Ecclesiastes 10:1-11

With the exception of Ecc. 10:5-7, this whole chapter feels much more like Proverbs than Ecclesiastes, at least to me. Hence, I’m having a hard time discerning any particular flow to the Preacher‘s argument through today’s reading other than to note that:

• Wisdom is better than folly (though folly takes its toll)
• Sometimes the world seems upside down (or downside up)
• Things frequently don’t go according to plan

All of those things are certainly in keeping with the Preacher‘s theme, so maybe I just need to keep mulling this reading over…

Even so, let’s just look at the first verse for a moment:

Dead flies make the perfumer’s ointment give off a stench;
so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.

Ecc. 10:1

How often we have seen the truth of this proverb! Think about people you have known (perhaps even yourself!) who have done quite a lot of good, wise, honorable things, but then did something foolish. And what does everyone remember? Just the screw up. I am sure Nixon did at least a few reasonably decent things, but he will forever be known primarily for Watergate. Carter did some excellent things — notably the Camp David Accords — but he is largely remembered for the Iran hostage crisis and the failed rescue mission. Reagan has Iran-Contra. Clinton has Monica. Etc., etc. Naturally, depending on which side of the aisle you are on, you may raise plenty of other criticisms or otherwise come to the defense of these characters of history, but the point is that the mistakes stand out much more than the positive accomplishments, just as the proverb says.

And all of that goes to say that — in full dependence on Christ — we need to be diligent in our pursuit of wisdom, righteousness, and holiness. We cannot afford to let down our guard and indulge in “just a little” folly. The chances are that that “little” folly will become a dead fly in our perfume.

Ecclesiastes 9:11-18

I have also seen this example of wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great to me. There was a little city with few men in it, and a great king came against it and besieged it, building great siegeworks against it. But there was found in it a poor, wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that poor man. But I say that wisdom is better than might, though the poor man’s wisdom is despised and his words are not heard.

Ecclesiastes 9:13-16

Interesting. Although the Preacher does not say so explicitly, it seems clear that he considers the treatment of the poor man to be improper, even unjust, yet he does not call the entire scenario “vanity and a striving after wind” as we have so often heard before. Instead, he just asserts that, despite the shameful treatment of the poor man (and his wisdom), wisdom is better than might.

Now let’s just make a bit of a leap. Let’s imagine that the city is the whole world, under siege by the forces of evil. And the poor, wise man is Jesus, who by His Cross provides deliverance. Yet He is rejected and despised. All around the world His Name is used as a curse, and His followers are mocked and derided. Do we then say that God’s plan of salvation is “vanity and a striving after wind”? Or do we trust that wisdom is better than might?

Ecclesiastes 9:1-10

But all this I laid to heart, examining it all… (v. 1) By “all this” I assume the Preacher is referring to the previous 8 chapters, so it might be a good idea to go back and look those chapters over again. (It may have taken us 14 days to get to this point, but, really, it’s only been 8 short chapters, so it won’t take you long to review. I’ll wait…)

And having examined “all this” what does the Preacher still find? That death levels the playing field, that all meet the same end. Even so, it is better to be alive than dead, and so, enjoy life while you can.

At this point, I think we should be clear that the Preacher, although speaking truth, does not have a full and complete revelation. He believes in God, but is not fully aware of the Resurrection. He is focused on this life and is not looking to the next. We, of course, do have that fuller revelation and can look forward to life after death. And we should, for if there is no resurrection, then, as Saint Paul says, we are of all people most to be pitied. (I Cor. 15:19) Yet we should not then just brush off the Preacher‘s perspective. God does not just whisk us away from this life as soon as we come to faith. Instead, He has called us to live out our lives in the here and now, and we can learn much from the Preacher for how to do that well.

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One more thing…

Have you seen the movie, Up? Yes, I mean the animated flick with the old man and the house and a whole lot of balloons. I watched it a few years back and enjoyed it and rarely thought of it again. But a few weeks ago a friend recommended Up to my wife, who hadn’t seen it before. So we watched it together. That was a week or two before we started reading Ecclesiastes here. Since then, as we’ve been reading, it has occurred to me that Up reflects Ecclesiastes rather profoundly. Really! If you haven’t seen it, I won’t spoil the plot by trying to explain what I mean. But I’d like to suggest that you find a copy of Up (the Woodford County Library has it on DVD), grab a soft drink and some popcorn, and enjoy watching Up — with Ecclesiastes in mind. And then let us all know what you think. If you think I’m nuts, that’s OK. You will still have done a little eating, drinking, and enjoying — which is entirely consistent with the Preacher‘s advice, assuming you engage in a bit of toil while enjoying the show!

Ecclesiastes 8:10-17

The Preacher lives in the real world. He declares those hard truths that we don’t want to face. We like to think, like Job’s friends, that “good things happen to good people, and bad things happen to bad people,” but — like Job — the Preacher observes otherwise. He sees the reality 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. (v. 14) And it shouldn’t take much looking around for us to see that the Preacher is correct. To deny it is to deny reality.

In similar fashion the Preacher declares another hard truth: Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil. (v. 10) This truth flies in the face of those currently implementing and promoting cashless bail and other criminal justice reforms who seem to believe that the heart of the children of man is fundamentally good and needs only the mildest of nudges to find the right path. Poppycock! Any honest examination of one’s own heart without Christ should reveal that if granted impunity, each of us would descend rapidly into evil. Again, to deny it is to deny reality.

But the Preacher does not give in to the temptation either to shake his fist at God for apparent injustices or to give up and join the wicked. He remains confident that in the end it is better to fear God and be joyful. Why? Because he is a realist. He understands that God’s ways are beyond us. (Ecc. 8:16,17) So he accepts the ultimate reality, which is God Himself.

Ecclesiastes 8:1-9

Keep the king’s command… (v. 2) Today we get some very practical advice from the Preacher: Be a good citizen, keep your head down, don’t offend the authorities, and hope for the best. As usual, the Preacher’s advice is firmly rooted in reality — specifically the reality that crossing the most powerful person around can be more than a little dangerous; it can be deadly.

Saint Paul gives us much the same advice:

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.

Romans 13:1-7

And so does Saint Peter:

Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. … Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.

I Peter 2:13,14,17

We all nod our heads in agreement (because this is Scripture, after all) until our own interests or opinions clash with those governing authorities. Then our hackles go up and we immediately point to Acts 4 where Peter and John defy the Sanhedrin and continue preaching Christ despite being ordered not to. And we ask, “What about Hitler? What about Stalin?” These are, in the large, good questions that reveal that we are not obliged to blindly obey orders that contradict God’s law. But I think that we in modern Western democracies are far too quick to believe that our opinions equate to God’s, and so we rationalize disregarding these admonitions to be subject to governing authorities. Perhaps a bit more humility and a good deal more fear of the Lord would be in order.

Ecclesiastes 7:14-29

All this I have tested by wisdom. I said, “I will be wise,” but it was far from me. That which has been is far off, and deep, very deep; who can find it out?

Ecclesiastes 7:23,24

We know from our study of Proverbs that wisdom is well worth pursuing, that we should seek for it like treasure. The Preacher likewise values wisdom. (Ecc. 7:19) But he also recognizes our human limitations. Some things are just beyond us and always will be, because God has made it so, such that man may not find out anything that will be after him. (Ecc. 7:14)

And speaking of limitations, I’ll leave it to someone much wiser and braver than I to wade into the minefield we have in Ecc. 7:25-29. I’m reminded of the Southwest Airlines TV commercial that had Mary Todd Lincoln confronting Honest Abe with the question, “Does this dress make me look fat?” at which point Southwest cuts in with “Want to get away?” I’ll just leave it there…

Ecclesiastes 7:1-13

Review for a moment your own personal history and pick out the top three most positively impactful experiences you’ve had, those things that changed you for the better and taught you good, solid life lessons, those things that brought you significantly closer to God. If we are truly honest in making our lists, my guess is that they are dominated by what most would call “tragedy,” with Death himself knocking on the door of many, if not most, of those experiences.

And that is what we see in the first few verses of today’s reading:

• Death over birth (Ecc. 7:1)
• Mourning over feasting (Ecc. 7:2)
• Sorrow over laughter (Ecc. 7:3)
• Sadness over gladness (Ecc. 7:3)
• Mourning over mirth (Ecc. 7:4)
• Rebuke over song (Ecc. 7:5)

It is not that the Preacher has some morbid preference for depression. No. He just recognizes that the truly valuable lessons of life are learned when we realistically face cold hard truth — particularly the truth of death. Meanwhile, we tend not to learn much of anything of real value at parties. “But,” one might say, “the rest of the Bible tells us to be joyful.” Indeed it does, but that joy comes at a dear cost, the Cross of Christ. Until we take that Cross seriously, with all the mourning, sadness, and sorrow, we will never learn what joy really is.

Ecclesiastes 6

Today’s reading again smacks us in the face with hard realities. Ecc. 6:1,2 speaks of the person who has everything but is incapable of enjoying it. I expect that we have all encountered such people, perhaps up close and personal, perhaps more from a distance. At the very least we’ve seen them on the road, furiously driving their Maserati (or Mercedes, or Lexus, or…), evidently mad at the world, and thoroughly discontent. They shake their fist as they drive by, and we shake our heads in disgust at them, thinking how perverse it is that they have so much and yet are not satisfied. We tell ourselves that if we had that kind of money, we’d be nicer. We’d be happy. And in so saying, we reveal that we, too, are discontent, and that we have our eyes on the wrong prize: if only we had that kind of money…

And thinking of “that kind of money,” I’m sure we’ve all heard the news that someone in California just the other day bought a winning Powerball lottery ticket valued at over $2 Billion (with a “B”). What luck! That ought to be enough to satisfy the winner’s every desire, right? But it won’t. Guaranteed. Just ask the Preacher.

I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Philippians 4:11b-13

Saint Paul, sitting in a Roman prison, points us in a better direction.

Ecclesiastes 5:10-20

In Living Life Backward (page 37), David Gibson quotes Iain Provan (Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs [The NIV Application Commentary Ecclesiastes]) as summarizing the main message of Ecclesiastes this way: “Life in God’s world is gift, not gain.” He later condenses that a bit into, “Life is gift, not gain.” I love that, not just because it’s on target, but because it is pithy and really easy to remember. That summary fits today’s reading like a glove.

Where does the pursuit of gain get you? Nowhere. Wealth slips through your fingers. The more you get, the more it is consumed, so all you get to do is look at it for a while. (Ecc. 5:11) And overfilling your stomach just gives you indigestion so you can’t even sleep. (Ecc. 5:12 — By the way, I love the humor in that verse!) Or you gain riches only to lose them in some bad business venture, so you have nothing left to provide for your children, and even if you manage to hold onto some of it, you still can’t take it with you when you die, so you live your life in bitterness. (Ecc. 5:13-17)

And the alternative to that empty pursuit of wealth? Accepting life as God’s gift and enjoying whatever He gives you. (Ecc. 5:18-20) Stop struggling against reality. Accept reality. Accept the gift of God’s amazing grace.

So there you have it. Life is gift, not gain.

Ecclesiastes 5:1-9

Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil.

Ecclesiastes 5:1

With today’s reading I feel like we have stepped onto holy ground, and I am reminded that the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight. (Pr. 9:10) Yet far too often we treat the Lord casually, and we fail to recognize holiness. For example, at the entrance to the sanctuary at St. Andrew’s we have a sign posted urging us to enter silently so as to prepare our hearts for worship, but the sign is widely ignored, and there is constant chit-chat before the service. Any notion of guarding our steps seems absent, and I fear that we may well offer the sacrifice of fools more often than we draw near to listen.

Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few.

Ecclesiastes 5:2

We tend to exercise our mouths much more than our ears, not only with one another, but also with God. We ask Him for this, and we ask Him for that, and we may even praise Him and thank Him. And we should. But perhaps we use too many words, and perhaps we hide behind our words, and perhaps we’re not entirely honest in our words. But God sees through all that anyway. So take some time today and find a quiet place where you can simply be silent before God and just listen.

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One more thing…

Today is Election Day — or perhaps more accurately now, today is the end of voting season — and we’ll (begin to) learn actual election results and not just opinion polls. So in anticipation of those results, I’d like to encourage all to bear Ecclesiastes in mind. If things tend to go your way, I’d like to say to you, “Congratulations! Praise God that His will was done!” And if your side goes down in defeat, I’d like to say to you, “Congratulations! Praise God that His will was done!” Be neither overconfident in victory nor despairing in defeat, for this nation known as the good ol’ U.S.A. is not the Kingdom you are looking for. It is God who raises up and God who tears down, and it is He Who is the one true King, so trust that He is in control and knows what He is doing.

That does not mean that we should just stay home and not vote. Far from it. As citizens we have the right to vote. And as conscientious citizens we have a responsibility to vote — a responsibility to seek the Lord’s guidance and to make the wisest choices we can for the good of all (which may or may not align with our own personal self interest). Voting is a way to love our neighbor as ourselves, and we should act accordingly. And that means thinking and praying seriously about your vote, and not just acting on the basis of soundbites and rhetoric. It means using true wisdom, and not being swayed by fear, bribes, or emotionalism. Choose life or choose death. Choose the status quo or seek change. Make your decision and cast your vote in the fear of the Lord. But in the end, we must leave the result to the Lord. Anything else is just so much more vanity and striving after wind.