Ecclesiastes 8:1-17

Authority is something that cannot be avoided in this life.  Every many woman and child is always under some type of authority during every part of their lives.  These authorities may come and go throughout our lifetimes but there will always be some type of authority over each of us.  Parents, teachers, police, spouses, governments, bosses and God Himself are only a few examples of these authorities and we are usually under several of these authorities at the same time.  Unfortunately, some of these authorities may not be particularly righteous or may even be greatly evil.  At times we get to choose our authorities but many times we simply have to learn to deal with the authority structure that is over us.  This chapter of Ecclesiastes has two basic principles that will help us in these situations.

FOLLOW THE LEADER: All authorities, both good and evil, have been established and empowered by God.  God is over all of them and will hold them all to account, that is His job and He will do it to perfection.  Our job is to honor them as being from God and to submit ourselves to their leadership.  Leaders may be good or they may be evil but one thing that they all hold in common is that they have power and that they have the ability to make our lives joyful or miserable.  It is wise for us to recognize who they are, honor them and do what we can to please them. 


FEAR THE LORD: God is in control of all the universe and He know exactly what is going on.  There are righteous people who suffer the plight of the wicked and there are wicked people that enjoy the blessings of the righteous.  These things are in His control.  It is not our job to question these things or to become angry about them; our position is to be reverent of the Lord and stand in fear of Him.  We will not be able to understand or explain all things about the Lord, but it is not our job to understand or explain Him.  Or job is to worship and fear the Lord.

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