Ecclesiastes 7 SEVEN COMPARISONS The Preacher in the last part of the book of Ecclesiastes beginning at chapter seven, is mainly concerned about giving advice for living in a world such as we live in today. The first part of this has to do with character being placed with a higher value than anything we might earn or do. He doesn’t write as a bitter man wailing over lost opportunities and a wasted life, but is making a calm assessment of things as they are. Solomon uses his power of reason to look at life with common sense. Common sense is not too common these days. So he sets out seven comparisons: [1] A good name is better than precious ointment. [2] The day of death is better than the day of birth. [3] The house of mourning is better than the house of feasting. [4] Sorrow is better than laughter. [5] The rebuke of the wise is better than the song of fools. [6] The end of a thing is better than the beginning. [7] The patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.
Faith rises above the circumstances of the moment and takes a careful and realistic look at what really counts. When that happens, we leave the assumptions we had and self-occupation with what we think we lost, and consider what we have gained. It is then we are comforted in our souls and can see behind all that has taken place, the hand and heart of God’s love. It may seem like all that has claimed our hopes is far off in a vague distance that we hope to reach someday. But that isn’t true. There is a full cup of satisfaction and fulfillment at our hand as we look and live by faith in Him who has sovereign authority over everything. We will find, like the Thessalonian believers, that there is for us a work of faith, labor of love and patience of hope which we have in our Lord Jesus Christ.
We look beyond the fresh-filled graves in which we placed the forms of our loved ones, and walk forward in the Spirit toward the new day and new life we have, remembering we will meet our Lord in the air at any time. Then we will be with Him forever. Because of human limitations as they relate to things “under the sun,” from hindsight, things may turn out very different from what they seemed at the first. A rebuke may be the best thing that happened to us after time runs its course. To attend a funeral may be of far more importance in the long view of life, than a successful business transaction or a wonderful party. The Preacher gives advice by saying in different ways, that we should maintain a balance in life by focusing on how the experiences of the past, and the hopes for the future affect how we conduct life in the present.
Pleasure and wealth connected with wisdom can be beneficial, but we need to hold them with an open hand, not a tight fist. A good reputation, living with gratitude and humility, being open to instruction and correction, are of more importance than passing pleasure and success. A person of patience who controls anger and doesn’t make rash decisions, is one who lives in conscious submission to divine authority. Faith is based on what things are, and what we know will actually be, rather than on what we think we know they should be.
A serious approach to life is of more value that the emotional changes of one who does not want to face life and death as they really are. One’s name and reputation are of more value than sweet-smelling ointment that fades away. We need to prepare for death rather than live as if we are going to live forever here on earth. Our mortality is real. It is in Christ that we have eternal life that does not end at physical death. We don’t have to go around with a long face to be serious. Some things that happen to us are not best dealt with by a laugh. A serious discerning person sees beyond the surface. Clear thinking about death is a reminder to consider how we are living today. When we take time to evaluate our lives, it gives us time to make whatever changes are needed in view of life after death. The direction of our lives today has a lasting effect on our future life, and likely on those who follow us. Plan ahead and seek the mercy of God now rather than His justice later.
Verses five through ten teach us that moderation is better than excess, which is like crackling of thorns burning under a pot that makes a lot of noise but gives little heat. Foolishness and loud laughing cover lack of wisdom and intellectual emptiness. Both oppression and bribery destroy wise and straight thinking. They corrupt people and victimize wisdom when one yields to them. To be patient and wait on the Lord for the solution of a matter is far better than to think one can solve a matter and then it becomes a source of pride. Don’t jump too quickly.
Our perspective on things today is limited by our past experiences. For that reason, we who are older think everything today is of less value than “When I was young.” Generations are not the same and so we have to trust God to make all the pieces of life’s puzzle fit together as it seems fit to Him. Patience and deliberate thought are needed to grasp the big picture. Put the past behind and move forward. We live in the present and don’t need the discouragement of making comparisons. With a wise sense of balance, maintain the tried and proven wisdom and experience of the past, and learn how to adapt those into the need of the present and to prepare for the future.
Wisdom and wealth together have a great potential for good now to one’s self and to others. Wisdom is the protection from potential ruin, and knowledge adapts wisdom to present practical circumstances and needs. However, neither provides eternal benefit without the knowledge of God. There is no point to try to figure out why everything happens as it does, or what we can do about it. God has sovereign plans already in place, and we should accept them with grateful thanks and faith. We will have good and bad times in life. God has arranged for both, so we need to accept what comes by taking advantage of the opportunities now. To wait for better ones is uncertain.
It is a general principle that wickedness shortens life, but that is not always the case. Righteousness of life is not a guarantee of long life or an easy life. No amount of human wisdom can guarantee the outcome of that which depends on divine sovereignty. It is futile to try to change the work and plans of God to suit what pleases us. We may want something to happen in life in a certain way now, but God’s order of things and events, are far more comprehensive than ours. Balance and moderation will enable us to avoid the dangers of extremes. Faith keeps us from being overanxious about whether God is pleased with us, and it also keeps us from being careless and indifferent as to what is wrong. A righteous balanced life avoids those extremes because that person fears God and lives in the consciousness of His divine presence wherever we are and in whatever we do.
When we depend on the Lord and His guidance and power, He gives us the wisdom we need to deal with any task He gives us or any event He allows to come our way. Our Lord Jesus Christ was the only Perfect Man who ever lived on earth, and He did “always those things that pleased the Father.” It is a sobering thought that everyone else who has ever lived has “come short of the glory of God.” Every one of us is “guilty before God.” This is a warning to everyone that none of us has the right of access into the mind of another person to determine their motives for what they do. Because of that fact, we should take care and caution as to how we deal with others, because we all have the same tendencies to do our own thing in our own way according to our own will.
In spite of what wisdom we might have, there is much more that we don’t know than what we do. An older man said to a younger man, “If there were two books written, one about the things you know and one about the things you don’t know; which one do you think will be the biggest? The young man replied, “The things I don’t know.” “You are right,” said the older man, “And don’t you forget it.” The humbled soul knows there are things that are beyond knowing because they are “exceedingly deep.” However, there are things normally beyond our capacity that the Holy Spirit reveals to those who love God. The Preacher made a serious search of all he could think of, and he concluded that wickedness is foolishness, and foolishness is like the madness of a person beyond reason.
Foolishness is like a seductive woman who leads a person into moral and spiritual disaster which is “more bitter than death.” Adding anything we learn from wisdom and understanding may increase our perceived awareness of things, but is always limited and must yield to the revealed truth of God. It would seem consistent with the scriptures to consider an upright man as one among a thousand. The woman referred to is foolishness personified like the seductive woman, rather than a reference to gender differences. There is not a lot of righteousness among mankind as a whole, but there certainly is a lot of foolishness. God made man the way He wanted him, but mankind has corrupted itself, and each individual has chosen sin by nature rather that to accept God’s salvation. But God offers salvation because of His grace, and it can be personally had when an individual accepts by faith, the Lord Jesus as their Savior.