Ecclesiastes 8:14

"There is futility which is done on the earth, that is, there are righteous men to whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked. On the other hand, there are evil men to whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous.. say that this too is futility."futility which is done on the earth" -"Another kind of frustration, too, earth sees" (Knox). "on the earth"-i.e. from. purely earthly point of view. Here again we see the frustration of. life which doesn't include God! In this life there is no certainty that morality will pay any earthly dividends. There are righteous people who suffer (Lazarus, Job, John the Baptist, the prophets, Jesus, etc..). And there are evil men who abundantly prosper. "for there is no sure way of knowing when---let alone why life will rain down on us the next blow or the next windfall" (Kidner p. 78). Thus, without God, without heavenly realities, moral effort is futile. Here is God's answer to the person who doesn't believe in God or who doesn't serve Him, but who thinks that being moral is advantageous in this life anyway. Here is the folly of. morality divorced from spirituality. The type of person who thinks that living right is beneficial even though they have no intentions of every making. commitment to God. The world is filled with people in this category. People who think that godliness simply exists for physical gain. Such people are only setting themselves up for. huge disappoint----here and in the life to come.

God allows this life to be unpredictable: 1. Because man has. freewill, and we often suffer because of the wrong choices exercised by others. 2. So that people don't merely serve God for the physical benefits, which all too many people are prone to do (John 6:26).