Who's In Charge Here? Series

Ecclesiastes 8: 1- 17

Who Is In Charge Here?

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.

One thing that I observe in others, which I now seem to notice more and more, is that people accept things to easily. One area in particularly which bothers me is that others accept words or statements without really knowing what they mean. In all seriousness, think this question through – what is wisdom? How would you best describe this word?

Wisdom is the ability to see life from God’s perspective and then to know the best course of action to take. It comes from knowing and trusting in God as Proverbs 9 verse ten teaches us, “ 10 “ The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”

We read here that ‘wisdom’ is from fearing our Holy Lord. This word ‘fear’ means to respect and honor our Precious Holy God. – El Shadai.

The book of Ecclesiastes provides instruction in how to live an upright life. Men who have dedicated their lives in studying God’s Holy Word list these Scripture writings as ‘wisdom literature.’

These scholars have arranged these wisdom writings into two categories – proverbial and speculation wisdom books. The first one you can guess which book in the Bible describes. Yes, it is the book of Proverbs. They are short instructive sayings.

Speculation wisdom Scriptures consist of dialogues or monologues. The book of Job is an example of speculation wisdom in the form of a dialogue while the book of Ecclesiastes is an example of a monologue.

So, the next time you are at a social gathering share this information with others and they will be amazed at you knowledge and wisdom. Seriously though, from time to time at the right occasion we all get to grow in our knowledge of biblical terms. That is why when the opportunity presents itself, I will describe for you various theological terms.