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 an article in front of it. Because “The God.” The word for God is haelohim which is referring to one who has authority over you. The Semitic root of this word is alah, which is also used in the Arabic. In one respect, the Muslims do worship the same God as we do. When they talk of Alah they are referring to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It is just that they put a different spin on God which makes Him quite different than our understanding of God. Their picture of God is a demanding, tyrant who makes excessive demands upon them. They are afraid of God, afraid if they cross a line they will be horribly punished. If they do a lot of good things they will be rewarded. You know, there are some Christians, who are so hung up on works and trying to win God’s favor, I wonder if they would make better Muslims than Christians?
Anyway, the word elohim has a broad range of meanings. It is used to refer to God Jehovah, to angels and even to human judges. In Ecclesiastes 12:14 elohim has an article which 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 haelohm, 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 i.e., in harmony with God or evil, ra. This particular ra word has a reference to evil intentions. It is to be envious, hurtful to others. It has its 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, intentions to do others harm.
Note that both will be called into judgment. This idea of bringing into judgment, uses the word yavi for bring. 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 as 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 for everlasting. 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. Animals do not have an imagination. It is with our imagination that we picture a bridge and then build it. Just as God pictured a tree and then created it. The Talmud teaches that God ceased creating of the seventh day, but that creation did not end, it was passed on to us. God gave us an imagination so that we could continue creating. 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 or insulting to God and others or a song which will honor Him. You can paint a picture that will bring glory or dishonor to God. It is your choice. God gave us an imagination to create ways to honor Him and bring us into intimacy with Him. Because of our creative gift is from God we can relate to Him as no other creature can. God is a personal God, if there are six billion people in the world He can create six billion different ways to related to each one of us. He has given us the ability to think and imagine so we can create a different way to relate back to Him. The problem is that we are a bunch of copy cats. We see someone fall down and roll in the aisle and get a pat on the back from the preacher and we think, “Oh, I can do that so we imitate that person hoping for a pat on the back on from the preacher. Soon everyone is rolling in the aisle thinking that this is how to relate to God and never spend any personal time alone with God to discover and create a new and personal way to related to God that is just right for them. Thus the very act of rolling in the aisle to get the attention of the brethren becomes an act that is hurtful and brings dishonor to God because we ignore the creative ability God has given us. It is our choice and God will make the final judgment in how we use our personal gift of creation.
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