Coming clean with God and others makes it well with our souls. But when we continue to hide our sins it is not well with us in this life and it won’t be well with us in the next life. In Ecclesiastes 8:13 Solomon continues his comments regarding the wicked. He says, “But it will not be well with the wicked, neither will he prolong his days like a shadow, because he does not fear before God.” The lack of the fear of god gives rise to all kinds of evil. Evil in a person’s life will drive him away from God, East of Eden, to the proverbial land of Nod where everyone is an alien. Murderers will find no peace in this life. Solomon actually said as much in Proverbs 28:17; “If one is burdened with the blood of another, he will be a fugitive until death; let no man help him.” As it was with Cain, so it is with all murderers.
In her memoirs, Svetlana Alliluyeva describes the death of a cruel tyrant who murdered millions of people. It was her father, Joseph Stalin. If ever a man set his heart to do evil, it was that wicked man. Here is how his youngest daughter describes his final breath: At what seemed like the very last moment he suddenly opened his eyes and cast a glance over everyone in the room. It was a terrible glance, insane or perhaps angry, and full of fear of death and the unfamiliar faces of the doctors bent over him. The glance swept over everyone in a second. Then something incomprehensible and awesome happened, that to this day I can’t forget and don’t understand. He suddenly lifted his left hand as though bringing down a curse on us all. The gesture was incomprehensible and full of menace, and no one could say to whom or what it might be directed. The next moment, after a final effort, the spirit wrenched itself free of the flesh.
Ryken says, “What happened after that? This is the ultimate question. What happens after we die? The Preacher believed there would be a final righting of all wrongs. True, he was troubled by the common injustices of life in a fallen world. But he was also convinced that God would make things right in the end.” I am too! but I still believe God wants us to make things right now in this life as well. Fearing God in the present brings peace of mind today and confidence upon entering eternity. Not fearing God in this life leaves us alienated from God and others in this life and fear and trepidation upon entering eternity. “Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and prolongs his life, yet I know that it will be well with those who fear God, because they fear before him. But it will not be well with the wicked, neither will he prolong his days like a shadow, because he does not fear before God” (Ecclesiastes 8:12–13).