When Life is Unfair (Ecclesiastes 3:16-22)

Dr. Rick Griffith, Crossroads International Church

www.biblestudydownloads.com

Ecclesiastes 3:16-22

When Life is

Unfair

Everybody loves a story.

Humpty Dumpty

Humpty Dumpty

sat on a wall,

Humpty Dumpty

had a great fall.

All the king's horses

and all the king's men

Couldn't put Humpty

together again.

Humpty Dumpty

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.

All the king's horses

and all the king's men

Couldn't put Humpty together again.

Cinderella

"Sad endings we can

handle, but not unjust

ones. Suffering makes

us sad, but injustice

makes us mad."

(Charles R. Swindoll,

Living on the Ragged Edge, 98)

What

injustices irk

you most?

• No credit?

• Politicking?

• Birth defects?

• Cutting in line?

• Family background?

Cover

"Yet God has

made

everything

beautiful*

for its own

time"

(3:11a NLT)

* "appropriate" (NAU), "fitting" (5:18)

Does God condone injustice?

What should you do when

life is unfair?

Issues & Responses

I. Realize that you will

account to God (3:16-17).

Injustice You

Injustice exists in the courts

where it shouldn't (3:16).

McDonalds Coffee

Lawn Mower

Young Earth Lawsuit

Dr. Mark Armitage

The

Injustice

System

How should we respond to

injustice?

Realize that you will

account to God (3:17).

Injustice You

"Then I saw a great white throne…"

(Rev. 20:11)

438

The Books

(Rev. 20:12)

Used with permission

Is there one general

judgment as depicted by

Michelangelo?

The Final Judgment

Sistine Chapel, 1541

Yet Scripture prophesies

seven more future

judgments…

Church Age Tribulation Millennium

Rapture 2nd Advent

Battle ofArmageddon

Battle of Gog and Magog

GreatWhite

Throne

Resurrections & Judgments

R = 4 Resurrected Groups

J = 7 Judged Groups

J 4J 2JR 2R R

The Judgment Seat of Christ

• Believers Rewarded

by Christ (2 Cor. 5:10)

• At the Rapture

(1 Thess. 4:17)

• Reward or loss of

rewards (not

salvation)

We all will appear before God—not

just the perpetrators of injustice!

I. Realize that you will

account to God (3:16-17).

Injustice You

Issues & Responses

Death Enjoy

Injustice You

II. Enjoy life now (3:18-22)!

Death Enjoy

It may seem

unjust that we

are mortal like

animals (3:18-

21).

"Man's fate is like

that of the animals;

the same fate

awaits them both:

As one dies, so

dies the other. All

have the same

breath; man has no

advantage over the

animal. Everything

is meaningless"

(3:19 NIV)

"Everything"

should be

translated "both"

(as in 2:14; 7:18;

cf. BKC)

Both man and

animals are

transitory (not

meaningless)

Hebel literally means

"a breath, wind, or vapor"

(Prov. 21:6; Isa. 57:13).

Key Word of Ecclesiastes

Ecclesiastes

"vanity" (KJV, ESV, NAU),

"meaningless" (NIV, NLT), "futile"

(NET, TLB, BKC)

"fleeting"

Meaning of Hebel

lbh

A Very Literal Translation

Metaphor:

what doesn't last

("what is without real

substance, value,

permanence,

significance, or

meaning" BKC, 1:976)

Many people don't want to even

think about death.

"Four" in

Chinese

四"Death" in

Chinese

诛

Where's

level 4?

Getting a Phone Number…

All return to dust

Our advantage over animals can't be

shown or observed as they die (3:21).

Realizing that we all will die

should cause us to enjoy life now

(3:22).

"So I saw that

there is nothing

better for people

than to be happy in

their work. That is

why we are here!

No one will bring

us back from death

to enjoy life after

we die" (3:22 NLT).

"So I saw that

there is nothing

better for people

than to be happy in

their work. That is

why we are here!

No one will bring

us back from death

to enjoy life after

we die" (3:22 NLT).

"I have seen that

nothing is better

than that man

should be happy in

his activities, for

that is his lot. For

who will bring him

to see what will

occur after him?"

(3:22 NAU).

"This is man's lot (a word that means lit., 'portion,

share, or allotment'…)… people are ignorant of

God's plan and cannot know what the future,

including life after death, holds for them. He

summarized this point in the rhetorical question,

Who can bring him to see what will happen after

him?" (Donald Glenn, in BKC, 1:986).

We don't know many details of the

afterlife (3:22b).

What should you do when

life is unfair?

Account to God and

enjoy life!

Main Idea

What should

you do when

life is unfair?

you fight

injustice?

Responses to Injustice

Observer Initiator Victim

How do you observe injustice?

Observer

How do you initiate injustice?

Initiator

How are you the victim of injustice?

Victim

Black

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