SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/24/2013
9:26 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Inequity
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Eccl.
8:10-14
Message of the
verses: In today’s SD we will look
at the second of three ways that the Preacher explored the problem of evil in
the world.
Inequity (Eccl. 8:10-14):
“10 So then, I have seen the wicked buried, those who used to go in and
out from the holy place, and they are soon forgotten in the city where they did
thus. This too is futility. 11 Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed quickly,
therefore the hearts of the sons of men among them are given fully to do evil.
12 Although a sinner does evil a hundred times and may lengthen his life, still
I know that it will be
well for those who fear God, who fear Him openly. 13 But it will not be
well for the evil man and he will not lengthen his days like a shadow, because he does not fear God. 14 There
is futility which is done on the earth, that is, there are righteous men to
whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked. On the other hand, there
are evil men to whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous. I say
that this too is futility.”
We will first look at verse fourteen which is what
Solomon uses to summaries what he is concerned about in this section, and that
is that the righteous get what the wicked deserve and the wicked get what the
righteous deserve. Remember we are
talking about things that happen under the sun.
Let’s look at three quotes that Dr. Wiersbe included in
his commentary on this section of Scripture:
“Laws, like the spider’s web, catch the fly and let the hawks go free.” (Spanish Proverb) “In America, an acquittal doesn’t mean you’re
innocent; it means you beat the rap.”
(F. Lee Bailey) A jury is “twelve persons chosen to decide who has the
better lawyer.” (Robert Frost)
Now we will go back to verse ten where we see that it
looks like Solomon has attended a funeral of a wicked person who made it a
habit to go into the temple, where he received much praise there from the
people who were there. This man did not
live a good and godly life and yet he had a wonderful funeral that probably
consisted of a great eulogy. However the
people in the city who were godly were forgotten. I have heard of a funeral like this, actually
two funerals similar to what Solomon has described. One was of a rich man where the papers were
full about it and the other about a great evangelist who did not get that kind
of press coverage, however he was welcomed into glory which is far better.
Verse eleven is a great verse because it not only
described why the wicked get away with crimes, but it explains one of the many
things that is wrong with our country right now. I heard a story that was fictional but could
have happened. A man hijacks a plane and
is captured. After the plane lands there
is an immediate trial and the man was found guilty and is hanged from the wing
of the plane. What about the next man
who thinks he can get away with doing a similar thing, will this make him
change his mind because of the swift justice that was given to the guilty man
who had just done the crime?
We know that God is longsuffering (2 Peter 3:1-12), but
God is also just and when His longsuffering comes to an end and people will not
repent there will be justice given. I
have written about a verse in the 15th chapter of Genesis where God
give an unconditional covenant to Abraham that is still in effect today. God told Abraham that He would make a great
nation from Abraham and that they would go into a land and suffer for four
hundred years and after that God would punish that nation and then Abraham’s
family would return to the Promised Land.
The reason this would take four hundred years is because “the iniquity
of the Amorite is not yet complete.’”
God would give those living in the Promised Land at that time four
hundred years to repent, but they did not and so His longsuffering was complete
and then His justice would act. Solomon
speaks of something similar in verses 12-13 where he says that God will judge
the wicked, but it will happen in the timing and plan of God just as it was to
the Amorites.
Dr. Wiersbe concludes this section with these words “How
should the wise person respond to the inequities and injustices in this
world? Certainly we should do all we can
to encourage the passing of good laws and enforcement of them by capable
people, but even this will not completely solve the problem. Until Jesus Christ sets up His righteous
kingdom, there will always be injustices in our world. It is one of the ‘vanities’ of life, and we
must accept it without becoming pessimistic or cynical.”
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: I have to admit
that I am upset with the things that are happening to our country, and it would
be far better if I would have the same attitude as Solomon had, and the same
attitude as Dr. Wiersbe has too. God
will one day judge the evil people who are running our government, but it will
be done in his time as Solomon speaks of in the third chapter of Eccl.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Remember that God is in control and one day
His justice will be on the wicked.
Memory verses for the
week: 2Cor. 5:17-20
17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new
creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. 18 Now all these things are from God, who
reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation,
19 namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not
counting the trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the world of
reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors
for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on
behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
Question: “He put mud on his eyes and
told him to go wash it off.” (John
9:1-7)
Today’s Bible
Question: “Who said ‘If I be bereaved of
my children, I am bereaved’?”
Answer in tomorrow’s SD.
5/24/2013 10:16 AM
No comments:
Post a Comment