Waving the Wand...

July 12, 2009

Danielle Joyner Kelley

“Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.” Ecclesiastes 12:13-14.

Ecclesiastes is a book in the Old Testament in the section many refer to as “poetry books”. Many Christians formerly believed it was written by King Solomon, known from the Bible for falling into sin after experiencing great wealth. Whomever the writer, it appears that he has suffered the same fall.

The book discusses the meaning of life, and the truth about humankind. It is a great illustration of how man’s work on Earth for worldly pleasures is usually “meaningless” because a greater fate awaits us all. “This is the evil in everything that happens under the sun: The same destiny overtakes all. The hearts of men, moreover, are full of evil and there is madness in their hearts while they live, and afterward they join the dead.” Ecclesiastes 9:3.

The worldly pleasures we seek with selfish motives are usually sins. We know from the Bible that eating from the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil” was a sin. Genesis 2:16-17. The things we do, while only looking out for ourselves, usually fall into the “evil” category. That applies to a horrible crime we desire to commit and carry out, and to the accumulation of material wealth without giving a thought to those less fortunate.

God is the author of everything good, including justice. From the beginning of time, man fell into sin, and God knew that we would. “There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins.” Ecclesiastes 7:20.

In order to stop sin, the Author of justice could either make everyone stop sinning, or He could hold those who sin accountable. If God stopped all sin, then sin would no longer exist. If there is no tree that is off limits for us to eat from, then all the apples are the same, aren’t they? The apple of life would be equal to the apple of murder. Every behavior would be allowed, but it would not be considered “sin”. Murder, molestation, anger, greed, envy, pride, and jealousy would be acceptable and become the norm. As the author of everything good, including justice, that would be unjust to do, and God cannot be unjust. God cannot sin.

He does not wave a wand to end all sin because we would have to suffer the consequences of horrible behavior becoming the norm. If He could wave that wand with no consequence to us individually, then why did He allow His Son to die in order to take on the sins of mankind?

In turn, evil will exist, but He will hold us accountable. As the Holy and Perfect God that He is, God’s standards are much higher than ours. Yet our standards have something in common. We demand accountability for the most heinous of acts to protect ourselves in society. God demands accountability for sin to protect us as well. If He did not, more of us would fall into sin. “When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, the hearts of the people are filled with schemes to do wrong. Although a wicked man commits a hundred crimes and still lives a long time, I know that it will go better with God-fearing men, who are reverent before God. Yet because the wicked do not fear God, it will not go well with them, and their days will not lengthen like a shadow.” Ecclesiastes 8:11-13. If one child molester gets off on a legal technicality, does it not set legal precedent for future child molesters to use in their own case?

Based on his experience, the writer offers us words of advice that illustrate being held accountable for wrong teaches you what is good. “Better a poor but wise youth than an old but foolish king who no longer knows how to take warning.” Ecclesiastes 4:13; “Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong.” Ecclesiastes 5:1. This raises the question, how do we know what we do is wrong? How does the King who “no longer knows how to take warning” know it is better to be a “poor but wise youth”? Accountability for sin. We know when we see a murderer kill a child that it is wrong. How? Someone else has been held accountable and we were told it was wrong.

In reaction, we see the pain their sin causes and we demand accountability as well, only we demand it at a rapid pace. Knowing sin is so bad, we grow angry at those who seem to never be held accountable for their actions in our timing. The greedy may seem to grow wealthier at first, but the outcome is what matters most. “The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride.” Ecclesiastes 7:8.

The writer tells us, among other things, that he “undertook great projects”, “built houses”, “amassed silver and gold”, and “bought male and female slaves”. Ecclesiastes 2:4-9. And he tells us the truth of what it all amounted to: absolutely nothing. “I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor. Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.” Ecclesiastes 2:10-11.

When we fall into sin, as seen in Ecclesiastes, we may please ourselves for the time being, but all that we have is “meaningless” because the righteous and sinner will face the same Judge, and their afterlife is eternal. Yet, we become angry and impatient that the one so wealthy with no regard for others keeps prospering, and the sinners get away with murder. That is when we have to remember this life is a fraction of our total existence. Our justice seems eluding to some, and too harsh to others. The pain over others sin who seem to elude justice angers us. But you are a fraction of the total existence. The person that caused you pain will feel your hurt a million times over in front of God. He is all or nothing, and that is why it took a death to save us from sin.

Imagine the harshest judgment you have ever witnessed. God will hold everyone accountable in a judgment the likes of which we could never imagine. And as the writer in Ecclesiastes seemed to know as much.

Although we cannot imagine that judgment now, nor comprehend it, we have God’s promise:

Eventually, the future becomes our reality.