Ecclesiastes 7:14 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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Ecclesiastes 7:14

Comments

Do not take offence at God’s providence, Solomon says. God allows circumstances to be a mixture of good and bad. If he allowed life of bliss and happiness, no one would ever seek God. Sickness and loss and disappointment are part of this world but it is not possible to change the conditions of life. Life has good times; don’t despise these, but enjoy them and see them as genuine tokens of God’s goodness. But then also, for no reason that we can see, we come into times of sorrow and difficulty. Let the seeker not fret about these events, for man has to live with these apparently inexplicable feature of life. Providence is in God's hand and so the one who seeks the Lord should not chafe against it. He should remember that in providence he faces the infinite wisdom of God, and it is for the most part incomprehensible to him. We are to enjoy the day of prosperity as God’s kind gift even though days of evil follow immediately afterwards. You do not know what God is doing and he is not going to explain himself every step of the way. He has the power to make even the dark times work for good in ways that we could never have anticipated. Man should not judge the Lord by feeble sense, by mere outward circumstances. The Lord in his work desires to remain incomprehensible so that man does not trust in providence itself, but in the Lord who sends it. When he says that man should find nothing, he does not mean that man should have no explanation for why anything happens, but that he should resolve all things into God's pleasure which lies beyond his horizon, but not beyond his good, for God can make all things work together for good for him. Providence therefore also becomes our friend and trials, setbacks, sicknesses, and persecutions assist us, so that our enemies find they can do nothing against us but only advance us on our way. This is the Christian’s perspective on life and he is right to see it this way. Therefore, it would be a tragedy for the seeker to be put off and turn back in his search for God, because he misreads providence.

Application

Let the seeker not take offence at the things that happen in this world, for events are in God’s hands and his working are beyond out comprehension. He has put such things in the world to cause us to lose our infatuation with it rather than making a god out of it. Our natural tendency is to love the creature more than the Creator and so God has blighted the creature to cause it to lose its enchantment for us. He does not give an account of himself to his creatures, but we will see his wisdom if we are patient. He has told us plainly through the gospel what we are to do, and there is nothing unclear about this. We are to seek forgiveness and mercy and new life through Jesus Christ who died to redeem sinners. We are to turn to him with all our hearts and become his disciples, and beyond this we are to submit to the things that he appoints for us.

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Ecclesiastes 7:14 Commentary and Bible Study