"Good for the Wicked" Ecclesiastes 7:15–29

As we open God's word together, let us ask for his blessing.

Heavenly Father, would you be so kind and gracious to us this morning to give us the supernatural ability to hear and understand your word.

!

Amen.

If you do not have a Bible, we have a stack of them at the back welcome table.

You can grab one.

It would help me out a ton if you followed along.

If you have a scripture journal, you can turn to page 28.

28.

I'll open with a story.

There was an archbishop in Uganda in the 70s named Janani Luwam.

And he was the archbishop of Uganda, but also Rwanda in some of the neighboring countries and regions during the time of Idiomin.

Idiomin, if you know some history, was called the Hitler of Africa.

He was a horrendous, horrendous tyrant who took over Uganda in a coup and began a systematic campaign of murder.

It was a horrendous time in Uganda.

And the archbishop spoke early against Idiomin.

Idiomin, he eventually was faced with a moment where either he shrunk back from speaking against Idiomin,

or in speaking against him would surely die.

It kind of reached a level where one more word from this really difficult archbishop, and that would be the end of him.

So what did he do?

He spoke against Idiomin.

He spoke against the murders and the whole regime of disappearing people.

And he was arrested along with two legislators, and then he died.

The story was that he died in the transport to his trial.

It was a car accident.

And when the family received his body, it was riddled with bullets.

Riddled with bullets.

He was 55 years old.

Idiomin, if you know your history, was able to flee.

And he lived out his days in Jeddah in Saudi Arabia,

and died in 2003 in a plush hospital in his mid-70s.

opened up with a question based on the story that's going to really help drive the rest of our time in Ecclesiastes chapter 7.

Ecclesiastes 7 · chapter mention

Why do kind and good people suffer and even die, while wicked and evil people live long and prosper?

Why?

Why?

Do you know the answer to this question?

It's a confusing and disorienting and deeply unjust reality that we see all the time.

We feel the injustice of it.

But we can even extend it to smaller scales, where it's not a tyrant versus an archbishop.

But we could even ask the question, why is it that a good, promising, young woman in her 20s can get cancer?

Terminal cancer.

And yet, a greedy, money-hungry man who is on his maybe fifth or sixth marriage,

who has been a terrible father, a terrible co-worker, can live into his 80s.

Why?

You feel the injustice in this?

The struggle in this?

Are you frustrated with it?

This would have been a very confusing reality, not just for us, but for the Israelites as well,

that the sage was talking to.

Early in their history, God promised the Israelites that if they would keep his commandments,

they would live long and prosper.

Yet, time and again, the history of Israel is that the, not every situation,

but oftentimes the wicked would live long,

and the innocent, or the righteous, or the upright,

those that kept God's commandments, they would die young.

So it's a bit of a conundrum, because, number one, we don't have the answer to that,

and number two, because if God promised that righteousness would result in long life,

is God a liar?

Is he unjust?

Is God a part of the problem?

Is he making promises that he just can't keep?

And then if that's the case, what's the point of acting righteous or wise at all?

Especially if the rewards aren't just meager, but they're actually detrimental to our lives,

to our health, to our being.

See, the sage will try to make sense of this reality,

and he's going to do it grappling with human nature,

motivations for behavior, and the pursuit of knowledge.

And he's going to try to come to the, hopefully, the answer to this conundrum.

Why do the good die young?

Why do the wicked die old?

And he's going to really lean into a bit of an investigation on wisdom and righteousness.

But he will say, and we will find out that there is certainly a place for wise living and right living,

but with a caution.

The sage will teach us that righteousness and wisdom are worthy of embrace.

And these will be our three points that will guide us through our time in Ecclesiastes 7.

The sage will teach us that righteousness and wisdom are worthy of our embrace,

but not a guarantee for our success.

That righteousness and wisdom are a source of strength, but not the means of salvation.

And then finally, righteousness and wisdom can make one wise, but not upright.

So as we consider this section, we will hopefully seek to answer the conundrum of verse 15.

I'm going to be returning to verse 15 often in our time together this morning.

But first, just a bit of a, I don't know, an editorial note, so to speak.

The sage and much of wisdom literature in the Bible see righteousness and wisdom as two sides of the same coin.

Those who are wise will act and think and speak rightly.

And those who are righteous will live wise lives.

So you cannot have one without the other.

So I bring that up just to say I will almost certainly use righteousness and wisdom somewhat interchangeably.

Although they are different, but they have a ton of overlap.

But for our time this morning, we're going to be looking at righteousness and wisdom as kind of like a package deal.

Okay, first point.

Righteousness and wisdom are worthy of our embrace, but not a guarantee for our success.

Let's open to verse 15.

I'll read it together.

We'll read it together.

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.

The disturbing reality is presented here as a fact.

And I think it's easy to say that it's a fact.

That we know what is happening.

We feel this in a very acute way.

The sage has investigated the matter thoroughly and has reached the troubling conclusion that life simply isn't just.

Those who should be declared innocent are jailed.

Okay, those who should be brought to justice have the legal clout, the money to get off scot-free.

Young teenagers, like I mentioned already, are diagnosed with cancer.

While men like Idi Amin enjoy wealth well into their senior years.

I feel very deeply that this is a very uncomfortable reality.

However, I want us to consider that such a statement starts with the assumption that many, perhaps all of us here, hold.

And here's the assumption.

That good things should happen to good people.

And again, more often than not, we see ourselves as part of the good people category.

And therefore, we are deserving of good things.

Seldom do we believe our faults and sins are so severe as to warrant divine justice against us.

Okay?

We want divine justice against other people.

Ultimate justice.

But when we slip up and when we aren't so good, we want to be treated with a bit more understanding, a bit more nuance.

Why do we presume this should be the case?

I think it's an important question to ponder.

The sage will continue on.

Verse 16.

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?

Verse 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 sage here is not approving of lax morals or implying that wisdom is pointless.

Instead, he warns against acting and thinking as if we can influence God to grant us long life.

This form of righteousness is motivated not by the fear of the Lord about doing right for his sake,

but rather it's a self-justifying righteousness, which really isn't a righteousness at all.

This is a heart that believes that we deserve all goodness and no consequence.

One that believes that we deserve a long life and goodness.

And friends, this type of self-righteousness, it blinds us to our own sinfulness.

Conversely, the sage tells us not to intentionally engage in wickedness.

To not say, well there's no point in being good or exercising wisdom,

so I'm just going to live the way I want to live.

And if it's wicked, so be it.

He is saying if someone knows something is wrong, they should not do it.

Willful sinning is completely not okay.

The idea that we can let our desires control us

because there will be no punishment for our actions

as if the wicked can escape the wrongdoings.

It's flawed thinking.

We'll get to why it's flawed a bit later on,

but it is flawed thinking.

So we see neither our self-righteousness on one hand

nor our self-gratifying indulgence

will guarantee us even one more hour

or ensure that our days are both comfortable and bountiful.

The sage is saying, listen, both ends here,

both extremes, self-righteousness,

self-indulgence,

they are not the way to go.

Instead, what does he say?

Verse 18,

It is good that you should not take hold of this,

that is self-righteousness,

and from that, which is self-gratification,

and from that withhold not your hand,

for the one who, and here it is,

fears God shall come out from both of them.

Instead, he says this,

entrust yourself to the Lord

and obey him.

Don't engage in evil.

Try your best to be a wise, righteous person

for God's glory.

And that's great.

It's a really important bit,

but see, what it does is

it doesn't answer the conundrum of verse 15.

Why do the good die young?

Why do the evil have prolonged life?

So although the conundrum persists,

we begin to see that the answer lies somewhere

with the Lord

and entrusting ourselves to him.

So, earthly wisdom has a place

and a prominent one at that.

And we'll see this especially in our second point.

But again, we will see that righteousness and wisdom

cannot be seen as a way to answer or transcend

this conundrum of verse 15.

So, the second point,

that righteousness and wisdom

are a source of strength,

but not a means of salvation.

Look with me at verses 19 and following.

We'll just read verse 19 for now.

Wisdom gives strength.

So it has great benefit.

Wisdom gives strength to the wise man.

More than ten rulers who are in a city.

Whether or not wise living leads to a long life,

it does not diminish the effectiveness of wisdom.

Wisdom still has a purpose.

It is still good.

It provides great benefits.

In fact,

it gives significant strength to the righteous.

Wise living has the power to prevent calamity.

You're going to have ten strong rulers.

Fantastic.

But the wise person knows when to sheath the sword.

Okay?

The wise person also knows when to take the sword out

and engage in battle.

The wise person knows when to win an argument

and when to hold one's tongue.

Ultimately, the wise person is far more valuable

than ten mighty rulers.

Why?

Because the wise person has in mind

the flourishing of society.

That people ought to not be subject under tyranny.

That life is better than death.

And yet,

wisdom in this context

isn't this absolute savior.

Look with me at verse 20.

Surely there is not a righteous man on earth

who does good and never sins.

No one is perfectly wise.

So wisdom has a place,

but the wise man isn't ultimately wise.

There's no perfectly wise person

always making the right decisions,

saying the right things,

thinking the right thoughts.

There has never been anyone like that.

It's not just that there isn't a perfectly wise person,

but every person is unrighteous to some degree.

No one who has ever,

no one who has never told a lie.

There's never been somebody

who has not cheated on a test

or fudged the charitable givings line

on TurboTax.

You know, we chuckle,

I chuckle at that a little bit,

but these are things that

that are easily done,

but just prove our unrighteousness,

our lack of wisdom.

There has never not been somebody

who gossiped behind their brother's back

or lusted after an image or a video

or fantasized about a co-worker

or obsessed over money

or performed charity

with a self-serving motive.

There is not one who is perfectly wise

or perfectly righteous.

The list could go on.

But it is not that one is perfect,

but that such imperfection

is problematic on a cosmic scale.

It's not just that we make mistakes

like everybody else,

but that our mistakes,

our sin,

our unrighteousness,

our lack of wisdom

is a problem cosmically.

The Apostle Paul in Romans 3,

Romans 3:23

verse 23,

he says,

all have sinned,

okay, we've established that,

and connected to it,

all have sinned

and fallen short of the glory of God.

Our unrighteous acts,

our sin,

it says in Scripture

that they are an offense to God

for they contravene

his good and beautiful design

for us and the rest of creation.

So you see

that our problem

is never just limited to us.

It has ripple effects

all the way to a cosmic scale

whereby we are sinning

against the glory of God.

And this takes us back

to the assumption of verse 15,

the assumption that says

that good people deserve good things.

It seems that the question

should not be

why do bad things happen

to good people

or why do not,

why is it that good people

don't receive good things?

Rather,

the better question

to ask is

why do good things happen

to anyone at all

considering there is no one

who is truly good?

If we are sinning

that affects

kind of ripple,

it has this ripple effect

all the way up to God,

why are we deserving

of anything?

We might be

tempted to solve

this apparent problem

through our own ingenuity

and attempts

at behavior modification.

We're going to try harder.

Let's just avoid mistakes.

All good things,

by the way.

Or maybe we

take measures

to lessen

the impact

of our imperfection.

One of the things

that we like to do

in the West

is legislate

our problems away.

And there is

a fantastic,

important place

for good legislation.

But the best

we can do

as a society

is

create legislation

that prohibits

something

but can't

compel goodness.

So an example,

you can't make

a law

that forces

people

to pick up

every piece

of trash

they see

and put it

in the waste bin.

But you can make

a law

and it could be

kept reasonably

that you shouldn't

litter.

Whether or not

people listen to it

is besides the point.

But we can't

force people

to be better.

We can't.

The best we can do

is mitigate

problems.

And why is that?

Because the core

of the issue

is not primarily

with our actions

but with our hearts.

They are inclined

towards evil.

They are inclined

towards sin.

And the sage

he captures

this perfectly

in the next two verses.

Look with me

at verses 21

and 22.

Do not take

to heart

all the things

that people say

lest you hear

your servant

cursing you.

Verse 22.

Your heart knows

that many times

you yourself

have cursed others.

Again,

we are deeply

convinced that

the true wrongs

are out there

and done against us.

But we deceive

ourselves into believing

we are immune

to sin.

However,

we know on a very

fundamental level

that we have wronged

just as we have

wronged others.

So,

the sage,

now we're halfway

through this section,

the sage

is beginning

to help us

see a more

full-orbed

understanding

of human nature.

And it's

not a great

outlook.

And hopefully,

we start

developing this

answer to the

conundrum

of verse 15.

And we start

to see a bit

of the answer

here.

No one is

truly righteous.

So to say,

again,

in verse 15,

there is a

righteous man

who perishes

in his righteousness,

we've actually

come to find out

that nobody's

truly righteous.

Nobody can claim

absolute righteousness.

Everyone harbors

some kind of

wickedness.

And as a result,

no one can

genuinely claim

God's blessing

as an expectation

or a right.

Very,

very important.

However,

we still lack

a clear answer

to the second

puzzling question

in verse 15.

Why do wicked,

why do the wicked

often prosper

while the good

endure suffering?

So why do the wicked

prosper?

Again,

it's very perplexing

to us.

And it's helpful,

at least for me,

to know that the sage,

who is this incredibly

wise,

divinely inspired

writer,

it is perplexing

to him as well.

Look with me

at verses 23 and 24.

All this,

and all this,

by the way,

is this kind of

grammatical,

biblical phrase

that points backwards

and forwards.

So everything that I just

said,

everything that I'm

going to say,

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?

He dug deep,

deep.

His investigation

was thorough,

only to realize

that he couldn't

reach the bottom

of the matter.

And we are beginning

to see that this

might be

divinely classified

information.

We get what appears

to be a snippet

of an answer,

but never a complete

one.

And this is the

difficulty with

seeking wisdom.

And here's the

difficulty with it.

As you get

more wise,

you realize

that you can

understand deep

things in a

very shallow

way.

And this can be

a frustrating

thing because

you understand

it in part,

but there's

so much more

that you realize

that you don't

know.

A 4th century

bishop,

Gregory of

Nazianzus,

he was the

bishop of

Constantinople,

he said this

of this section

here,

and this

pursuit of

wisdom.

Quote,

For the joy

of what we

have discovered

is no greater

than the pain

of what escapes

us.

A pain I

imagine like

that felt by

those who are

dragged while yet

thirsty from the

water,

or are unable

to retain what

they think they

hold,

and I like this

one,

or are suddenly

left in the

dark by a

flash of

lightning.

Therefore,

there is a

significant irony

in using

earthly wisdom.

Again,

if you've been

tracking with us

with Ecclesiastes,

earthly wisdom,

you could say

wisdom under

the sun,

this idea that

this earthly

life is finite

and it's under

the sun,

there is a

significant irony

in using

earthly wisdom

under the sun

to understand

the divine

and transcending

God who is

above it.

What results

is the

realization of

just how

much you

and I

don't know.

And still,

funny enough,

this is a

form of

wisdom

because true

wisdom

will ultimately

help us to

be humble

people

and help us

to recognize

how finite

we are.

True wisdom

understands

limits

and helps

us to look

upward,

not inward.

It helps us

to understand

the truth of

Isaiah 55

Isaiah 55:9

verse 9.

Isaiah says

this,

speaking,

actually the

Lord says this

through Isaiah.

For as the

heavens are

higher than

the earth,

so are my

ways higher

than your

ways,

my thoughts

higher than

your thoughts.

And what a

fantastic revelation

for the sage

and for us

this morning.

He is coming

to understand,

we are coming

to understand

that God

is worthy

of fear

and praise

because he

is entirely

infinite

and we

cannot hope

to comprehend

him fully.

But what

about the

question of

evil people

prospering?

Okay?

So there's

certain things

we can't

understand

and we

have kind

of answered

one part

of the

conundrum

of verse 15

but if we

haven't answered

both parts

then we haven't

answered it

at all.

So what

is the sage

to do?

He doesn't

give up his

search,

he continues

on and this

leads us

to our

third point

where righteousness

and wisdom

it can make

one wise

but not

upright.

Look with me

at verse 25.

I turn

my heart

to know

and to

search out

and to

seek wisdom

in the

scheme of

things

and to

know the

wickedness

of folly

and the

foolishness

that is

madness.

The sage

dedicates

himself fully

to understanding

and these

are key

words here

that help

us to

tie in

this last

section

and also

the section

above it.

He gives

himself to

understanding

exploring

and seeking

wisdom

and the

reasons

behind why

life is

the way

it is.

He has

examined

wisdom,

he has

sought it

out

in some

great detail

but not

fully.

Now he

turns his

attention

to the

wickedness

and foolish.

Maybe

there's some

answers there.

And now

we turn

to verse

26

to the

end of

this section.

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.

I've

throughout

this time

in Ecclesiastes

I mean I

use commentaries

to help me

because there's

like way

smarter people

that I need

help from

and I've

used three

commentaries

some weeks

I've used

four.

This week

I looked

at I think

five.

And in

every commentary

there's

almost

unanimity

in saying

that this

section

verses

15 to

29

and especially

this section

we're in now

26 to 29

is quite

possibly the

hardest section

to understand

in Ecclesiastes.

therefore there's

a great temptation

for Bible

commentators

and preachers

to skip

this or

allegorize it

excessively

or even

defend God

from accusations

of being

a misogynist

by condemning

the sage.

But let's

take a few

minutes to walk

towards this

uncomfortable

passage.

Throughout this

section we have

seen the destructive

effects of

self-righteousness

and self-indulgence

or wickedness

on relationships.

The super-righteous

the self-righteous

person

ostracizes

others.

Again if you

go to

verse 16

and 17

especially

verse 16

be not overly

righteous and do

not make yourself

too wise.

Why should you

destroy yourself?

Again in the

context of

Ecclesiastes

and in here

how does one

destroy themselves?

Well I think

a big part of it

of course is to

be separated

from the Lord

but it's to

see these

wonderful

God-given

blessings of

relationships

start to

break down.

And it

doesn't take

a Bible

scholar to

understand that

a self-righteous

friend quickly

becomes not a

great friend.

A self-righteous

brother or

sister is not

really the

greatest brother

or sister.

brother.

Likewise

we see

that

slander

and cursing

are common

among both

the poor

and the rich

and the

heart

is very

hypocritical

condemning

others but

giving ourself

the get-out-of-jail

free card.

All of this

is relational

breakdown

and this

section is

in that vein.

There is no

greater relational

breakdown caused

by sin than

between a man

and a woman

in relationship.

When marriages

break apart.

When couples

grow distant.

The woman

described here

is one

who has no

regard for the

consequences of

her actions.

She might be

a wife.

She might be

somebody else.

But her

actions

they are

self-seeking.

She desires

only one

thing and

has no

respect for

the fear

of the

Lord.

Who cares

if it

destroys a

family?

She lacks

integrity

and honor.

The relationship

with her

is so

damaging

that the

sage suggests

death may

be a

less bitter

fate.

And we

do ourselves

no favors

by glossing

over a

text like

this.

There are

women

that exist

like this.

However,

there is

also a

man who

does not

fear God,

who engages

in wickedness

and pursues

this kind

of woman.

He is

just as

responsible

for going

to places

he should

not go

as she

is.

He is

neither

wise nor

is he

loyal.

He does

not want

the burdens

of manhood,

the responsibilities

of being a

man.

He's still

a boy.

He is

neither

hard-working

nor self-controlled.

His aim

is not to

heal or

to protect

or to

bless,

but to

exploit a

woman to

satisfy his

desire,

his lust.

He lacks

integrity and

honor.

Such an

attitude is

more bitter

than death.

It takes

two to

tango,

okay?

It really

does.

The sage's

commentary does

not come

across,

therefore,

more as

a woman

hater.

Instead,

it reflects

that of

a man

who has

probably

learned the

hard way

if he

has learned

at all.

I'll just

take a

pause here.

I have

resisted

and I've

fielded

some

questions from

people as

to why I

have not

referred to

the preacher

or the

sage as

Solomon

throughout

our time

in

Ecclesiastes.

Ecclesiastes.

And I

think one

of the

reasons I've

chosen to

do this is

because there's

a bit of a

temptation,

at least for

myself,

to interpret

too much of

Solomon's

biography

throughout the

text rather

than letting

the text speak

the way it

is.

Fantastic,

brilliant scholars

have chosen to

just assume

that Solomon

had written

every word of

it and that's

totally fine.

I bring this

up not to

debate the

authorship of

Ecclesiastes.

I will just

say I want

to concede

that if

Solomon did

in fact

author Ecclesiastes

or part of

Ecclesiastes

then I think

we have his

words here.

You see

Solomon,

the wisest

man on

earth who

enjoyed all

that life

had to

offer,

turned out

to be quite

wicked in

the end.

He exploited

hundreds,

hundreds,

he exploited

hundreds of

women to

satisfy his

lust and

to be a

show of

his power,

neglecting his

own kingdom

and becoming

a polytheist.

He was a

wicked man

who thrived

and lived

a relatively

long life.

Perhaps

there is

something in

thinking about

Solomon that

helps us to

understand the

second part of

the conundrum

in verse 15.

The wicked

man who

lives long

is not

necessarily the

one who is

the fortunate

one.

for long

life is only

a blessing

if it is

a righteous

life,

not a wicked

one.

You know,

Idiomin

dies

pancreatic

cancer.

Uganda

refused,

the government

at the time

refused to

repatriate

him

and kind

of wipe

his slate

clean.

They said,

if you're

going to

come back,

we're going

to try

you and

hang you.

and he

died,

not

exactly in

the best

spot.

I think

the sage

is saying

that Idiomin,

he might

have lived

long as

a wicked

man,

but he

didn't

live a

fortunate

life.

A long

wicked life

is still

a wicked

one.

Returning

to verse

26,

while we

shouldn't

immediately

seek to

allegorize

the challenging

passage,

which we

didn't

just now,

we should

remember

that we

can

allegorize

it.

And that

would be

an important

thing for

us to

do.

And the

reason is

common in

wisdom literature

is this

depiction of

wickedness as

an evil and

deceitful woman.

By the way,

it also

allegorizes

wisdom as

a woman as

well.

So,

going back to

Proverbs,

we see,

especially in

chapter 7 of

Proverbs,

lady folly

or dame

folly,

as the

one who

resembles

this woman

in Ecclesiastes.

Therefore,

it's fitting to

say that the

sage, or in

this case,

if it is

Solomon,

is also

describing

wickedness in

a general

sense.

Flee from

wickedness.

The wise

person

would flee

from her.

The one

that seeks

to serve the

Lord would

flee from

her,

would flee

from wickedness.

In fact,

this kind of

wickedness is

so widespread

that he

finds that

no one,

again,

remember,

verse 20,

no one is

righteous and

concludes the

most definitive

answer to

the conundrum

of verse 15.

We see it

in verse 29.

If you turn

with me to

verse 29.

See,

this alone

I found,

that God

made upright,

but they

have sought

out many

schemes.

in the end,

God's not

responsible for

the injustice

of the world.

We are.

He made

everything

wonderful and

beautiful and

good.

The first

word that

came out of

his mouth in

creation after

he made

everything in

Genesis 1 and

2 was good,

was good,

was good,

was good,

was good.

He gets to

mankind.

What does he

say?

It was very

good.

That was the

first words he

spoke over us.

It was very

good.

And yet,

the sage

helps us to

see that

that's not

the case

anymore.

God made

man upright,

but we

schemed against

him.

It turns out

the fall in

Genesis chapter

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

3 was in

fact quite

real,

and its

effects are

incredibly

widespread,

and it

touches every

man,

woman,

and child.

The fall

is indeed

our fault,

but friends,

it is not

our fate.

I'll wrap it

up with this.

verse 20

is completely

spot on.

So too is

verse 29.

There is no

one righteous,

no one can

save themselves,

no one is

upright,

not even

one in a

thousand,

which is to

say that

nobody is

upright.

But there

was one

who was

completely

upright.

There was

one who

was fully

wise.

There was

one who

was perfect

in his

devotion and

love to the

Lord, and

yet even

he died

young.

Whether

Jesus died

at 30 or

33, the

fact is he

did not die

at 60 or

70 or

80.

He died a

young man.

And although

his death was

completely unjust,

it was not

without purpose.

The Lord gave

his only begotten

son to take

upon himself

human flesh in

the person of

Jesus, to

live under

the sun, to

die under

the sun, so

that we

could be

freed from

the cycle

of injustice

and

unrighteousness

forever.

That our

fate is not

to live

this vain

life under

the sun and

then cease

to exist, to

die, whether

young or

old, but

then be

nothing, to

fade into

obscurity.

Instead, the

promise is

that he will

one day make

all upright.

He will

make us

righteous by

clothing us in

his righteousness.

So the good

news is, we

need to be

righteous, we

need to be

wise, we

need to be

perfect in

order to

somehow transcend

this life under

the sun.

Jesus comes, not

just to show us

some, to give us

some tips and

tricks on how to

make that happen,

but to live and

to die and to

rise again and

then if we put

our faith in

him, clothe us

in his

righteousness so

that we would

have a fighting

chance, and not

just a fighting

chance, but a

guarantee that we

can transcend this

vain life under

the sun.

I'll read a

few dynamite

passages from

the Bible that

speak to this.

Isaiah 61,

Isaiah 61:10

verse 10,

Galatians 3,

Galatians 3:27

verse 27,

for as many as

you were baptized

into Christ, have

put on Christ.

And then

finally, Romans

Romans 13:14

chapter 13,

verse 14,

but put on the

Lord Jesus Christ

and make no

provision for the

flesh to gratify

its desires.

Really, the

biggest revelation

from all this,

hopefully we've

come to a

decent, solid

handle on the

conundrum of

verse 15, but

really the biggest

revelation that the

sage reveals in

this passage is

that an all

powerful, perfectly

good, and all

knowing God would

give a gift to

unworthy people.

And not just a

gift, but his

own son.

He doesn't just

give us a few

extra years, a

few extra decades,

a few nicer

things, you

know, excellent

relationships.

Whether those

things happen or

not, they're

gifts from God.

It's his

prerogative to

give or to not

give.

But the real

gift he gives

is his son.

And because we

are clothed with

Christ's righteousness

through faith, and

because he rose from

the dead, we can be

confident that this

vain life will not

be vain for much

longer.

And in fact, the

beauty and the

goodness of the

life to come begins

in this life.

So although we

experience the

difficulty of this

life, we start to

live out this

heavenly reality

now.

It's also a

promise that

ultimately, wickedness

will not prosper,

even if it does

here on earth.

Idiomin will

answer for his

evils.

And praise God

that he will.

And Bishop

Luom, because

of Christ, did

not die in

vain.

Praise God for

that.

Therefore, righteousness

and wisdom in the

fear of the Lord,

they are not foolish

endeavors.

Fleeing wickedness

and sin is not a

recipe for a

short life and a

drab life, but

rather this is the

greatest way that we

could live.

This is the promise

of Christ for all who

would trust in him.

Amen.

Let us pray.

Father in heaven, we

thank you for, well

first, Lord, we thank

you for the sage.

And if it is indeed

Solomon who wrote

this section or the

entire book, Lord, we

thank you for his

humble honesty at the

reality of human

nature.

Lord, we also

thank you for the

example of the

martyr Bishop

Luom.

Lord, help us if we

ever find ourselves in

a time of decision

making where we

choose to stand up

for you or to

crumble under the

temptation of

apostasy, Lord, that

we would choose the

former.

And Lord, we pray that

you would help us to

walk in the fear of

you, that we would

not try to self-justify

ourselves or give

ourselves over to

self-indulgence, but

entrust ourselves to

your son.

And Lord, help us by

faith, trust that he

has clothed us in his

righteousness.

To God alone be the

glory.

Amen.

Amen.

Thank you.