A Study of the Book of Ecclesiastes:
Finding Satisfaction In Life
Sermon # 6
“Where Is the Justice In That?”
Ecclesiastes 3:16-4:3
We like stories with happy endings. We don’t mind if there is hardship and difficulties in the story but we want the good guy to win in the end. I still remem-ber the first movie in which I saw John Wayne die, I was shocked! John Wayne is not to suppose to die!
Perhaps just as important to us is that we all want life to be fair. As children when someone seemed to be cheating we would say, “That‘s Not Fair!!!” Even as adults we still want people to be fair. It infuriates us when people will not wait their turn. I noticed once when we were in a very long line at the airport in Lima, Peru trying to leave the country that people kept trying to cut in line, apparently it is socially acceptable as long as the person does not make eye contact with you. I don’t know much Spanish but apparently they under-stand when you say in English, “Hey it ain’t gonna happen!”
The truth is that we have a strange relationship with justice. We love justice when someone else wrong us, but when I wrong someone I think that they should just forgive. We want law breakers to be held account-able, but when we get caught speeding we want mercy.
Solomon has explored several areas of life in his search for meaning and purpose in life all that he has been able to demonstrate that all is vanity. He had explored wisdom (1:12-18), wise living (2:12-17), and work (2:18-26). And he had discovered that apart from God none of these have any lasting satisfaction. In the last section he turned his attention to time (3:1-15). And now the problem of injustice seems to be some-thing that caught the eye of Solomon and wanted to know how to resolve it.
First, The Problem of Injustice. (3:16-22)
No doubt we have all seen the depiction of Lady Justice (Justitia the Roman goddess of Justice). Blindfolded she holds a balanced scales in her right hand and a sword in her left hand. The blindfold represents impart-iality, the scales fairness and the sword swift and final judgment. But we all realize that sometimes it does not work that way!
I think we all realize that there are times when innocent people are convicted of crimes they did not commit. They were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time or they were the wrong color in the wrong part of town. But on the other side we also realize that because of some technically other people get away with murder. One of the more frustrating experiences in my life was that was I called upon to serve on a grand jury of a double murder. The frustration was that we as the jury were unable to hear pertinent material because it was deemed inadmissible. The average person follow-ing the case in the news knew more about the case than we on the jury did. And of course we all remember the O.J. Simpson trial when the verdict was read of having the feeling that a man had just got away with murder. It had nothing to do with race and everything to do with justice.
• Injustice in the Courtroom. (v. 16a)
“Moreover I saw under the sun: In the place of judg-ment, Wickedness was there;…”
I believe as American’s we have one of the finest judicial systems in the world (ideally speaking). We organize as a society to try to keep some semblance of peace and justice. That is why we have a laws, a judicial system of courts, judges and prisons. But the problem is that our judicial system is only as good as the people that over see it because it is run by fallen men and women.
This is the problem that Solomon sees, as he looks at the system, instead of justice he sees wickedness. The surprise is not so much that injustice exists, but where it exists – “in the place of justice.” It still makes us cringe when hear that a judge has taken a bribe, or that a lawyer has misrepresented the facts, a witness has lied under oath or that a murderer has got away with it.
“It may well be that the wealthy and the powerful often escape human justice, since they often control it; and it may well be that in such circumstance those who have fewer financial means and less power often fail to attain justice from their fellow human beings. Yet God is the ultimate guarantor of justice and brings it to everyone in the end (Isa 10:1-4, Amos 5:7-13)” [Iain Provan. “Ecclesiastes/Song of Solomon.” NIV Application Commentary. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2001) p. 92]
• Unrighteousness in the Temple. (v. 16b)
“…And in the place of righteousness, Iniquity was there.”
It is still shocking to hear that a prominent pastor has fallen in immorality or the head of some charity has been caught embezzling funds. Even in our immoral world people still expect individuals in such positions to be above such conduct. It was true in Solo-mon’s day and it still true today.
If we find wickedness even in the highest courts in the land and we find unrighteous even in the holiest places where are we to turn for justice and holiness?
• A Time For Judgment. (v. 17)
“I said in my heart, “God shall judge the righteous and the wicked, For there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.”
Solomon takes the spiritual principle that he taught in 3:1, that there is “a time for every matter under heaven” and applies it to injustice. If there is a time for everything then there must be a time for jus-tice: a time when God will right all wrongs. Our confide-ence does not lie with an earthly justice system but with the Chief Justice of the Universe, Jesus Christ. God has promised that there will come a day when His Son will judge the wicked and the righteous at the Day of Judg-ment. The Apostle Paul says, “Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, (31) because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.” (Acts 17:30-31)
The Bible is clear that there will be a final judg-ment at the end of time. But, there is also a judgment at the point of a person’s death. Basically, at that judg-ment people are judged as to whether or not they have saving faith. If a person has saving faith, he is judged to be a Christian and goes to Heaven. If a person does not have saving faith, he is judged not to be a Christian and goes to Hell. And that is where all deceased people stay until the Lord Jesus returns for the final judgment. At the final judgment all people are judged. Believers will be judged and given the degree of their rewards. Unbelievers will be judged and given the degree of their punishments. Now, the reason God waits until all history is wrapped up in order to meet out rewards and punishments is because the consequences of our actions follow long after us—even after our death. I believe that is what John was talking about when he wrote in the book of Revelation, “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from henceforth. Yea, says the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors and their works do follow them.” (Revelation 14:13)
Reflections on Judgment. (vv. 18-22)
“I said in my heart, “Concerning the condition of the sons of men, God tests them, that they may see that they themselves are like animals.”
To some small degree we can empathize with those who hold to evolutionary theory- when they say mankind came from the beasts. It certainly looks like it at times doesn’t it. But that may be an insult to the monkeys. Sometimes mankind acts worse than beasts. Such as when we begin to think of the ethical implications of stem cell harvesting from an aborted fetus, we see that we are a people willing to either end or support the ending of a life in order to lengthen theirs. They have no moral imperative that would stop them. All they have is this life, and since that is all there is, then morality isn’t the issue, survival is.
The physical fate of men and animals is the same. (vv.19-21)
“For what happens to the sons of men also happens to animals; one thing befalls them: as one dies, so dies the other. Surely, they all have one breath; man has no advantage over animals, for all is vanity. (20) All go to one place: all are from the dust, and all return to dust. (21) Who knows the spirit of the sons of men, which goes upward, and the spirit of the animal, which goes down to the earth?”
Some unbelievers point to these verses, and say even the Bible says that when this life is over that’s it. There is nothing waiting for us on the other side. But what Solomon is saying is that humanly speaking at the funeral parlor or at the graveside there is no way to verify that a soul went out, down or up or at anywhere at all! The preacher’s point is that we share two things in common with the animal world, we both have been made by God and we are both going to die.
• Life After Death.
“According to Barna Research, 8 out of 10 people believe in life after death. Another 9% said that they thought there may be some kind of life after death but they weren’t certain… A large majority of Americans (79%) believed that “every person has a soul that will live forever, either in God’s presence or absence.”
But here is the weird thing. 71% of Americans believe that Hell exists but less than one-half of 1% expect to go to hell upon their death. 64% of Americans believe they will go to heaven. And the rest that believe in heaven and hell are honest enough to say that their not sure where they would go…
One of the biggest growing segments in the report recently done different views of afterlife show… that 1 in 5 adults now believe that people are reincarn-ated after death. Why you would want to go through perpetual reincarnation in hopes of getting it right, I don’t know. Sounds more like hell than hope to me.” [David Fairchild. “Justice Departed.” Eccles 3:16-4:3. http://preceptaustin.org/ecclesiastes_commentaries.htm#df]
•Old Testament View of the Afterlife.
It is somewhat difficult to understand how much an Old Testament saint believed about the afterlife. There were after all a lot of things that Old Testament saints did not know. Because God’s revelation has been progressive and not given all at once they did not have the privilege that we as believers do today of a written Old Testament and New Testament. I cannot tell you with 100% of certainty what Old Testament believers believed, I can tell you I believe! I believe that what we know of as Heaven and Hell were a bit different point and they are not yet what they will be in the future.
The Intermediate Hell.
I believe that there is an intermediate Hell. The souls of unbelievers go to Hades and remain there (in an intermediate Hell) until a particular point in the future at the Great White Throne Judgment when Hades gives them up and all its inhabitants are judged and passed into the lake of fire. This judgment is told in Rev 20:13-14, “The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged each one according to his works. (14) Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire…”
Here is what happens, when an unbeliever dies today, their body goes into the grave and their soul and spirit goes to Hades.
The Intermediate Paradise.
Every believer who died before the ascension of Christ went to Paradise. Their position remained unchanged until Jesus ascended to the Father. In the Old Testament when a believer died, their bodies went into the grave and their soul and spirit went to Para-dise. But when Jesus died on the cross, was buried and he rose again, on the day of his ascension something changed.
In Ephesians 4:8-10 we are told, “Therefore He says, ‘When he ascended on high He lead captivity captive And gave gifts to men. (9) Now this, ‘He ascended’ – what does it mean but that He first descended into the lower parts of the earth. (10) He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.” This passage says that Jesus descended into Hades and he lead captivity captive, he emptied Paradise and took all the believing dead with him to the third heaven. There is no longer an intermediate Heaven; Christ took all the Old Testament saints and all those believers to Heaven. Now when a believer dies their body goes into the grave to await the resurrection and their soul and spirit go to be with the Lord in Heaven.
It is difficult to understand precisely what Solo-mon believed about the afterlife, but the revelation of Scripture is clear on these matters
Philippians 1:21-23
“For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. (22) But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell. (23) For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.”
John 11:25
“Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.”
John 14:1-3
“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. (2) In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. (3) And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.”
In verse twenty-two Solomon presents the conclusion that he reaches saying “So I perceived that nothing is better than that a man should rejoice in his own works” or “there is nothing better than a man should enjoy his work.”
Secondly, The Problem of Oppression. (4:1-3)
“Then I returned and considered all the oppression that is done under the sun: And look! The tears of the oppressed, But they have no comforter—On the side of their oppressors there is power, But they have no comforter.”
“In the Bible, oppression involves cheating one’s neighbor of something, defrauding him, and robbing him. It involves making unjust gain, including the profit from interest on loans (Ezek. 22:12,19). It is the abuse of power, financial and otherwise, perpetuated on those who are not so powerful and are indeed vulnerable – the poor, the widows orphans, and strangers (Ezek. 22:7, 29: Amos 4:1, Mic, 2:1-2). Thus it is often asso-ciated with violence and bloodshed in the Old Testa-ment and with the denial of rights and justice (Jer. 22:17, Ezek. 22:6-7, 12, 29).” [Iain Provan. “Ecclesiastes/Song of Solomon.” NIV Application Commentary. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2001) p. 103]
But wait a minute. Let’s think about this for a moment Solomon is the king isn’t he? If he is the king then he should be able to do something to fix this situation, to institutes some reforms. Why isn’t he doing this? We don’t know that he didn’t but whatever he did was not enough.
But this is certainly not something that God is ambivalent about, “Amos the prophet preached against people who ‘oppressed the poor’ and ‘crush the needy’ (Amos 4:1). Ezekiel warned against extortion and stealing from foreigners (Ezekiel 22:12). Zechariah listed the people who were most likely to be oppressed: widows, orphans, travelers and the poor (Zechariah 7:9-10). [Philip Graham Ryken. “Ecclesiastes: Why Everything Matters.” (Wheaton: Crossway, 2010) p. 101]
There is certainly oppression against Christians an estimated 100,000 Christians are being imprisoned and tortured in North Korean. There are 400,000 in North Korea and one in four are in prison camps.
• Better Off Never Being Born (vv. 2-3)
“Therefore I praised the dead who were already dead, More than the living who are still alive.(3) Yet, better than both is he who has never existed, Who has not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.”
Conclusion
If you’re here tonight, and you don’t know Jesus, you’re rolling the dice and guessing. You’re taking a gamble with your eternity and with your soul, and you can’t prove anything because you only have a guess, and you are hoping and wishing it is the way you hope it is.
“Where Is the Justice In That?”
Ecclesiastes 3:16-4:3
First, The Problem of Injustice. (3:16-22)
• Injustice in the Courtroom.
• Unrighteousness in the Temple.
• A Time For Judgment. (v. 17)
• Reflections on Judgment. (vv. 18-22)
The physical fate of men and animals is the same. (vv.19-21)
Old Testament View of Death
New Testament View of Life After Death.(Philippians 1:21-23, John 11:25; 14:1-3)
Secondly, The Problem of Oppression. (4:1-3)
• Better Off Never Being Born (vv. 2-3)
“
