Ecclesiastes Chapter Eight, When The Wicked Lead

Ecclesiastes 8:9 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 (alt. praised) in the city where they had so done. This also is vanity.

To get a little better grasp of verse 9, we will quote from several other translations. The ESV renders the latter portion of the verse, “when man had power over man to his hurt.” The NIV translates the passage, “There is a time when man lords it over others to his own hurt.” The RSV is similar in tone to the NIV, though not word for word. The HCSB renders the passage, “at a time when one man has authority over another to his harm.” Finally, the Tanakh treats that portion of the verse thus, “while men still had authority over men to treat them unjustly.”

The idea here then is once more oppression of the weak by those considered strong, or with power. In this instance once again, power means authority, not actual strength. Life under the sun is an indiscriminate picture of constant discrimination. When man gains power, often he utilizes it for selfish ends. We all want to advance ourselves. We want to be recognized as unique, special, strong, capable, intelligent, independent, worthy of being followed and admired. When a man is vainglorious and comes into power, oppression ensues. The preacher witnessed this under the sun. While there is time, and while men still hold power and use it contrarily to God’s purposes, this imbalance will continue without fail or end.

The preacher set his heart to every work done under the sun. To apply means to give one’s full attention to a task. The preacher’s heart or mind (depending on the translation) is wholly given to every work done under the sun, which the preacher testifies he personally bore witness to. The result of his exhaustive investigation and introspection is that oppression dominates men, and the ruling class lords over those they deem lesser, to their hurt.

Verse 10 encapsulates something akin to the bit of history Jesus told concerning the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31. The rich man was finely clothed, well fed, came from a large household, and was undoubtedly well thought of by his peers. Beggars the likes of Lazarus sat at his gates, waiting for handouts. The ultimate fate of the rich man, of course, was death and burial: it was the singular monument and enduring testimony to his entire life, enshrined in eight brief words, “The rich man also died and was buried,” Luke 16:22. Asaph, when speaking of the death of the wicked, wrote, “For there are no pangs in their death, but their strength is firm,” Psalm 73:4.

The preacher observes several things about this person. He observed (or even attended) their funeral. He knew that this person had come and gone from the holy place, a reference to the temple, offering sacrifices as the Law prescribes. But like the blemished offerings in Malachi’s time, the offering was made with abominable intent. “The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination; how much more when he brings it with wicked intent!” Proverbs 21:27. God’s response to this is, “For what purpose to Me comes frankincense from Sheba, and sweet cane from a far country? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices sweet to Me,” Jeremiah 6:20. Jesus our Lord put it thus, “I desire mercy and not sacrifice,” Matthew 9:13, see also Hosea 6:6. When a penitent heart offers sacrifice, it is acceptable, because of the spirit in which the sacrifice is offered. That was the vital difference. Sacrifice wasn’t used to substitute for a lack of personal holiness. It wasn’t an eraser to undo one’s wrongs and reset the account tp begin again. The offering was meant as a reflection of the worshiper’s heart; it was the symbol of the worshiper submitting to God’s will and approaching with reverence and humility. The offering was a foreshadowing of the death Christ would die for Adam’s race. How the worshiper treated it revealed the inner thoughts of their view of holiness, redemption, and judgment.

Finally, the preacher observed that the individual was forgotten in the city they hailed from. The testimony of a squandered life where wickedness reigned and prevailed over wisdom and obedience was put out of mind. The preacher gives an exasperated caution that such thinking is vanity, to muse so little about the fate of evil men, and how their own wickedness did not deliver them from death and judgment, Ecclesiastes 8:8. Worse, if the alternative rendering is accepted, the person was not just forgotten, but celebrated. The Psalmist wrote, “The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God,” Psalm 14:1. If genuine wisdom and knowledge begins with the fear of God, then foolishness has its genesis when man refuses to acknowledge the obvious. The wicked are emboldened when God does not rend the heavens to punish; they find silence to be a tacit approval of their conduct. Too many fail to realize that God’s “silence,” as it were, is His mercy. He wants us to be saved from the penalty of our sins. That is why Christ came. 

But this person was praised amongst his peers for his bold lifestyle. We are warned that a little leaven leavens the whole lump, 1 Corinthians 5:6, Galatians 5:9. One man’s pioneering journey into sin becomes the next generation’s normative behavior. Especially if that person was well spoken of or regarded by the society he was a part of. He is forming a new mold of what is acceptable, and stretching boundaries. But we are warned not to move the boundaries that are already set, Deuteronomy 19:14. Solomon writes, “Do not remove the ancient landmark which your fathers have set,” Proverbs 22:28. Going beyond the practical and immediate application for Israel, the idea is that moral and ethical conduct found suitable for societal normalcy and safety should remain in the bounds initially set. Man did not erect these bounds; God did. The wicked who pretend to worship while being celebrated for their deviant ideologies are not revolutionary. They are rebels in a land where the law is already firmly established. Their death should be a cautionary note, not something to be forgotten, or their lifestyle praised.