The Long Fuse of Divine Justice Text: Ecclesiastes 8:10-13
Introduction: The Atheist's Bad Bet
We live in a world that is functionally atheistic. I do not mean that everyone you meet professes to be an atheist. I mean that they live and make their daily calculations as though God does not exist, or as though He is a distant, senile landlord who never comes around to collect the rent. The central premise of this functional atheism is a very simple one: if I do something wrong and a lightning bolt does not immediately reduce me to a pile of smoking cinders, then I have gotten away with it. If judgment is not immediate, it must not be real.
This is the bad bet that every sinner makes, from the petty thief to the tyrannical despot. They mistake God's patience for God's absence. They interpret the long fuse of divine justice as proof that there is no bomb at the other end. They see wicked men prosper, live long lives, and receive respectable funerals, and they conclude that the moral structure of the universe is a sham. They think they have discovered a loophole in the divine economy.
The Preacher in Ecclesiastes is no stranger to this apparent contradiction. He looks at the world with unflinching honesty. He sees the same data the skeptic sees. He sees the prosperity of the wicked. He sees justice delayed. But unlike the skeptic, he does not draw the foolish conclusion. He sees the apparent vanity of the situation, but he sees through it to the bedrock reality that governs all things. He teaches us how to maintain our sanity and our faith in a world that seems, on the surface, to have slipped its moral moorings. He teaches us to trust the character of the Judge, even when the court appears to be in recess.
The Text
So then, I have seen the wicked buried, those who used to go in and out from the holy place, and they are soon forgotten in the city where they did thus. This too is vanity.
Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed quickly, therefore the hearts of the sons of men among them are given fully to do evil.
Although a sinner does evil a hundred times and may prolong his life, still I know that it will be well for those who fear God, who fear Him openly.
But it will not be well for the wicked man, and he will not prolong his days like a shadow, because he does not fear God openly.
(Ecclesiastes 8:10-13 LSB)
The Pompous Funeral and the Public Amnesia (v. 10)
The Preacher begins with a common and vexing observation.
"So then, I have seen the wicked buried, those who used to go in and out from the holy place, and they are soon forgotten in the city where they did thus. This too is vanity." (Ecclesiastes 8:10)
He has seen the funeral of a wicked man. But this is not just any wicked man. This is a man of prominence, a man of apparent respectability. He used to "go in and out from the holy place." This means he was a public figure, likely involved in the civic and religious life of the city. He looked the part. He was seen in all the right places, perhaps even at the temple. He was a pillar of the community, but underneath, he was rotten.
And what happens to this man? He gets a burial. He dies in his bed, not on a scaffold. And for a moment, he is honored. But then, a second tragedy unfolds: "they are soon forgotten in the city where they did thus." All his scheming, all his corruption, all his carefully constructed reputation, evaporates. His name becomes a footnote, then nothing. His life's work, built on a foundation of wickedness, is ultimately meaningless. It is a puff of smoke. It is hebel, vanity. The world he tried so hard to impress simply moves on and forgets him. This is the first layer of judgment: the judgment of insignificance.
The Dangerous Miscalculation (v. 11)
Verse 11 gives us the reason why men follow this path. It is a diagnosis of the sinful heart's logic.
"Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed quickly, therefore the hearts of the sons of men among them are given fully to do evil." (Ecclesiastes 8:11 LSB)
This is one of the most insightful verses in all of Scripture on the nature of human rebellion. The problem is not that men are unaware of right and wrong. The problem is that God is patient. God's patience, which is designed to lead men to repentance (Rom. 2:4), is instead used by them as an excuse to sin with both hands. They treat the delay in sentencing as a cancellation of the law itself.
Notice the language: their hearts are "given fully" or "fully set" to do evil. This is not a reluctant stumble. It is a calculated, deliberate decision. The sinner looks around, sees that the lightning bolts are not flying, and concludes that the coast is clear. He says to himself, "God is either not there, not watching, or not interested." And so he gives himself over to his lusts. He doubles down on his rebellion. This is the logic of every secularist, every libertine, every man who thinks he is the captain of his own soul. He is gambling his eternity on the false assumption that God's long fuse is not attached to anything.
The Great "Nevertheless" (v. 12)
Now the Preacher pivots. He has stated the problem with stark realism. Now he states the foundational truth with unshakable faith.
"Although a sinner does evil a hundred times and may prolong his life, still I know that it will be well for those who fear God, who fear Him openly." (Ecclesiastes 8:12 LSB)
He does not deny the premise of the wicked. He grants it for the sake of argument. "Although a sinner does evil a hundred times and may prolong his life..." He sees it. He acknowledges it. He is not a Pollyanna with his head in the sand. He sees the scoundrel who sins repeatedly and seems to get away with it, living to a ripe old age.
But then comes the great "nevertheless" of faith: "still I know." This is not a guess. It is not a wish. It is a bedrock, presuppositional conviction. Despite all appearances to the contrary, I know this one thing. And what is it? "It will be well for those who fear God." This is the dividing line of humanity. The ultimate question is not whether you are rich or poor, long-lived or short-lived, but whether you fear God.
To fear God is not to be terrified of Him in a servile way, but to live with a constant, reverential awareness of who He is and who you are in relation to Him. It is to know that He is the Creator and you are the creature. He is the Judge and you are the judged. This fear is the beginning of wisdom, because it is the beginning of living in reality. And for those who live in this reality, the promise is ironclad: it will be well.
The Vanishing Shadow (v. 13)
The Preacher immediately gives us the other side of the coin, the fate of the wicked.
"But it will not be well for the wicked man, and he will not prolong his days like a shadow, because he does not fear God openly." (Ecclesiastes 8:13 LSB)
The contrast could not be sharper. For the God-fearer, it will be well. For the wicked, "it will not be well." The moral structure of the universe will hold. God's justice will prevail. The books will be balanced.
And the long life that the wicked man seemed to enjoy? It is described as a shadow. "He will not prolong his days like a shadow." A shadow has length but no substance. And as the sun sets, a shadow can grow incredibly long, stretching out just before it is swallowed by the total darkness of night. This is the wicked man's life. It may look long, but it is an illusion of length just before the end. It is a vapor, a fleeting image with no reality to it, and it vanishes into the night.
And the reason is given again, for emphasis. Why does it not go well for him? "Because he does not fear God openly." His entire life is built on a faulty premise. He has bet against the house, and the house always wins. His lack of reverence for the living God is the root of his sin and the reason for his ultimate ruin.
Conclusion: The Patience of the Cross
So how are we to live in this world of delayed sentences? First, we must arm ourselves with the Preacher's conviction: "Still I know." Our faith must not be dependent on a daily, visible accounting of God's justice. We must know that the Judge of all the earth will do right, and He will do it on His timetable, not ours.
Second, we must understand that God's patience is not indifference. It is a mercy. The Apostle Peter tells us that the Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise, "but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9). The time lag that the fool uses to harden his heart is the very time God provides for him to soften it. Every sunrise for the wicked man is another unmerited call to turn and live.
And finally, we must look to the cross of Jesus Christ. At the cross, we see this principle in its ultimate expression. The sentence against our evil work was not executed quickly. For thousands of years, God's justice seemed to wait. But at Calvary, the sentence was executed with perfect, terrifying finality upon His own Son. God's patience ended, and His wrath was poured out. For those who are in Christ, the sentence has been fully served. The gavel has fallen, and we are declared righteous.
But for those who reject this sacrifice, the delay of verse 11 is still in effect. But it is not a reprieve. It is simply the long, quiet fuse burning its way toward the final, unavoidable judgment. Do not be a fool. Do not mistake the patience of God for the permission of God. Flee to Christ, and learn to fear the Lord, for in that fear there is life, and in the end, it shall be very well with you.