Submit to Authority.
 

Ecclesiastes 8

1. Who is like a wise man? And who knows the interpretation of a thing? A man’s wisdom makes his face shine, And the sternness of his face is changed.
2 I say, “Keep the king’s commandment for the sake of your oath to God.
 3 Do not be hasty to go from his presence. Do not take your stand for an evil thing, for he does whatever pleases him.”
4 Where the word of a king is, there is power; And who may say to him, “What are you doing?”
5 He who keeps his command will experience nothing harmful; And a wise man’s heart discerns both time and judgment,
6 Because for every matter there is a time and judgment, Though the misery of man increases greatly.
7 For he does not know what will happen; So who can tell him when it will occur?
8 No one has power over the spirit to retain the spirit, And no one has power in the day of death. There is no release from that war, And wickedness will not deliver those who are given to it.
9 All this I have seen, and applied my heart to every work that is done under the sun: There is a time in which one man rules over another to his own hurt.

10 Then I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from the place of holiness, and they were forgotten in the city where they had so done. This also is vanity. 
11 Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. 
12 Though a sinner does evil a hundred times, and his days are prolonged, yet I surely know that it will be well with those who fear God, who fear before Him. 
13 But it will not be well with the wicked; nor will he prolong his days, which are as a shadow, because he does not fear before God.
14 There is a vanity which occurs on earth, that there are just men to whom it happens according to the work of the wicked; again, there are wicked men to whom it happens according to the work of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity.
15 So I commended enjoyment, because a man has nothing better under the sun than to eat, drink, and be merry; for this will remain with him in his labor all the days of his life which God gives him under the sun.
16 When I applied my heart to know wisdom and to see the business that is done on earth, even though one sees no sleep day or night, 
17 then I saw all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun. For though a man labors to discover it, yet he will not find it; moreover, though a wise man attempts to know it, he will not be able to find it.

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1. Who is like a wise man? And who knows the interpretation of a thing? A man’s wisdom makes his face shine, And the sternness of his face is changed.

This first verse of chapter 8, seems to fit better at the end of chapter 7. For if one finds the wisdom of God in Christ, his life is transformed.

1 Cor 5:17 If any man is in Christ, he is a new creature, old thing are passed away, behold all things become new.

God can take a hard heart of stone and make it a soft heart of flesh.
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2 I say, “Keep the king’s commandment for the sake of your oath to God.
 3 Do not be hasty to go from his presence. Do not take your stand for an evil thing, for he does whatever pleases him.”
4 Where the word of a king is, there is power; And who may say to him, “What are you doing?”
5 He who keeps his command will experience nothing harmful; And a wise man’s heart discerns both time and judgment,

By obeying those in authority, whether the king or a ruler, a leader or a parent, one is obeying the commandment of God.

Romans 13:1-4 "Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God." "Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation." "For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:" "For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to [execute] wrath upon him that doeth evil."

We saw in chapter 7, how it is good to recognise the sovereignty of God and to submit to it.
God has a plan and is working out His purposes, “under the sun”.
We do not know the mind of God in its fullness. We only know what God chooses to reveal to us through His word.
It is He who has set all authority in its place. He can use good kings and evil kings, He can use governments, good or bad, to bring about the fulfilment of His purposes.
We have made an oath to follow God in Christ and we saw earlier in Ecclesiastes how it is better not to make an oath, than to make one and break it.

C.H Spurgeon, puts it like this:
This also makes us reflect on our obedience to God as the Great King. “If he be a King, then it is a solemn hazard to your soul if you come short of the least of his commandments. Remember that one treason makes a traitor; one leak sinks a ship; one fly spoils the whole box of ointment. He that bought us with his blood deserves to be obeyed in all things with all our heart, and mind, and soul, and strength.” End of quote.

Solomon explained in Ecclesiastes 3:1 -8, that there is a time and season for everything under heaven.
All must be fulfilled.

6 Because for every matter there is a time and judgment, Though the misery of man increases greatly.
7 For he does not know what will happen; So who can tell him when it will occur?

Again here the Preacher reminds us that we are not in control and whatever we do know comes by revelation from Him who does know.
The times of men and of kings are in the hands of God. It is God that raises up and it is God that can bring them down.

So it is with the things that happen on the earth. God has revealed certain things through the ages to His prophets, and has finally in these last days spoken through His Son.
 

Heb 1:1  God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, 

Heb 1:2  Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; 

However,  there are things that God chooses to keep to Himself and they will only be revealed in His time.
As we read concerning the return of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Matt 24:36  “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.

All things are in the Fathers hand. No man has power over his own life and no one has any control over the day of his death.

8 No one has power over the spirit to retain the spirit, And no one has power in the day of death. There is no release from that war, And wickedness will not deliver those who are given to it.

9 All this I have seen, and applied my heart to every work that is done under the sun: There is a time in which one man rules over another to his own hurt.
 

Solomon acknowledges that in this life oppression goes on and the oppressor himself suffers loss when he abuses his servant to the point of the servant being of no more use.

One thing is certain though, there is a time for all things and there will be a time for justice and judgement.
The evil that is done “under the earth” will not escape the vengeance of God.
Although the wicked appear to be escaping judgement and for this reason, they continue in it.

According to God word, the righteous will be rewarded and the wicked will receive their just desserts.

10 Then I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from the place of holiness, and they were forgotten in the city where they had so done. This also is vanity. 
11 Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. 
12 Though a sinner does evil a hundred times, and his days are prolonged, yet I surely know that it will be well with those who fear God, who fear before Him. 
13 But it will not be well with the wicked; nor will he prolong his days, which are as a shadow, because he does not fear before God.

Sometimes it seems that the wicked prosper and the just suffer. Sometimes we do see the wicked getting the recompense of their actions. Also we see the righteous being rewarded, but on the whole, it causes most people to wonder, what in the world is going on and this in turn causes the feeling of meaninglessness in this life.

14 There is a vanity which occurs on earth, that there are just men to whom it happens according to the work of the wicked; again, there are wicked men to whom it happens according to the work of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity.

The Preacher realised that man is not in control and it seems that he is at the mercy of fate.
 

15 So I commended enjoyment, because a man has nothing better under the sun than to eat, drink, and be merry; for this will remain with him in his labor all the days of his life which God gives him under the sun.
 

There are many people in the world and in the church that are frustrated at the fact that they cannot discern what is going to happen.
Men and women seek advice for the future, by visiting Mediums and Clairvoyants, with the hope of finding some comfort in this life.
There are self proclaimed prophets in the church who constantly try to determine future events, in particular when the Rapture or the Second coming of Christ will occur.
Every prediction to date has been wrong.
Men want to know the future. This only causes frustration. It keeps men awake at night.
They search and search, with no result.

 16 When I applied my heart to know wisdom and to see the business that is done on earth, even though one sees no sleep day or night, 
17 then I saw all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun. For though a man labors to discover it, yet he will not find it; moreover, though a wise man attempts to know it, he will not be able to find it.

Why is this?
Because God has given us all we need to know this side of eternity.
God reveals the things that can bring us peace “under the sun” and they are found in His Will. The Bible.
God revealed Himself in the person of Jesus Christ and this is the true wisdom that can be known by men through the power of the Holy Spirit.
There are things that man, no matter how long he searches, will never know, because they are hidden in God.
 There are those that seek for answers in philosophy or even in the scriptures, because they think that in them, they can find peace and meaning to life.

Jesus said this to the Pharisees.
John 5:39  Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.
40 And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.
 

True wisdom is found only in the person of Jesus Christ.

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