Living Under the Sun (Ecclesiastes 7:1-29)

Ecclesiastes 7:1-29

Sunday, July 25, 2021

Living under the sun

Intro

It’s a Wonderful Life

George Bailey the main character in the movie finds himself in potential ruin as his loan company finds itself $8,000 short. He considers all his family and friends would be better off without him and thinks about taking his life.

An intervention happens and George Bailey is given the opportunity to look at what his small town would have looked like apart from his life. And he is awakened how he has stood against corruption, even if not fully obvious.

George Bailey’s perspective changes as he is given a better view of the end, verses looking aimlessly before.

Our lives are unknown, but there is one who knows it all

Recap

Life is vanity

A time for everything

Left with the question, what is good for man while he lives the few days of his vain life, which he passes like a shadow? (6:12)

Main Point: Christian, wisdom is of great value and strength. But true wisdom can only be found in Christ.

Points

The Advantage of Wisdom (7:1-14)

The Limitation of Wisdom (7:15-29)

The Work of God

The Advantage of Wisdom (7:1-14)

Wisdom is a great advantage for us to have and possess. Proverbs 3:13-14 says: Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding, for the gain from her is better than gain from silver and her profit better than gold. Wisdom was there too in the beginning with God. For in Proverbs 8:22 we read: The LORD possessed me (wisdom) at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of old. Wisdom is of great value. And this is why we read this in Ecclesiastes 7:11-12 (READ).

There is an interesting comparison here made between wisdom and money regarding inheritance. While the Preacher King has made clear that money doesn’t last and can’t satisfy us in our lives, money in an inheritance is a helpful provision. For in an inheritance a parent’s possessions are left to their children. And this inheritance will provide for them in their early days. The model of creation was intended for what one generation has invested and stored up would be passed down to the next. Proverbs 13:22 gives some clarification here, it says: A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children, but the sinner’s wealth is laid up for the righteous. Therefore, like money is a good inheritance for financial provision for future generations, wisdom is good with an inheritance. It brings protection and preserves the life of the one who has it as seen there in verse 12. For wisdom teaches, guides, and helps one stay on the straight path. Wisdom is to be valued and treasured. But what does this kind of wisdom look like?

Wisdom is living life backwards

In verses 1-6 there are 3 sets of proverbs. Each line feeds off of one another as it makes comparisons. There in verse 1 it starts with a good name is better than precious ointment. We know from the days of Jesus when the woman anointed him with oil, that ointment was very expensive, which is why it is a precious thing to have. For in Matthew 26:6-9 we see this story and the disciples question the woman for the waste of this valued ointment and why she didn’t sell it and give the money to the poor. So as valuable as precious ointment would have been, we learn that a good name is better than that.

But notice how verse 1 continues, “and the day of death than the day of birth.” The day of birth is a precious thing. I know Darcy and I were overjoyed on the day our daughter was born. It was exciting and joyful. However, here we are seeing that the day of death is better than this day of birth. It seems counterintuitive. Yet, the reality is the day of death teaches us more about a person and the brevity of life than the day of birth. Therefore, wisdom is found more in the reality of thinking about the day of death than the day of birth. Keep in mind the comparison here is that a good name and the day of death are better.

Just think, on the day of birth what is known about a person? Not a whole lot. And if we merely look at life ahead from the beginning the temptation is to think we get to define how life goes, we look at life thinking it will be long. Why do you think many little ones look at someone in their 20’s and 30’s and say, you are old? Because they are looking at life from the beginning. However, to have wisdom is to look at life backwards. To consider the shortness of our lives and to live those short years with that end in sight. A good name can be established by the wise who consider that they have but a few short years to live. Therefore they should consider living those few short years well.

And to help drive the need to see this shortness of life is why what we see in verses 2-4 about it being better to go to the house of mourning, that sorrow is better than laughter, and that the heart of the wise goes to the house of mourning. For in each of these, it deals with the reality that death is the end for us all as seen there in verse 2. And this is what we need to lay to heart to pursue wisdom. If we think we fail to see the end and live accordingly, then we will miss living wisely and establishing a good name.

A failure to live life backwards though is an attempt to brush over the realities that death is the end. We too see this there in verses 2-4. The way of the foolish is to run to the house of feasting, ignoring the reality of death. The fool tries to hide sorrow by laughing and brushing it off. The fool runs to the house of mirth (happiness) instead of mourning. The fool fails to deal with the reality that death is coming for us all. And the fool, because they don’t consider death lives life aimless and fails to see our mortality as mankind. Friends, there is a death date set for us all. It is inevitable. We know not when it will come, but it will come nonetheless. The question is, are we going to be the fool who refuses to consider it or are we going to be the wise and live accordingly seeking a good name?

Wise Rebuke & Foolish Laughter (7:5-6)

Besides living life backwards being a step towards wisdom, taking wise rebuke is another step towards wisdom. In verse 5 we read (READ). If we are all honest with ourselves, none of us like to receive rebuke. We would much rather enjoy singing and laughter together than having to either receive rebuke or for that matter give rebuke. Rebuke involves confrontation. It involves hard conversations. And yet, the rebuke of the wise is necessary to walk in wisdom.

Rebuke is a confronting of one in sin and false doctrine. We read in Luke 17:3: Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. Then in 2 Timothy 4:1-2 Paul tells his young protege Timothy: I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.

Wise rebuke is needed because we all have blind spots. We all are unaware of certain sins within us. And we need those who in wisdom, patience, and teaching can confront us in specific sins in a loving and gentle manner to help expose these. It is our duty to one another in this church to rebuke one another as the case should require. Again, doing it with patience and teaching. This means confronting specific sins that are apparent in one another and showing them from Scripture how this behavior is contrary to the ways God has called us to walk.

To give an example of a rebuke I recently got along with a group of 30 others was a rebuke to make sure that as pastors we remember our humanity and limitations. Brian Croft, who leads my Pastors Cohort called us out for the temptation as pastors to think that we can do it all, that we have to put on a facade before our congregations that we always have it together. He challenged us to embrace our humanity and limitations. To feel emotions and deal with them. Notice how rebuke looks though, Brian called us out on this and then encouraged us it is okay to be human as he pointed us back to Jesus. This is how the rebuke of the wise is to look. Rebuke works to build up and point others to Jesus. And it is this rebuke of the wise that we all need to seek in wisdom. For it is to our advantage in receiving it.

We find the rebuke of the wise as we do life together in close proximity to one another. Rebuke is always intended to be done with love in our heart. To help us even further at seeing the lasting value of the rebuke of the wise, notice what is said in Proverbs 27:5: Better is open rebuke than hidden love. Open rebuke is a form of love. If you currently don’t have anyone in your life that you trust to give you that rebuke of the wise, shoot me an email or give me a call this week. Let’s work on pairing you with another member of our church where meaningful discipleship can begin taking place. Where you can have another come alongside you and point you more to Jesus. For this is the goal of discipleship.

The laughter of fools on the other hand is vanity. For as we see there in verse 6, it is compared to that of crackling thorns under a pot. In other words, the laughter of fools doesn’t last long. It will quickly burn out. For the laughter of fools is an attempt to evade the reality of life. It seems like good medicine, but the truth is it is a terrible attempt to escape reality.

Looks ahead with Patience (7:7-10)

Next, one last advantage to wisdom is that it helps us to be patient in spirit as we live our lives in light of the end. For there is a temptation for us to allow oppression to drive the wise into madness, for a bribe to corrupt the heart of the wise along the way. There too is the temptation for some to ask the question as seen in verse 10, “Why were the former days better than these?” All three of these come from the wrong place though. These are the results of being proud in spirit and a quickness of spirit to become angry. Each of these is a result of having a short-term view of life and failing to see who is the one in control.

When we fail to see the end of the thing, we want to try and take control and get impatient in waiting. Especially in times of suffering, oppression, injustice, pain, or illness. Pride creeps into our hearts thinking we know how the results should be and life should go. We do not know the end, only God does. In fact, this is what we see in verses 13 and 14, it says (READ).

We cannot straighten what has been made crooked as mankind. We cannot find out anything that will be after our lives. We are mortal and have limited knowledge, not God. God is the one over all things. He is the one who has made both the day of prosperity and adversity. And therefore we need to consider our limitations, even in wisdom.

Wisdom is an advantage as it helps us see that the end is better, because God is the one over it all. And that we need to wait with patience on him and his timing. Romans 8:28 says: And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

And because of this end that God is working towards, it is why too it is foolish to ask the question “Why were the former days better than these?” there in verse 10. Back in Ecclesiastes 1:9 we read: What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done and there is nothing new under the sun. The temptation is for us to look back with nostalgia on the previous days and think that they were somehow better. However, the reality is that this question is not asked in wisdom. It is easy for us to forget how the cycles repeat themselves with the same old folly time and time again. As bad as the sexual revolution seems now, it began in the 60’s and 70’s of sexual promiscuity. Events such as Woodstock and other type events. These same patterns were seen in the days of Sodom and Gomorrah and their wickedness. It was seen in the days of Israel of parents offering their children to foreign gods as sacrifices. There truly is nothing new under the sun. Therefore, we must see that to live wisely we must see the end and keep our eyes fixated on God. The time now is better than before, because God is still sovereign and all is working according to his purpose. Not to mention, we are nearer now to being with Christ for all eternity than we were previously. Romans 13:11 says: Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. False wisdom and humility want to reminisce on the past in thinking it better. True wisdom sees that God is at work throughout all of history for his glory and that only he knows the end, not us.

The Strength of Wisdom (7:19)

Another great advantage of wisdom to us is that it strengthens us as we see down in verse 19, it says. Wisdom gives great strength to us to be stronger and mightier than 10 rulers. But as much of an advantage as wisdom is, there are limitations to wisdom found on this earth. And that is where we turn now to our second point.

The Limitations of Wisdom (7:15-29)

As much as the Preacher King searches for wisdom, it continues to evade him. We read in verses 23&24. As much wisdom as the Preacher-King finds, much still evades him in being able to find out. The depths of wisdom is far off and unable to fully grasp it all. But what he does find should humble us.

Overly Righteous & Overly Wicked (7:15-17)

The Preacher Kingin verses 15 goes back to examining things that he has already seen in life. It says here (READ v.15). One’s righteousness nor wickedness is a guarantee to a long life. And what follows in the next two verses is even more shocking, it says (READ).

There is a warning to not be overly righteous nor to be overly wicked. Is this telling us to be middle of the road people? That we can play in wickedness? By no means. This would contradict the rest of scripture. God has called his people to continually hear his voice and obey. God is warning here though of that of a self-righteous people in being overly righteous and a people who give themselves over to sin are in danger. The elusiveness of wisdom comes down to a heart problem.

Look first with me at the overly righteous. God has called his people to be holy. Therefore we are a people called to pursue righteousness if we are to follow Christ. However, the danger is thinking in our hearts that we are more righteous than we are. A great example of over righteousness was that of Israel in the day of Jeremiah, as well as the Pharisees and Saducees within Jesus’ day. Both of these groups did not think that they were sinful and deserving of God’s judgement against their sins. They didn’t consider themselves deserving of facing hardships and sufferings. The Pharisees for instance hated Jesus because he ate with sinners and tax collectors. They forgot the very reason they needed to perform sacrifices according to the law was their own sin. This is why it says in verse 20. There is no such man as one who is righteous and without sin. And this is further flushed out in verses 21-29.

To consider our sin we must look no further in how we have cursed others as laid out there in verses 21&22. We are called not to take it to heart what others say, because of what we hear. And that our heart testifies against us at the same time how we have spoken in the secret of heart or worse, spoken by slandering or gossiping out loud about others. This alone covers us in sin and leaves us unrighteous. And because of sin, none of us should consider ourselves overly righteous. As Romans 3:23 says, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Friends, the question before us this morning is, do we see our sin and that we are undeserving of God’s grace? Or do we presume that we somehow deserve that grace?

Likewise, there then is the warning to not be overly wicked. Again, God has called his people to be holy. And yet, even in those who have come to Christ, we are still going to struggle with sin. Sin will continue to be at war within our members, even though it is not reigning over us anymore. Therefore the call here to not be overly wicked is not talking about the one who continues to struggle and fight with sin. Maybe there are some of you out here struggling to control your anger. You recognize it, you are trying to fight, but you just keep struggling. Continue to look to Jesus and fight against sin as you treasure Jesus more and more. Others, you might be struggling with a love of money or possessions. Keep dying to yourself and looking more to Jesus to treasure him more than you do money. Christian, the very fact that you are in the battle against that sin is a sign you are walking with the LORD.

However, there is a temptation though for some to think that they can willingly dabble and play with a little wickedness and be okay. These are the ones that think if they just do more good than bad, they will be okay before God. That somehow their good will tip the scale for them to be able to slip into heaven. These are those who willingly choose sin over holiness, even if they have certain boundaries they won’t cross. This is the life of a fool who chooses to deliberately pursue a lifestyle of theft, deception, lust, or greed.

Wisdom is evasive because we are dealing with sinful hearts. But, this doesn't stop the Preacher-King, he continues to search and seek out wisdom and the scheme of things. But notice what he finds as he searches to know the wickedness of folly and the foolishness that is madness. It says in verses 26-28.

The woman here in verse 26 seems to be that of the woman folly. Proverbs 9:13 says: The woman Folly is loud; she is seductive and knows nothing. This makes the most sense of the feminine description here. And it is folly often described that ensnares and traps the foolish person. Therefore what the Preacher-King observes is that folly will bring something more bitter than death as it takes its victims. It leads them away from God for all eternity. And this again is a result of sin. The effects of sin have a far reach. So much in fact that in David’s experience as laid out in verses 27-28 that he found one man among a thousand he has found in wisdom and none among women.

Now, here Solomon, the Preacher-King, is talking about his personal experience. For Solomon who had 700 wives, these women led him astray, along with his 300 concubines. These women lead him away from God. And there was only one man, potentially his father David who was a man after God’s own heart who pointed him to God. This seems to be what Solomon is reflecting on here. But this isn’t meant or intended to be seen overall as one gender is more superior than the other in the battle for sin. For this would leave out those women included in the genealogy of Jesus: Tamar, Rahab, and Ruth. This would discredit the faithfulness of Timothy’s mother and grandmother who invested in him. This would forget the virtuous woman in Proverbs 31. Both men and women are sinful. And both men and women are redeemed. The play on words here is to show Solomon’s experience for his life, not a prescriptive for all human history. The point stands though, there is none who never sins.

And this goes further in what is added in verse 29, it says. God created man upright and good in the beginning. That is what we see in the narrative of creation in Genesis 1 and 2. And yet, mankind has sought out many schemes in their rebellion against God. You see, our heart problem of sin goes deep within each of us. We have schemed against God, rebelling openly and willingly against him as we have rejected him as our God and turned to be our own gods who determine right and wrong. We have fallen into the same trap as Adam and Eve did in the garden. And the wages of sin is death. And when we fail to see this end, this reality of truth, wisdom will forever evade us. As long as we continue to scheme against God, we will continue to drift into the folly of sin. It will continue to entrap us within its nets and webs. If we are to escape from the folly of sin, it can’t be because we look to ourselves for answers. It can’t be because we achieve righteousness of our own accord. It can’t be that we find some balance of righteousness and wickedness. No, the way we escape the net of folly and are finally able to grasp a deeper understanding of wisdom is to look to the man on the cross, Jesus himself. For while death strikes, it is not final. For Jesus came to destroy death and bring us to the wisdom of God. And that is where we turn in our final point this morning.

The Work of God

For who escapes the snares and nets of the woman folly? The one who pleases God as snated there in verse 26. But who can please God if none are righteous? If all sin? None, except the Beloved Son. Matthew 3:16-17 says: And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” Jesus pleased the Father in his obedience to all that the Father had for him.

In Philippians 2:8-11 we read:

And being found in human form, he (being Jesus) humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

The name of Jesus is above every other because he obeyed the Father to the point of death. And the result is for all to bow their knee in allegiance to Jesus alone. And this is done by us turning from allegiance to sin, to leave our scheming against God and place our faith in Jesus. For salvation comes to those who believe in him. 1 Corinthians 1:21 says, For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. God saves us through the preaching of the gospel as the good news goes forth and works in bringing sinners to the moment of faith in Jesus. Christian, this is what has been done for us in the moment we heard and believed. The power of the gospel is what saved us as it revealed to us our sin and need for Jesus. Our salvation then continues to rest in the very hope of this gospel. Let us hold fast to it. And we do this as we continue to fear God. For the one who comes out of the overly righteous and the overly wicked is the one who fears God. There in verse 18, it says.

And friend, if you have been searching for answers, searching for wisdom and find it evasive, see that part of that is your failure to see the end, that death is coming for you as well. And because of your sin, you stand currently separated from God for all eternity. But even now, the hope of the gospel is being extended to you. Jesus is standing, inviting you to come to him. Salvation can be yours, repent from your sins and come to Jesus before it is too late. We cannot presume there will be time later. Believe in Jesus today.

God’s grace and love are poured out on us in Jesus and his blood shed on the cross. Death is coming, but it is not the end. Jesus is making all things new again. Believe and rejoice in this; live life backwards in light of knowing that Christ has defeated death and shed his own blood to purchase us. Let that drive our love for him, motivating us to willingly and eagerly follow King Jesus, the one in whom all of God’s wisdom and knowledge rest in (Colossians 3:6).

Let’s pray.