Ecclesiastes 12:9-14 Christian Standard Bible The Teacher’s Objectives and Conclusion 9 In addition to the Teacher being a wise man, he constantly taught the people knowledge; he weighed, explored, and arranged many proverbs. 10 The Teacher sought to find delightful sayings and write words of truth accurately. 11 The sayings of the wise are like cattle prods, and those from masters of collections are like firmly embedded nails. The sayings are given by one Shepherd. 12 But beyond these, my son, be warned: there is no end to the making of many books, and much study wearies the body. 13 When all has been heard, the conclusion of the matter is this: fear God and keep his commands, because this is for all humanity. 14 For God will bring every act to judgment, including every hidden thing, whether good or evil. We are now at the end of the book and the Teacher states his purposes and conclusion. He taught the people knowledge and weighted and explored the words of "wisdom" that were being taught to find out which of these things were actually true and worthy of acceptance. He realized that it wasn't just about finding things that made you feel good (though that was one of his goals) because many people believed lies that made them feel good. He wanted wisdom that would keep people going in the right direction (even if it felt like the sharp poke of a cattle prod) or something that you could hang your life on like a firmly driven nail that was anchored in the stud that was attached to the foundation. He realized that all truth comes from one Shepherd--the one who is called the Truth in John 14:6.
He also wanted to warn his son in particular that many people write many books on many topics (sometimes knowing nothing about what they are writing about or writing things that are of no real value or contain no real wisdom worth studying). How can we know then what is worth our time? After Solomon had heard and weighed everything, he discarded this "under the sun" perspective and tells us to fear God and obey His commandments. That is the chief purpose of man in the eyes of Solomon. Leave for God the issues of justice, for even though we seem to see injustice now, one day, everything will be subject to His final judgment. Though it may seem there is no advantage to righteousness if we only consider this natural life, there is eternal life to consider that hangs in the balance, and only the LORD we should live with eternity in our hearts so that we would seek to serve the LORD both now and forevermore. Ecclesiastes 12:1-8 Christian Standard Bible The Twilight of Life 12 So remember your Creator in the days of your youth: Before the days of adversity come, and the years approach when you will say, “I have no delight in them”; 2 before the sun and the light are darkened, and the moon and the stars, and the clouds return after the rain; 3 on the day when the guardians of the house tremble, and the strong men stoop, the women who grind grain cease because they are few, and the ones who watch through the windows see dimly, 4 the doors at the street are shut while the sound of the mill fades; when one rises at the sound of a bird, and all the daughters of song grow faint. 5 Also, they are afraid of heights and dangers on the road; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper loses its spring, and the caper berry has no effect; for the mere mortal is headed to his eternal home, and mourners will walk around in the street; 6 before the silver cord is snapped, and the gold bowl is broken, and the jar is shattered at the spring, and the wheel is broken into the well; 7 and the dust returns to the earth as it once was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. 8 “Absolute futility,” says the Teacher. “Everything is futile.” Solomon is wrapping up, and he switches from an "under the sun" perspective to giving the wisdom to his sun that the earlier that you fear God and obey Him in life, the better life will be for you. Don't have an "under the sun" perspective, but the perspective that the LORD created everything and is in charge of everything in heaven, on earth, and under the earth. Otherwise, you will live a long, meaningless life. There will be no long-lasting pleasure or joy--no satisfaction will be found in anything.
Solomon poetically describes the aging process and the additional pains and troubles that come from being older--like sleeping when you want to be awake and being awake when you want to sleep. You don't see well, don't hear well, and you are unsteady and afraid of falling. Your hair grows grey, and your teeth fall out. You constantly live with the reality of being one heartbeat away from death, though you aren't exactly sure what will take you. Even if you find the LORD at this point in your life, how will you live for Him? What can you do with that knowledge at this point? You will have wasted your entire life on meaningless pursuits only to find that the LORD was the answer all along and He has been waiting for you from the very beginning. The sooner you submit to His authority, the sooner you find what life is really all about, and the sooner you will find joy and peace in this life and the life to come. Otherwise, you will have nothing to say at the end of life other than "Utterly meaningless" to summarize your life. We'll come back next time and talk about Solomon's final thoughts and conclusions after this thought experiment and that will wrap up our study of this book. Ecclesiastes 11 Christian Standard Bible Invest in Life 11 Send your bread on the surface of the water, for after many days you may find it. 2 Give a portion to seven or even to eight, for you don’t know what disaster may happen on earth. 3 If the clouds are full, they will pour out rain on the earth; whether a tree falls to the south or the north, the place where the tree falls, there it will lie. 4 One who watches the wind will not sow, and the one who looks at the clouds will not reap. 5 Just as you don’t know the path of the wind, or how bones develop in the womb of a pregnant woman, so also you don’t know the work of God who makes everything. 6 In the morning sow your seed, and at evening do not let your hand rest, because you don’t know which will succeed, whether one or the other, or if both of them will be equally good. 7 Light is sweet, and it is pleasing for the eyes to see the sun. 8 Indeed, if someone lives many years, let him rejoice in them all, and let him remember the days of darkness, since they will be many. All that comes is futile. 9 Rejoice, young person, while you are young, and let your heart be glad in the days of your youth. And walk in the ways of your heart and in the desire of your eyes; but know that for all of these things God will bring you to judgment. 10 Remove sorrow from your heart, and put away pain from your flesh, because youth and the prime of life are fleeting. You may have heard the beginning of this chapter before. It teaches us to diversify our investments and don't worry about them on a daily basis. We don't see Solomon advising us to "day trade" here. He's talking about making long-term investments in what we would call retirement accounts.
He also speaks to the idea of putting away money in savings for more immediate use in what we might call a "rainy day fund." Disaster will come at some point, but we won't be sure what it will look like, and if it will affect us or those around us. We should be ready in either case. As I mentioned before, Solomon warns against the idea of what we might call "day trading" where you hold investments for a short period of time trying to use them to make regular income. The farmer must sow and reap in the right season, but he cannot control the weather--he must trust the LORD for a good harvest. The same goes with our investments. Solomon says to start investing early on and to not retire at an early age. Keep working as long as you can so that you don't plan to live off of your retirement--it will never last as long as you want it to. Regular wages and salary are much more dependable than investment income. With a diversified portfolio, you should mitigate the risk of having all your eggs in one basket and that investment tanking or the company going bankrupt. Whether you die rich or poor, be happy with the life that you have been given, for every day of it comes from the hand of the LORD. Every breath we take is a gift from Him. There will be many bad days with some good days mixed in. Celebrate the good days, but don't be dishonest about the existence of the bad days---they also teach us much and are there for a reason. The young person should rejoice in his youth and live life to the fullest while he is able. The LORD makes young people both energetic and passionate so that they will have the vision and the drive to do the things He has set their hearts and minds to. However, dreams and passions can be dangerous things as many do not come from the LORD, so the young person needs wisdom (many times from a parent, grandparent, or other person who is older and wiser) to temper their eagerness. There can be much desire to sin when we are young and there is a good form of self-control that keeps us from sinning. Do not dwell on sorrow, pain, and the bitter times in life, especially when you are young and have much of your life to live. Focusing on these things will only sour your outlook on live. Instead, seize the day and make the most of the few days that you have (in comparison to the eternity that awaits us all), but live with eternity in your heart so that you make wise choices today. Ecclesiastes 10:15-20 Christian Standard Bible 15 The struggles of fools weary them, for they don’t know how to go to the city. 16 Woe to you, land, when your king is a youth and your princes feast in the morning. 17 Blessed are you, land, when your king is a son of nobles and your princes feast at the proper time-- for strength and not for drunkenness. 18 Because of laziness the roof caves in, and because of negligent hands the house leaks. 19 A feast is prepared for laughter, and wine makes life happy, and money is the answer for everything. 20 Do not curse the king even in your thoughts, and do not curse a rich person even in your bedroom, for a bird of the sky may carry the message, and a winged creature may report the matter. Foolish people bring lots of trouble upon themselves that wearies them. They often don't have anyone to turn to for help as they have burned many bridges and isolate themselves from others.
Solomon says the people suffer when they have a king who is young and immature. This happened a couple of times in the history of Juda because their father was such a wicked king that the LORD caused him to die. It was better for the people to have an immature but righteous youth ruling them than an evil king who was leading the people into the ways of King Ahab and the pagan nations around them. The king should always come from the royal family--the covenant was made to all of David's family. The children will learn the right way to govern and conduct themselves by watching their father and by listening to the lessons they were taught in the palace. They will not be given to gluttony or drunkenness, nor feasting at inappropriate times. A man must attend to his house and upkeep it. If he fails to do the routine maintenance, one day, the roof will collapse, or the foundation will start to leak. It is the same with our lives. Failure to take care of the little things will lead to bigger things down the road. Do the little things every day to avoid the big issues as much as you can. The world thinks that partying with much food and alcohol is the solution to all their problems and as long as they have money, they can continue to make themselves feel good or they can buy things or pay people to fix their problems. While that is the way many people think, we know that is far from reality. Even with much therapy and medication with much money spent on both, people still have to deal with their consciences and the guilt from their sin. Do not even think evil things against the one who is lord over you (your master or king or your boss or employer in today's world). Likewise, do not say or think evil things against the person who has more money than you. Eventually, word will get back to that person what you have said or what you think of them. Solomon jokes that your words and thoughts may be caught in the air and a bird may carry the message to the party you are speaking of, but he's saying that news travels quickly and people love to gossip. You never know who is listening and who will say what--you also don't know who can tell what you are thinking as your facial expressions may be enough to betray you or your conduct when someone approaches, or their name is spoken. You may act in such a way where the words you would say are obvious. Do your best to think and say good things about people, especially those you work with and work for. Ecclesiastes 10:8-14 Christian Standard Bible 8 The one who digs a pit may fall into it, and the one who breaks through a wall may be bitten by a snake. 9 The one who quarries stones may be hurt by them; the one who splits logs may be endangered by them. 10 If the ax is dull, and one does not sharpen its edge, then one must exert more strength; however, the advantage of wisdom is that it brings success. 11 If the snake bites before it is charmed, then there is no advantage for the charmer. 12 The words from the mouth of a wise person are gracious, but the lips of a fool consume him. 13 The beginning of the words from his mouth is folly, but the end of his speaking is evil madness; 14 yet the fool multiplies words. No one knows what will happen, and who can tell anyone what will happen after him? Continuing the passage from yesterday. Do not try to "dig a pt" (set a trap for someone else) because you may be caught in the trap you have laid for someone else. Also, don't be so quick to try to go through barriers that someone else has put up to try to protect you. You may not understand why the barrier is there, but that doesn't mean that the rule or policy is dumb or should be abolished or ignored.
If you do risky work (like mining gems or harvesting lumber), you may get injured. In such cases, do whatever you can to make things safer for yourself and make your job easier, even if it means spending some time "sharpening your axe" before cutting the tree. People may scoff at you for not immediately starting to harvest lumber, but you'll do it with less effort if you are using a sharp axe. Likewise, wisdom takes a while to learn but brings more success. Like you don't handle a snake before it is charmed, don't step into volatile situations where the parties haven't had time to cool down (or at least know the risks if you say there isn't time for that). Speak gracious words like a wise person. Don't be like a fool whose words come back to bit him. The fool's words go from simple foolishness to utter madness. They speak many words, but all of them are meaningless. No one can tell if what the fool speaks will come to pass or not. Their words have no weight to them. Ecclesiastes 10:1-7 Christian Standard Bible The Burden of Folly 10 Dead flies make a perfumer’s oil ferment and stink; so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor. 2 A wise person’s heart goes to the right, but a fool’s heart to the left. 3 Even when the fool walks along the road, his heart lacks sense, and he shows everyone he is a fool. 4 If the ruler’s anger rises against you, don’t leave your post, for calmness puts great offenses to rest. 5 There is an evil I have seen under the sun, an error proceeding from the presence of the ruler: 6 The fool is appointed to great heights, but the rich remain in lowly positions. 7 I have seen slaves on horses, but princes walking on the ground like slaves. There are things in life where a little bit of something bad ruins the whole batch that was good. Solomon speaks of a fly getting into the ointment or perfume and making what was supposed to smell good stink. You can probably think of other examples were something fell into your food and you threw out everything you were cooking or eating. So it is with folly--you could be making an eloquent argument full of wisdom and you say one foolish thing, and no one remembers the good things you have said. Your whole life becomes defined by that one moment of foolishness, even for years to come.
Have you ever wondered where got the phrases "the right" and "the left"? Contrary to common thought about which side of the House the caucus sits on, the origins are right here in the Bible in this passage (and others like them) where Solomon says that the wise man's heart is inclined towards the right (the word is both used for "correct" and for the direction "to the right") and with a play on words, the heart of the fool is drawn "to the left" (the opposite direction of "to the right"). So the fool is bent towards doing what is wrong. Think about that when someone tries to use "right-wing" as a pejorative for you or someone else. I'd much rather be identified with the wisdom of "the right" than with the folly of "the left." The one identified as a fool doesn't even have common sense that you would hope the common man walking along the road would have. This seems to have gotten worse and worse over the years and man's heart is bent more towards sin and folly and the things that used to be common sense are no longer common. His foolishness is on full public display for everyone to see and know what kind of a man he is. Do not abandon your post or quit your job just because your captain or boss becomes angry with you. Calm spirits and level heads will return quickly, and any offenses can be forgiven and overlooked. Solomon has spoken much about the foolishness of the king's servant and the common man, but now he is going to speak directly to the foolishness of the king (probably identifying his own mistakes). Even as the wisest man, he still made some foolish choices. Giving a poor fool power over the purse of the nation is probably not a wise decision. It is better to entrust someone with the money of others who has demonstrated that they handle their money wisely first. Elevating slaves to be officers in command of others also makes no sense to Solomon. They acted in a way that lost them their freedom because they could not manage the affairs of themselves and their households. How then can they be expected to manage the affairs of others and care for others in the heat of battle when they could not care for themselves and their families in peacetime? Solomon also saw princes (members of the royal family) working the land and doing the work of a slave. He found this too to be foolish when they should have been busy taking care of their responsibilities as a member of the royal family (whatever their royal duties may have been). Ecclesiastes 9:11-18 Christian Standard Bible The Limitations of Wisdom 11 Again I saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift, or the battle to the strong, or bread to the wise, or riches to the discerning, or favor to the skillful; rather, time and chance happen to all of them. 12 For certainly no one knows his time: like fish caught in a cruel net or like birds caught in a trap, so people are trapped in an evil time as it suddenly falls on them. 13 I have observed that this also is wisdom under the sun, and it is significant to me: 14 There was a small city with few men in it. A great king came against it, surrounded it, and built large siege works against it. 15 Now a poor wise man was found in the city, and he delivered the city by his wisdom. Yet no one remembered that poor man. 16 And I said, “Wisdom is better than strength, but the wisdom of the poor man is despised, and his words are not heeded.” 17 The calm words of the wise are heeded more than the shouts of a ruler over fools. 18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner can destroy much good. Earthly wisdom can only get us so far in life. While there are some advantages to being fast or strong or brave or rich or wise or talented there is still an element of randomness and what people would call "luck" or "fate" (though not a biblical concept) that things will go wrong sometimes, and there's nothing you can do about it. One day, a fish is just swimming along only to be snagged by the fisherman's hook or snatched up by a hungry bird. The fish didn't do anything different that day--it was just his day to get caught and die. Likewise, other animals may be caught in a trap or snare or hunted and just been "unlucky" that day. In the same way, bad things will suddenly come upon us for no rhyme or reason. They just seem to happen. The godly know better than to say that it is simply fate, because God is sovereign and in control of the big things and the little things, but our mind cannot make sense of how these things are anything but random and how God could allow them.
Solomon also says that wisdom is great in peace time and people may even say "Wisdom is better than strength" during those times. A poor, weak man may even be honored during good times for being wise, yet when his city is being surrounded by an attacking king and his army, it will be the strong man, not the wise man that the city starts looking for. Therefore, wisdom is not always valued equally in all situations and sometimes it is better to be strong than wise, though many times it is better to be wise than strong. The wise man will keep his emotions in check so that people will listen to his words that he speaks in a calm manner. The one who loses his temper and shouts and yells is already losing the argument and proving to be a fool, because he is letting someone control his emotions and letting those emotions control him. Wisdom is better than weapons of war if used correctly (you can diplomatically agree to peace without a need to fight and have unnecessary death and destruction), but an evil person can destroy and undermine everything that a wise person has tried to negotiate, undermining any chance for peace. |
Daniel WestfallI will mostly use this space for recording my "journal" from my daily devotions as I hope to encourage others to read the Bible along with me and to leave a legacy for others. Archives
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