CRITICAL NOTES.—
Ecclesiastes 8:6. Therefore.] Best rendered by Although. The meaning is, that notwithstanding the present misery of man, in the ways of Providence towards him, there are appointed times. Deep and wise purposes lie behind all this apparent confusion and disorder. Is great upon him.] The form of the word implying something laid upon him as a heavy burden.
Ecclesiastes 8:7. When it shall be.] The marginal rendering is to be preferred—how it shall be
Ecclesiastes 8:8. Neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it.] Lit., its possessors. Opposition, though it may appear for a time to be victorious, will at length prove to be of no avail. This is the principal thought of the verse, and the fit conclusion of the entire section.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— Ecclesiastes 8:6-8
THE STERN DOMINION OF THE SUPREME KING
We now turn from earthly kings and their narrow dominions to consider the Great Ruler over all. There are aspects of His government terrible to man.
I. He Uses an Inflexible Method. (Ecclesiastes 8:6.) In the government of God over nature and man, we observe a stern regularity which is calculated to inspire us with awe of some mysterious and inflexible power. All seems to us as one vast machine which moves on in invariable method, not knowing, not caring, what injuries it may inflict. In some moments of painful thought, it might seem to us that we are abandoned to the terror of some heartless and unsympathetic power. Some of these harsh aspects of God’s government are here indicated.
1. His purposes are already formed. He does not enter upon His work with rudimentary and imperfect ideas, waiting for a wider experience and more certain knowledge. He uses no methods of trial and error; learns not, as we are obliged to do, from failure and success. His purposes are formed once for all.
2. There is an appointed season for their development. The time is determined beforehand when the purposes of God shall be effected. They ripen slowly and await their proper season, nor can any human power force their growth.
3. They appear to be carried on regardless of human woes. Although “the misery of man is great upon him,” this inexorable dominion continues. The wheel within wheel in the system of nature and Providence may raise our admiration, but their terrible regularity of movement and certainty of effect seem to spurn away imploring misery, and threaten to crush hope. Yet the wise man will discern a “reason” behind all these harsh appearances. Therefore he submits and waits. There is a “set time” also to favour him.
II. He Hides from Man Future Destinies. (Ecclesiastes 8:7.) No feeling does more to tame the human breast than our complete ignorance of the future. It is altogether hidden from us.
1. As to what it contains. “He knoweth not that which shall be.” He cannot tell what events shall take place, what new scenes and changes shall be unfolded in the course of time.
2. As to the manner of it. “Who can tell him how it shall be?” He who has studied the past history of mankind with intelligence and calm reflection, can predict the general principles which future events shall illustrate. But in what time and manner those events shall take place, no human sagacity can foresee. This ignorance of future destinies strengthens, in the good man, the feeling of dependence upon God. It makes faith in the love of God a necessity of the religious life. The way may be dark before us, but if we fear the Lord, He will guide us tenderly with more than a father’s care. The oppression of the future becomes light when we are strengthened by a sense of that “loving kindness which is better than life.”
III. He Appoints for Man the Inevitable Hour. (Ecclesiastes 8:8.) However varied the fortunes of men, there is one event awaiting all.
1. When the high summons arrives no power or skill can resist it. Our breath of life is in the hands of God. He decrees the time when we shall breathe the last gasp, and when the heart’s emotion shall be stilled. When He permits the last enemy to grasp us, there is no escape. Death knows no awe of rank, nor yields to bribes. That ruthless power cannot be softened by the voice of distressed affection, or forced to spare his victims by any arguments derived from the usefulness or beauty of their lives. No man has power to retain the spirit beyond its appointed time. Nothing can stay its flight when once it starts on the journey to God.
2. There are no grounds upon which we can procure exemption. On the eve of the battle, or when actually engaged in it, the soldier cannot obtain his discharge. No plea can avail him, no sacred demands of home or kindred. We are all under this inexorable law of war. When the stern command is issued, we must enter into the conflict; we can obtain no substitute, purchase no discharge. When summoned to enter the field in mortal conflict with the last enemy, there is no retreat.
3. Rebellious opposition will not avail us. “Neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it.” Wicked men put forth wonderful energy in their evil deeds, but when God’s time of judgment arrives, it is in vain that they resist.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Ecclesiastes 8:6. If, without the light of a better hope, we survey this scene of man, it would appear as if the Monarch of the world was indifferent to human miseries.
The skill and regularity displayed in God’s works and ways would be of little comfort to us, if we were not assured that behind all there is a loving heart.
God works out His purposes slowly, and (as it appears to us) regardless of the private griefs of men—yea, even of their highest necessities. The world had to wait long ages for the crowning revelation of God’s mercy. Yet all this time men suffered the evils of ignorance, sorrow, and sin.
The degree of mischief, and disappointment, and wretchedness, arising amongst mankind from the want of wise consideration of seasons and circumstances, is beyond calculation. Were men in general more carefully attentive to these, a large proportion of the miseries of which they complain might readily be avoided. But some by their weakness, others by their heedlessness; some by their headstrong obstinacy, others by their excess of pliancy; some by impatient precipitation, others by procrastinating dilatoriness, and thousands in an endless variety of ways, are led to overlook “time and judgment,” and to bring distress upon themselves, or others, or both [Wardlaw].
Ecclesiastes 8:7. Our ignorance of the future should teach us—
1. To be superior to the fear of man. If we have God on our side, how little, after all, can weak and ignorant man do to harm us!
2. That we should not envy the temporary prosperity of others. How soon their fortunes may be wrecked, and the evil time come when riches cannot deliver!
3. That we should seek Divine guidance. God will show us, even through all the miseries of the present, what is the path of life.
It is true that no man can tell “what shall be,” and that neither can any one tell him “when it shall be;” but this is no reason why either the “when” or the “what” that may thus lie hidden in the inscrutable future should be to us a matter of no concern. It is not by being utterly careless and indifferent upon the subject that we can escape the evil that may be impending over us. It is true that we may aggravate that evil, or even create it when it has no actual existence, by tormenting ourselves with excessive or groundless anxieties and fears. As regards those futurities against which no foresight can provide, the part of true wisdom is to follow the counsel of our blessed Lord (Matthew 6:34) [Buchanan].
Ecclesiastes 8:8. The Royal Preacher had spoken of the power of kings (Ecclesiastes 8:4). Yet how limited is that power? They cannot resist the decree of the King of Terrors.
Death overwhelms the strength of man. It is the great terror of nature. The very thought of it must fill us with horror, unless we are conscious that the inward man is growing stronger day by day.
Man is sown in weakness here—a weakness most sad and manifest in his closing hours; but he is raised in power, which, if blessed by the vision of God, will be “the power of an endless life.”
This is a field in which every man must advance; and every man must advance alone to single combat; and every man in succession must fall. The enemy to be encountered is himself invulnerable; and whether the struggle be short or long, and however successful for a time our efforts may be to parry or to cover ourselves from his deadly thrust, he will, sooner or later, find his way with certain aim and irresistible force to every heart [Wardlaw].
Death can only destroy the body of our humiliation. Our permanent and immortal essence remains unhurt.
Death meets us everywhere, and is procured by every instrument, and in all chances, and enters in at many doors.… And all this is the law and constitution of nature, it is a punishment to our sins, the unalterable event of Providence, and the decree of heaven. The chains that confine us to this condition are strong as destiny, and immutable as the eternal laws of God [Jeremy Taylor].