1 Who is like the wise? Who knows the explanation of things? A person’s wisdom brightens their face and changes its hard appearance.
Verse 1 begins with Solomon’s refrain of hopelessness. We can’t figure out, from the temporal viewpoint, anything that God has planned for our lives. Not even the wisest can figure it out. So, his temporal viewpoint suggests that human wisdom offers contentment.
2 Obey the king’s command, I say, because you took an oath before God. 3 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. 4 Since a king’s word is supreme, who can say to him, “What are you doing?”
Obeying the king, according to the temporal viewpoint, is interesting. First, king’s in the time of Solomon had absolute power. When they came into power, whatever they said went. Also, once in power, they would gather their people together and the people would declare an oath of loyalty to the king. So, from the temporal standpoint, it’s good to follow the king and his edicts. You shouldn’t get out of there quick, or stand up against the king, or complain about what he is doing. All of this would carry a death sentence.
When we pop out of the temporal view and into the eternal view, we’re struck with the picture of God’s authority. God. like the king, has ultimate authority.
The Lord does whatever pleases him, in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all their depths. Psalm 135:6
The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord. Proverbs 16:33
Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden. Romans 9:18
We see that God holds the ultimate authority. In these verses, we may even look at them with a sense of unfairness. Why does God operate this way?
We have to look at the very idea of authority. Why does authority exist? Let’s go to Romans 13:1-7:
1 Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2 Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. 4 For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience. 6 This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. 7 Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.
In this, we see another reason for unfairness. God’s word tells us not only that he will have authority over us in this life, but we need to submit to it. This seems particularly unfair, given the quality of leaders we sometimes encounter. God says we are to submit even to those bad leaders. Why? Because even the bad ones are put there by God for his purposes. Our opposition to them is an opposition to God itself.
Why would God construct such a system? For two reason: One: we need to understand how to submit. And secondly, we must understand who holds all the power.
The submission to authority is key. If we cannot submit to human authority, then can we truly ever learn to submit to God? Can we ever recognize His power? We sometimes don’t agree with every policy that our government has. Do we agree with all of God’s policies? As Christians, we are to accept the entire word of God. Not just the parts we agree with. This is at the heart of submission. We need to learn to submit to God in total surrender. Our training ground is this world, and it begins with the authority over us.
Whoever obeys his command will come to no harm,and the wise heart will know the proper time and procedure. 6 For there is a proper time and procedure for every matter, though a person may be weighed down by misery.
Under the sun, Solomon states that good will come to those who obey. For those who go along with whatever the king is proposing, they will be seen as loyal followers. In the temporal mindset, this is obvious. Following the king’s criteria is healthy for the followers.
If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good things of the land; 20 but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.” For the mouth of the Lord has spoken. Isaiah 1:19-20
If you listen carefully to what he says and do all that I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and will oppose those who oppose you. Exodus 23:22
The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us. 1 John 3:24
In our day and age, we can equate it with following the law. If we don’t run red lights, speed, or create situations where we are operating outside the law, we won’t get tickets, fines or jail time. This is human wisdom. We stay within the parameters, we will be fine with the authority over us. From the eternal perspective, we see the “good” is not just following the laws of the land, but following God’s law brings a deep -felt good to our lives that involves sustenance, protection and guidance. He also states that there is a proper time and place for all events. For instance, we break a law. In the temporal mindset, the wheel of randomness spun around and landed on us. It was just one of those things that happened. But in the eternal mindset, we see a different picture. We see that these appointed times of conflict are part of a bigger picture, one which the temporal mindset can’t see.
5 This is what the Lord says: “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the Lord. 6 That person will be like a bush in the wastelands; they will not see prosperity when it comes. They will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives. 7 “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. 8 They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” 9 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? Jeremiah 17:5-9
Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7
The big picture is something that eternal-minded people can latch onto. Our struggles, foibles and concerns all play a bigger role in the story of our lives. They aren’t just a random sequence of events, put part of the tapestry God is building over time.
7 Since no one knows the future, who can tell someone else what is to come? 8 As no one has power over the wind to contain it, so[a] no one has power over the time of their death. As no one is discharged in time of war, so wickedness will not release those who practice it.
Here we have a new train of thought. No one knows the future, therefore no one can predict it. This is true from the temporal view. Life is a random series of events and no one can predict randomness. But from the eternal, we can predict the future:
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6
For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:17-18
In these two passages there is a path to the future. Although the specifics aren’t noted, we see two predictions: if we follow God fully, he will make our path straight (improve our life and purify our thoughts to what He desires for us) and He will clarify our path to eternity. The future is eternity with Him. The specifics look different for everyone.
Also, no one has the power over death. In our results-based society, we often miss this. We believe that our actions always affect our outcome. In some cases this may be true. If we have an active life, eat right, abstain from cigarettes, drinking, etc., we will improve our chances of survival. But is this true? Or are even these attempts at improving our chances in vain, because our time is locked in.
For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. 1 Tim 4:8
Paul says there is some value to our physical nature, but the real value is in our spiritual health.
As no one is discharged in time of war, so wickedness will not release those who practice it.
Sin does not easily release us. For those who willingly practice it, it will envelope and destroy them. This is as much as a temporal thought as an eternal one.
If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.” Genesis 4:7
Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. James 1:15
If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left,
Sin can creep in and kill us spiritually. When it jumps from practice to lifestyle, then it has the potential to end us.
All this I saw, as I applied my mind to everything done under the sun. There is a time when a man lords it over others to his own hurt. 10 Then too, I saw the wicked buried—those who used to come and go from the holy place and receive praise[c] in the city where they did this. This too is meaningless. 11 When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, people’s hearts are filled with schemes to do wrong. 12 Although a wicked person who commits a hundred crimes may live a long time, I know that it will go better with those who fear God, who are reverent before him. 13 Yet because the wicked do not fear God, it will not go well with them, and their days will not lengthen like a shadow.
Solomon has a few thoughts that culminate in a larger point. Verse 9 tells us that part of our problem on planet earth is that we are always oppressed by authority.
Verse 10 reveals that we easily forget what bad people do when they are alive. This is true in that when someone passes, we typically remember the good things and forget the damage they may have caused. But this is Solomon’s big point, and it is revealed in verse 11: If we forget about the bad stuff, and there is nothing after this life, then do the wicked go on unpunished? If that’s the case, then righteousness, and wickedness, really have no value. His eternal advice is that it is better to follow God, just in case there is something more.
14 There is something else meaningless that occurs on earth: the righteous who get what the wicked deserve, and the wicked who get what the righteous deserve. This too, I say, is meaningless.
The ideologies of the righteous and the wicked are mangled in this lifetime. So if the wicked get what the righteous deserve and vice versa, then where is the meaning?
15 So I commend the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany them in their toil all the days of the life God has given them under the sun. 16 When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe the labor that is done on earth—people getting no sleep day or night— 17 then I saw all that God has done. No one can comprehend what goes on under the sun. Despite all their efforts to search it out, no one can discover its meaning. Even if the wise claim they know, they cannot really comprehend it.
So what’s Solomon’s advice in the temporal sense? Don’t think about it too hard, eat, drink and enjoy your life. If nothing truly has meaning, then it’s upon you to enjoy what you have and stave off the inevitable as long as possible. Because we can’t figure it out anyway. We worry over these things and they don’t produce any good results. Hard work, seeking and wisdom ultimately add nothing to our understanding and only lead to confusion.
When we see it from the eternal perspective, life is crystal clear:
Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. -Hebrews 10:19-25