deserves. She deserved that kind of judgment from the Lord God. But that’s not always the case. The wicked are often eulogized in death, and the very cities in which they perpetrated these evil actions seem to forget what had taken place. So Solomon seems to be saying here that the wicked practices are forgotten and not remembered against them. So instead of being thrown out on the dung heap, instead of being cast to the rubbish, so to speak, they receive a nice funeral in the city doesn’t speak of their evil doing, as if they were heroes and not villains. Injustice like this test your faith. Tempts you to think there’s not going to be any justice at all in this world. Find injustice may be prosperous. You find injustice, maybe prosperous. You find injustice may be prolonged. Verse 11 here. Because sentence against an evil work is not speedily executed or executed speedily. Therefore, the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. When there’s a sluggish execution of justice, when the wicked seem to get away with what they’re doing, it only confirms them and they’re wicked. In other words, they realize, they think, at least, that they’re going to get away with it and know that they’re going to get away with it, nothing’s going to happen to them. God isn’t going to judge them, and therefore they become confirmed in it. And he also uses here the word sons of men in verse 8, or excuse me, in verse 11 here, indicating to us it’s not just rulers, but even the common men, this is true of, as well. God says, wall under the wiki. it shall be ill with them in Isaiah 311. That’s a frightening threat. But often the evil doer does wrong, and nothing happens immediately. There’s no lightning bolts that strike him down. The ground doesn’t open up and swallow him, as we read some things like this happening in Scripture. So what does he do? He boldly sins. He gets more bold in his sitting, thinking, nothing’s going to happen. Justice deferred is like justice denied forever. So the unjust ruler is confident, resolute, in pursuing his evil lifestyle. He gives himself over to completely committing sin. He’s hardened. He becomes worse and worse. It’s like King Ahab that we read in scripture, he sold himself to do you. What a lot of statement about the man, sold himself to do it, like clay that hardens into a specific shape. That’s the way these men are to be sinners and continue on in it. What is not perceived here is the fact that God often is measuring the judgment that he’s going to send, and it doesn’t always come immediately. Never let it be thought that God’s present inaction means that he’s not going to judge the wicked in due time. The scripture tells us in due time their feet shall slide. In due time, in God’s due time. He merely permits the wicked to fill up their cup of wrath to the brim, then he lowers the boom. But the problem is that you and I see this person. person defying God’s laws for years and years and nothing happens and we get disturbed by it. It bothers us. It’s frustrating to see this happen. I look in our own society and look at some of the leaders that we have, some of the evil that is being done and they seem to be getting away with it. Never notice that? And you’re like, how can this be? I keep a praying that Lord Jesus Christ would be a God who judges in the earth as we read in the song. Be a God who judges in the earth. Let us see your judgment in these situations. So we see here that you will often find injustice flourishing. But secondly, when injustice flourishes, you must not cast off the fear of God. Versus 12 and 13. He says here, though a sinner do evil a 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. 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. How does Solomon counter the fact that injustice often? flourishes? What answer does he offer you with regard to this perplexing problem? Well, Solomon simply says, the destiny of the righteous and the destiny of the wicked is laid out before us, and we can be sure that one will be blessed and the other will be cursed. We can be sure of that. It is an illusion or mirage. that the wicked are going to get away with the evil they’re doing. It may not ultimately look like that, but time will tell. And if it’s not in this life, there is a judgment to come in which justice, perfect justice, will be meted out. It seems at times the wicked prolong their days, multiply their evil deeds, and things seem the awful would go poorly for the godly. There’s Joseph, a man whom God gives dreams to, revealing his secrets to him, yet he ends up in the pit. He ends up sold as a slave. He ends up in the jailhouse, doesn’t he? There’s Job, who is a man who is who is a man who eschew is evil, does what’s right before God, and we find him on the ash heap. with all these boils all over his body. And people abandon him. And then there’s Lazarus. The poor man is lying at the gate of the rich man who eats whatever he wants, and this poor guy only gets the crumbs that fall off the table, so to speak. And you’re saying, boy, that doesn’t seem right. These are righteous men. You find evil Haman in power. The abominable Ahab and Jesuitable. about in power doing whatever they please the foolish rich man who lives in prosperity even though he has turned his back upon God in Psalm 73 that we studied not too long ago and solas says here and that’s I think important understand I know I am absolutely certain and confident that is going to go better for the God-fearing person who reverently serves the Lord in this life. Mark it down, he says. This is a sure thing. He knows in the sense that he believes with unshakable faith. It’s not something perhaps that he sees with his eyes immediately. What he sees by the eye of faith. Faith in what God has revealed. in his word the Holy Scriptures. This is his confidence. By faith, you know that God is a holy God who meets our perfect justice eventually. You know God is not going to allow anything to escape his all-seeing eye. He has a book of works in which he’s recording everything that has taken. place and that book will be open and men will be judged out of it in the day of judgment. You can be sure of it. You can be certain of it. So this doctrine of divine justice is what enables you to remain calm when you see all this injustice in the world. God will blesses people. God will overthrow the wicked. Hell is real. Heaven will be the home of the righteous. there will be ultimate justice where every idle word will be taken into account and those things even done in secret will be exposed as the scripture indicates to us. The days of the wicked are a shadow because they are declining. They pass by sooner. For us it seems like a long time but in God’s view of things is a short time they live on this. earth. They will not live forever. They will die and there will be an accounting and they need to prepare to meet the Lord God as their judge. And the wicked in hell are going to hear those words that Abraham said to the rich man when he lifted up his eyes in hell. Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime seeest thy good things and likewise the righteous here the man Lazarus evil things but now they are comforted and thou art things are going to get reversed things are going to come out in the right way in the end the blessing and the curse of which Solomon speaks are sure they’re built on the rock solid foundation of God’s revelation. Every word of God is not one jot or tittle of his word is going to fall to the ground. That’s what we’re told. So what then is your presence day? Are you living for heaven? Are you following God’s way? Are you pursuing hell thinking you’re going to get away with all the east? evil that you’re doing. Those who trust in the Lord and the Lord Jesus Christ as the Savior from their sins I tell you it’s going to go well with them and they’re going to stand on the right hand of Christ in the day of judgment and they will inherit the kingdom prepared from the foundation of the world for them. But the wicked, the goats, so to speak, not the sheep, They’re going to be on his left side and they shall be turned into hell and tormented the rest of eternity. My friends, this life is not all there is. There is a world to come. So don’t be discouraged. Fear God, keep his commandments, and await his perfect justice, which will be needed out. Alfred Hitchcock’s suspense story may cause you to be in sensed over the way that police and the repairman and the tow truck driver and the justice behaved. But then we find things are not as hopeless as they see. In the end, the couple were actually government agements getting evidence and they’re going to bring them to justice. The problem is, you don’t know that until the very end of the story. And that’s the way it is in this life. We have to know it because God tells us the end from the beginning so that we know what’s going to happen so then we don’t get discouraged as we go through this life. Sometimes you have to wait until the end of the story. So we must keep eternity in view. Live by faith, not by sight. God is a just God. Justice will. come. That is, I think, the truth that he lays out before us tonight as we look at this passage of scripture. Let us close with the word of prayer tonight.