Earthly Wisdom is Meaningless
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Scripture Reading
Scripture Reading
12 I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 I devoted myself to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven. What a heavy burden God has laid on men! 14 I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
15 What is twisted cannot be straightened;
what is lacking cannot be counted.
16 I thought to myself, “Look, I have grown and increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem before me; I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge.” 17 Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom, and also of madness and folly, but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind.
18 For with much wisdom comes much sorrow;
the more knowledge, the more grief.
Introduction
Introduction
As Solomon considers the theme that he has already presented in his opening, he now proceeds to outline various aspects of life that were investigated in his search for meaning.
In verse 12, the teacher again identifies himself as the king over Israel.
We are reminded that this was Solomon, the king that had much wisdom as he ruled over the nation of Israel.
The reiteration of who he is gives credibility to what he will say.
And this morning, what we will consider through the Teacher, Solomon, is the fact that “Earthly Wisdom is Meaningless.
We will look at this under three main headings:
Studying with wisdom (v.13a)
Conclusions Through Wisdom (vv.13b-15)
Reflections on Wisdom (vv.16-18)
1. Studying With Wisdom (v.13a)
1. Studying With Wisdom (v.13a)
The first point of consideration from our text this morning is “Studying with Wisdom,” and we’ll see that in verse 13a.
Solomon writes:
The New International Version (1984) Wisdom Is Meaningless
I devoted myself to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven.
Solomon set out on a mission.
If you like, you could call this a life goal, or a life ambition.
We know these things as bucket list items...
Some of you may know Desre Bates - she fellowshipped here for many years… She has embarked on a walking trip on foot across the land of Israel - a 1000km journey, usually over 6 weeks...
Think of Peter... training for the Ironman 70.3...
Other examples.... Josh McDowell; Nabeel Qureshi...
Well, Solomon also had his ambitions, and one of those, as recorded here, was that he devoted himself to study and to explore all that is done under the heaven.
This was something that he DEVOTED himself to.
He channeled all or most of his energy over a period of time to this very task - finding that which is meaningful.
Look closely at the words he uses to describe what he is doing.
Firstly, he devotes himself to Study...
In our own day, we find many people airing their own opinions about any number of subjects.
I saw a picture of a sign up at a doctors office (and I see you can buy a mug with the same wording) saying: “Please Do Not Confuse your Google Search with my Medical Degree”
If we want to know anything in our day, we head to Google, browse a couple of articles, and believe we’ve found the answers to just about any of life’s problems.
Solomon didn’t use Google.
Not only that, but he didn’t merely do some introspection, have a look at his feelings, and declare his own opinions.
Here was a man who devoted himself to a depth of understanding of the things of this world.
He committed himself to not only observing his own situation, but to looking around at the lives of men, women and children, and seeing how they lived their lives, and then drawing conclusions based on the facts.
He was in no way satisfied with a mere superficial understanding and knowledge.
He wanted depth!!
And so he devoted himself to study....
But secondly, he devoted himself to Exploring.
If study speaks of going deep into a subject, and plumbing the depths of what there is to know, then exploring speaks of the breadth of the studies in which he engaged.
Solomon wasn’t content to limit his study to one or two particular matters.
When we prepare ourselves for the working world today, we decide on a particular field that we’re going to go into, and we study everything there is in that field.
Botanist; veterinarian; accountant; mechanical engineer; electrical engineer....
Then very often, we’ll do that but also go further to specialise.
And so we often study with a very limited field of knowledge in view.
This was not the case with Solomon... he applied himself to all manner of fields of study.
He searched far and wide, and various and diverse fields of study, and he then applied himself to know those and study them with depth of understanding.
At the close of the verse it says he studied and explored “concerning ALL that is done”
He devoted himself to this searching and exploring about ALL that is done under the sun.
In short, he wanted to know everything about everything under the sun.
But then finally, we note that he did all of this “by WISDOM...”
Solomon engaged in all his depth and breadth of study through a profound wisdom that was bestowed on him by God.
He had asked God for wisdom to rule and reign, and God had said that He would bless him with wisdom.
How successful was he?
29 God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore. 30 Solomon’s wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the men of the East, and greater than all the wisdom of Egypt. 31 He was wiser than any other man, including Ethan the Ezrahite—wiser than Heman, Calcol and Darda, the sons of Mahol. And his fame spread to all the surrounding nations. 32 He spoke three thousand proverbs and his songs numbered a thousand and five. 33 He described plant life, from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of walls. He also taught about animals and birds, reptiles and fish. 34 Men of all nations came to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, sent by all the kings of the world, who had heard of his wisdom.
2. Conclusions Through Wisdom (vv.13b-15)
2. Conclusions Through Wisdom (vv.13b-15)
Well, this was the “Studying with Wisdom” that Solomon engaged in.
But secondly, we must consider the “Conclusions Through Wisdom”.
With all this study that Solomon engaged in as he watched the world around him, what were the conclusions that were drawn?
3 conclusions are demonstrated through the text here.
Conclusion 1 (v.13b)
Conclusion 1 (v.13b)
The first is found in verse 13b...
Solomon writes: “What a heavy burden God has placed on men.”
NASB: "It is a grievous task which God has given to the sons of men to be afflicted with."
Right out of the blocks, as Solomon looks at all that is going on in the world, he recognizes that there is indeed a grievous task that has been placed on man by God.
Literally, the word that is translated “heavy” or “Grievous” or “Unhappy” (depending on translation) speaks of something that is it is "an evil"...
Many times in this very book, it is translated into English as “Evil”
2 God gives a man wealth, possessions and honor, so that he lacks nothing his heart desires, but God does not enable him to enjoy them, and a stranger enjoys them instead. This is meaningless, a grievous evil.
11 Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil.
There is a connotation in the word that is negative - it speaks of that which is evil, wrong, or should not be.
Something that is hurtful and harmful.
The business of man, which he engages himself, is heavy...
In a few other occassions, Solomon is going to reiterate this very same fact.
23 All his days his work is pain and grief; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is meaningless.
10 I have seen the burden God has laid on men.
Leonard Woolf, the British publisher and political theorist who helped begin the Bloomsbury Group (a group of associated English writers, intellectuals, philosophers and artists in the first half of the 20th century) had this to say about his life and work:
I see clearly that I have achieved practically nothing. The world today and the history of the human anthill during the past five to seven years would be exactly the same as it is if I had played Ping-Pong instead of sitting on committees and writing books and memoranda. I have therefore to make a rather ignominious confession that I must have, in a long life, ground through between 150,000 and 200,000 hours of perfectly useless work.
These are the words of someone who wrote more than twenty books on literature, politics, and economics. Yet in the end it all seemed useless to him, a complete waste of time.
Philip Ryken comments on this in these words:
"Sooner or later most people end up feeling the same way. Many things make us feel unhappy. The bad relationship that our parents have, unkind comments that people make about us, things we do not have but wish we did, the recognition we think we deserve but never get, even the ordinary frustrations of daily life — all of these circumstances make us feel unhappy." (Ryken)
We, like Solomon, may begin to think to ourselves, “What a heavy burden God has placed on man. What a heavy burden God has placed on me!”
But we must note the way Solomon phrases this here.
"What a heavy burden "God" has placed on "men".
Is this a fair perspective by Solomon?
Is it truly that God has placed this burden on men?
In one sense, not directly.
Man sinned against God in Eden, and ever since, the world has been under a curse.
Everything, all that takes place in the world, is under this curse of sin.
22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.
In that sense, man is entirely responsible for the world under a curse, and for the current burden that we face in the world.
In another sense, however, God in His sovereign rule and reign over all the created order, has decreed what would take place in this world.
And I think we need to keep this in our minds in all of this.
10 I make known the end from the beginning,
from ancient times, what is still to come.
I say: My purpose will stand,
and I will do all that I please.
21 Many are the plans in a man’s heart,
but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.
Solomon understands the sovereignty of God, and knows that everything unfolding in the world is under the direct control of God.
And thus he concludes, God has allowed this burden upon man in this world.
As a consequence of sin, yes, but allowed by God and decreed by Him nonetheless.
And friends, as we go through this world in our own lives, we would do well to keep this in mind.
Consider the Israelites in the wilderness, and their exceedingly difficult circumstances without food and water.
Consider the grumbling that they engaged in because of their suffering.
And as they grumbled, their grumbling was against God.
And so as we feel, at times, this heavy burden that God has placed perhaps upon our lives, we should remember that ought not to grumble in those circumstances, but to continue praising God in the valleys.
Conclusion 2 (v.14)
Conclusion 2 (v.14)
The second conclusion is found in verse 14...
14 I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
Solomon has seen all things... he has studied all things, he has explored all things, and they are meaningless.
ALL that a man gets up to... I've seen it. I know about it!!
In this verse, he uses the phrase "a chasing after the wind."
In this phrase there is a double-negativity...
“Wind is a common metaphor in wisdom writings both in and outside of the Bible for things that are insubstantial in various ways (see Prov 11:29; 27:16; 30:4; Job 15:2; 16:3).” [Miller, D. B. (2010). Ecclesiastes (p. 52). Scottdale, PA; Waterloo, ON: Herald Press.]
29 He who brings trouble on his family will inherit only wind,
and the fool will be servant to the wise.
2 “Would a wise man answer with empty notions
or fill his belly with the hot east wind?
“The implication of the phrase “a chasing after the wind” may be described as follows: You never can catch it; but if you do catch it, you do not have anything anyway.” [Garrett, D. A. (1993). Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of songs (Vol. 14, p. 289). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.]
Such is the task of everything that man does under the sun, as Solomon sees it, based on his studies.
Conclusion 3 (v.15)
Conclusion 3 (v.15)
We then have the third conclusion in verse 15, and this comes in the form of a Proverb.
15 What is twisted cannot be straightened;
what is lacking cannot be counted.
That which is “twisted” refers to a problem that cannot be solved. [Garrett, D. A. (1993). Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of songs (Vol. 14, pp. 289–290). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.]
As things are, so they will remain.
What Solomon is saying here is that things are continuing in this world in a particular fashion and order, and fundamentally they cannot be altered.
Again, this brings in the sovereignty of God.
God has placed things in this world according to His divine counsel and will...
All of this will remain.
It is foolishness for us to think that we can somehow alter the course of the world.
It is foolish to think that we can make life work out differently for us..
"Others in history failed to find meaning... but I will find meaning!"
What God has implemented and set in place, cannot be changed!!
Now in this particular verse, Solomon doesn’t directly say that God has done this, and yet there is a silent assertion that God’s hand is in it.
In Ecclesiastes 7:13-14, Solomon makes this explicit...
13 Consider what God has done:
Who can straighten
what he has made crooked?
14 When times are good, be happy;
but when times are bad, consider:
God has made the one
as well as the other.
Therefore, a man cannot discover
anything about his future.
What Solomon is in essence saying here is that things in life are the way they are, and there is little we can do to effect much change.
Only God is able to bring about change!
But the reality here is that when we refuse to accept the reality that is in this world, we are bound to become despondent.
That is futility.
Charles Simeon, in his commentary on this passage gives some practical examples of these crooked things in this world:
“[Every man, by the very constitution of his nature, is dependent on his fellow-man for the greater portion of his happiness. The welfare of a whole empire depends on the wisdom and prudence of the prince: as the prince’s prosperity and comfort do on the industry, the fortitude, the loyalty of his people. So it is through all ranks and orders of society; all are deeply affected by the conduct of those around them. In the domestic circle, how impossible is it for the husband or wife, the parent or child, the master or servant, to be happy, if those with whom he is more immediately connected be peverse and obstinate in an evil way! Yet all come more or less in contact with unreasonable men: and, however much they may strive to rectify the views, or reform the habits, of such people, they find it altogether beyond their power: they can as easily change the leopard’s spots or the Ethiopian’s complexion, as they can prevail on persons to change those habits which are productive of so much uneasiness to their minds. Hence, though they form the wisest and most benevolent plans, they cannot carry them into execution, because of the blindness and perverseness of those whose concurrence is necessary for the accomplishment of them.” [Simeon, C. (1833). Horae Homileticae: Proverbs to Isaiah XXVI (Vol. 7, p. 329). London: Holdsworth and Ball]
In terms of our engagements with people in this world, there is this burden that we face, and there is actually little power within us to bring about change within them.
I’ve been doing some Biblical Counselling studies, and one of the points that is raised is that the real counselor as one is doing counselling is the Holy Spirit.
In other words, without the working of the Holy Spirit in the heart of the person that you are counselling, it is impossible for meaningful and lasting change to take place.
Charles Simeon then goes on to outlines further aspects of this world that bring about this meaninglessness (these events are pertinent to a farming community)...
“In like manner, there is often an untowardness in events as well as in men. The seasons will not consult us: nor will the elements obey us. Accidents utterly unforeseen will occur, and cannot be prevented by human foresight. Hence uncertainty attends our best concerted plans, and failure often disappoints our most labourious exertions. But these are “crooked things which no man can make straight:” no human wisdom or power can control them. We have a large and abundant harvest in prospect: but, behold, storms and tempests, or blasting and mildew, or insects of some kind, destroy the whole crop. We have gathered the harvest into our granaries, and a fire consumes it: or an enemy overruns the land, and devours it... These are but a few of the evils to which we are exposed in this vain world: and they stamp “vanity and vexation” upon all that we possess.” [Simeon, C. (1833). Horae Homileticae: Proverbs to Isaiah XXVI (Vol. 7, p. 329). London: Holdsworth and Ball.]
So these then are the three conclusions that Solomon reaches as he studies and examines all things that are happening under the sun, examining them by wisdom:
It is a heavy burden that God has placed on man
All under the sun is a chasing after the wind
We cannot change what God has put in place.
3. Reflections On Wisdom (vv.16-18)
3. Reflections On Wisdom (vv.16-18)
This brings us to our third main point this morning, and that is “Reflections on Wisdom”
Solomon has been studying all things under the sun by wisdom.
He has drawn his various conclusions through this wisdom.
But now he turns his attention to wisdom itself.
Master of Wisdom
Master of Wisdom
And as he does this, he begins by reminding us that he really is the master of wisdom (in worldly terms).
16 I thought to myself, “Look, I have grown and increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem before me; I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge.”
It is on this basis of the extents of his own wisdom that he will consider wisdom.
Again, consider 1 Kings 4:29-31... Solomon was far wiser than any others around him.
We also have the example of the Queen of Sheba and her words to Solomon when she came to evaluate his wisdom.
You can see that in 1 Kings 10:6-7
There really was no match to his wisdom and understanding.
Evaluating Wisdom and Folly
Evaluating Wisdom and Folly
And so Solomon, as this wisest of the wise in the world, expands his search of meaning in everything under the sun, which now extends even to evaluating wisdom itself.
17 Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom, and also of madness and folly, but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind.
Is there any meaning in wisdom itself?
Can that be the core of where meaning is found?
Some people in the book of Acts certainly thought it could...
As Paul preached in Athens, he was questioned as to his teachings, and then he was brought into the Areopagus.
21 (All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.)
Here were the philosophers. They thought that philosophy and ideas (earthly wisdom) was the height of meaning.
“A universal theme in wisdom and philosophic writings is that the life of wisdom is the highest of all callings. In Plato the task of the philosopher is the purest of all. Here, however, it is a grievous task” [Garrett, D. A. (1993). Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of songs (Vol. 14, p. 289). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.]
For even wisdom itself, if it is the end goal of what you do, is meaningless.
Solomon here contrasts wisdom with madness and folly.
““Madness” (holela) carries connotations of a boastful arrogance that sets itself against God rather than praising God” [Provan, I. (2001). Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs (p. 70). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.]
When the Teacher says here that he investigated or applied himself to understanding wisdom as well as madness and folly, he is speaking of the fullness or the completeness of his investigations.
He considered both the way of the wise, as well as the way of the fool.
He finds that they too are a chasing after the wind.
“It is not that wisdom is useless, for he has just used it in verses 12–15 to arrive at important conclusions about the world in which he lives, and he will go on employing “wisdom” throughout chapter 2 (e.g., 2:3), acknowledging that it is better than folly... Yet it is not itself something that can be grasped hold of and controlled (1:17), nor can it offer mortal beings release from the “evil business” of living.” [Provan, I. (2001). Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs (pp. 70–71). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.]
Sorrow In Wisdom
Sorrow In Wisdom
In fact, this study leads Solomon to a sad conclusion.
18 For with much wisdom comes much sorrow;
the more knowledge, the more grief.
The reason that wisdom is not meaningful, is that the more you have of it, the greater your sorrow.
The more your knowledge is, the more grief you have.
It reminds me of the proverb "Ignorance is bliss..."
Solomon laments the fact that all his growth in wisdom and knowledge has led him to is a deeper sorrow in life.
Having said that, please understand - we must keep this in our minds throughout this study - Solomon is speaking of things in and of themselves without reference to God.
That is not to say that it's better to be unwise, or to lack knowledge.
Indeed, we are commanded to grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ.
We are commanded to grow in wisdom and understanding.
Solomon wrote an entire book of Proverbs, for the express purpose of teaching others wisdom and knowledge.
In that book, wisdom and knowledge are held out as great things to pursue with all diligence.
But the point then is that even this wisdom doesn't itself bring meaning, and can in fact (if you fail to find your meaning in the right place) lead you to greater despondency.
Application and Conclusion
Application and Conclusion
I want to come now to some points of application for us as the church.
Big view of God
Big view of God
The first is that we need to continually develop a big view of God, and a humbled view of man in this world.
Solomon spoke in that proverb about the fact that that which is crooked cannot be straightened.
And yet, is it not almighty God who is working out his plans and purposes in this world for His own glory?
Who can fathom what God has done?
Whose mind has understood the plans that God has, and what God is doing under the sun?
So often, we want to fit God into our own limited and finite understandings.
We want things explainable and rational (within our own limits of rationality).
Life is not like that.... God's wisdom is so far and above and beyond what we could ever imagine!!
4 He determines the number of the stars
and calls them each by name.
5 Great is our Lord and mighty in power;
his understanding has no limit.
28 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
And the well-known Isaiah 55:8-9
8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Our God is a great God.
And we are but mere men, with very limited understanding in this world.
3 When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
4 what is man that you are mindful of him,
the son of man that you care for him?
As Christians living in this world, we may at times be tempted to look around us and ask, why is it that everything seems so meaningless.
What a heavy burden God has placed on man.
But let us be assured, dear friends, that God is almighty in the heavens, that He does as He pleases, and that His wisdom is far superior to our own wisdom.
Even as we may have times of asking such questions about the world around us, let us be continually drawn back to the greatness of God.
It is unsearchable, far beyond our ability to even comprehend.
God is in Control
God is in Control
The leads us to a further point of application, and that is that we are not in control, but God is.
We cannot straighten what God has made crooked.
But oh, how we try!!!
We want to control our circumstances.
We want to control the outcomes of situations in life.
We want to control the people around us so that we get our hearts desires.
But this passage in Ecclesiastes (along with other Scripture passages) shows us that we are not in control.
There are those things in life that are well beyond our hands.
The control that we seek to exercise only leads to great anxiety, frustration, anger, and any range of other unhelpful emotions when we realise that things are not going our way.
What God has made crooked, we cannot straighten.
Let me point us to some texts in Scripture which speak of this:
10 So do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
22 Cast your cares on the Lord
and he will sustain you;
he will never let the righteous fall.
As we close this morning, I ask you the question: “In what ways are you tempted to be in control of your life?”
If we are trying our utmost to make circumstances in life to be according to our own liking, and our hope of satisfaction rests in this, then we are bound to fail.
My encouragement to you today is this: Take your eyes off of the things of this world.
Lift your eyes heavenwards, to the glory of the Almighty God, the Sovereign ruler of your life.
Rest in Him.
Be responsible.
Make your plans.
But Trust in God.