QT 24/01/2025 Fri. Ecclesiastes 8. Faith in God in the midst of life's complexities. 在错综复杂的生活中对上帝充满信心。

QT 24/01/2025 Fri. Ecclesiastes 8. Faith in God in the midst of life's complexities.
READ http://www.esvbible.org/eccl8
The wise are rarity, especially the ones who have the wisdom to deal with kings and the powerful alike. The Qoheleth recommended keeping the king's command as a default, and when the king is to be rebutted, "the wise heart will know the proper time and the just way" (8:5). At the same time, we are reminded once again the fact of the existence of limits of all humans, be they kings or the wise, because "no man has power to retain the spirit, or power over the day of death" (8:8). The one who fails to recognise this fact of human limitations would surely hurt himself sooner or later, be they those who are in power, or the subordinates.
Ecclesiastes 8:11–13 [11] Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil. [12] Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and prolongs his life, yet I know that it will be well with those who fear God, because they fear before him. [13] But it will not be well with the wicked, neither will he prolong his days like a shadow, because he does not fear before God. (ESV)
Like many parts of the world today, Qoheleth also struggled with delayed punishment for the guilty (8:11) and the sinner seemingly even getting off scot free (8:12). When right and wrong were as clear as day, the truth and righteous verdicts were somehow buried or masked under heaps of smog so that these are stifled. What are we to do? Even though he was unable to solve this dilemma or difficult question himself, Qoheleth nevertheless declared his belief that "it will be well with those who fear God, because they fear before him" (8:12).
APPLICATION: Once in a while, we get surprising news from the newsroom. That which we thought not possible yesterday, became news today. And vice versa. In all this, we do not get stuck in hopelessness nor despair, but trust God and His ways of working out the best in His own way. While humans do not have the details of how God can do this (8:16–17), we, like Qoheleth, can affirm our faith in God who works out the complexities of life in His own way.
Meanwhile, even in the midst of these complexities and unknown, we are reminded that we can still do the following, and move on to live and enjoy another day meaningfully:
Ecclesiastes 8:15 And I commend joy, for man has nothing better under the sun but to eat and drink and be joyful, for this will go with him in his toil through the days of his life that God has given him under the sun. (ESV)
QT 24/01/2025 星期五. 传道书 8. 在错综复杂的生活中对上帝充满信心。
http://m.bbintl.org/bible/ncv/ecc/8
聪明人是稀有的,尤其是那些有智慧与国王和权贵打交道的人。教师(科希勒) 建议把遵守国王的命令作为一种默认,当要反驳国王时,“智慧人的心,晓得时机,懂得判断”(8:5)。同时,这也再次提醒我们,无论是国王还是智者,人都是有极限的,因为 “没有人能支配风(“风”或译:“生命”),把它留住;没有人能控制死期”(8:8)。不承认人的局限性这一事实的人迟早会伤害自己,无论是掌权者还是下属。
传道书 8:11-13 [11] 对恶行已判定的刑罚迟迟没有执行,世人的心就充满行恶的意图。 12 罪人既然作恶百次,还享长寿,那么我知道敬畏 神的人,就是在他面前存敬畏的心的,必享福乐。13 恶人却没有福乐,也得不到长寿;他好像影子的短暂,因为他在 神面前不存敬畏的心。
与当今世界的许多地方一样,教师(科希勒) 也在为有罪者迟迟得不到惩罚(8:11)和罪人似乎甚至可以逍遥法外(8:12)而挣扎。当是非曲直昭然若揭时,真理和正义的裁决却不知何故被埋没或掩盖在成堆的烟雾之下,以至于这些都被扼杀了。我们该怎么办?尽管他无法解决这个两难或棘手的问题,但教师(科希勒) 还是宣布他相信 “敬畏 神的人,就是在他面前存敬畏的心的,必享福乐”(8:12)。
应用:偶尔,我们会从新闻编辑室得到令人惊讶的消息。昨天我们认为不可能的事,今天却成了新闻。反之亦然。在这一切中,我们不会陷入无望或绝望,而是相信上帝,相信祂会用自己的方式实现最好的结果。虽然人类不知道上帝如何做到这一点的细节(8:16-17),但我们可以像教师(科希勒)一样,肯定我们对上帝的信心,因为上帝用自己的方式解决了生活中的复杂问题。
同时,即使在这些复杂和未知中,我们也会被提醒,我们仍然可以做到以下几点,并继续有意义地生活和享受新的一天:
传道书 8:15 于是我称颂快乐,因为人在日光之下最好是吃喝快乐。这是人在日光之下, 神赐给他一生的年日里,从自己劳碌中所得的享受。