This is one of the strongest themes throughout scripture.  The OT tells the story of how mankind lost access to His presence. The NT tells of the rescue, through Jesus Christ, that God might dwell amongst His people for all eternity.

From the very start, God walked with man and woman in the cool of the day (Gen 3.8), We must presume this was the regular pattern; Adam and Eve enjoying communion with God daily. In this case, this was a physical tangible presence. Sadly, this was about to end. As a result of rebelling against God, Adam and Eve were cast out of His presence (v23-24).

In due course, the nation of Israel came into being. God brought them out of Egypt, out of slavery, and into covenant with Himself. Crucial to the outworking of this covenant was the Tabernacle. Scripture is clear that the Tabernacle was God’s dwelling place amongst His people (Ex 25.8-9). Hebrews 8 tells us this was a copy and shadow of the heavenly tabernacle which was not made with human hands.

In Israel’s journeys, the tabernacle reflected the transitory-ness of this life and provided a pointer towards God’s future eternal kingdom. Permanence is found in God, not in the things of this life.

Later, the Temple became a new dwelling place. Solomon was responsible for constructing the first temple. Writing to Hiram, King of Tyre, Solomon announced “I am about to build a temple for the Name of the Lord my God, … the temple I am going to build with be great, because our God is greater than all other gods.” (2 Chr 2.4-5). The scale of the temple and its riches were almost unimaginable. The volume of gold and silver was almost incalculable.

Sadly, it was not many years later, when Rehoboam, Solomon’s son became king, that Shishak, King of Egypt attacked Jerusalem, defeated its armies, removing “everything” (2 Chr 12.9), humiliating both Israel and its king.

Even in the shadow of the temple, this most glorious of structures, Israel and Judah (now separated) failed to enjoy God’s presence. Eventually both nations were driven into Exile.

Ezekiel speaks of God being a little sanctuary to those in exile. God was still present with His people. Writing to the Jewish exiles scattered across the Babylonian empire, Ezekiel writes; “This is what the Sovereign Lord says; ‘Although I sent them far away among the nations and scattered them among the countries, yet for a little while I have been a sanctuary for them in the countries where they have gone.’” (Ezek 11.16). The Jews found no temple, no place of worship outside of Judea. Ezekiel’s contemporary, Daniel found that the Lord became his sanctuary, a holy place to meet with God. We read that he made this a regular practice (Dan 6.10). And, like the tabernacle of old, this was a temporary measure.

The verse introduces Ezekiel’s first promise of restoration to the land (v17-21). “I will gather you, …” says the Lord. In spite of persistent rebellion, God’s promises would be fulfilled, His purposes cannot be thwarted. The people will once more enjoy God’s presence.

Moving into the NT, in Acts 7, Stephen was answering the accusation that he had spoken against “this holy place” (Acts 6.13), meaning the temple. Stephen answered this by demonstrating that God was not bound by the physical structure. Indeed, He frequently made Himself known outside the ‘promised land.’ Stephen referred to incidents in Genesis, mentioning Abraham and Joseph in particular, who enjoyed God’s presence and blessing outside of Canaan. Moses too lived his entire life outside of Canaan; either in Egypt or journeying from Egypt. Yet God was with him. Stephen highlighted this strong OT theme and paid with his life.

There is now a new dwelling place, the Church (Eph 2.22; 1 Cor 3.16). How is that presence experienced? Is it sufficient that we quote, ‘where two or three are present,’ or should we expect a tangible presence? Or identifiable proofs of His presence? Are words enough? Paul refers to a real and tangible presence of God in 1 Cor 14.25, “God is really among you.” Here God’s people meet with Him. And here unbelieving visitors are powerfully impacted.

Rom 5.1-2 highlights the privilege, enjoyed by all who belong to Christ, of access into the very presence of God. We come in confidence, not in fear, knowing that we are loved and accepted. We would be foolish to neglect this privilege.

And, scripture takes us to the end of the story, His story (history!). God’s dwelling place with His people (Rev 21.3). This outcome is guaranteed through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This motivates us, shaping our thinking. This is truly hope.

“Surely He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed Him stricken by God, smitten by Him and afflicted.  But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way, and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53.4-6)

Christ’s death was strikingly broad in its application. ‘He died for our sins,’ as sometimes stated, does not cover the scope of what occurred when Christ suffered three hours of darkness, as He gave His life on the cross. Christ was the just dying for the unjust, the perfectly righteous and holy one dying for us who are neither righteous nor holy. He died for our transgressions (ie: wrong-doings) and iniquities (the Hebrew word means crooked, or perverse); and we may be perpetrator or victim. He gave His life for our iniquities, and for all inequity.

During His life, Jesus Christ addressed injustice. He prefigured what would be achieved in the future.

“But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with His finger. … Again He stooped down and wrote on the ground.” (John 8.6, 8)

During the incident of ‘the woman caught in adultery,’ Christ wrote on the ground. John mentions this twice. What did He write? Perhaps an extract from the ten commandments. I think something altogether simpler; a line.

This was a line of justice. Jesus Christ was addressing gross injustice in first century Judea. It was a male-dominated society. Only the woman was brought in for summary execution. Yet the couple were caught ‘in the very act.’ In the male-dominated society the male perpetrator was protected, although equally guilty.

And this was a line of forgiveness, of dealing fully with in-equity, of iniquity, of injustice. The woman was forgiven but sent away, “go now and leave your life of sin.” Christ did not understate nor ignore sin. There had to be repentance. But there was also forgiveness.

No wonder Christ’s words and actions exposed and silenced the accusers.

Jesus addressed another gross injustice when He cleansed the temple. This is first recorded in John 1.12-22.

There was wrong priority; trade where there should have been prayer. Was the trade controlled by the high priest?  That is not explicit in the scripture but we understand this from other history.

Jesus’ response was nuanced; turning over the temples of the sellers. But, for those who sold pigeons, for the poor; He spoke strongly, rebuking them. Here is anger but controlled and directed.

At the end of His ministry, He returned, with much stronger words. He accused them of turning the temple area into “a den of robbers” (Matt 21.13). The warning had not been heeded. They apparently hoped He would not return, that they could continue their corruption uninterrupted.  No wonder John had prophesied of Christ; “His winnowing fork is in His hand to clear His threshing floor” (Luke 3.17).

“We are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness” (2 Pet 3.13). In the eternal future which Christ has won for us, there will be no more injustice and no more ‘time & chance.’  Creation itself will share the glorious freedom of the children of God. This future is guaranteed – that is what we describe as hope.

In this broken, fallen world, injustice is endemic. A day will come when that will cease. Hallelujah!

Life Isn’t fair!

This series of articles was inspired by a sermon series on the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes. The writer King Solomon, towards the end of his life, looks back at what he has seen and done ‘under the sun.’ One of his observations is the prevalence of injustice. His comments echo our own experiences – life is not fair!

In chapter 9 of the book, Solomon concludes that time and chance happen to all. Should we regard this as the conclusion for all people. Or is it the conclusion of a man whose vision was solely ‘horizontal’ and not ‘vertical’?

A review of Ecclesiastes

Solomon tells a story of unfairness:

^“I also saw under the sun this example of wisdom that greatly impressed me: There was once a small city with only a few people in it. And a powerful king came against it, surrounded it and built huge siege works against it. Now there lived in that city a man poor but wise, and he saved the city by his wisdom. But nobody remembered that poor man.” (Eccl 9.13-16)

The story is interesting in that it is punctuated with adjectives, adding colour and meaning. Notice these words: greatly: small: few: powerful: huge; poor; wise. These words bring tension between what was and what could have been.

Matthew Henry comments that this was a real incident, known to Solomon and doubtless to the first readers. As indeed are the later incidents I mention. Solomon was aware of the world around him.

The man rescued the city. Yet afterwards the man who rescued the city lived in poverty and obscurity as he had before.  That is not fair. He should have become a hero.

Scrolling back through the preceding chapters, we notice a series of comments about the unfairness of life – things do not turn out as they ‘should.’   

“I saw the tears of the oppressed – and they have no comforter; power was on the side of their oppressors – and they have no comforter.” (Eccl 4.1)   Nothing changes! In every age power lies with the oppressor. The oppressed is left with tears; no one to save them.

“Better a poor but wise youth than an old but foolish king who no longer knows how to heed a warning. The youth may have come from prison to the kingship, or he may have been born in poverty within his kingdom. I saw that all who lived and walked under the sun followed the youth, the king’s successor. There was no end to all the people who were before them. But those who came later were not pleased with the successor. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.” (Eccl 4.13-16) The story of Israel is echoed throughout history throughout the world. One good ruler, full of integrity and wisdom and compassion is no guarantee of another. And circumstances change; famines may replace fruitful years.  Even Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, lot most of the wealth he had inherited. Its as if these verses were prophetic.

And our memories are faulty and selective. Even after Solomon’s death the people complained that he had put a heavy yoke on them (1 Kings 12.4). He hadn’t! Israel had grown wealthy by trade and revenues from surrounding nations. An earlier generation had recalled their Egyptian experience; “there we sat round puts of meat” (Exodus 16.3). They hadn’t! They had been slaves.

“If you see the poor oppressed in a district, and justice and rights denied, do not be surprised at such things; for one official is eyed by a higher one, and over them both are others higher still. The increase from the land is taken by all; the king himself profits from the fields.” (Eccl 5.8-9)

The prophet Samuel had prophesied the burdens that a king would impose. “He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants.” (1 Sam 8.13-14).

In the world of commerce, wealth trickles up, not down. The poor get poorer. The rich get richer. Wealth and rights are not distributed evenly.

And even bureaucracy itself can be loaded against us. ‘Bureaucracy can be a form of injustice; the rich and well educated can work through it, either by bribery or ‘knowing the system,’ whereas the disadvantaged just have to wait for justice and are often powerless.’ (David Devenish, Demolishing Strongholds)

“I have seen both of these: the righteous perishing in their righteousness, and the wicked living long in their wickedness.“ (Eccl 7.15)  The righteous man died, maintaining his integrity – yet the wicked prosper  (Ps 73.2-3).

There are those who cheat the system, overclaim benefits, fiddle their expenses, and seem to get away with it – that is not fair. There is a level of endemic dishonesty in our culture and probably others. We refer to ‘white lies,’ and overlook a ‘low level’ of theft as acceptable. We find that the culture of one organisation accepts such behaviour – I heard testimony from a friend who, when submitting his monthly expenses, was expected to inflate amounts claimed, as ‘everyone does it.’

Solomon goes further: “There is something else meaningless that occurs on earth: the righteous who get what the wicked deserve, and the wicked who get what the righteous deserve. This too, I say, is meaningless.” (Eccl 8.14)

The rewards are the wrong way around: – the righteous receives the reward due the wicked; the wicked gets the reward due the righteous. And this is endemic. No wonder Solomon reaches his conclusion regarding time and chance:

“The race is not to the swift
or the battle to the strong,
nor does food come to the wise
or wealth to the brilliant
or favour to the learned;
but time and chance happen to them all.”

Unless we see the context of this conclusion, we will find ourselves in the same hopeless place. If we consider only life ‘under the sun’ or events which ‘I have seen’ then we will reach the same conclusion.

We must make our observations with reference to the unseen world and to God’s eternal kingdom. Otherwise, we find ourselves in Solomon’s hopeless ‘time and chance’ conclusion. In contrast, once we are aware of the unseen world and God’s eternal kingdom, our focus and understanding are transformed. (See my conclusions are in a later article.)