Ecclesiastes 7

There is so much for us to learn from the Bible. It is a deep well of truth, and we will never get to the bottom of it. We could spend our whole lives carefully considering every passage, admiring the way that all the parts work together in support of the whole, and seeing the glory of Christ on every page. There is also so much to learn from life. God has created a world of beauty and order. We can never run out of things that can be learned from the observation of the world and the consideration of the glory of man. It is the intersection of these two great streams of knowledge that makes the Christian life such a rich adventure. God has ordained the pathway of our personal consideration of the world, and He directs us along that journey with the truth of His Word.

The Preacher writes to us of many things in the book of Ecclesiastes that an astute observer of the human condition could learn without opening the Bible, but it is so much better for us if we will open our hearts to what God has said to us from heaven through His prophetic ambassadors. The person who is unwilling to think about life will miss so much, but the thinking man must face some difficult facts. To take all of this in, the Bible and life, to let it touch you as one who seeks to live it out in the presence of God without a lot of showy spirituality, this is wisdom, and wisdom helps a man to maintain a good name, and to avoid the traps of enslaving sin.

Many parents throughout history have passed on to their children the idea that the preservation of the family name is important. This attention to character is better than all of the luxury items with which we could pamper ourselves. When someone trashes his name with foolishness and immorality, he should not think that he is only hurting himself. He injures others in his family. Yet, there is forgiveness, restoration, and even wisdom that is gained through failure. We are connected by bonds of love and duty that should never be severed.

Some of this may seem obvious, but other related insights in this chapter are more surprising. We celebrate the day of birth and mourn the day of death, but should a reasonable man be able to see another side to this? Is it better to enter a world of futility, or to leave that world to go to the place where God dwells? We love to gather together for a wedding celebration, but does that party contribute to our character formation as much as a good funeral carefully considered? The honest recognition of our limits is something that we need to take to heart.

More generally, do we have enough of an appreciation for the way that God uses sorrow in order to shape our character, or is our goal to laugh our way through life, and to leave this world with a joke on our lips? There is a deep happiness, and a fullness of soul life that requires some loss. The person who has not yet experienced significant tragedy is actually missing something. The one who has faced trouble or received a stinging correction should make good use of these, recognizing that much good can come from our worst moments if these are thoughtfully embraced.

Wise living longs to end well, rather than mourning over a new beginning that can never be. This requires patience, perspective, and a rejection of false sentimentality that longs for the good old days. The world was under futility in those days of supposed bliss and innocence. Rejects false optimism about the future under the sun, that people can somehow make straight what God has made crooked. Enjoy any present prosperity as a gift of the same God who also brings adversity. He surely has a purpose for one as He does for the other.

Here's another good surprise to take to heart: Do not be overly righteous in some grand display of devotion to God that will only hasten your death. God knows the cross that He has ordained for your life, and there is no need to order up two or three more that you bring upon yourself to show how very wise and dedicated you are. But then, don't race off to test the limits of wickedness and stupidity knowing that you will still remain within the grace of God. Wisdom is available to you, and sin is not only all around you, but it is also within you. There is no need to make yourself a celebrity by extreme living of one kind or another. There is a certain reasonable quality to a good life that is consistent with resting upon the sinless virtue and wisdom of Another who has done what we could never do.

Recognize the depth of the human problem and take it in deeply. Here it is: “There is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.” That deep problem required that a new Man come from heaven to make a way for us to have true peace with Almighty God. If we imagine that we will be purer than God, we will soon find ourselves where we should not be, enticed by a temptation too strong for us, leading to a further fall that reminds us who we really are. As the Preacher says after considering both life and God's Word, “God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes.” The necessary fix for this world could never be achieved by the strength, wisdom, and righteousness of a natural man. But God has done through the second Adam, what no man could do.