This alone I found… – Ecclesiastes 7:29
What is your explanation of evil? People will tell you that it is social, educational, or economic. But acts of great evil are committed by the rich as well as the poor. Evils abound under capitalism as well as under communism. Some of the most wicked acts in all human history have been conceived by the most brilliant minds.
To bring the question down to a more personal level: Why do families break up? How do people whose love brought them to the place of pledging their lives to each other end up hating each other and feeling that they can no longer live under the same roof? Why is the world as it is today?
The entire book of Ecclesiastes is an exploration of this question. It was written by Solomon, the king of Israel, the son of David. Solomon had fabulous wealth and power, and at the beginning of his reign he walked with God and was given great wisdom.
But then he made a different choice. Money, sex, and power took possession of his heart. He began to live at a distance from God. He lived on impulse and pushed every boundary of life. Here’s what he found—the more he pursued money, sex, and power, the emptier his life became. Out of that experience, Solomon wrote Ecclesiastes, which is the chronicle of a wasted life.
Solomon gives us a firm conclusion from his exploration of life: “This alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes” (7:29).
What is the world’s explanation for the ills of society? How is God’s explanation fundamentally different?
