A Vanity Upon the Earth - Ecclesiastes 8:14

In the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon said, “it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong his days, which are as a shadow; because he fears not before God”, and in chapter eight and verse fourteen of his book Solomon said, “there is a vanity which is done upon the earth” where we read,

There is a vanity which is done upon the earth; that there be just men, unto whom it happens according to the work of the wicked; again, there be wicked men, to whom it happens according to the work of the righteous: I said that this also is vanity.

The verse reads, “There is a vanity which is done upon the earth; that there be just men, unto whom it happens according to the work of the wicked;” Solomon began with the words, “there is a vanity” or “there exists a vapor, breath and transitory dissatisfaction” “which is done” which means “that is fashioned, accomplished, made, produced and performed” “upon the earth” or “on the land, country, territory, district, region and world”; “that there be just men” which means “that there exists lawful, righteous and correct men, people both male and female”, “unto whom it happens” or “toward the person that the following approaches and occurs” “according to the work” which means “in keeping with the deed, labor, business and acts” “of the wicked” or “belonging to people who are criminal, guilty of sin and hostile to God”. Solomon said there existed a transitory dissatisfaction that happens in the world which includes righteous people receiving the same consequences for their acts as evil people. 

 

The verse goes on to say, “again, there be wicked men, to whom it happens according to the work of the righteous: I said that this also is vanity.” Solomon continued with the words, “again, there be wicked men” or “another time or on the other hand, there exists wrong, criminal, guilty of sin and hostile to God people both male and female”, “to whom it happens” which means “toward the person that the following approaches and occurs” “according to the work” or “in keeping with the deed, labor, business and acts” “of the righteous” which means “belonging to the just, lawful and correct”: “I said that this also” or “I, Solomon, uttered, declared and proclaimed that this, the happening to the wicked the same as the righteous, even so and indeed” “is vanity” which means “exists as vapor, breath and transitory dissatisfaction”. Solomon said on the other hand there exist people who commit evil who receive the same consequences for the acts of righteous people. 

When we meditate upon the words in this verse, we learn through Solomon that people who commit wicked and righteous acts often receive the opposite consequences for their actions. Righteous people receive troublesome results, and wicked people receive good results. Solomon concluded that this was as vapor and a transitory dissatisfaction in the world. We must remember there are what seem to be unfair outcomes in the temporal world, (Consider the life of Jesus as an example) but the eternal rewards will be in keeping with the glorious plan of God. God loves people, and even though we may not always receive good for our just works, we can be assured because God sent His Only Begotten Son Jesus into the world to die on the cross for the sins of all mankind and was resurrected from the dead after three days, when we put our faith and trust in Him as our “Savior and Lord”, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and give us His Holy Spirit who will guide us into all truth and help us remember the consequences we receive on earth for following Him will be unworthy to compare to the glory that shall be revealed. (See Romans 8:18) 

Next time Solomon says, “I commended mirth”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

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