Ecclesiastes 8:17

"and. saw every work of God,. concluded that man cannot discover the work which has been done under the sun. Even though man should seek laboriously, he will not discover; and though the wise man should say, 'I know', he cannot discover"."man cannot discover" -Unaided by Divine revelation, man is completely unable to predict the future, solve all the problems of this life, or see exactly how God has accomplished His purposes in the past, or how He is accomplishing His purposes in the present…(Jeremiah 10:23; Deut. Ecclesiastes 29:29; Romans 11:33 "How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!"). This is true, regardless of how much time and effort people put into trying to discover "the secret" of having this life all figured out. "I found that man is unable to grasp the truth of all that God is doing in this world" (Mof). Solomon had tried his best, and apart of Divine revelation, when and where God had not aid him, he had failed.

"though the wise man should say" -Which means that every human philosopher has never found the answer. "The world's long history of philosophies, each one in turn exposing the omissions of its predecessors, makes it all too clear" (Kidner p. 79). Here is how the obituary reads for all human philosophies (1 Corinthians 1:21).

Points To Note:

1. It is God's work that baffles us, hence life isn't. tale told by an idiot. "Yet what if it is told to an idiot?" (Kidner p. 79). 2. This verse helps us to properly evaluate every new self-help book or every new theory, esp., those concerning what is the key to happiness, what will make. marriage work and how to raise children. 3. With the Bible we see what is correct about the latest fad and what is wrong. And with the Bible we are always ahead of secular thinkers, denominational and unsound thinkers (Psalms 119:99). With the Bible. don't have to wait for another man to discover the truth for my generation or me. 4. Nothing has changed, to this day popular writers claim that they have found or discovered earth-shaking truths that will change all our lives forever, and they parade their latest book or ideas on the talk show circuit. "Although as earth-dwellers we see God's work in tantalizing flashes, the very fact that we can ask about the whole design and long to see it, is evidence that we are not entirely prisoners of our world (also evidence that we are created in the image of God). In more promising words, it is evidence of not only how but for Whom we have been made" (Kidner p. 79).