Ecclesiastes 7

Ecclesiastes 7 Ecclesiastes 7: Key verse – “See, this alone I found that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes.” 7:29 Ecclesiastes 7 contrasts wise living with foolish living. This chapter’s structure is a lot like what we find in the book of Proverbs: bursts of insights that hit us from all angles, wrapping around a few themes: The Value Of A Good Name: --v.1: “A good name is better than fine perfume” For Ecclesiastes’s first readers, fine perfume would have been a luxury few could have afforded. It was an indication of wealth; even today, we don’t usually find poverty-stricken people spending hundreds of dollars on half-ounce bottles of expensive fragrances. What the Teacher means, then, is that it is better to pass down a legacy of a good name than to enjoy the luxuries of finer things. A good name is far better than riches. It is a matter of honor. What can we do to have a good name? Sorrow, Suffering, and Spiritual Formation: --v.2-6: The next five verses call us to face several hard facts. Life is difficult the remind us—and one day, for all of us, it will end. Only when we reckon with tis matter will we realize that it is better to mourn with the sensible than feast with the fools. Similarly, facing the facts of hardship and death, we can say with the Teacher, “Frustration (also translated “sorrow”) is better than laughter. Comedy is fleeting; tragedy is formative. Charles Spurgeon once said, “Affliction is the best bit of furniture in my house.” In other words, life confirms what the Bible conveys: More spiritual progress is made through failure, disappointment, hard times, and tears than will be discovered in success, laughter, easy times, and trivialities. This is very counter-cultural! What do you think about the value of hard times and suffering in life? Wisdom In Self Control: --v.7-10: These verses stress the importance of exercising self-control. Starting with verse 7, we see the importance of self-control in the matters of money because “a bribe corrupts the heart.” In other words, we should be careful not to lose our credibility—our ability to do business with a clean conscience and crystal-clear gaze. We are to be careful also in the snare of unguarded talk (v.8-9). We must not allow our mouths to run ahead of our minds. And we are to guard ont only how we speak but also what we say (v.10). No one wants to be known as the crabby old person walking around saying “I miss the good old days!” Taking a mental holiday dreaming about the past to avoid putting our shoulder to the plow in the present is a folly to avoid at all costs. Not many bribes happen today but what are some ways we could be swayed to do the wrong thing in our work? Do you find yourself wishing for the good old days? Why is that unwise? Is there a good way to do that? Wisdom In Trust: --v.11-14: In verses 11-12, the Teacher simply highlights the value of wisdom against life’s risks, describing wisdom as “shelter” (or protection) for our lives. The next verse is a call simply for us to trust. Life is neither the product of blind fate nor a series of random chance occurrences; God is over all and in control of all—everything is the work of God. The advice that follows in verse 14 is straightforward: “When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider this: God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, no one can discover anything about their future.” God is in control of the rain and the clouds as much as He is of the sun and the beauty. He is sovereign over the food days and the bad days. The Teacher urges his readers to consider these truths and trust God. What do you think about this? The Righteous and The Wicked: v.15-22: In these verses the Teacher’s focus shifts to the distinction between righteous and wicked living. Contrary to popular notions of health, wealth, and happiness, the idea that the righteous automatically prosper and the wicked automatically suffer simply isn’t true. Though in the end God will right all wrongs, our experience in the meantime is not so black and white. The righteous sometimes perish in their uprightness while the wicked prolong their lives in their evil. How do we deal with this paradox? The Teacher offers surprising counsel in v.16. “Do not be overrighteous, neither be overwise—why destroy yourself?” We should not take this as encouragement to sin! Rather, the Teacher is warning against spiritual intensity pushed too far. We ought to avoid the heart posture of the Pharisees in Jesus’ day who condemned Him for neglecting their extrabiblical additions to God’s law. So we’re not to be overly righteous on the one hand. On the other, though, he warns us “Do not be overwicked”. How, then, do we resolve this tension? Do we walk the tightrope between the two extremes? No, the answer is given in verse 18: “It is good to grasp the one and not let go of the other. Whoever fears God will avoid all extremes.” We are to fear God, living in a way that asks of every thought and deed, “Will the Lord approve of and be honored by this?” The Teacher closes this section by revisiting a familiar theme in v.19-22…commending wisdom amid the wickedness of our world. The Folly of Sinfulness: v.23-29: These verses remind us not only of the Teacher’s ongoing search but also of humanity’s fallen condition. He concludes in v.29, “This only have I found: God created mankind upright, but they have gone in search of many schemes.” Though the Teacher tried his best to let wisdom be his guide—to live uprightly—he was undone in the end by his own plans. Foolishness, when the Bible speaks about it, has to do not with mental faculty but with moral rebellion. All of our folly is found in our sinfulness, our disobedience to and rebellion against the will of our Creator—the One who loves us, sustains us, and will one day assess us. Our sinful folly brings condemnation before our holy God, for He must punish sins.