Question:

50.1—” I said in my heart, ‘God shall judge the righteous and the wicked, for there shall be a time there for every purpose and for every work” (Ecclesiastes 3:17). “…Because for every matter there is a time and judgment, though the misery of man increases greatly” (Ecclesiastes 8:6).

Is one of the things these two verses say, that on the Day of Judgment (for the unsaved) and on the day that we have to give account to God for all that we’ve done (the Christians) there will be plenty of time for every work and purpose to be reviewed?  I know that is true, but am wondering if these verses are key to supporting that.  When I thought about it in this way it really had an impact…I could just imagine myself standing before God and one by one giving account of each and every thing…sounded rather painful.  Please feel free to correct anything I’ve said, if need be.

50.1—These verses do “support” the truth that everyone, saved and unsaved, will give account to God when He judges everything that is done in this life, but Ecclesiastes is not a revelation of truth from God but rather the reasoning of Solomon, the wisest man that ever lived, about things he “saw under the sun.” In Ecclesiastes 3:17, which you quote above, Solomon says, “God shall judge the righteous and the wicked.” This is the conclusion he came to because of what he observed in the previous verse: “I saw under the sun that in the place of judgment, wickedness was there; and in the place of righteousness, wickedness was there.” He reasons that since things are not made right in this life that decency and fairness demand a time when accounts will be settled and when the right is vindicated. He does not say that God will judge the righteous and the wicked after death, and in Ecclesiastes 8:7 he says that “he knoweth not that which shall be: for who can tell him when it shall be?”

But as you say, we do know because we have the revelation of God in the New Testament that Solomon did not have, that says: “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). We know that a believer on the Lord Jesus Christ “does not come into judgment” (John 5:24), because “Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many” (Hebrews 9:28). The believer himself shall not be judged though his “work shall be” so he can “receive a reward” (1 Corinthians 3:13,14).

The Scriptures also tell us that God will judge unbelievers at the “Great White Throne” judgment because they are responsible for their sins. He will sentence them to spend eternity in the lake of fire, and their punishment will be “according to their works” (Revelation 20:11-15). How immeasurably blessed we are to have the revealed Word of God regarding what lies after this life.