Ecclesiastes Chapter Eight, Seeking The Impossible

 Ecclesiastes 8:16 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.

Paradoxically, when the preacher attests that he applied his heart to know wisdom, he learned that man cannot learn what is done under the sun. In short, he realized that, through wisdom, he cannot know certain things. The sum of what is done under the sun is God’s providence: he says as much when he refers to it as “the work of God.”

In the previous chapter the preacher stated that there are certain matters too far off for him to attain. He referred to these as, “that which is far off and exceedingly deep,” rhetorically inquiring, “who can know it?” Ecclesiastes 7:24. Now through the application of wisdom, he strives to see the business done on earth. The Hebrew term for “business,” is, “inyan,” and means, “employment or travail,” and is derived from the root word, “anah,” which, among other definitions, means, “to be afflicted, to be bowed down, to be humble, to be meek.” The preacher attests that, though men or even wise men seek such answers it eludes them to the point that obsession over finding out drives them to mania and insomnia.

It would seem that the work done under the sun, given by God to mankind, is the kind of work that is meant to humble men. It puts mankind in his proper place, as a creature given a duty by his Creator. Man is not the measure of all things. In fact, God measures man to determine our quality or worth. Daniel, in the days of Belshazzar, warned the arrogant ruler that he had been judged by God. God wrote, among other things, “You have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting,” Daniel 5:27. Why? “You…have not humbled your heart, although you knew all this,” Daniel 5:22. Arrogance led to Babylon’s downfall, and the Medo-Persian empire toppled them that very night.

Man obsesses to know, to gain more. We desire to know the future, as if we can glimpse into the world only God knows. We lord knowledge over others and oppress those we deem weak. God withholds knowledge, wisdom and answers to humble the proud, who believe that through their specious labors they will unlock the mysteries of the universe God has retained for Himself. Now to clarify, man is not judged in a salvific sense by God; He does not weigh our good and our bad to determine our eternal fate. While religion, which is a human invention, would teach people this, it is not Biblical truth. Babylon, represented by the myopic Belshazzar, was deemed unfit for its continuance, and thus God removed the kingdom as a world power. But the individual is saved (or lost) by their relationship (or lack thereof) with Jesus Christ.

The words of the preacher are quite forceful. Formerly, when the preacher commended hedonism, he told his readership that there was nothing better under the sun. Now, when he sees men, even those he recognizes as wise men, seeking truth, he warns that, “he will not find it…a man cannot find out the work.” Of the extent and scope of human wisdom, Paul wrote, “Has God not made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe,” 1 Corinthians 1:20, 21. Man may not know all things; and there are clear boundaries God set up that man may not cross in his ravenous and endless search for answers under the esteem of his own brilliance. But what we may know, and should know, is Jesus Christ. That knowing Him, we may have confidence in Him and have life in His name and the humility to accept that we can’t know, and that is fine. Man does not need to know all things under the sun. Seeking such knowledge is a form of control, derived from human pride, the sin that caused Lucifer to err, even with his genius. Instead of control and absolute knowledge (which no man could hope to attain in a lifetime anyway) God offers His Son. In Christ we have assurance of eternal life, and when we go to Him, there will be no lack of answers, and the absence of pride and sin to taint why we sought them to begin with.

Science advances, medicine advances, the findings of archeology and the study of history continue to bear fruit. The preacher isn’t sounding the call to cease in our pursuit of understanding; after all, God told mankind, “fill the earth and subdue it,” Genesis 1:28. The Hebrew term for “subdue” is actually rather severe. It is, “kabash,” and it means, “to tread down, to conquer, subjugate, violate.” Man was to be God’s steward, bringing the earth into his dominion, employing science and industry so that it may yield its secrets and serve humanity. While very imperfectly done due to the curse of sin, history bears record that we have done just this. But then we go a step further. Instead of just astronomers we also gather astrologers. Rather than priests in the OT, the people sought out mediums. Instead of God’s word, the people looked (and still look) to demons. The unbridled human will is insatiable and shameless. God seeks to bring us into subjection through His Son so that we may properly obey the injunction given to our ancestors with the reverence and temperance it should have been pursued in. To continue onward where God has explicitly stated we cannot tread courts only fruitless, joyless labor and sleepless ponderment with a dearth of genuine answers.