Pray

Read: Ecc 3:16-18.

Meditation

In our last meditation we faced up to the hard reality that injustice exists. Now, if the average western person was writing the script, our next play would be this: injustice needs to be dealt with. Makes sense. But if we want justice, we need to realise things might not turn out how we expect.

Qohelet does take us on a next step, and it seems counter-intuitive at first blush. We think: injustice exists, therefore God should stop it. But no, Solomon takes us somewhere else. Injustice exists, he says, and now the next thing you need to understand is that judgment is coming. What exactly, then, is the connection between injustice and judgment?

Follow closely with Solomon’s thought in the text. In verse 17 we read, “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.” A day approaches, Solomon says, when God will judge the righteous and the wicked.

Now straight away we want injustice and suffering to disappear, but Solomon’s answer is far better. Yes, injustice exists, but God is coming, and he is going to set things straight. Every single evil act in history will be accounted for, and punishment will be dealt out accordingly. Abusive fathers will get what is coming for them. Tyrannical dictators will answer for the ocean of blood on their hands. Even the least and most careless word will be recalled and brought up for judgment. Every mean-spirited act we have ever committed. Every selfish decision we have ever made at the cost of another person. Every failure to care for those under our charge. Every brash, callous, or cruel word we have ever spoken. Every lustful thought, every dollar stolen, every opportunity abused, every duty neglected. Every single sin in the history of the world has been recorded. And the day of judgment is coming, unstoppably, irreversibly, and with absolute certainty. Justice is coming. God will judge the righteous and the wicked.

We cannot deny that injustice and suffering exist, but you can bet your life that God will make it right. He is a God of justice. And there is some consolation in that, isn’t there? All the wrongs we see in the world, people will answer for them. Even the wrongs against us. The day approaches when every single one of them will be accounted for. “Vengeance is mine,” says the Lord.

So we have seen two things from Solomon. We have seen that injustice exists, and that God’s judgment is coming. But Solomon takes this one step further.

The idea that judgment is coming is comforting. It is good to know everything will be made right. But it is also concerning, because everything will be made right. And that means judgment is also coming... for us. We will not be exempt. Our secret pride will be uncovered. Our pretensions, posturing, and manipulating will evaporate. No lie will work with God. There will be no hiding of the truth or blame-shifting with him. It may work with everyone else, but not with God. We will be absolutely laid bare and shown up for exactly what we are. Everything we have done in secret will be brought to light. Our secret lusts and fantasies will be flushed out of our minds and displayed. Secret motivations that we covered with smiles will be revealed. Hurtful words pretending to be caring will be shown up for what they really are. Our secret feelings of anger, hatred, and bitterness will be revealed. Everything.

Think about the thing you are most ashamed of in your life. Think about the things in your that make your face burn. They will be displayed on a proverbial IMAX movie screen for everyone to see on judgment day. Judgment is coming, and with judgment comes punishment.

Can you see what Solomon is doing here? He is teaching us a new approach to the problem of suffering. He is teaching us that we too are actually a cause of suffering. We are not innocent bystanders. Solomon does not seek to explain suffering away. He shows us where the blame belongs, and it is not with God.

Look at verse 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.” We have no grounds to complain about injustice, because we ourselves are the cause. We are a race of beasts. We bicker, and fight, and hate, and rage. We complain, and drink down bitterness every morning like it was coffee. We abuse people for our own ends and manipulate them to get what we want. And no one is innocent.

If we are looking for an explanation as to why God permits injustice, this is one of the key reasons. He permits it to exist to show us that we are guilty and beastly. He permits it to bring us to repentance. If God simply cleared out all the injustice in the world, we would all drown like rats on a sinking ship, because we are the cause of it. In permitting injustice to exist, God is giving us opportunity to repent.

So let this lesson sink in clearly. The reason injustice exists in the world today is so that you can repent. This is the truth. It really is us who are to blame. We have inflicted pain on others. We have dealt unjustly. We have abused and manipulated and hated. We have walked this world with a total orientation of selfishness. We have been beasts, not men. We have traded compassion for hard-heartedness. We have traded kindness for rudeness and harshness. We have traded patience for a quick temper and anger. We have traded love for lust, service for selfishness, and grace for greed. We are guilty.

In Psalm 130 the psalmist writes, “Lord, if you should mark iniquity, who can stand?” And so we are called to see this and repent.

Solomon is pretty brutal here. Brutal, but honest. He drops these severely troubling realities into our laps and then he just leaves them there. Let them do their work in your heart, and be sure to follow-up with the next meditation where we will look at the pursuit of innocence.

Prayer of Confession & Consecration

Get full access to Old things New. at rcbhpastor.substack.com/subscribe