Should the evil be punished? Let’s plunge into the Deeper Waters and find out.
Today, we look at Ecclesiastes 8:10-13:
10 Then I saw the wicked buried. They used to go in and out of the holy place and were praised in the city where they had done such things. This also is vanity. 11 Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil. 12 Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and prolongs his life, yet I know that it will be well with those who fear God, because they fear before him. 13 But it will not be well with the wicked, neither will he prolong his days like a shadow, because he does not fear before God.
The first sentence might strike people today as mundane, but it mattered a lot in the ancient world. Burial was a sign of honor. Note in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, that the rich man is buried and yet nothing is said of this for poor Lazarus.
The Teacher also records how they went in and out of the holy place. The wicked usually take the appearance of being good. Of course, saying that is insufficient to show someone is wicked since good people also have the appearance of being good. One needs to have real data that someone is truly being duplicitous in their actions.
Then, the Teacher says that since evil is not punished quickly, men do not fear doing evil. This is something I find troubling in our society that it can take a long time to bring someone to trial in America and often much longer for a sentence. Imagine someone on death row. Normally, we spend years and years before we do anything to them. It is my contention that if justice were quicker, there would be less emphasis to do crime. Many people look and say “If the law takes so long to catch up to me, why not go ahead?”
When we get to the last two verses, things seem contradictory. Do the wicked have their lives prolonged or not? Could it be that the Teacher says what he knows will happen and what he hopes would happen? Entirely possible. The Teacher at times presents enigmas and does not give any solution to them whatsoever. He is one who looks at the world and says “I find this baffling.”
He may not know what the answer is here, but one thing he does know is that it is better to fear God. Consider what that statement means. Even if the wicked do seem to get away with everything. Even if the wicked do seem to have longer lives. Even if the wicked do get honored in the eye of the public despite all the wickedness that they do. Even if we grant all of those things, it is still better to fear God.
When the Teacher says that one thing he knows, it is something we should pay attention to. This is no exception.
In Christ,
Nick Peters
(And I affirm the virgin birth)
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