THE `REASON' OF EVIL DISCOVERED
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things above where Christ is. As a result of believing that the day of death is better than the day of birth, Koheleth
continues:
`It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and
the living will lay it to his heart' (7:2).
The man of the world argues in an exactly opposite direction. Seeing that death is the end of all men, he says,
`Let us eat, and drink, for tomorrow we die'. Again it is the hope of resurrection that makes the difference. Both can
say `tomorrow we die', but the one as a result says `feast', the other `fast'. It is a natural thing to say, `If this brief
life is to end in death, why not make the most of it? Why not get all the good one can out of it, in other words, put
sadness and sorrow out of sight; eat, drink and be merry'. That is natural. Taught by the Spirit of truth however, we
reason that if this present life is to end in death and the full blessings of redemption cannot be enjoyed by flesh and
blood; and moreover, if there are spheres of service to be entered in the life to come that shall bear some analogy to
our faithfulness here, and if an eternal weight of glory lies over against a light affliction which is but for a moment,
if moreover, love to our Redeemer compels us to stand on His side, go without the camp and suffer His reproach -
then we cannot help becoming pilgrims and strangers, declaring by our very abstention that we seek a country that
lies beyond the grave, that our pleasures are associated with our Saviour, and that while sin and death and the curse
are everywhere apparent, we cannot find it in our heart to eat, drink and be merry, but rather find greater and deeper
joy in those circumstances which superficially are the saddest and darkest hours of life.
`The living will lay it to heart' (7:2); further, `Sorrow is better than laughter' (7:3) for the same reason, `for by the
sadness of the countenance (external) the heart (internal) is made better' (7:3). The world thinks only of the face, the
believer thinks more of the heart. True wisdom recognizes the essential difference.
`The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning (and will be thereby made `better'); but the heart of fools is in
the house of mirth' (7:4).
Association with mourners may not prove so enjoyable to the flesh as the hilarity of feasting and mirth, but
`It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise, than for a man to hear the song of fools. For as the crackling of thorns
under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool: this also is vanity' (7:5,6).
The choice of worldliness is fleeting. The brief hour of mirth is oft followed by days of bitterness. The poor
untaught world sees nothing beyond this present age, and the majority of Christians seem to have conspired to
perpetuate its blindness. Present Christendom with its worldliness, its pleasures, its fleshly inducements, its
forsaking of the narrow path, its philosophy, its politics, all proclaim the negation of resurrection. The Church is
fast approaching the form of godliness which involves the denial of the power of the resurrection, and in song and
sermon sounds the hoary tradition that puts resurrection aside, bridges the gulf between the flesh and the spirit, and
seeks to improve that which is corrupt, carnal and mortal. Ecclesiastes 7 is sober truth.
Let us hear the rebuke of the wise, and seeing the end of all men let us lay it to heart.
(2) The maddening effect of `oppression' and `crookedness', but for the knowledge of God's purpose (7:7-13)
The result of entering into the spirit of Ecclesiastes 7:1-6 must be a chastened and humbled mind, and a frame
and a temper not easily provoked. Instead of frantically seeking to bolster up the doomed fabric of Adam's world
the believer realizes that God has reserved the honour of complete restoration to His Son. Instead of becoming a
member of this society and of that he realizes that all improvements of the flesh are destined to end on this side of
the grave. To this aspect the writer now turns.
`Surely oppression maketh the wise man mad; and a gift destroyeth the heart ... Be not hasty in thy spirit to be
angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of fools' (7:7,9).
To those who do not possess the wisdom which comes from above, the call of the oppressed sometimes becomes
irresistible. Many times the tyranny of oppression and the selfish cruelty of those who have rule and authority, have