Ecclesiastes 8:16-17 Unknowable Works of God

Ecclesiastes 8:16-17  “When I gave my heart to know wisdom and to see the task which has been done on the earth (even though one should never sleep day or night), and I saw every work of God, I concluded that man cannot discover the work which has been done under the sun. Even though man should seek laboriously, he will not discover; and though the wise man should say, "I know," he cannot discover”. (NASB)

In addition to Proverbs Solomon also wrote Ecclesiastes and the Song of Solomon.  Today’s passage comes from Ecclesiastes which Solomon wrote as a result of his search for wisdom, “Under the Sun”.  “Under the Sun” is his way of saying on earth.  So the book is his pursuit of wisdom on this earth and to a large degree in the final analysis he says it is all in vain.  We’ll save that for another day.

The passage I’ve chosen for today deals with Solomon’s search of the completeness of God’s creation.  The wisdom he writes in this passage penned by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit thousands of years ago now still stands true.  This thought in and of itself is remarkable.  But let’s take a look and what Solomon has to say about creation.

First let’s consider the effort Solomon gave to this endeavor.  He says, “When I gave my heart to know wisdom and see the task which has been done on earth”.  So we can say that Solomon put everything into this task.  He poured himself into this pursuit of knowledge.  We know that Solomon was very wise as we have shared previously.  (See my BLOG - A Good Night’s Sleep)  So Solomon put all his wisdom to work in this project.

Well what is it he’s trying to understand?  It says, “To see the task which has been done on the earth.”  Although one might suspect this has to do with God’s creation it is absolutely confirmed with the next verse which says, “I saw every work of God”. So it is confirmed that Solomon’s study is of “The task done on the earth”, specifically “Every work of God”.

What then does Solomon find?  After this exhaustive study by one of if not the wisest men ever to live he concludes, ”Man cannot discover the work which has been done under the sun”.  Not only that but Solomon actually predicts what all other men will find.  “Even though man should seek laboriously, he will not discover”.  So Solomon says that not only has he been unsuccessful at completely understanding or knowing all of God’s work under the sun but all future men will come to the same end.  That is, all the work of God on earth cannot be known my men.

Now here’s the real interesting part.  Solomon says some will actually claim to know it all.  “Though the wise man should say, ‘I know’".  Isn’t that what we are seeing today?  Men professing to “Know” all there is to know?  Men claiming to have figured it out? But Solomon says of this self professing knows everything, “He cannot discover”.  The wisest of men then is unable to know all there is to know about God’s work on earth.

Two final observations:  1) I believe this inability to fully know the work of God on earth extends to the collective effort of all men not just one man.  So my belief is that mankind cannot fully know the complete works of God on earth.  2) What we’re confined to in Solomon’s thoughts are things on earth, “Under the sun”.  How much more has and is God doing in all of creation.  Earth after all is just a tiny speck in relation to the known universe. 

In the words of the song, “Our God is an Awesome God”!  AMEN!