THE `REASON' OF EVIL DISCOVERED
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`Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? yet among many nations was there no king like him, who
was beloved of his God, and God made him king over all Israel: nevertheless even him did outlandish women
cause to sin' (Neh. 13:26).
It is evident, by the account in both 1 Kings 11 and Nehemiah 13, that Solomon's sin was not so much that of
immorality as of failure to keep intact the covenant separation of his race and throne. In other words, to the believer
of all ages, it represents the temptation of the flesh to overstep the bounds of separation drawn by redemption. It is
suggestive in view of Ecclesiastes 7:28 that 1 Kings 11:3 tells us that Solomon had a harem of exactly 1,000:
`And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his
heart'.
Ignoring the warnings of the Proverbs written for his guidance he added wife to wife in vain endeavour, but
among the whole thousand found not one. The one depicted in Proverbs 31 he had turned from, and the result was
disaster. Just a little earlier in Ecclesiastes 7, Solomon had said, `There is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good
and sinneth not'. His words therefore in verse 28 must not be interpreted as meaning that one man in a thousand was
just and sinless. We meet the expression in Job 9:3, `He cannot answer him, one of a thousand'; and in Job 33:23,
`If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to shew unto man his uprightness: Then he
is gracious unto him'. Here the one among a thousand is an `interpreter', one who seems somewhat like the `days-
man' of Job 9:33, who was `in God's stead', yet `formed out of the clay' (33:6), and so could mediate between them.
We seek to avoid spiritualizing, yet, if Koheleth makes a cryptic reference back to Adam in Ecclesiastes 6:10, it is
not unreasonable to suppose that he makes here a cryptic reference onward to Christ. Whether he personally thus
understood his own words we cannot say, the application of Solomon's failure and discovery is for ourselves.
One deeply important finding of the Preacher is written with no uncertainty, and this we would set forth with all
possible emphasis:
`Lo, this only I have found,
THAT GOD HATH MADE MAN UPRIGHT;
but they have sought out many inventions`
(7:29).
One thing emerged clearly before Solomon's mind. God was not chargeable with the fall of man. In his own
case this was clear. God warned him again and again. His fall was entirely due to disobedience to the Will and
Word of God. From his own personal case he views man as a whole. He weighs over `one by one to find out the
cunning device' which has ensnared them. It is always the same:
`Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth
He any man: but every man is tempted, when he is drawn away by his own lust, and enticed ... do not err, my
beloved brethren' (James 1:13-16).
Ecclesiastes is a book in which the problem of good and evil is investigated from many standpoints. It is a cause
for thankfulness that this clear statement is found here. Man, when he left the hand of his Maker, was upright. The
devices for his own undoing proceeded from himself. Mankind has sought out `many inventions'. The apostle Paul
has given a more doctrinal setting to the theme in Romans 6 and 7, and speaks of the dominion of sin in the
members of the body, which dominion can be traced back to Adam by consulting Romans 5. Paul, James and
Koheleth are at one in this that God is not the Author of sin nor of moral evil. God made man upright. To each of
us the experience of Solomon should be a warning. We may not all be vulnerable at the same point. Solomon
seemed proof against the snare of riches and power. Many who may have been proof against the alien woman
would have lost their heads with half his riches or power. The world is ever seeking access by means of our
members and our carnal nature. We have the clear word of God as to the character of our calling and the dangers of
fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness. While we may not fully solve Solomon's own peculiar enigma, let
us see to it that we learn our own lesson, and profit by his example.