There is a vanity that takes place on earth, that there are righteous people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked, and there are wicked people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity.  (Ecclesiastes 8:14)

Kohelet, the unnamed author of Ecclesiastes, conducts a thought experiment.  If this was indeed Solomon, then he pours all his God-gifted wisdom into considering what mortal life is like without God.  One of his themes is the unfairness that the wicked gain and the righteous lose – and he is not wrong, but only if the death is the end and a just God does not exist.

The word that translated ‘wicked’ is the Hebrew adjective רָשְׁע rasha and it means ‘guilty’, ‘criminal’ or ‘evil’.

Within the parameters of his thought experiment, that a righteous man is punished while the wicked escape is a ‘vanity’, a meaningless thing – yet, it is of course the Gospel of Christ.  Pilate traditionally pardoned a criminal at Passover and when considering Jesus’ fate gave the decision to the crowd:

The governor again said to them, ‘which of the two do you want me to release for you?’

And they said, ‘Barabbas.’ 

Pilate said to them, ‘then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?’ 

They all said, ‘let him be crucified!’  (Matthew 27:21-22)  

Barabbas was likely a murderer whom any would consider ‘wicked’, yet it was Jesus who was adjudged guilty and was the criminal.  

Jesus was also indirectly called evil by some:

Now he was casting out a demon that was mute. When the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke, and the people marvelled.  But some of them said, ‘he casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons’… (Luke 11:14).

Yet the Bible testifies Jesus was without sin, and took upon himself the sins of others – this is the Gospel.

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

So, if Jesus was not wicked, but was punished as a guilty and evil criminal, who are the wicked?

The apostle Paul turns to Scripture, quoting widely from Psalms of David and the Prophets:

‘None is righteous, no, not one;
    no one understands;
    no one seeks for God.
All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
    no one does good,
    not even one.’
^‘Their throat is an open grave;
    they use their tongues to deceive.’
‘The venom of asps is under their lips.’
   Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.’
^‘Their feet are swift to shed blood;
    in their paths are ruin and misery,
and the way of peace they have not known.’
    ‘There is no fear of God before their eyes.’  (Romans 3:10-18)

Every person but Jesus is declared to be wicked.  Indeed, without that realisation of that status, and the willingness to confess sin, Jesus cannot relate to anyone:

^‘I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.’ (Luke 5:32)

So, to return to Kohelet’s proposition, the Gospel qualifies (does not disqualify) his observation; those that think themselves righteous do indeed face a grim prospect, yet it is the wicked who will prosper, if they avail themselves of salvation through faith.

That the righteous suffer and the wicked prosper is indeed an abomination against all natural justice, yet the Bible would have all believe that very notion.  This is because the limitations of an earthly perspective do not allow for eternal judgment.  Jesus, the sinless man cruelly judged by men, will himself be that judge.

For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; for it is written,

‘As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,
    and every tongue shall confess to God.’

So, then each of us will give an account of himself to God.  (Romans 14:10b-12)

And this is the truth that Kohelet edges toward as he attempts to look beyond the mortal existence:

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) 

And once Kohelet has completed his thought experiment, he will come to the devastating conclusion that without fearing God, mortality is meaningless; yet though the deeds of men and women amount to little they do count, as wicked humanity is called to account:

The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.  (Ibid 12:13-14)