“Practical Wisdom
Notes
Transcript
Eccelsiastes 7-8
Eccelsiastes 7-8
What is a man in the eyes of God. We are sinful, we are lost, we are Beloved. Gods justice was so exacting even in His goodness, that He reached out for us. And now, we see someone seeking to figure out humanity, eternity, from an earth based mind. Given all human wisdom, the best he can says is, vanity.
Ecclesiastes 7:1–2
1 A good name is better than precious ointment,
And the day of death than the day of one’s birth;
2 Better to go to the house of mourning
Than to go to the house of feasting,
For that is the end of all men;
And the living will take it to heart.
Now we read this, death better, better the funeral home than the party place, why says this?
What is the end of all men? The grave. We sometimes attribute greater things to those that have passed. They can do no more good or damage, but when those we know pass, we think about the same.
Sometimes our deaths can truly become a time for people to ponder where they will be going that they will die. and how we can prepare for that time. We experience guilt, fear, and sometimes incredible loss. Take it to heart, the preacher tells us, its coming for you as well.
Ecclesiastes 7:3
3 Sorrow is better than laughter, For by a sad countenance the heart is made better.
When we learn to grieve, learn to be sad and accept it, we can often heal in our hearts because we accept that we are just human. But I definitely disagree with the preacher. Laughter lifts the spirits! Especially wholesome, joyus guffaws.
Psalm 126:1 “ When the Lord brought back the captivity of Zion, We were like those who dream.” deliverance is a dream Psalm 126:2–3 “ Then our mouth was filled with laughter, And our tongue with singing. Then they said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.” 3 The Lord has done great things for us, And we are glad.” we want to back to experience it again! Psalm 126:4–6 “ Bring back our captivity, O Lord, As the streams in the South. 5 Those who sow in tears Shall reap in joy. 6 He who continually goes forth weeping, Bearing seed for sowing, Shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, Bringing his sheaves with him.”
Ecclesiastes 7:4
4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, But the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.
Pleasure, property, success, money, etc, he says there is foolishness, but in the end of things we see and know they are a door into eternity.
Ecclesiastes 7:5–6
5 It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise Than for a man to hear the song of fools.
6 For like the crackling of thorns under a pot, So is the laughter of the fool. This also is vanity.
To go listen to the song of the fool, is to not see the truth and vanity of the joy and laughter.
The world says YOLO, come party, tonight might be your last, enjoy it, eat, drink, tomorrow we die. Its just noise and wont help you get anything but closer to judgement. “The pun ‘Like the sound of sirim (thorns) under the sir (pot, cauldron)’ is caught by Moffatt’s Like nettles crackling under kettles. Thorns were a rapidly burning, easily extinguishable fuel in the ancient world.” (Eaton)
“They make a great noise, a great blaze; and are extinguished in a few moments. Such indeed, comparatively, are the joys of life; they are noisy, flashy, and transitory.” (Clarke)
Though death and those things can teach, joy comes in the morning and rests in the arms of Christ! I will extol You, O Lord, for You have lifted me up,
And have not let my foes rejoice over me.
Psalm 30:2–5 “ O Lord my God, I cried out to You, And You healed me. 3 O Lord, You brought my soul up from the grave; You have kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit. 4 Sing praise to the Lord, you saints of His, And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name. 5 For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning.”
Ecclesiastes 7:7
7 Surely oppression destroys a wise man’s reason, And a bribe debases the heart.
Oppression here isn't per-say the usual suffering, pain, hurt, but an abusive authority keeping us under the thumb, causing those other things. etc. It can destroy our reason. We don’t think straight when we hurt.
Bribes show us eh wickedness of a mans heart keep us from seeing straight. - Exodus 23:8 “And you shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds the discerning and perverts the words of the righteous.” This happens a lot more than we think, even in our nation. But in the middle east and other nations (Uganda, Kenya, etc.) we see bribes running the machine. Breaks the heart of love. Many missions are bankrupt by the corruption of such nations. To the loss of its people.
The end of a thing is better than its beginning;
The patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.
Do not hasten in your spirit to be angry,
For anger rests in the bosom of fools.
Folks get angry for different reasons, because they have lost patience with their fellow man. They yell at others over simple things. Especially in rebuke where gentleness is forgotten. Anger can be a seat for satan in our hearts, born from pride in the same heart. Your wrath cannot accomplish Jesus purpose.
James 1:19–20 “So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.”
Ephesians 4:26–27 “Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, 27 nor give place to the devil. Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; “Do not fret—it only causes harm.” (Psalm 37:8)
Ecclesiastes 7:10–12 (NKJV)
” Do not say, “Why were the former days better than these?” For you do not inquire wisely concerning this. ”
”11 Wisdom is good with an inheritance, And profitable to those who see the sun. ”
”12 For wisdom is a defense as money is a defense, But the excellence of knowledge is that wisdom gives life to those who have it.”
It truly does or can change one’s life to live in gods wisdom.
Ecclesiastes 7:13–14 (NKJV)
“Consider the work of God; For who can make straight what He has made crooked? ”
”14 In the day of prosperity be joyful, But in the day of adversity consider: Surely God has appointed the one as well as the other, So that man can find out nothing that will come after him.”
No matter the circumstance, trust God, because you cannot see the future, etc. but don’t worry! Matthew 6:34 ” Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” We’ll talk more about this text
Ecclesiastes 7:15–18
Ec 7:15 I have seen everything in my days of vanity: There is a just man who perishes in his righteousness, And there is a wicked man who prolongs life in his wickedness.
Ec 7:16 Do not be overly righteous, Nor be overly wise: Why should you destroy yourself?
Ec 7:17 Do not be overly wicked, Nor be foolish: Why should you die before your time?
Ec 7:18 It is good that you grasp this, And also not remove your hand from the other; For he who fears God will escape them all.
Jesus would say, Matthew 6:24–27 “ “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. 25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?” Matthew 6:34 “ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
Ecclesiastes 7:19–22
Ec 7:19 Wisdom strengthens the wise More than ten rulers of the city.
Ec 7:20 For there is not a just man on earth who does good And does not sin.
Ec 7:21 Also do not take to heart everything people say, Lest you hear your servant cursing you.
Ec 7:22 For many times, also, your own heart has known That even you have cursed others.
You know you have. Don’t get so wound up when folks get dumb. the “preacher”, our Interlocutor (Solomon arguing from or perhaps even in a wisdom manner, positive, negative, argument, counter) says your no better than the guy you hate.
I liked when our Paul and other scholars postualted it’s a philosophical exercise. Solomon’s suggested, but not named. So this preacher wrestles with these choices. But do remember your. Ontinuing struggle with sin when ministering to your neighbor
Ecclesiastes 7:23–26
Ec 7:23 All this I have proved by wisdom. I said, “I will be wise”; But it was far from me.
Ec 7:24 As for that which is far off and exceedingly deep, Who can find it out?
Ec 7:25 I applied my heart to know, To search and seek out wisdom and the reason of things, To know the wickedness of folly, Even of foolishness and madness.
Ec 7:26 And I find more bitter than death The woman whose heart is snares and nets, Whose hands are fetters. He who pleases God shall escape from her, But the sinner shall be trapped by her.
Living simply, living for God,
Ecclesiastes 7:27–8:1
Ec 7:27 “Here is what I have found,” says the Preacher, “Adding one thing to the other to find out the reason,
Ec 7:28 Which my soul still seeks but I cannot find: One man among a thousand I have found, But a woman among all these I have not found.
Ec 7:29 Truly, this only I have found: That God made man upright, But they have sought out many schemes.”
Ec 8:1 Who is like a wise man? And who knows the interpretation of a thing? A man’s wisdom makes his face shine, And the sternness of his face is changed.
we scheme, try to find work-arounds, but we might fool each other, but God knows your heart.
When we come to know that we serve Yahweh, Jesus, when our trust is totally utterly, in Him. Everything changes, we seek to live for Him. We soften when we trust. We rest in the strength of another. Lord reign in us. Its our communion with Him.
Ecclesiastes 8:2–9
Ec 8:2 I say, “Keep the king’s commandment for the sake of your oath to God. (Yay be yay, Matthew 5:37)
Ec 8:3 Do not be hasty to go from his presence. Do not take your stand for an evil thing, for he does whatever pleases him.”
Ec 8:4 Where the word of a king is, there is power; And who may say to him, “What are you doing?”
Ec 8:5 He who keeps his command will experience nothing harmful; And a wise man’s heart discerns both time and judgment,
Ec 8:6 Because for every matter there is a time and judgment, Though the misery of man increases greatly.
Ec 8:7 For he does not know what will happen; So who can tell him when it will occur?
Ec 8:8 No one has power over the spirit to retain the spirit, And no one has power in the day of death. There is no release from that war, And wickedness will not deliver those who are given to it.
Ec 8:9 All this I have seen, and applied my heart to every work that is done under the sun: There is a time in which one man rules over another to his own hurt.
Psalm 68:18 “ You have ascended on high, You have led captivity captive; You have received gifts among men, Even from the rebellious, That the Lord God might dwell there.”
There is incredible deliverance, Hosea 13:14 “ “I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death. O Death, I will be your plagues! O Grave, I will be your destruction! Pity is hidden from My eyes.” Done in Christ 1 Corinthians 15:55–57 “ “O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?” 56 The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Ecclesiastes 8:10–9:1
Ec 8:10 Then I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from the place of holiness, and they were forgotten in the city where they had so done. This also is vanity.
Ec 8:11 Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. (lawlessness breeds cold hearts - Matthew 24:12)
Ec 8:12 Though a sinner does evil a hundred times, and his days are prolonged, yet I surely know that it will be well with those who fear God, who fear before Him. (beginning of wisdom)
Ec 8:13 But it will not be well with the wicked; nor will he prolong his days, which are as a shadow, because he does not fear before God.
Ec 8:14 There is a vanity which occurs on earth, that there are just men to whom it happens according to the work of the wicked; again, there are wicked men to whom it happens according to the work of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity.
Ec 8:15 So I commended enjoyment, because a man has nothing better under the sun than to eat, drink, and be merry; for this will remain with him in his labor all the days of his life which God gives him under the sun.
Ec 8:16 When I applied my heart to know wisdom and to see the business that is done on earth, even though one sees no sleep day or night,
Ec 8:17 then I saw all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun. For though a man labors to discover it, yet he will not find it; moreover, though a wise man attempts to know it, he will not be able to find it.
Ec 9:1 For I considered all this in my heart, so that I could declare it all: that the righteous and the wise and their works are in the hand of God. People know neither love nor hatred by anything they see before them.
Its a heart issue.
