Ecclesiastes 12:14: ‘Because God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.”
It is interesting that the word for God has a definite article in front of it, “Because The God.” The word for God is haelohim which is referring to one who has authority over us. The root word is alah, the same as in the Arabic. In one respect Muslims do worship the same God we do. When they talk of Alah they are referring to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Their spin on God, however, is quite different than ours.
Anyways, elohim has a broad range of meaning. It is used to refer to God Jehovah, to angels and even to human judges. In this case the definite article is used to express the fact that there may be many gods out there that people serve, but there is only one who will call our actions into judgment, that is “The God.”
He will call all our acts or asah into judgment. Asah means works, produce, and creations. Asah refers not only to physical acts but spiritual acts. This includes the creations of our imaginations. One aspect of this judgment is whether the creations of our imaginations are good or tov ie, in harmony with God or evil (Hebrew –ra). This particular ra word has a reference to evil intentions. It is to be envious, hurtful to others. It has it’s origins in the mind. Hence these acts that God will call into judgment are not just outward acts, but actions that take place in the mind. Do our imaginations create things that are in harmony with God or do they have evil intentions and intentions to do others harm?
Note that both will be called into judgment. This idea of bringing into judgment uses the word yavi for brings. This is in a hiphil imperfect form. Hence every act will cause itself to come into judgment. The word judgment is shapah which has the idea of making a determination. The word whether is im which could be translated if. Hence the verse could read that God will judge or determine every act, even what we create from our imagination to determine if it is in harmony with Him or not.
But soft, the writer also says that everything that is hidden will be judged as well. Hidden is the word alam which is also the word foreverlasting. Do we ever stop to think that our creative acts could last forever? God created the world in His imagination. He created us in His imagine and gave us an imagination as well. It is with our imagination that we picture a bridge and then build it. Just as God pictured a tree and then created it. We are reminded in this passage that we will be judged in how we use this gift to create. If you are a song writer you can write a song that will be hurtful to God and others or will honor Him. You can paint a picture that will either bring glory or dishonor to God. It is our choice. God gave us an imagination to create ways to honor Him and bring us into intimacy with Him. Because of our creative gifts from God we can relate to Him as no other creature can. Or we can bring hurt and dishonor to Him as no other creature can. It is our choice and God will make the final judgment in how we use our gifts.
As I read this, I am thinking that I welcome the judgement of God. It wasn’t always that way, as I used to fear it considerably, even as a Christian. It’s interesting to note that I also feared the judgement of other people. Unfortunately, I still struggle with that in some ways. God isn’t finished with me yet. :-)