Daily Devotions

Ecclesiastes

Ecclesiastes 
Day 
Day 39

"In the place of judgment"

Text: Ecclesiastes 3:16

THE PLACE OF JUDGMENT

Solomon compared what God does with what man does. And he is not impressed with what he observed. If ever there is a place where good and justice would be upheld, it ought to be in the place of judgment, that is, the courts of law.

“Moreover I saw under the sun:
In the place of judgment,
Wickedness was there;
And in the place of righteousness,
Iniquity was there.”
Ecclesiastes 3:16

1. “Moreover I saw under the sun”

a) Solomon continued to observe.
b) This time, he looked at the courts of law.
c) Court officials would include, in those days:
i) Princes
ii) Judges
iii) Elders of the land

2. “In the place of judgment”

a) In the royal courts
b) In tribunals

3. “Wickedness was there”

a) Wickedness should have been put down.
b) But wickedness was there.
c) The suggestion was that it was prevailing over justice.

4. “In the place of righteousness”

a) This may be another term for “the place of judgment”.
b) That should be the place where righteousness prevailed.
c) But sadly, “iniquity” was there.
d) “Wickedness” and “iniquity” in this text refers to the same thing.

5. “The place of judgment”, that is, “the place of righteousness”

a) The courts of law did not uphold righteousness.
b) Justice was not done for those who sought it.
c) Those in power somehow managed to subvert justice.
d) Wickedness and iniquity prevailed over righteousness in man’s world.