01/13/2022 – Day 320 – Ecclesiastes 7 – 8 / Verse 8:12 – 13: Again, “fear of the Lord” is critical for without it, everything else seems to collapse into the abyss.
Last cycle, the post for this date was on 04/02/2021; it covered other verses.
Ok, 8 : 12 – 13: “Although a sinner commits crime a hundred times and prolongs his life, yet I also know that it will go well with God-fearing people, for they are reverent before Him. However, it will not go well with the wicked, and they will lengthen their days like a shadow, for they are not reverent before God.”
John Gill sheds light on these verses for us. Just toggle to verse 13 after you finish reading verse #12.
https://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/gills-exposition-of-the-bible/ecclesiastes-8-12.html
Oh , one more verse that applies to other area of His Word as well. Here is the general statement: God does not necessarily approve of the behavior, the attitude, or the event(s) recorded in every passage. That does not in any way bring under question the infallibility of the Bible. Case in point:
7:26: “And I find more bitter than death the woman who is a trap, her heart a net, and her hands chains. The one who pleases God will escape her, but the sinner will be captured by her.” And he goes on in verse 28 that he has found one true woman in a thousand. To which, I would reply to Solomon: “Dude!, it was your choice to disobey God by marrying a “thousand” foreign wives that worshipped false gods!” Note: 1 Kings 11:3 records that Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines. So, as my Apologetics Study Bible footnote posits: “Solomon wrote here out of his bitter personal experience with marriage.”
Why does the Bible say David was blessed for he had a “heart” for the Lord. I would submit that he consistently showed a “fear for the Lord”, even amidst his worst sins. (quick recovery to: Remorse and asking for forgiveness)
So, I didn’t plan it that way, but G.K. Chestorton’s quote post on “fear of the Lord” worked well with this Day 320 post.
Soli Deo Gloria!