If you feel like someone is watching you, there is. There is a record being kept of every action, every thought, down to every intent of your heart. Whose roll is it on? God the judge of all the earth.
The “Highest” in Ecclesiastes 5 is God Himself who dwells in the heavens of heavens of heavens. The phrase “higher than the highest” emphasizes that even the greatest human authorities are under His ultimate rulership and judgment; there is no being higher than this “Highest.” He is the One infinite being.
If you see oppression and injustice, don’t be shocked, because every official is watched by one higher, and there is a day of reckoning for all misdeeds upon this earth.
So, the picture is a chain of command: lesser officials, higher officials, and ultimately the One who is “higher than the highest.”
Who is “the Highest”?
The traditional thought is that the “higher than the highest” is God, and the Christian believes that to be true. The thought is: corrupt rulers may seem unaccountable, but the Most High God, infinitely above them, “regardeth” (He takes note and will judge).
In other words, human “high” ones (politicians, presidents, kings, governors, elites) sit at the top of earthly systems, but God stands above all of them. Even Christ himself is subject to the Highest. It is God who must give him his kingdom after his judgment is complete.
Daniel 7:13-14 KJV13 I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. 14 And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.
“Higher than the highest” – is there anyone above Him?
Within the verse, you have two “levels” being described:
- A vertical chain of human authority: one official watched by another, “and over them both are others higher still.”
- Then the statement that there is One “higher than the highest,” which points beyond that human chain to the Divine Judge.
God is uniquely supreme: He is called “the Most High God,” and there is no higher authority above Him. Jesus answered the man who called him good, “Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, that is, God.” Yet Paul warned, Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: (Rom 11:22 ) On those who do good, he is good, on those who do evil, his judgment is severe.
So, the conclusion is to do good and trust that you will reap the goodness of a good God. Don’t worry about the evildoers, their time will come, and the severe God will judge from his exalted position of “the Highest”.
