Life is Hard, but Judgment's Coming

January 7th, 2022

Life is Hard, but Judgment's Coming

Ecclesiastes 3:16-4:3

16 Moreover, I saw under the sun that in the place of justice, even there was wickedness, and in the place of righteousness, even there was wickedness. 17 I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is a time for every matter and for every work. 18 I said in my heart with regard to the children of man that God is testing them that they may see that they themselves are but beasts. 19 For what happens to the children of man and what happens to the beasts is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and man has no advantage over the beasts, for all is vanity.[b] 20 All go to one place. All are from the dust, and to dust all return. 21 Who knows whether the spirit of man goes upward and the spirit of the beast goes down into the earth? 22 So I saw that there is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his work, for that is his lot. Who can bring him to see what will be after him?

1 Again I saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun. And behold, the tears of the oppressed, and they had no one to comfort them! On the side of their oppressors there was power, and there was no one to comfort them. 2 And I thought the dead who are already dead more fortunate than the living who are still alive. 3 But better than both is he who has not yet been and has not seen the evil deeds that are done under the sun.

Notes from a Fallen World

Ecclesiastes 3:16–4:16 is bound together by the phrase “I see,” repeated six times. Solomon is a field reporter on location in our vain world. He is observing, conducting interviews, taking notes, and then reporting it all back to us. He finds that every aspect of life has been touched by the Fall. He sees some truly terrible things: injustice, oppression, and death. He also sees a lot of “vain,” empty things: people missing the point of life by living for stuff that doesn’t really matter, like money or popularity. Solomon’s field notes from our fallen world can help us. They can keep us from despairing over the darkness and also from wasting our lives “chasing the wind” with the rest of the world. We will look at his three big conclusions over the next three days. First: life’s hard, but judgment’s coming.

Injustice

There’s no getting around it: life is hard. Some things in this world can make us feel downright hopeless—like injustice (3:16). Crooked judges. Corrupt politicians. Cops on the take. Preachers who fleece their flocks. The wicked getting off scot-free because they have money and connections, while the innocent suffer because they don’t. In The Count of Monte Cristo, the jealous friends of Edmund Dantes have him arrested and imprisoned on an island. Year after year, he scratches on the cell wall, “God will give me justice.” But on every anniversary of his arrest, his jailer comes into the cell, beats him, and then locks him back up. Finally, Edmund stops writing. Injustice can grind us down.

Oppression

We can also feel hopeless when we see oppression (4:1–3): abused children, christians persecuted for their faith, sex-trafficking victims. And even if we work to fight oppression, we know that it’s just a drop in the bucket. Solomon says thinking of all the world’s tears makes him wish he’d never been born.

Death

Death can make us feel hopeless, too (3:19–22). Solomon can’t get used to graveyards. He knows that man is capable of rich relationships, profound thoughts, deep feelings, amazing achievements. Yet in the end, he dies! We put his body in a hole, cover him with dirt, and he returns to dust—just like a dog. Something inside him revolts: this is not how it’s supposed to be!

A Man Comin' Around

Solomon isn’t sugarcoating anything! Between injustice, oppression, and death, life is hard! So how do we go on, without giving into hopelessness? “I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is a time for every matter and for every work” (3:17). Solomon’s first conclusion in his field notes is that life is hard…but judgment’s coming. God will not allow sin, Satan, evil, and death to ride roughshod over his good world forever! He sent his Son Jesus into this enemy-occupied territory to restore God’s Kingdom and turn back the curse forever. The only problem is, if Jesus showed up and wiped out all sin and evil at once, we would all go down, too! So Jesus came the first time to receive our judgment at the cross. Then he rose from the dead, and now God has appointed a day when he will judge the world. All will stand before him. The books will be opened. The scales will be balanced. And all that will matter on that day is your relationship to him.

Johnny Cash sang about it:
"There's a man goin' 'round, takin' names /
And he decides who to free and who to blame /
Everybody won't be treated all the same /
There will be a golden ladder reachin' down /
When the Man comes around."

There really is a Man comin’ around to judge the world. Death is approaching for all of us, to teach us to fear him (3:18). Are you right with this Man? Those who are will receive glorious resurrection life: every tear wiped away, death swallowed up forever!

FOR THE NEXT INSTALLMENT, SEE:

Work is Good, but it Ain't Everything