PUTTING WISDOM TO WORK IN OUR LIVES 

ECCL. 7:15-29

The Hebrew word for vanity is hebel which is translated as meaningless, having no advantage, or causing nothing to be gained. Solomon declares man’s labor under the sun (1:3), personal pleasures (2:1-3), riches and glory (2:7-9), wisdom and knowledge (1:15-18) and life itself (11:8) all to be meaningless.  He is not trying to say that these thing have absolutely no value, but rather that doing these things did not provide an absolute guarantee that one would be always happy and successful in this life.  In the verses we will discuss, Solomon looks at man's righteousness and his wisdom

 Righteous (15-18)

       Solomon begins by stating that in his brief lifetime he as seen exceptions to the doctrine of retribution (God rewards and punishes people based on their actions). Since there are exceptions to the doctrine of retribution, Solomon warns in verse 16, “be not over righteous or over wise: why should you destroy yourself?”. However  verb tissomen is normally translated to be appalled or astounded.  Solomon is urging people not to depend on their righteousness or wisdom to guarantee them God's blessings.  If we do we might become confused or disappointed. The fact that bad things happen to even those who are trying to do all that they believe God would have them do, has confounded mankind through out the ages.  (Look at Job’s friends.  They were convinced that Job had to be a sinner (Job 8:6).  However, just because there are some exceptions to the doctrine of retribution, or because God does not always judge swiftly, one should not take that as a license to sin.  This might lead one to die before his time.  (Ps. 55:23)  Solomon closed his argument in this section in verse 18 by noting that it is good to follow both warnings and by recommending that one who fears God should avoid all or both extremes.   The two extremes to avoid are (a) depending on one’s own righteousness and (b) becoming loose in one’s living (being overly wicked).  He advocated living life in the light of God’s judgment (12:14). Though he had observed exceptions to the doctrine of retribution, he nevertheless believed that God would judge (3:17; 8:12-13).  So people should avoid folly and wickedness as much as possible and live as wisely and as righteously as possible.

Wisdom (7:19-24)

            Man can not trust in his might because one man with wisdom is stronger than 10 mighty men.  Man can not trust in his righteousness because there is no one who is completely righteous (Is. 64:6).  You can not trust in your reputation for you can never really know what others are saying about you.  But don’t get overly sensitive he says. 

Wisdom also has its limitations. Even with all his wisdom, Solomon admits that he could not understand the deep things of God.  No one in his own knowledge and wisdom can understand the deep things of God (I Cor 2:9-12).

 Verses 25-29 - In the last four verses of this chapter Solomon lets us know what his search for wisdom has revealed. The term “folly” is synonymous with “wickedness”.  Solomon personifies folly as a women, who snares, entraps and holds one captive.  He found that, though folly was a fate worse than death, only those pleasing to God escape folly’s clutches. He also discovered in this same search that such people are rare—in fact they are nearly nonexistent.

 Solomon’s purpose.  He intended to point out to people the inability of all human efforts to guarantee any real meaning, or significance to their lives on earth, and thus to drive them to trust in God alone.

 Definition of wisdom. (1) the ability to see life from God’s perspective and then to know the best course of action to take.   (2) the God-given ability to see life with rare objectivity and to handle life with rare stability.  (3)  Wisdom is both the ability to discern what is best and the strength of character to act upon that knowledge.  (4) Thus wisdom is practical discernment.  It begins with respect for God, leads to righteous living, and results in increased ability to tell right from wrong.  Ps 111:10 says that wisdom begins with a reverence for God (Prov. 2:6-7).  James 1:5 says that God is willing to give us this wisdom (Prov. 9:10).

 Why pursue wisdom?

1.      It is more valuable that riches (Prov. 8:11; Prov. 16:16)

2.      It prolongs life (Prov. 10:21)

3.      It wins out over folly or wickedness (Eccl. 2:13)

4.      It is a protector (Eccl. 7:12)

5.      It is better than physical strength (Eccl. 7:12; Eccl. 9:16)

6.      It is better than weapons (Eccl. 9:18)

 Putting wisdom to work in our lives 

1.      Wisdom gives balance.  Solomon encourages us in verses 15-18  not to go over board, thinking that our righteous will assure us total happiness.  He also lets the wicked know that excessive foolishness may bring their live to a sudden end. (Phil. 4:11-13; I Tim. 8-10; Heb. 13:5).

2.      Wisdom gives us the strength to face ourselves.  Solomon pointed out that there is not one of us that always does right and never sins.  As followers of Christ, our enemy sometimes uses our failures against us (Zech. 3:1-7).  But wisdom teaches us not to wallow in our failures, but rather to face them through true repentance (Prov. 28:13) and move with our life in Christ (Rom: 7:15-8:1).

3.      Wisdom gives us the strength to go on with or without the approval of others.  What we say about others and what is said about us can bring death or bring life (Prov 18:21). Solomon encourages us not to put a whole lot of stock in what is said. Wisdom teaches us to focus on what God says about us (Is. 43:1-4) and to admire God’s creation (Ps. 139:14).

4.      Wisdom teaches us to keep life in proper perspective.  There are so many things that we do not understand.  So many questions we can not answer.  If we take our eyes off of God we stand the risk of getting lost in our own efforts to bring clarity.  God is sovereign and the wise man learns to follow God blindly, trusting that His way is perfect.  Though we can not see the entire picture, the wise person will trust  that God is painting a beautiful portrait. (Prov. 3:5-7; Is. 26:3).

 The conclusion. The duty of man is to reverence God and keep His commandments, trusting that He will perfectly judge every secret thing (Eccl. 12:13-14).