“The Wisdom of God is Beyond Us”
A
Sermon on Ecclesiastes 8:16-9:1
February
9, 2003
by Rev. Stephen C.
Magee
Introduction: Questions of Life and Death Concerning the
Wicked and the Righteous
The passage that we come to this
morning is at the center of Solomon's third and final cycle in the book of
Ecclesiastes. It is bounded on both
sides by passages that address one of the most perplexing issues that we face
as we try to understand the world around us: "The Life and Death of the
Wicked and the Righteous." What
makes this issue so difficult is that we can not have a full understanding of
God's eternal plan of mercy or justice based upon what we observe around us.
I must say that I have found this
third section of the book increasingly difficult to outline as I have traveled
further toward the center of it. There
is some measure of poetic justice in this, since the entire cycle makes the
point that the wisdom of God is unfathomable by his creatures. This includes his preacher creatures like
me. In fact as you look at various
commentaries on this book, you will find no particular consensus concerning the
beginning and ending of the various units that make up this last section of the
book.
Let me take this occasion as we
prepare to examine what I believe to be the central few verses here, to present
for your consideration my effort to outline this part of Ecclesiastes:
Surprising Advice - Four Topics (7:1-18)
Rulers
and Wisdom (7:19-8:8)
The
Life and Death of the Wicked and the Righteous -
Difference
Noted (8:9-15)
The
Wisdom of God is Beyond Us (8:16-9:1)
The
Life and Death of the Wicked and the Righteous -
Similarity
Noted (9:2-6)
Subjects
and the Enjoyment of Life (9:7-10)
Surprising Advice - Four Topics (9:11-12:7)
I bring up this outline at this
time, so that you might consider that the deeper we move into this cycle on
wisdom, the more we are brought to a right humility before God. Remember that the second cycle, the cycle on
work, had the same impact upon us. We
were brought to humble ourselves before God and His perfect eternal work. Now we humble ourselves before God and His
perfect wisdom, which is far beyond us.
J. I. Packer comments on this in his
book Knowing God:
"What the preacher wants to show ... is that the
real basis of wisdom is a frank acknowledgment that this world's course is
enigmatic, that much of what happens is quite inexplicable to us, and that most
occurrences "under the sun" bear no outward sign of a rational, moral
God ordering them at all. ... The truth
is that God in his wisdom, to make and keep us humble and to teach us to walk
by faith, has hidden from us almost everything that we should like to know
about the providential purposes which he is working out in the churches and in
our own lives."
Packer
proceeds to outline some of the specific teachings from Ecclesiastes concerning
how we are to live a righteous life before God without knowing the secret will
of God on so many matters. He then adds
these words.
"This is the way of wisdom. ... what underlies
and sustains it? ... the
conviction that the inscrutable God of providence is the wise and gracious God
of creation and redemption. We can be
sure that the God who made this marvelously complex world order, and who
compassed the great redemption from Egypt, and who later compassed the even
greater redemption from sin and Satan, knows what he is doing, and "doeth
all things well," even if for the moment he hides his hand. We can trust him and rejoice in him, even
when we cannot discern his path."
With those helpful thoughts to guide
us, please stand and hear God's Word this morning.
Ecclesiastes
8:16-9:1
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.
1 For I
considered all this in my heart, so that I could declare it all: that the righteous
and the wise and their works are in the hand of God. People know neither love
nor hatred by anything they see before them.
There is a sense in which the
teaching that we receive in these few verses is not a complete surprise to
us. The author has been preparing us to
reach this conclusion. God is far beyond
us. But there is an extra dimension in
this text that is very worthy of your consideration. Here the author comments on our efforts to
know the unknowable. This is the point
that He concludes: Even if you deny yourself sleep as you search out the
evidence in front of you, even if you are very wise, even if you are very
righteous, you will not be able to understand all the workings of God in the
affairs of men. You will not be able to
make perfect sense of the perplexing problems posed when we consider the life
and death of the righteous and the wicked.
No amount of human effort in the pursuit
of wisdom can enable us to uncover to our understanding all the fullness of the
providence of God.
The Work of God
Verse seventeen refers to "all
the work of God." Let us examine
together the meaning of this phrase. God
is not surprised in any of His works.
Long before the world began, God had an eternal purpose. He has decreed that His eternal purpose will,
in fact, come to pass. He is executing
His decrees through the works of creation and providence. Creation is that work of God, whereby he made
all things out of nothing.
These things, God's decrees, His
creation, His providence, and His special acts of providence that are called
redemption - all these things are a good summary of "all the work of
God." In this text, Solomon, when
he speaks of "the work that is done under the sun," is especially
drawing our attention to God's works of providence. If we can put a finer point on it, bordered
as it is on both sides by passages that speak of how difficult it is to discern
and understand the life and death of the righteous and the wicked, we would
have to say that Solomon is especially speaking of our efforts to understand
the providence of God, and then to make conclusions from this about the electing
decrees of God for particular individuals.
This is what Solomon especially says here, that we will not be able to
get to the bottom of this tough issue through our own powers of observation, no
matter how much effort we put into the endeavor.
Even a Wise and Righteous Man Will Not
be Able to Find It.
We all might have readily supposed
that the fool would not be able to know the secrets of God's eternal
decrees. We also might have been able to
suppose that the wicked man, the man who does not fear God, would not be able
to know God's electing decree. But in
this text Solomon goes further. He says
that even a wise and righteous man will not be able to find out what He may
seek to know about the secret work of God.
I want to illustrate this point with
the story of two people from the New Testament, who were both wise and
righteous. They also happened to be
people to whom God revealed some marvelous things. If we can think about this passage through
the eyes of two righteous people like Simeon and Anna, we will be able to see
the universal truth of Solomon's instruction for us.
We join these two heroes of the
faith in Luke Chapter 2, as Joseph and Mary have brought Jesus to the temple to
make the appropriate sacrifice according to the law of
Moses.
Luke 2:25-38
25 And
behold, there was a man in
29 "Lord,
now You are letting Your servant depart in peace,
According to Your word;
30 For my
eyes have seen Your salvation
31 Which You have prepared before the face of all peoples,
32 A light
to bring revelation to the Gentiles,
And the glory of Your people
33 And
Joseph and His mother marveled at those things which were spoken of Him. 34 Then
Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother, "Behold, this Child is
destined for the fall and rising of many in
36 Now
there was one, Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel,
of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, and had lived with a husband
seven years from her virginity; 37 and this woman was a widow of about eighty-four years,
who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings
and prayers night and day. 38 And coming in that instant she gave thanks to the
Lord, and spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in
These two saints were exemplary in
their devotion to God and in their knowledge.
Simeon was waiting for the coming of the Messiah. By a revelation of the Holy Spirit he came to
know that he would not die before seeing the Messiah. He also was brought to recognize the right
baby as the One who was sent by God to take away our sins. He further knew that the provision of God's
Messiah would mean good news for both Jew and Gentile. Finally, he knew that the salvation brought
through this baby would be through great suffering. This is a lot of knowledge in an age when few
people seemed aware of these important truths.
We also see in this passage that the righteous and patient widow Anna
was able to see this child for who He was, and to state that He was connected
closely to God's works of redemption.
Despite these marvelous revelations
granted to them, they did not have the kind of knowledge that Solomon in this
text says is beyond the scope of men.
They did not have a full understanding of all of the works of God's
providence, only a few important facts that were important, and needed to be
spoken in connection with the visit of Jesus to the temple with Mary and Joseph.
Why?
We can only know what God has chosen to make known to us. The righteous and the wise and their works
are in the hand of God.
Simeon and Anna were chosen for the
parts that each of them played in the great drama of God's redemption of lost sinners
through Jesus Christ. Yet even Simeon
and Anna could not know any details except those which God had chosen to reveal
to them. As Solomon says in our text,
the righteous and the wise and all their works are in the hand of God. He does what He pleases, and we cannot
wrestle out of His omnipotent hand anything that He has chosen to conceal for
our good.
Why then are you wasting your hearts
and your words attempting to discover the secret things of God? No amount of effort will yield the result that
you seem to desire. God does grant us
wisdom - but only about those things that He chooses to reveal to us. He has promised to direct your paths, but He
has directed you to trust Him and to stay near Him.
Much of your seeking after things
that are not to be revealed to you is simply wasted effort - not to mention all
the time that you spend worrying and being afraid about things that He will
choose to make clearer to you at the proper time.
If you are to put away fruitless
requests and efforts for secret information, what are you to do in place of
these things? What should fill your
prayers? What are you to seek? What are you to do? The answer is not a mystery. Do these two things: 1) grow in your
understanding of the revealed will
of God, and 2) put that revealed
will into practice.
Let me draw upon another example
from the New Testament, and read to you the story of Dorcas,
found in Acts 9:
Acts 9:36-43
36 At Joppa
there was a certain disciple named Tabitha, which is
translated Dorcas. This woman was full of good works
and charitable deeds which she did. 37
But it happened in those days that
she became sick and died. When they had washed her, they laid her in an upper
room. 38 And since Lydda was near
Joppa, and the disciples had heard that Peter was there, they sent two men to
him, imploring him not to delay in coming to them. 39 Then
Peter arose and went with them. When he had come, they brought him to the upper
room. And all the widows stood by him weeping, showing the tunics and garments which
Dorcas had made while she was with them. 40 But
Peter put them all out, and knelt down and prayed. And turning to the body he
said, "Tabitha, arise." And she opened her eyes, and when she saw
Peter she sat up. 41 Then he gave her his hand and lifted her up; and when
he had called the saints and widows, he presented her alive. 42 And it
became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed on the Lord. 43 So it
was that he stayed many days in Joppa with Simon, a tanner.
This is the way for us. Dorcas knew the revealed will of God concerning care for
the poor. She gave herself to the Lord
in serving the weak. This is God's will
for you as well. When we begin to focus
on the revealed things rather than the concealed things, the will of God for
our lives is not a mystery. As Paul
writes to the church in Thessalonica, "this is the will of God, your
sanctification" ( 1 Thes.
4:3).
It is God's will that you be holy -
set apart - different from the world around you. It is God's will that you be different
according to the instructions in His Word, that you be people of faith, working
out your faith in surprising acts of love.
I notice that many in our town are
caught up in complaining about the difficult economic times our nation is
facing. From the perspective of the
other nations of the world and of ages of gone by, our complaints are
ludicrous. We are not poor. We are rich.
We are the richest people in the world, living in the richest time in
history. But we are also the most
over-extended people in history, habitually living beyond our means, and
thinking that we deserve more. Despite
our prosperity, we have convinced ourselves that we do not have anything
available in order to share more with others in need.
Why is this? We have been over-extended for some
time. Why do we suddenly feel so poor. For many it is
simply because the stock market has gone down and our investments are not worth
as much as they were last year. This is
our poverty that we feel. Our
investments are not fairing well.
God has revealed some things to us
about this in His Word. It is sin for us
to be habitually spending money that we do not have. God has revealed to us that we are to show a
radical concern for our brothers and sisters in Christ, and to give for the aid
of the poor and the proclamation of His revealed will. We are even to give out of our poverty if we
do happen to be poor. This is what Dorcas did, and she did not need any secret knowledge in
order to do it very well. What she
needed to know was plain. It had been
revealed.
The Will of God in Concealing and
Revealing His Works
What God chooses to reveal to us and
what He has determined to conceal - His concealing and revealing determinations
- are a part of His eternal decree.
Remember that He does everything for His own glory and for the salvation
of the elect. His decision to conceal
something that you think you need to know - even that concealing is for His
glory and for the good of the elect.
Therefore you can have peace on these matters.
The Safety and Peace that Comes from
Resting in Him
Dorcas
rested in Jesus. She was not hampered by
her ignorance concerning when she would die, and when Peter would be used to
bring her back to life. Apparently there
was no good purpose in her knowing those things in advance of their
occurrence. She was called to live (and
die) through them when they actually happened, rather than to know about them
before the moment.
What you can't know by what you can see
The last phrase of the passage adds
one additional insight for us to embrace.
Though you can see prosperity and adversity, you cannot make conclusions
about God's electing decree from your observations of prosperity and adversity. You can not conclude that because the rich
are blessed by God they are elect concerning His
eternal decrees of redemption. Nor can
you surmise the eternal condition of the poor on the basis of your observation
of their poverty.
Some very educated people have made
the very erroneous conclusion that this is what European Calvinism taught. This is not at all the case. Twentieth century sociologist and economist
Max Weber wrought an article on this matter entitled "The Protestant Ethic
and the Spirit of Capitalism." He claimed that Calvinism taught that
business success was a sign of spiritual salvation. This is not a Calvinist doctrine. As our passage states, we can not know the
final story of love or hatred by what we see in this life. And we certainly can not know God's electing
decrees by our observations and analysis of God's great works of providence,
which are themselves so hard for us to interpret and
to understand. As the Lord spoke through
the prophet Isaiah so many years ago:
Isaiah 55:8-9
8 "... My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways," says the LORD.
9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts. (NKJV)
Conclusion: The Christ of Psalm 128
There is much that has been revealed
to us, and it grants the redeemed soul great comfort and inspires us further to
love and good works. The Lord has
purchased the elect as His people. We
are to be His fruitful bride, and we shall be.
We are also called his dear children, and we shall be around the table
of our righteous Head, the Lord Jesus.
He has promised to bless us as the Israel of God - that
Blessed the man that fears Jehovah, and that walketh in His ways.
Thou shalt eat of thy hands'
labor, and be prospered all thy days.
Like a vine with fruit abounding, in thy house thy
wife is found,
And like olive plants thy children, compassing thy
table round.
Lo, on him that fears Jehovah shall this blessedness
attend,
For Jehovah out of
Thou shalt see
Thou shalt see thy
children's children. Unto