Series: Vanity
Topic: Wisdom
Text: Ecclesiastes 7:15-29
Last week, I began my sermon talking about wisdom. This week I want to expand on that thought as we come to the seventh chapter of Ecclesiastes. It’s not an accident that this book has been classified as "Wisdom Literature." In my opinion, it’s probably the most philosophical books of the entire Bible. But, it also contains more than just philosophical debate. It contains some very practical and down-to-earth wisdom.
I. The BALANCE of Wisdom (Vv. 15-18)
Ecclesiastes is a book that gives us a harsh dose of reality. The good guys don’t always win; the hero doesn’t ride off into the sunset. The message of this book is quite the opposite. Solomon makes it known to us that he has seen situations where bad things happened to good people and good things happened to bad people.
The prosperity gospel teaches that good things only happen to good people. When disaster strikes a Christian, the Prosperity preacher says, “Well, he must not have been good enough," or, "He must not have prayed hard enough." And so the followers of these teachings think, “Well, if God only blesses good people and I’m not being blessed, then I’m going to try harder, pray harder and give more until I’m good enough to deserve God’s blessings."
Now, don’t get me wrong. There’s nothing wrong with trying to be good. But there IS a problem with spiritual imbalance. And in Vv. 16-17, Solomon warns against imbalance in both of its extremes.
What does he mean? That you shouldn’t be too good? That it’s okay to be a "little bad?" No. He doesn’t say, "Be a little good and be a little bad." Actually, he doesn’t say to be wicked at all. What he DOES say is don’t be excessive. Don’t try to be excessively righteous or excessively wise.
So again, what does this mean? Well, in order to find out we have to look at the CONTEXT. Solomon has just described in v. 15 how he has seen a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness…and a wicked man who prolongs his life in his wickedness.
Now you might be thinking, “Well, that’s not fair!" And by coming to that conclusion, you are passing judgment on the righteousness and fairness of God.
You hear people say all the time, "I can’t believe in a God who would allow war and suffering and injustice to take place in the world. If I were God, then I would do it differently." People who make statements like this are attempting to be excessively righteous and excessively wise. They are placing their own righteousness and wisdom above God’s, and that is the way of ruin.
We also need to be careful not to go to the other extreme of saying, “Well God’s righteousness and wisdom are so far removed from me that they don’t relate to me so I’m just going to live my life in sin. After all, if I’ve broken one commandment I’ve broken them all so I might as well have fun doing it." This also is the attitude of a fool; it’s a path in which you have a good chance of dying well before your time.
So the question is, where is the balance between these two extremes? The answer is found in v. 18. It is in the fear of the Lord. We don’t talk that much these days of fearing God. But we should. After all, that’s where real wisdom begins.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Ps. 111:10).
II. The STRENGTH of Wisdom (Vv. 19-20)
Now in the first verses we looked at, Solomon says not to be overly wise. But that doesn’t mean that wisdom doesn’t work. In these verse, he compares it to the value of having ten rulers in one city. Think about the kind of power a king would have over a city if he teamed up with nine other kings. As powerful as that might be, wisdom is much more powerful.
But a part of being wise is understanding the reality of sin. Solomon says,there is not a just man on earth who does good And does not sin (v.20). The apostle Paul says the same thing in the NT:
“There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.” “Their throat is an open tomb; With their tongues they have practiced deceit”; “The poison of asps is under their lips”; “Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.” “Their feet are swift to shed blood; Destruction and misery are in their ways; And the way of peace they have not known.” “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” (Rom. 3:10-18)
Now Paul didn’t come up with this himself. Remember, it was Solomon who said “There is nothing new under the sun.” When Paul wrote his letter to the Romans, he put together six OT passages (mostly from the Psalms) to build a powerful argument for the universal depravity of all men. Most of these are taken from the Psalms.
Four times we read the statement, "There is none…” Meaning that we are all sinners. Then he goes on to give us a picture of our sin, talking about all the different areas our sin affects: throat, tongue, mouth, feet, and eyes. Basically, what Paul is saying is that we are all sinners from head to toe. But notice Paul’s conclusion, at the root of our sin problem is the fact that we have no fear of God.
So here’s the deal: When we don’t fear God, we don’t fear the consequences of sin. When we rebel so freely against God, it leads to ultimate destruction. On the other hand…When we do fear God, we fear the consequences of our sin. We realize our need for a Savior; this is The STRENGTH of Wisdom. It points us to Christ.
III. The TOLERATION of Wisdom (Vv. 21-22)
The situation described here is one where you hear somebody bad-mouthing under their breath. There’s only one problem…they’re bad-mouthing about you.
What’s your first reaction when you find out that people are talking about you? Especially when it’s being done behind your back. Does it make you angry? Do you want to confront them and put a stop to it? Well, Solomon give us some words of wisdom:
Don’t take it so seriously; let it go. Just think about what they could say about you if they really knew the truth. So before you go flying off the handle, remember all those times that YOU talked about somebody else.
IV. The DISCOVERY of Wisdom
In the next several verses, Solomon gives us his own personal testimony. He did this once already in chapter 2, where he related his search for wisdom in all the different areas of life. Now he returns to the telling of that search.
a.) The OBJECTIVE of Solomon’s Search. (Vv. 23-24)
Solomon makes it clear in chapter two, and again here, that his objective in life was to obtain wisdom. And there was nothing wrong with that. As a matter of fact, God commended Solomon for his desire to be wise. But finding what he was looking for “was far from” him.
Now when we think about Solomon, the first thing we think about is that he was the wisest man who ever lived. But his own testimony states that wisdom remained a mystery. Why? It certainly wasn’t because he wasn’t looking for, nor was it a lack of mental capacity. It all had to do with PERSPECTIVE.
True wisdom cannot be found "under the sun", it requires a divine perspective. And the only way you can obtain a divine perspective is through the filling of the Holy Spirit; it has to come from a source outside yourself.
b.) The ORDER of Solomon’s Search. (v. 25)
Solomon tried to look for the qualities of wisdom, as well as their opposites, through rationalization and observation. And we’re going to see here in a moment that his findings were few and far between. But before we get to that, Solomon deals with an obstacle along the way.
c.) The OBSTACLE of Solomon’s Search. (v. 26)
Now at first glance, this seems to be completely out of place in this passage. We’ve been looking at the value of wisdom, and the search for wisdom and now all the sudden, Solomon throws in this verse about the trap of a wild woman.
So why is this in here? You have to remember, Solomon is talking about his experiences…he’s giving his own personal testimony. So what he’s saying is that while he was searching for wisdom, he was interrupted by his unwise choices regarding women.
This was a man who was no stranger when it came to women; he had 700 wives and 300 concubines. He knew a lot about women, and he was led astray by his relationships.
This ought to tell us something about relationships. It ought to tell us that sex before marriage interrupts the potential for a healthy relationship. Solomon had relations with hundreds of women, but it seems as though he didn't have a REAL relationship with any of them.
d.) The OUTCOME of Solomon’s Search. (Vv. 27-29)
The outcome of Solomon’s search is that wisdom is rare. Not only that, but he comes to the conclusion that wisdom is even more of a rarity among women. Now I know, this may sound a little sexist and that’s because it is. You have to remember, these were sexist times. These were times when women weren’t taught to read or write; these were times when women were considered to be the property of a man.
But I don’t believe that Solomon was trying to devalue women with these words, I think he was making a statement in regards to all of us. My opinion is based on what he says in v. 29. In the original language, this reference to men is not masculine, it’s generic…which means it applies to everyone.
So why then is wisdom so rare? It’s because we’ve been blinded by sin. Why do we sin? It wasn’t because we were created that way, it’s because we’ve turned from God to seek out "many schemes."
All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. (Is. 53:6).
We’re not who we were created to be, we’re abnormal; the root of our abnormality is sin. That’s why God sent His only Son to die for our sins, and this is the way to wisdom…through the cross.
