O king, how folly you are! [Eccl. 2:12-17]
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O king, how folly you are! [Eccl. 2:12-17]
Exegetical Idea:
Homiletical Idea: “There is no true contentment in the lives of those who pursued earthly pleasure without God.”
Exegetical Points:
The king’s understanding of wisdom is biased because he judges this wisdom in terms of his observation, not God’s revelation.
Again, even though the king reflects on death which is one of the most important themes that human beings should meditate on, his understanding of death is limited. God says not only the death of a man but also eternal death or life.
The king’s pain is indicative of all men’s struggle in that no one can interpret death, destiny, and success without God’s revelation.
Biblical Theology and Theological Proposition:
Wisdom and Folly
True King versus a human king
Good News:
God only can remove human beings’ vanity caused by self-indulgence.
Insightful and Important Observations
12 So I turned to consider wisdom and madness and folly. For what can the man do who comes after the king? Only what has already been done.
The king is a man of meditation. He contemplated wisdom and madness and folly again (cf. verse 11). This verse shows the connection between the author of Ecclesiastes and a king.
13 Then I saw that there is more gain in wisdom than in folly, as there is more gain in light than in darkness.
After considering wisdom and folly, the author identifies that wisdom is better than folly as light is better than darkness. It is clear that wisdom and folly are contrasting concepts. And light cannot coexist with darkness.
14 The wise person has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I perceived that the same event happens to all of them.
Then, the king compares the wise person with the fool. The common feature of the fool’s life is to walk in darkness. Imagine one who tries to walk without any light. This attempt is not only thoughtless but also hazardous.
Surprisingly, however, according to the king, it is the same that the wise and the unwise face. What is the king talking about now? Is it really true that both’s destiny is identical? Let’s read a few more verses to understand this proposition correctly.
15 Then I said in my heart, “What happens to the fool will happen to me also. Why then have I been so very wise?” And I said in my heart that this also is vanity. 16 For of the wise as of the fool there is no enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. How the wise dies just like the fool!
In verse 15, it is likely that the king regards himself as a very wise man. Verse 16 sounds like a distorted fact because there are people whom humankind remembers due to their life achievements. Again, what does the king try to convey in this observation? In verse 16, the king uses the word “death” for the first time. In other words, human beings are all the same in terms of the fact that we all perish.
The king considered wisdom and folly and the destiny of the wise men and folly men from the perspective of worldly life. In contrast, the Bible teaches us not only the first death but also the second death which is God’s eternal judgment. In addition, the king never fails to say “this also is vanity.” Yes, his understanding of wisdom and folly is right if he believes that there is no life beyond this world. However, Christians know that God is ready to judge everyone and give eternal life. In this sense, the king's insight into wisdom and folly is finite.
17 So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for all is vanity and a striving after wind.
In this verse, readers can read the king’s emotion from the adjective “grievous.” As pointed out above, the king still gives most of his attention to the things under the sun instead of keeping his head up. For this reason, readers hear again the king’s disastrous crying.
Brief Interpretation and Meditation
Application and Prayer
If one is not born again in the Spirit, he cannot be wise.
No one cannot interpret the world, affairs, and human beings until God gives him the light of the Holy Spirit to see them rightly.
There are a lot of people who resemble the king who is depicted in Ecclesiastes. They tend to think that they are wise enough. However, their true state before God is hopeless wanderers.
Father, I confess my sins today. I did not restrain what I wanted to say to my wife and mom. I put myself, my stuff, and my priority in the place of God. Lord, would you cleanse my sins through the blood of Jesus Christ? I pray that you would protect and guide my mom. I ask you that you would heal my father’s deep scar and agony through your Spirit so that he would be renewed and love himself and you. Father, I love you because you loved me first. Lord, I try to find a certain reason for my further study at Westminster. Even though I don’t know what to do and where to go, I believe that you are the way, the truth, and life.