Bad Things Happen to Good People

Please stand and join me as I read this passage.

Starting in chapter 7, verse 14.

In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider,

God has made the one as well as the other, so that men may not find out anything that will be after him.

In my vain life I have seen everything.

There is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness,

and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his evil doing.

Be not overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise.

Why should you destroy yourself?

Be not overly wicked, neither be a fool.

Why should you die before your time?

It is good that you should take hold of this, and from that withhold not your hand.

For the one who fears God shall come out from both of them.

Wisdom gives strength to the wise man, more than ten rulers who are in a city.

Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.

Do not take to heart all the things that people say, lest you hear your servant cursing you.

Your heart knows that many times you yourself have cursed others.

All this I have tested by wisdom.

I said, I will be wise, but it was far from me.

That which has been is far off and deep, very deep.

Who can find it out?

I turned my heart to know and to search out and to seek wisdom and the scheme of things,

and to know the wickedness of folly and the foolishness that is madness.

And I find something more bitter than death.

The woman whose heart is snares and nets and whose hands are fetters.

He who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is taken by her.

Behold, this is what I found, says the preacher,

while adding one thing to another to find the scheme of things,

which my soul has sought repeatedly but have not found.

One man among a thousand I found, but a woman among all these I have not found.

See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes.

Who is like the wise and who knows the interpretation of a thing?

A man's wisdom makes his face shine and the hardness of his face is changed.

I say, keep the king's command because of God's oath to him.

Be not hasty to go from his presence.

Do not take your stand in an evil cause, for he does whatever he pleases.

For the word of the king is supreme, and who may say to him,

What are you doing?

Whoever keeps the command will know no evil thing,

and the wise heart will know the proper time and the just way.

For there is a time and a way for everything,

although man's trouble lies heavy on him.

For he does not know what it is to be, for who can tell him how it will be?

No man has power to retain the spirit or power over the day of death.

There is no discharge from war, nor will wickedness deliver those who are given to it.

All this I observed while applying my heart to all that is done under the sun,

when man had power over man to his hurt.

Then I saw the wicked buried.

They used to go in and out of the holy place

and were praised in the city where they had done such things.

This also is vanity.

Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily,

the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil.

Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and prolongs his life,

yet I know that it will be well with those who fear God,

because they fear before him.

But it will not be well with the wicked,

neither will he prolong his days like a shadow,

because he does not fear before God.

There is a vanity that takes place on earth,

that there are righteous people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked.

And there are wicked people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous.

I said that this also is vanity.

And I commend joy,

for man has nothing better under the sun,

but to eat and drink and be joyful.

For this will go with him in his toil through the days of his life

that God has given him under the sun.

When I applied my heart to know wisdom,

and to see the business that is done on earth,

how neither day nor night do ones I see sleep.

Then I saw all the work of God,

that man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun.

However much man may toil in seeking,

he will not find it out.

Even though a wise man claims to know,

he cannot find it out.

This is God's holy and authoritative word.

You may be seated.

Not all people in the world are perfectionistic

or live with fear of failure or abandonment

that make them desperate to control the circumstances of their lives.

But all human beings, to varying degrees,

all try to control the outcomes of their lives.

Some people do that by micromanaging or maneuvering,

manipulating others.

Some people do that by driving themselves really hard,

working hard late into the night.

Some people try to control the outcomes of their lives

by cheating, taking shortcuts.

But no matter how hard we try,

no matter how intricate our plans

and how consistent our efforts to control the outcomes of our lives,

in the end, it is Hevel,

a mere breath,

chasing after the wind.

Bad things happen to good people

and good things happen to bad people.

These are the empirical, indisputable facts of life.

But we don't like that fact.

And so every generation has new fads

and new schemes to try to make the world work

the way we think it should,

to make our lives work the way we think it ought to.

But Ecclesiastes 7.14 to 8.17 reminds us

that we cannot control life,

but we should fear God and enjoy life

knowing that He is in control.

That's the main point that I want to drive home this morning.

We're going to first talk about how bad things happen to good people

and vice versa,

and how God works all things together for good.

We concluded last week's passage with verse 14,

and that serves as a transition and begins this passage.

We cannot control when the days of prosperity come

or when the days of adversity come in our lives.

We are not the master of the times of our lives.

God is.

God has made the one as well as the other,

and it is not for humanity to find out what will come after,

what will happen tomorrow.

Today's passage flows naturally from that thought.

It says in verse 15,

In my vain life, I have seen everything.

There is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness,

and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his evil doing.

Chapter 8, verses 10 to 13,

speak of the same theme of this unfair reality.

It says in verse 12,

that a sinner does evil a hundred times and prolongs his life.

It's the exact same word used in 715.

Our sense of justice suggests that the wicked should die prematurely,

that they should be punished somehow.

But no, they often prolong their lives.

Chapter 8, verse 14 says the same thing in different words.

There's a vanity that takes place on earth,

that there are righteous people to whom it happens

according to the deeds of the wicked.

And there are wicked people to whom it happens

according to the deeds of the righteous.

I said that this also is vanity.

There's a 1968 song written by Dick Holler

entitled Abraham, Martin, and John,

which is about Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr.,

and John F. Kennedy.

They're all leaders of significant social change here in our country,

but were assassinated at a relatively young age.

And each of the main verses feature one of the titular characters,

but apart from the names, the verses are identical,

and it goes like this.

Anybody here has seen my old friend Abraham?

Can you tell me where he's gone?

He freed a lot of people,

but it seems the good they die young.

I just looked around, and he was gone.

That refrain, the good they die young,

captures the sentiment of Ecclesiastes 7.15.

In contrast, consider Mao Zedong,

the Chinese communist leader,

responsible for the death of an estimated 40 to 80 million people

through starvation, persecution, prison labor, mass executions.

But he himself died in peace at the ripe old age of 82.

The preacher of Ecclesiastes observed this in his own time.

He says in chapter 8, verses 10 to 11,

Then I saw the wicked buried.

They used to go in and out of the holy place

and were praised in the city where they had done such things.

This also is vanity,

because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily.

The heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil.

There were wicked people who went in and out of the holy place

as if they were God-fearing, righteous people.

And they went in and out about the holy place

with their heads held high,

and they enjoyed a good reputation among the people in the city,

but they were never punished for their wickedness in their lifetime.

They are now buried and forgotten

so that their evil deeds will never be exposed and brought to justice.

They will never be remembered as evildoers that they were.

They are now left to rest in peace.

This is a vanity, the writer says.

Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily,

the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil.

Think of Pol Pot,

the dictator and leader of the Cambodian Khmer Rouge,

which slaughtered about two million Cambodians in about four years.

Despite being put under house arrest toward the end of his life,

he died in peace at the ripe old age of 77

before the planned trial for genocide at the Hag Ward,

the war crimes tribunal could take place.

And because in this fallen and broken world,

good things happen to bad people,

and bad things happen to good people,

it's heavil,

breath,

futility,

chasing after the wind

to try to control the outcomes of our lives.

Chapter 7, verses 16 to 22,

catalog the various ways that people try to ensure

that good,

only good things will happen to them.

Some people do this by pursuing righteousness.

They think if I live rightly,

if I'm an upstanding citizen,

that good things will happen to me.

While other people pursue wickedness.

I'm going to cheat and get my way

so that I could have a good life.

But neither method,

according to the preacher of Ecclesiastes, works.

The preacher says in verses 16 and 17,

Be not overly righteous,

and do not make yourself too wise.

Why should you destroy yourself?

Be not overly wicked,

neither be a fool.

Why should you die before your time?

Neither being overly righteous

or being overly wicked

will ensure your health and wealth

and success and happiness in life.

Neither being too wise nor being a fool

will ensure your health and wealth

and success and happiness in life.

If your understanding,

if this sounds to you

like something your non-Christian relative would say,

I'm fine with you being religious, okay?

Just don't be too religious.

Everything in moderation.

If that's how you're hearing the preacher,

that's not what he's saying.

The preacher is not saying here

that it's possible to have too much righteousness

or too much wisdom.

That's impossible.

The Bible does not teach us

to follow Christ in moderation.

Jesus said in Mark 8, 34 to 35,

If anyone would come after me,

let him deny himself

and take up his cross and follow me.

For whoever would save his life will lose it,

but whoever loses his life for my sake

and the gospels will save it.

In other words,

you need to be willing to lay down

your very life to follow Jesus.

That's not religion in moderation.

The greatest commandment in the Bible

is not to love God in moderation.

It's to love God with your whole heart

and soul and mind and strength.

It's for total commitment.

Jesus didn't say,

follow the scriptures in moderation,

make sure you obey the really important commandments,

and then don't sweat the details.

Don't worry about the small commands.

No, when he is rebuking the Pharisees

in Matthew 23, 23, 24,

because these Pharisees

were taking painstaking care

to tie the smallest things that they had,

the mint and the dill and the cumin.

They're tithing to God,

giving a 10% of even the smallest spices

that they have as an offering to God.

But while they were doing that,

they were neglecting the weightier matters of the law,

justice, mercy, and faithfulness,

that Jesus says.

But Jesus does not rebuke the Pharisees

for tithing the mint, the dill, and herb.

He rebukes them for not keeping justice,

mercy, and faithfulness.

He says, these things, the small things,

you ought to have done

without neglecting the others.

The Pharisees' problem was not

that they obeyed small things in the Bible.

Their problem was that they didn't obey

the big things in the Bible.

So be not overly righteous

does not mean don't be too concerned

about obeying God's word.

No, we should be very concerned

about obeying the whole counsel of God

in the scriptures.

So then what in the world does it mean

to be overly righteous or too wise?

I think one way we can be overly righteous

is by requiring things of ourselves

and of other people that go beyond

the demands of scripture.

Colossians 2, 20 to 23 comes to mind.

If with Christ you die

to the elemental spirits of the world,

why, as if you were still alive in the world,

do you submit to regulations?

Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch,

referring to things that all perish

as they are used,

according to human precepts and teachings.

These have indeed an appearance of wisdom

in promoting self-made religion

and asceticism and severity to the body,

but they are of no value

in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.

There are many ways in which Christians

have promoted rules

that go beyond the bounds of scripture,

saying do not handle,

do not taste that,

do not touch that.

This might be a little bit controversial.

I hope it's not too controversial.

One of those things is to say,

don't drink alcohol, right?

Scripture often warns

of the expensiveness of alcohol

and the dangers,

the intoxicating effects

and the addictive nature of alcohol

that it makes many people poppers

and drunkards.

I know enough people

who struggle with alcohol

that I don't take it lightly

and I don't personally drink alcohol.

With that said,

getting drunk is condemned in scripture,

but drinking alcohol

is not condemned in scripture.

The abundance of wine

is seen as a sign of God's blessing

in Proverbs 3.10.

Psalm 104.15 says that

God has given wine

as a good gift

to gladden the heart of man.

In fact, Jesus himself partook in wine,

as we see in the Last Supper.

Similarly, some Christians

broadly condemn dancing as sinful.

It's true that dancing

is sometimes associated

with debauchery and lechery

and idolatry in scripture.

For example, in Exodus 32,

when the Israelites broke loose

in idolatry around the golden calf

and it says that they were eating

and dancing and getting up to play,

promiscuous play,

and that they were dancing.

There is a kind of dancing

that inflames our lusts and passions,

and that kind of dancing is not good.

But in other parts of scripture,

dancing is seen as good

when David rejoices

when the ark of the Lord

is being brought into the city

and rejoices and dances

before the Lord with abandon.

When Miriam the prophetess

and other women along with her

join with tambourines and dancing

to celebrate the Lord's deliverance

at the Red Sea.

If you want to be careful

with dancing,

that's all good,

but you shouldn't say

that dancing is sin

and condemn others for it.

Maybe one more example.

There are some Christians

who would give me a hard time

for reading fictional books

and letting my kids

read fantasy books

like Lord of the Rings

or Harry Potter

because they're fictional

and they involve witchcraft

or sorcery or magic.

I think the sorcery

that is condemned in scripture

are ones that circumvent God,

give people a way

to access spiritual things

apart from God,

but I think that

in some of these fantasy books,

they're couched in,

they're situated

in a thoroughly biblical worldview

where the good

and the evil is very clear.

That's not a hill

I'm going to die on,

so don't worry.

If you don't think

we should read those things.

I do want to qualify this

because I think

I have respect for people

who say this,

Christians who say these things

because they're serious

about their convictions

and I agree with them

even that nowadays

the bigger issue

is that Christians

not exercising enough

discernment and self-control

about what they consume.

I do think that's

a bigger problem nowadays

than being overly righteous.

However,

it is possible

to be overly righteous

or too wise

when it comes to these things.

Some of you,

I think depending on

how you grew up,

I'm sure you can come up

with a long list

of man-made rules

that were enforced

in your house

as you were growing up.

this might be another way.

You might be over-righteous.

Are you wracked

by paralyzing anxiety

or pathological guilt

about moral issues,

spiritual issues?

All those around you

think that you are faithful,

you're obeying God,

but you're deeply worried

about being punished by God

or going to hell

and you're excessively concerned

that you're sinning

when in fact

you're not sinning.

Maybe you engage

in compulsive rituals

to make yourself feel

like you have control

over these things

and you feel like

you have to confess

every little tiny thing

because otherwise

you think something bad

is going to happen to you.

Don't be overly righteous.

And you don't have to be

a religious person

to deal with these problems.

Over-righteousness

is not the exclusive purview

of religious people.

For example,

diet and exercise regimens

can be good for your health,

but there are people

who are over-righteous

in their observance

of these regimens.

And they think

that their strict adherence

to them

will ensure health

and longevity.

Here's another example.

Working hard

and studying hard

in school.

Yes, that's a wise

and good thing to do,

but there are parents

and students

who are over-righteous

and too wise

in these things,

almost turning

academic excellence

into an idol.

Similarly,

wise financial stewardship

is a good thing,

it's a righteous thing,

but it's possible

to be over-zealous

and too wise

in your saving

and investing

and growing money.

As wide-ranging

as these examples are,

they all have

a common underlying theme.

They are all attempts

to control

the outcomes

of your life,

to ensure health

and wealth

and success.

but the preacher

says in verse 16,

be not overly righteous

and do not make yourself

too wise.

Why should you

destroy yourself?

Over-righteousness

does not guarantee

good outcomes in life.

There are righteous people

who get what the wicked

deserve,

and there are wicked people

who get what the righteous

deserve.

In fact,

over-righteousness

can be self-destructive,

says the preacher.

You can wear yourself down

and sabotage your own life

through over-righteousness.

But does this mean

that the wicked

are better off

than the righteous?

Will pursuing

a life of wickedness

guarantee better outcomes

in life?

Of course not.

The preacher says

in verse 17,

be not overly wicked,

neither be a fool.

Why should you die

before your time?

Once again,

the preacher does not mean

that we should be

moderately wicked.

Don't be overly wicked,

just be moderately wicked.

That's not what he's saying.

In the same way

he wasn't saying

be moderately righteous.

We should not be wicked at all.

But the preacher

is using the parallel structure

to teach us

that people on both ends

of the spectrum

are trying in vain

to control the outcomes

of their lives.

People who engage

in over-wickedness,

like the people

who engage in over-righteousness,

do so to ensure

their well-being,

their happiness,

but it's ultimately futile.

They lie on their resumes

and cheat on their taxes

to enhance their future prospects

and to secure their wealth.

They steal and rape and murder

in order to acquire

what they want

but cannot rightly have.

They pay bribes

to people in high places

in exchange for various favors,

to get a promotion

from a boss,

to get a judge

to turn a blind eye

to their crimes.

These are all attempts

by the wicked

to prolong their lives.

But the preacher warns

in 717,

be not overly wicked,

neither be a fool.

Why should you die

before your time?

Seeking to control

your life through wickedness

doesn't work either.

No matter how wise

or industrious we are

in our righteousness

or wickedness,

we cannot control life.

Of course,

it's still better

to live with wisdom

and righteousness

than to not.

Verse 19 qualifies

what the preacher

has been saying.

Wisdom gives strength

to the wise men,

more than 10 rulers

who are in a city.

Yes, wisdom is precious,

more precious

than power and control.

However,

the main point

of the preacher

in this passage

still stands.

Bad things happen

to good people

and good things

happen to bad people.

No matter how righteous

we are,

we are not righteous enough

and we can't control

what other people

do to us

or say about us.

It says in chapter 7

verses 20 to 22,

surely there is not

a righteous man on earth

who does good

and never sins.

Do not take to heart

all the things

that people say

lest you hear

your servant cursing you.

Your heart knows

that many times

you yourself

have cursed others.

Don't pay attention

over much

to what other people

say about you,

whether that's

in the form of likes

and reposts

on TikTok

or Instagram

or X

or people in person

gossiping about you

behind your back.

Of course,

this doesn't justify

gossip in any way,

but don't lose sleep

over what people

are saying about you

because you know

in your heart

that you have also

spoken ill of people

in the past.

Instead of trying

to police

or control

what other people

are saying about you,

let it be,

knowing that surely

there is not

a righteous man

on earth

who does good

and never sins,

not even you

or me.

Moving on to chapter 8,

the preacher gives us

yet another example

of how life is

heavy,

a mere breath.

We can't grasp

control of it.

He begins first

with the benefits

of wisdom in verse 1.

Who is like the wise

and who knows

the interpretation

of a thing?

A man's wisdom

makes his face shine

and the hardness

of his face is changed.

This brings to mind

wise men in scripture

like Joseph and Daniel

who had the gift

to interpret things,

visions and dreams,

prophecies.

They served effectively

in the royal courts

of Egypt and Babylon

respectively

and attained high ranks

and prestige

because of their wisdom

and the ability

to interpret things.

And the counsel

of the wise

is valuable.

Proverbs 25, 15

says,

with patience,

a ruler may be persuaded

and a soft tongue

will break a bone.

However,

the preacher

of Ecclesiastes

turns this proverb

on its head

as he characteristically does

and he says,

yes,

it is true

that a wise counselor

can change the king's mind

sometimes.

Other times,

he says,

even giving counsel

to the king

is heavy.

He says in verses 2 to 3,

I say,

keep the king's command

because of God's oath

to him.

Be not hasty

to go from his presence.

This is similar

to Ecclesiastes 10,

Ecclesiastes 10:4

verse 4,

which says,

if the anger

of the ruler

rises against you,

do not leave your place

for calmness

will lay great offenses

to rest.

The exhortation

is to do

what the king says

and if the king

opposes your counsel

and is angry with you,

stay calm

and stay put

because if you try

to exit too hastily,

his anger

might be kindled

and you might be worse off.

Verses 3 to 4 continue,

do not take your stand

in the evil cause

for he does

whatever he pleases

for the word

of the king

is supreme

and who may say to him,

what are you doing?

The word translated

evil cause

in verse 3

is literally

bad word

and so it's being

contrasted

with the king's word

in verse 4.

Your bad word

versus the king's word.

For the word

of the king

is supreme

and who may say

to him,

what are you doing?

In other words,

no one can question

or challenge

what the king decrees

because he has

supreme authority.

So then,

do not take your stand

in an evil cause

means don't take your stand

in,

not in a moral evil cause,

but don't take your stand

in a doomed cause,

a bad cause,

a cause that the king

will oppose.

The New International Version

of the Bible

captures this well.

It says,

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.

Since the king's word

is supreme,

who can say to him,

what are you doing?

Whoever obeys his command

will come to no harm

and the wise heart

will know the proper time

and procedure.

So he's saying,

don't oppose the king

when it's not the right time

and place

and then you will be spared

the harm that might come

to you from his wrath.

Do what the king says.

It's the typical realism

and pragmatism

of Ecclesiastes.

The preacher is not telling

all wise men

and all wise counselors

to be yes men,

but he is telling them

to be shrewd

in what they say

and when they say it.

He says in verse five

that the wise heart

will know the proper time

and the just way

for there's a time

and a way for everything.

But even when you know

the time and the way

to speak,

it says man's trouble

lies heavy on him.

Verse six.

And why is this so?

Verse seven tells us,

for he does not know

what is to be

for who can tell him

how it will be.

Even the wisest of counselors

who know the right time

to speak and how to speak

does not always know

how the king will respond,

cannot control

how the king will respond.

Verse eight again

employs the metaphor of wind

to describe this futility.

No man has power

to retain the spirit

or literally no man

has the power

to retain the wind

or power over the day of death.

There is no discharge from war

nor will wickedness

deliver those

who are given to it.

No one can override

the king's word.

If he says you're going to war,

then you are going to war.

There is no discharge from war

and you will die there.

This is reminiscent

of first Kings 22

when Ahab,

king of Israel,

plans to go to war

against Syria

and prophet Micaiah

warns him,

you're going to lose.

God is against you.

You're going to lose the battle.

In fact,

you are going to die yourself.

But then the king Ahab

dismisses prophet Micaiah

saying,

you only say bad things.

You never say good things.

And then he goes to war anyway

and leading to the death

of many people in Israel,

including his own death.

That's an example

of Ecclesiastes 8, 3 to 4.

The word of the king

is supreme.

Who can say to him,

what are you doing?

This is why the preacher

concludes in verse 9,

all this I observed

while applying my heart

to all that is done

under the sun

when man had power

over man to his hurt.

A monarch having absolute power

over his subjects

to their hurt

is another example

of the hevel of this world.

Rulers having power

over their subjects

to their hurt

is another example

of the futility of life here.

How bad things happen

to good people

and good things happen

to bad people.

That's the main point

of this passage

and there's a key word

that threads

the entire passage together

and it's the word find.

It occurs 17 times

total in the book

of Ecclesiastes

and 12 of those

are found in these two chapters,

chapter 7, chapter 8.

Remember how the passage began

in chapter 7, verse 14.

In the day of prosperity

be joyful

and in the day of adversity

consider,

God has made the one

as well as the other

so that men may not

find out anything

that will be after him.

Why has God subjected

the creation to futility?

Why has God ordained

that good things happen

even to bad people

and bad things happen

even to good people?

So that, he says,

men may not find out

anything that will be after him.

If everything that happens

in life is according

to neat rules and patterns

and it's predictable,

then humanity would be able

to figure it out

and game the system.

But that would further

fuel human pride,

arrogance,

self-righteousness.

The vanity

and the futility

and the transience

of life here

under the sun

in this fallen world

is meant to humble us

before God

and make us fear him

and to defer

to his sovereign rule.

Relentlessly,

if you've been with us

in this series

in Ecclesiastes,

the preacher is relentless

in hammering home

this point

that we cannot

figure out this life.

Chapter 7,

verse 23 to 24,

all this I have tested

by wisdom.

I said I will be wise,

but it was far from me.

That which has been

is far off

and deep,

very deep.

Who can find it out?

No one.

The conclusion

at the end

echoes the same point.

Ecclesiastes 8, 17,

then I saw

all the work of God

that man cannot

find out the work

that is done

under the sun.

However much man

may toil in seeking,

he will not find it out.

Even though a wise man

claims to know,

he cannot find it out.

If you meet

a wise philosopher

claiming to have

figured out life,

this is how life works.

You do what I tell you

and your life

will be good and perfect.

They don't know

what they're talking about.

Solomon,

the greatest philosopher

to have ever lived,

obviously not counting

Jesus who is

the wisdom of God

incarnate,

says that you cannot.

You cannot find it out.

And what's the intended

effect of understanding

that life is but a breath?

How do we live

in such a world

where bad things

happen to good people

and good things

happen to bad people?

The same twin answer

is given

throughout Ecclesiastes.

One,

fear God.

Two,

enjoy life.

He says in 7,

18,

it is good

that you should

take hold of this

and from that

withhold not your hand

for the one

who fears God

shall come out

from both of them.

The one who fears God

will come out

from both

being overly righteous

and being overly wicked.

When we recognize

that we finally

cannot figure out

and control

our outcomes,

we surrender

to God

his sovereignty

and entrust

our lives to him

rather than trying

to be masters

of our own fate

and captains

of our own souls.

And here's what you do

when you're at a low point

in life

and when your life

is full of suffering

and sorrows

and you start to wonder,

God,

are you really here?

God,

are you really

in control?

Please look at

chapter 7,

verse 15

with me

and contrast it

with chapter 8,

verse 12 to 13.

In 715,

the preacher

shares his observation,

what he has seen.

He says,

in my vain life,

I have seen everything.

There's a righteous man

who perishes

in his righteousness

and there's a wicked man

who prolongs his life

in his evil doing.

The preacher

is a good scientist.

He makes careful observations

about life,

how it works,

and he has concluded

that life doesn't

follow the rules.

A wicked man

prolongs his life

in his evil doing,

but contrast that

with chapter 8,

verses 12 to 13.

Though a sinner

does evil

a hundred times

and prolongs his life,

yet I know

that it will be well

with those who fear God

because they fear

before him.

But it will not be well

with the wicked,

neither will he prolong

his days like a shadow

because he does not

fear before God.

Notice that these are

two seemingly

contradictory statements.

on the one hand,

he says that the things

do go well for the wicked

sometimes.

They prolong their life.

He has seen it,

but then now he says

that they will not

prolong their days

like a shadow

because they do not

fear before God.

So what's the deal?

Which one is true?

7.15

is the preacher's

observation of life,

what he has seen.

Chapter 8,

verses 12 to 13

is the preacher's

declaration of faith,

what he knows

and believes

to be true

despite everything

that he sees.

He says,

though a sinner

does evil

a hundred times

and prolongs his life,

yet I know

that it will be well

with those who fear God

because they fear

before him.

Yes,

your life is full

of futility.

Yes,

your life is full

of suffering

in this fallen world

and it doesn't

make sense.

we walk

by faith

and not by sight

and believe

as Paul says

in Romans 8.28

and we know

that for those

who love God

all things work

together for good

for those who are

called according

to his purpose.

We might not

see it.

It might not seem

like everything

is going according

to plan

the way it's supposed

to work out

for good

but we know

this to be true

because that is

what we believe.

We believe

in the sovereignty

of God

and in the goodness

of God.

Everything in life

will ultimately

tend to his glory

and to our good,

the good of his people.

Maybe not good

as we imagine it

but good according

to his purposes

when we are justified,

sanctified,

and glorified.

So that's the first effect

that this passage

should have on us.

We're not going

to find resolution

to this tension

in this life

but we will find

the resolution

to this tension

in eternity

and at the final judgment

when Jesus Christ returns.

And so the first effect

that this should have

on us

is to make us

to fear God

and submit to him

and to his sovereignty.

And here's the second effect

that it should have.

Enjoy life.

It says in verse 15,

and I command joy

for man has nothing better

under the sun

but to eat and drink

and be joyful

for this will go with him

in his toil

through the days of his life

that God has given him

under the sun.

As the preacher said

early in chapter 5

verses 19 to 20,

the person who learns

to enjoy the gifts

and the blessings of God,

the simple pleasures of life,

will not much remember

the days of his life

because God keeps him

occupied with joy

in his heart.

Enjoy a delicious barbecue.

Enjoy a juicy bite

into that red delicious apple.

enjoy a game of frisbee

out in the green field

in the sun or in the rain.

Enjoy the fall foliage

of beautiful New England.

Enjoy the laughter

and companionship

of your friends

and significant others.

Enjoy the silliness

of your children.

These simple gifts of life

are intended by God

to be a comfort

and a joy to us

in the midst

of a fallen

and broken world

that doesn't work

as it's supposed to.

And both of these

main commands

in this passage

find their ultimate

fulfillment in Jesus Christ,

which brings me

to the most difficult

section of this passage,

which maybe you guys

thought I would skip,

but I'm not going to skip it.

Look at chapter 7

verses 25 to 29 with me.

Again, the key word find

occurs seven times

in these five verses.

I turn my heart

to know

and to search out

and to seek wisdom

and the scheme of things

and to know

the wickedness of folly

and the foolishness

that is madness.

And I find something

more bitter than death,

the woman whose heart

is snares and nets

and whose hands

are fetters.

He who pleases God

escapes her,

but the sinner

is taken by her.

Behold,

this is what I found,

says the preacher,

while adding one thing

to another

to find the scheme

of things,

which my soul

has sought repeatedly,

but I have not found.

One man among a thousand

I found,

but a woman among all these

I have not found.

See, this alone I found,

that God made man upright,

but they have sought out

many schemes.

It's a lot of back and forth,

right?

I found and I have not found,

I have found,

I have not found.

And the preacher is saying

he explored wisdom

and folly

to try to find

the scheme of things.

The word scheme

means device

or plan

or explanation,

and it comes from the verb

to think

or to account.

This is the preacher's attempt

to make sense of life,

to gain wisdom

that will finally explain

all the mysteries of life.

And then he,

what he finds in the end

is disappointing,

to say the least.

He says in verse 26,

and I find something

more bitter than death,

the woman whose heart

is snares and nets

and whose hands are fetters.

The Bible often personifies

wisdom and folly

as two women.

If you were with us

in our series

through the book of Proverbs,

you have seen this repeatedly.

In chapter 9 of Proverbs,

for example,

he contrasts lady wisdom

with lady folly.

And Proverbs 5

depicts lady folly,

the woman folly,

as a classic literary character,

the femme fatale,

the attractive,

seductive woman

who brings ruin

and destruction

to all who engage with her.

So the preacher

is not here

speaking of all women,

and I don't think

he's even speaking

of a specific individual woman.

I've read some commentators

who said he's talking

about his wife.

I think that's definitely

not true.

I think he's speaking here

of woman folly,

whose heart is snares and nets

and whose hands are fetters.

In his exploration

of wisdom and folly,

the preacher did not find

lady wisdom

from the deep places of God,

wisdom that will explain

all these mysteries

and inequalities in life.

But you know what he did find?

He found lady folly.

She was not hard to find.

And then again,

in verses 27 to 29,

the preacher tells us

what he found.

But ironically,

he didn't find much.

Verses 27 to 29

has a chiastic structure.

Verse 27,

mirrors,

is almost identical

to verse 29.

They both begin with,

behold,

this is what I found.

Or see,

this alone I found.

Both speak of trying

to find out

the scheme of things

or many schemes.

The effect of this structure

is to sandwich

verse 28,

which stands alone

in the middle.

And that device

is intended to highlight,

emphasize what's in the middle,

verse 28.

And this is the point

that he's driving home.

Not that he found something,

but that he actually

didn't find something.

Which my soul

has sought repeatedly,

but I have not found.

One man among a thousand

I found,

but a woman among all these

I have not found.

Many commentators

and critics of the Bible

have pointed to this verse

as an unmistakable example

of misogyny.

That here he's saying

that one in a thousand

you could find

a righteous man

or a wise man,

but zero in a thousand

have I found.

That's how some people

interpret it.

But I beg to differ.

I wrestled with this verse

for a long time,

prayed God to help me

to understand it,

and he brought to mind

an obscure thing

that I learned one day

in a class,

in my Hebrew class

in seminary

that I hadn't thought about

in a long time,

and that's this

Hebrew rhetorical device

called graded

numerical parallelism.

I'm sorry,

that sounds really geeky,

but stick with me

for a little bit.

There are whole journal articles

dedicated to this

rhetorical device.

By using increasing

or decreasing numbers

in parallel poetic fashion,

Hebrew authors create

a sense of escalation

and tension

which serves to

heighten the emotion

and to drive

that progressive point home.

So I'm going to give you

some examples

to prove to you

that I'm not making this up.

Amos 1-2.

God repeatedly uses

graded numerical parallelism

when he speaks

of his judgment

eight times or so

to highlight

the many sins

of the nations.

It says in Amos 1-3,

for three transgressions

of Damascus

and for four

I will not revoke

the punishment.

Is God pronouncing

judgment upon Damascus

because of three sins

or four?

Did God lose count?

No,

the point of it

is that it's not

the exact numbering,

the precise number of it,

but the progression

of it.

Damascus has multiplied

sins,

which is why God

will not relent

in his judgment.

That's the point.

Proverbs 6,

16-19 says this,

there are six things

that the Lord hates,

seven that are

an abomination to him.

Does God hate six things

or seven things?

Once again,

the point is not

the precise number,

but the progression

of it,

the escalation of it,

that the earth

is full of sins

that the Lord despises.

Job 5-19,

Job's friend Eliphaz

says to him,

he will deliver you

from six troubles.

In seven,

no evil shall touch you.

We know that Eliphaz

is wrong to think

that Job was being punished

because of his wickedness,

but this is a good example

of graded numerical parallelism.

He's not saying

that God's only going

to deliver you

from six

or at most seven troubles

and then you're done

with eight.

There's no more.

He's saying,

no,

six,

seven,

more and more,

that God's going

to deliver you

from all troubles

if you're righteous.

That's what he's promising

to his friend Job.

In Ecclesiastes 7-28,

the graded numbers

decrease

rather than increase

because a point

is not

that there are

some upright people,

but that there are none.

The point of the graded

numerical parallelism

is not that the preacher

found somebody,

but that he found nobody.

The number comparison

goes down from one

in a thousand

to zero in a thousand.

Why?

Because that's the direction

of the preacher's

escalating point.

His point is that

it's nearly impossible,

indeed,

outrightly impossible

to find a righteous person

or a wise person.

This isn't meant

to be a contrast

between males

and females.

It's meant to be

parallel comparison,

like all the other examples

of graded numerical parallelism

in the Bible.

He's not talking

about the relative

moral superiority of man,

but lumping men

and women together

to say that

in the totality

of humanity,

none is righteous,

no, not one.

In fact,

that's exactly

what he said

in the preceding verse

in chapter 7,

verse 20.

Surely,

there is not

a righteous man

on earth

who does good

and never sins.

Not a single

righteous man

or woman on earth

who does good

and never sins.

Paul may be paraphrasing

this exact verse

in Romans 3,

10 to 12

when he writes,

none is righteous,

no, not one.

No one does good,

not even one.

So what's,

so finding

an upright person

is like finding

a needle

in a haystack.

You're not gonna find it.

It's like looking

for one in a thousand.

Nay,

zero in a thousand.

We know that

that's the point

that he's making

because he tells us

that that's the point

he's making

in his summary conclusion

in verse 29.

See,

this alone I found.

What did he find?

That God made man upright,

but they have sought out

many schemes.

Man is singular,

but they is plural

because the word man

is not the word for males,

but it's the generic word

for humanity.

And they have sought out

many schemes.

All we,

like have sheep

gone astray,

we have turned everyone

to his own way.

Instead of living

according to God's

will for our lives,

we have all pursued

our own selfish ends.

This is why

our righteousness

will never be enough.

Surely there is not

a righteous man

on earth

who does good

and never sins.

If you think

that you can ensure

a good future

for yourself

or that you can

attain salvation even,

eternal life

and entrance

into the kingdom

of God

on your righteousness,

then you are

gravely mistaken.

Our credentials

are not good enough

to enter the kingdom

of God.

Our righteousness

is not enough

for us to be justified

in the heavenly courtroom.

We need somebody else's

righteousness.

We need

the righteousness

of Christ.

After paraphrasing

Ecclesiastes 7.20

in Romans 3,

he goes on to say this

in verses 21-25,

but now the righteousness

of God

has been manifested

apart from the law,

although the law

and the prophets

bear witness to it.

The righteousness

of God

through faith

in Jesus Christ

for all who believe.

For there is no distinction,

for all have sinned

and fall short

of the glory of God

and are justified

by his grace

as a gift

through the redemption

that is in Christ Jesus,

whom God put forward

as a propitiation

by his blood

to be received

by faith.

We need

the righteousness

of God

through faith

in Jesus Christ.

We need to receive

the righteousness

of God

as a gift

that is the only way

that we can be justified

because on the cross,

Jesus took our place

so that we can take

his place.

He absorbed

the just wrath

of God

so that we can be

recipients of the Lord's

favor and mercy

and pleasure.

Jesus,

who knew no sin,

became sin

for our sake

so that in him

we might become

the righteousness

of God.

That's in the end

how we ensure

good outcome,

ultimate outcome,

salvation,

eternal life,

not your righteousness

or mine,

but the righteousness

of Jesus Christ.

So let's cling

to that alone

as our hope

as we go.

Let me pray.

Let me pray.

Father,

no one is righteous.

No one does good,

not even one.

That is all of us.

So thank you

that you do not

punish us

as our sins deserve,

but in your mercy,

in your great love,

you sent your only son,

Jesus,

as the atoning sacrifice,

our redeemer

and savior.

And we thank you

and we worship you.

Lord,

help us to forsake

all vain attempts

to control

the outcomes

of our lives.

instead help us

to put all our faith

and hope

in the righteousness

of Jesus Christ

for us.

So that clothed

with the righteousness

of Christ,

we might live life

in confidence

with the fear of God

and with joy.

Help us to do that,

God,

in Jesus' name

we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.