The Divine Name

Another Proof that this book and its noblest saying is of man not born again, lies in the fact that the only Name of God in it, except Creator (and that is also a proof), is what may be called His natural name, Elohim.

Not once is spoken the name Jehovah, the name of the everlasting covenant of redemption; "I am the Lord." God seems distant, far away, up in heaven, a judge, and sinful man on earth, whose words should be few. And so man, from the first sigh over all vanities, to the last conclusion, is seen and heard as unredeemed, unrenewed, out of covenant relations, seeking what is best under the sun, but not seeking God Himself; and at the end of all his weary searchings, speaking not in believing Hebrew phrase of " the fear of the Lord," but of the fear of God, and not even then of "thy God." In the book of Proverbs, Wisdom is speaking to those who fear Jehovah; in Ecclesiastes, it is not so.

It is never denied that there is one living and true God, holy and righteous, and that man is fallen and sinful; but in this book, no redeeming mercy is seen in God, nor saving faith in man. Herein " the Preacher " differs wholly from the Psalmist. Men are told to fear God, but never to trust Him; it is not Jehovah Who is in mind.

Man is in a mysterious relation to God and His purpose and work. This unintelligible mystery affects all the labor and travail of man under the sun, so that man's perplexities and ignorance continually tend to a fatalistic view of life; but this view is not actually held, as is proved by the fear of God and the belief in a day of divine judgment.

God has to do with every step in the strange and serious investigation that is going on. The search is before God; He gives it, but He assigns the task to exercise and humble man; He gives the days of life; He gives good, and bestows the power of enjoyment or withholds it; He made man upright and will judge him; but throughout all, it is not Jehovah, the covenant-keeping God of an everlasting redemption, but Elohim the Creator, the Allotter, the Mysterious Worker, the Far-off Righteous One, the Final Judge.