Solomon's Search for Wisdom
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Scripture Reading
Scripture Reading
23 All this I tested by wisdom and I said,
“I am determined to be wise”—
but this was beyond me.
24 Whatever wisdom may be,
it is far off and most profound—
who can discover it?
25 So I turned my mind to understand,
to investigate and to search out wisdom and the scheme of things
and to understand the stupidity of wickedness
and the madness of folly.
26 I find more bitter than death
the woman who is a snare,
whose heart is a trap
and whose hands are chains.
The man who pleases God will escape her,
but the sinner she will ensnare.
27 “Look,” says the Teacher, “this is what I have discovered:
“Adding one thing to another to discover the scheme of things—
28 while I was still searching
but not finding—
I found one upright man among a thousand,
but not one upright woman among them all.
29 This only have I found:
God made mankind upright,
but men have gone in search of many schemes.”
Introduction
Introduction
When I was young, my parents would often tell me that I had a very determined spirit when there was something that I wanted to do.
Whether it was riding on a bicycle, or learning to walk on the set of stilts that my dad made us as children, I would work and work and work at the aspect until I finally got it right.
I would be determined to achieve what I had set my mind to, and I wouldn’t give up until I had achieved it.
Thereafter I would very quickly become bored, and get on to learning the next thing. Not such a good quality in me!
In our text this morning, we look again together at Solomon’s search for wisdom and meaning, and his earnest attempts to find this wisdom and meaning.
But while the goals that I had set for myself were at least for the most part attainable, what we find is that Solomon’s goals are somewhat more difficult to reach.
Nonetheless, valuable lessons were learned, and we would do well to consider what Solomon teaches us here through his own endeavours.
1. The Difficulty of the Search (vv.23-24)
1. The Difficulty of the Search (vv.23-24)
As we consider Solomon’s search for wisdom together, the first thing that we see is “The Difficulty of the Search” for wisdom.
We know from this book as a whole thus far, that Solomon was in pursuit of meaning in life, and one of those aspects of his attempt to find meaning was through wisdom.
In fact, even in his evaluation of all other possible sources of meaning in life, he sought to guide all of those testings with wisdom - so wisdom was at the core of all he did.
At this stage, he returns to this topic of wisdom, and says:
23 All this I tested by wisdom and I said,
“I am determined to be wise”—
but this was beyond me.
The “All This” that he refers to at the beginning of this verse refers to all that he’s looked at in his search thus far.
All of the facets of life, or places of possibly finding meaning in life, that he was evaluating, was done through a basic sense of wisdom (although at times lacking true God-fearing wisdom).
Back in chapter 1:13, Solomon said...
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!
Recall also that as we’ve worked our way through the book of Ecclesiastes, we’ve seen this search for wisdom and through wisdom has been a time-consuming exercise!
In fact, it was a life-long commitment from Solomon.
Not only this, but in our verse here this morning (Ecc 7:23) he says that he was determined to be wise.
But we must ask the question of ourselves here: in all his determination to be wise, and in this life-long endeavor to find wisdom, was he successful?
According to his own observations, he was not.
He says in this verse that this wisdom was beyond him.
But does this not raise the question of the wisdom that God had given to Solomon?
The Scripture is clear that Solomon was the most wise person on the face of the planet, at the very least in terms of worldly wisdom.
Indeed, we’ve looked at some of those verses (e.g. 1 Kings 10:6-7) as we’ve studied the book of Ecclesiastes that portray and clearly record the profound wisdom of Solomon in the eyes of all people.
So Solomon was exceedingly wise in all that he did.
But that then begs the question.
If this man Solomon, being the most wise person ever, finds himself to be so lacking in wisdom, if this man Solomon says that wisdom was so far beyond his own grasp and reach, then where does that leave us?
In answering this question, we need to keep in mind what Solomon is getting at, and what he’s measuring up against as he evaluates his wisdom.
Solomon was indeed an exceedingly wise man by the grace of God.
And yet, in all His human wisdom, he was led to the humbling conclusion that even he, as the most wise person on the face of the planet, was not able to fathom and understand everything that happened under the sun.
The more that he evaluated and searched out things under the sun, the more that he sought to grow in wisdom through his searches and testings, the more pitiful he recognised himself to be.
Recall that Solomon was trying to find ultimate meaning.
He was trying to find out why things happened in life the way they do - what is the meaning of it all; what is the purpose of it all.
And as he evaluates these things, he realizes that such things are too marvelous for him - they are beyond searching out.
3 Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise;
his greatness no one can fathom.
With this in mind, let us just consider for a moment our current context of life in the world.
For all the advances in science and technology, for all the new discoveries that have been made in the world around us since the days of Solomon...
Think about the advances of medicine also in the last century alone.
We would say that there have been such significant gains in our understanding of things, that we almost consider the people of Solomon’s day (or even of 100 years ago) to be a little bit backwards...
But for all of these advances and gains, man is no closer to having a full and complete knowledge or wisdom in the world.
As people, we are still scratching the surface in terms of what there truly is to know about the world around us.
As people, everyone is still searching for meaning and a place in society and in the world around them.
Even though we’ve had the collective research and searching by billions of people over the course of history.
And so, friends, the argument of Solomon certainly remains perfectly in tact.
By comparison with any other man, Solomon was exceedingly wise.
But by comparison with Almighty God, Solomon was but a spec of dust....
Utterly incapable of fathoming the mysteries of the world around him, and finding meaning in life.
It doesn’t matter how wise you may think that you are, you will not, you cannot even begin to come close to the supremacy of God in terms of His infinite wisdom.
7 “Can you fathom the mysteries of God?
Can you probe the limits of the Almighty?
23 The Almighty is beyond our reach and exalted in power;
in his justice and great righteousness, he does not oppress.
Through all time, there are those who would claim to have great and powerful wisdom in the world.
The question is: by what standard are they measuring their wisdom?!
We must pause here and consider just the extent of the deceptive nature of sin.
Solomon rightly recognised his own inadequacy in terms of wisdom (even though he was exceedingly wise by human standards).
But in the world today, the world rages against God, and rages against the ways of God, rages even against the very thought of the existence of God, claiming that such is utter foolishness.
Man is so deceived by the power of sin, that they are unable even to acknowledge or confess this all-wise God.
22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools
20 Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.
Indeed, even the Gospel message is foolishness in our world.
But let us return to Solomon’s evaluation of wisdom, and searching it out.
He says in verse 24...
24 Whatever wisdom may be,
it is far off and most profound—
who can discover it?
Therein is the real question: Who can discover the ultimate wisdom of the meaning of life, and how things are working in this world?
Certainly, he couldn’t.
Commentator James Smith writes:
Old Testament Survey Series: The Wisdom Literature and Psalms A. The Difficulty of the Search (7:23–24)
When he sought to comprehend the grand scheme of the universe and God’s government thereof he was seeking to reach out to the unattainable. Practical rules of life he had mastered; but essential, absolute wisdom was beyond mortal grasp. Man’s knowledge and capacity for knowledge are limited
2. The Goal of the Search (v.25)
2. The Goal of the Search (v.25)
While Solomon has acknowledged that wisdom is far off, and that he has been utterly unable to grasp hold of it, to discover it, he nonetheless continued in his pursuit of wisdom...
In verse 25, we read...
25 So I turned my mind to understand,
to investigate and to search out wisdom and the scheme of things
and to understand the stupidity of wickedness
and the madness of folly.
Solomon speaks here about turning his own mind to understand things in the world.
He’s just been speaking about the things in life that are incredibly deep - in fact beyond searching out.
And so as we read these words, he cannot be speaking again about these very deep things of God which are unsearchable, but rather the things relating to people in everyday life.
So what precisely does he now turn to evaluating.
“First, he made every effort “to search, and to seek out wisdom.”
There are these words that he uses here - in the NIV - “understand, investigate, search out.”
They demonstrate once again Solomon’s careful study from every angle.
He is turning from profitless theoretical speculation about issues in life, to a practical inquiry. (Smith, 1996)
Secondly, he is going to investigate the “scheme of things” (NIV translation).
The word could also be translated as “the reason for things” or the “explanation of things”.
What he plans to do here is to present a summary of his own conclusions as to why life works the way it does.
Then he speaks about the third aspect that he is evaluating, and that is the stupidity of wickedness and also the madness of folly.
In essence, Solomon recognises that to be wicked, and to act in a way that is contrary to the ways of God, in contradiction to His laws, is stupid.
Furthermore, he recognises that to live a life of foolishness is no only unhelpful, but it is in fact madness.
The person who chooses to live a life in contradiction to God, and the person who chooses to continue in life in their foolishness, not wishing to grow in the ways and paths of God is living in stupidity and foolishness.
Friends, what Solomon is speaking about here is self-delusion.
Man deceives themselves into thinking that they can live without God, or can live outside of the will of God.
1 The fool says in his heart,
“There is no God.”
They are corrupt, their deeds are vile;
there is no one who does good.
There are many who live this life as if there is no God, and they are indeed foolish and self-deceived.
But let us also remember that there are those times where we live with little regard to God.
We do things which we know ought not to be done.
We engage in activities which are destructive to us.
We engage in sinful practices where in the moment we know how contrary they are to God’s will and His ways, but we shut God out.
Friends, this is foolishness.
Our desire as Christians should always be to growing in our knowledge of God and to be increasing in our obedience and submission to Him.
To fail in this area is to willfully continue in folly.
How foolish we are to do this.
3. The Result of the Search (vv.26-27)
3. The Result of the Search (vv.26-27)
At this point, Solomon turns his attention to a very specific instance of the stupidity of wickedness and the madness of folly.
While there may be many examples in the world of such stupidity and madness, Solomon focuses on “the woman who is a snare.”
26 I find more bitter than death
the woman who is a snare,
whose heart is a trap
and whose hands are chains.
The man who pleases God will escape her,
but the sinner she will ensnare.
As we consider these words, we might wonder who Solomon is referring to here when he speaks of this “woman who is a snare”.
There have been various suggestions put forward.
One suggestion has been any woman.
That certainly is not what Solomon has in mind here - he’s very specific.
Furthermore, Solomon himself has commended women who are noble.
4 A wife of noble character is her husband’s crown,
but a disgraceful wife is like decay in his bones.
Even in Ecclesiastes 9:9, Solomon speaks about a husband enjoying life with the wife whom he loves.
So we must reject out of hand the idea that this speaks of any woman.
The first real possibility is any evil woman.
He speaks in general terms of “the woman who is a snare...”
That could really refer to any woman who ensnares a man in the course of his life, and drags the man away from the ways of God.
Remember that the context here is folly / foolishness and madness.
There are plenty of examples of this kind of woman in the Scriptures, and particularly in the wisdom literature.
Solomon longs to warn his son about the wayward woman who will become a snare:
26 My son, give me your heart
and let your eyes keep to my ways,
27 for a prostitute is a deep pit
and a wayward wife is a narrow well.
28 Like a bandit she lies in wait,
and multiplies the unfaithful among men.
In speaking about the consequences of following such a woman, Solomon gives these words of warning in Proverbs 2:18-19...
18 For her house leads down to death
and her paths to the spirits of the dead.
19 None who go to her return
or attain the paths of life.
Again, Solomon gives warning of such a woman later on in Proverbs 7:25-27:
25 Do not let your heart turn to her ways
or stray into her paths.
26 Many are the victims she has brought down;
her slain are a mighty throng.
27 Her house is a highway to the grave,
leading down to the chambers of death.
Clearly, there is a great danger posed to a man through such women.
In our text this morning, Solomon uses a three-fold description of this woman in order to emphasise this danger:
She is a snare: she lures the man in, and he’s soon caught in her grasp, unable to escape.
Her heart is a trap: she may seduce, and say all kinds of things to give the impression that her heart has pure motives towards this one man, but in the end it is a trap. This is like the bait in a rat trap…it lures the mouse in, only to have the jaws of the trap snap shut.
Her hands are chain: she reaches out grasps hold of this man, and he finds himself chained, unable to escape the clasps surrounding his wrists.
All three of the descriptions paint a very bleak picture of the man who becomes ensnared or captivated by a woman to his detriment.
Perhaps Solomon speaks from experience here.
How many women had not become a snare to Solomon.
Although the women in his life had not necessarily been adulteresses, they certainly did lead him astray.
3 He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray.
In that case, they led him to erect shrines and places of worship to other gods.
Friends, with the multitude of warnings in the Scriptures concerning this kind of wayward woman, we would do well to hear the words of Solomon.
I want to address this particularly to men in the congregation today.
Brothers, I would ask you this morning, have you set up a guard, and have you set up boundaries so that you will not fall prey to the seductive woman.
That seductive woman may not be in the form of a physical woman that you interact with, but even in the form of a picture on a screen.
The seductive woman for the man of our day is not only out on the street corner, where everyone can see and witness what that man is doing, and so he is deterred by the possibility of being seen by someone he knows.
The seductive woman of our day is available on the smartphone, in the quiet and privacy of your own bedroom.
The question is, what steps have you taken or do you take in order to stop yourself falling prey?
Or have you perhaps fallen prey already, and caught in that snare, struggling to break free?
And if you think that you are somehow immune to any possibility of falling, then I would caution you to think again.
We are but mere men, frail and weak.
If we do not do deliberate things in our lives to protect ourselves, we place ourselves in a dangerous position.
Just go and do some research on how many pastors have fallen into sin in this way.
One such study was conducted by a theology professor named Howard Hendricks...
The study examined 246 men in full-time ministry who experienced moral failure within a two-year period. As far as Hendricks could discern, these full-time clergy were born-again followers of Jesus. Though they shared a common salvation, these men also shared a common feat of devastation; they had all, within 24 months of each other, been involved in an adulterous relationship.
After interviewing each man, Hendricks compiled four common characteristics of their lives:
None of the men was involved in any kind of real personal accountability.
Each of the men had all but ceased having a daily time of personal prayer, Bible reading, and worship.
More than 80 percent of the men became (intimately) involved with the other woman after spending significant time with her, often in counseling situations.
Without exception, each of the 246 had been convinced that sort of fall “would never happen to me.”
I share this so that you might understand and realise that you are not beyond the ability to fall.
And every single small step that you take away from the Lord, may very well prove to be a contributing factor in a serious act of sin.
Just one further possibility on this woman who is a snare - some have suggested that it may refer to the “woman folly” that is spoken about in Proverbs 9:13-18...
In that case, it would refer to the person who lives in foolishness, and according to unwise ways of life… not living according to the ways of God...
13 The woman Folly is loud;
she is undisciplined and without knowledge.
14 She sits at the door of her house,
on a seat at the highest point of the city,
15 calling out to those who pass by,
who go straight on their way.
16 “Let all who are simple come in here!”
she says to those who lack judgment.
17 “Stolen water is sweet;
food eaten in secret is delicious!”
18 But little do they know that the dead are there,
that her guests are in the depths of the grave.
To be honest, I think it’s more likely that Solomon is speaking about the adulteress woman who is a snare.
Back to our text this morning, it is important to realise what Solomon adds here.
He says that the man who pleases God will escape her, but the sinner she will ensnare.
Friends, we need to walk in right fellowship with God.
Let me give some Biblical wisdom towards what this means.
And note: this biblical wisdom applies to every Christian in your spiritual walk - not only to men in fighting off the lure and temptation of the adulteress...
Firstly, be part of the body of Christ.
Be involved in a meaningful way in the body of Christ, because sin thrives in isolation.
But when we are in community and are involved in each others lives in a meaningful way, we can endure the struggles that we face with the support of the community.
Speak to someone close to you… and if you don’t have that someone close to you, the pray that God will establish that relationship.
Secondly, don’t play with sin.
Kill it.
Be ruthless with sin in your life.
If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off.
Thirdly, humble yourself.
Don’t think that you’re greater than all these others who fell, and that you are too spiritual or righteous.
Humble yourself before God, and know your own weaknesses.
Fourthly, cultivate a love for Christ.
Work hard on spending meaningful time with Christ, and building your relationship with Him.
If you are far from Christ, you are far from the One who provides you strength to overcome.
Don’t live your life thinking that going to church on a Sunday is enough… it really isn’t.
We need daily food to sustain our physical bodies.
We need daily food to sustain our spiritual fitness.
Work hard at being one who pleases God
4. The Disappointment in the Search (vv.27-29)
4. The Disappointment in the Search (vv.27-29)
As Solomon brings his findings to a conclusion, notice what he says in verse 27-28...
27 “Look,” says the Teacher, “this is what I have discovered:
“Adding one thing to another to discover the scheme of things—
28 while I was still searching
but not finding—
I found one upright man among a thousand,
but not one upright woman among them all.
Solomon has been searching all things.
He has been trying to discover the scheme of things.
And here he cries out: “Behold! This have I found...”
“This is what I’ve discovered!!”
He says that he’s found “one upright man among a thousand, but not one upright woman among them all.”
I know you’re all waiting for me to explain how Solomon could be so rude towards women… we’ll get there in a moment...
But we may then lose the thrust of what Solomon is conveying.
In essence, Solomon says that to find an upright man was an exceedingly rare occurrence.
There was only one upright man among a thousand.
So few and far between were those upright men.
His focus is not really on the one, but on the scarcity among them all.
In all the world around us, we are surrounded may a great multitude who are not upright, who do not seek after God, who are not going and walking in the ways of God.
And as for the women, he simply is saying that in his own evaluations, they were even more scarce.
Very possibly he had his own wives and concubines in mind - for they numbered a thousand, and they certainly did not live up to a righteous standard.
One commentator writes here:
“Koheleth does not say that no upright women exist, but only that they were a greater rarity than upright men. The Book of Proverbs suggests that the times were licentious and the general standard of morality was low among women of the day” (Smith, J. E. (1996).)
He then goes on to make this disappointing conclusion in verse 29:
29 This only have I found:
God made mankind upright,
but men have gone in search of many schemes.”
Again, Solomon’s theology was pretty reasonable at this point.
God made mankind upright.
In the opening chapters of the book of Genesis, we have that account of God creating man in the Garden of Eden, and man was created “Very Good”.
Man was upright and walked with God.
The current situation of the waywardness of man is laid squarely at the feet of man themselves.
“Men have gone in search of many schemes.”
It is the sinfulness of man that has led man to go in search of devising many schemes and ways in which to sin, and turn away from God.
It was the discontentment of Eve in the Garden that caused her to take the fruit that she was forbidden to touch.
It was the scheming to become like God, knowing good and evil, that led to perpetual scheming of man in our world today.
If I could add, however, a word of encouragement and hope.
That man is a schemer, and dreams up ways of doing evil, and the rest of man willingly follows...
God has not left us on our own or to our own devices.
Despite this falling away of all man, God has made a way of reconciliation to be given to us.
16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
1 As God’s fellow workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain. 2 For he says,
“In the time of my favor I heard you,
and in the day of salvation I helped you.”
I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.
Man has indeed gone in search of many schemes, always trying to promote himself and his own sinful desires.
But God, by His amazing grace, has made a way for us to have hope, joy, contentment, meaning in life.
My question this morning is: have you turned yourself to Him.
Are you living with Christ as your righteousness, and submitting yourself to Jesus as Lord.
Is your greatest desire, your greatest passion in life, your greatest and most earnest wish in life, to walk in His ways, no matter the cost, no matter the difficulty in this life?
He alone is worthy of your praise.
The search for wisdom and meaning must point us towards the Lord Jesus Christ.
That’s where our joy lies.