Ecclesiastes - Chapter 7
In this chapter we find our preacher granting more strong words of advice as to life and the mysteries it brings. He centers his advice upon thoughts that are solemn caution and compromise with what life brings. He views life so far as an existence of low hope and he advises us by what is better and what is not. Mostly, Solomon uses comparisons to convey the meaning of this chapter. His sayings in chapter seven are a somber view, colored as gray, measured in tone, not sparking joy, and avoiding false optimism. His thoughts are not meant to make life exciting but rather to make it bearable.
Serious is better than frivolous (1-7):
Here the preacher elaborates on a tune he has played for us before, when he praised the dead as better than the living and the stillborn to those who have lost their wealth. The wise man teaches us here that death continues to be the enemy of hope.
These are strong and dark words but if Solomon were here today he would say they are realistic. He looked at the certainty of death and it seemed so large that it made life itself seem small. In the light of it, levity and laughter were luxuries that only a fool could indulge in. The wise and serious had to pay their full attention to death.
To sing a song of hope was just folly. Mindless pursuit of festivities were badly misleading in his view and all who engaged in this pursuit were fools. Yet, even the wise cannot escape life's hazards freely. They should not waste their energy on empty or idle songs as they travel the dark path of life. So the preacher says that even the wise may at times engage in frivolous things which bring nothing.
Caution is better than quick action (8-10):
When it comes to the human spirit, patience is much better to cultivate than pride. One way to cultivate patience is to a long range view of life. He seems to be preaching that caution is better than rashness of action. Go slow, take your time, be sure of your view, and do not hurry. It is better to do things slowly and correct than to hasten and be in error.
Wisdom is better than folly (11-12):
Our first lines here relate wisdom to wealth. Next we see wisdom connected to the art of living. The subject of inheritance describes possessions passed from generation to generation at death. They may seem reliable because they are already in the hand of the family but without wisdom in their use, they may be squandered or taken as we saw before in chapters 5 & 6. Nothing here seems to blow away the dark clouds of death thoughts that hang over our preacher.
Be resigned (13-14):
We see once more two critical themes of our book:
Our incompetence to change life as we would like.
Our inability to learn anything valuable about our future.
We must never ignore these two vexing limitations that occupy the mind of the preacher.
These words are a call for sober reflection and are a confrontation with divine sovereignty. God's name has not appeared now for more than 20 verses. Suddenly we are told to consider how God works in making life crooked and bringing prosperity as well as adversity. Here is a caution to humility. Life at all crucial points is in higher hands than our own. We cannot prevent what God wants to do nor can we predict what God is going to do.
Why can't we change what we do not like? Are we stuck with constant problems of joyless work, ceaseless pain, endless hassles, and fruitless efforts to understand? The preacher says that often we are! But it is better to let God's sovereign hand work than to consume ourselves with anger over that which we cannot control.
Integrity is better than being pretentious (15-22):
The thought here is triggered by the observation that neither the righteous (the just) person or the wicked always get appropriate reward. Since this is the case, it is no good pretending to be what we are not, very righteous or very wise. We are to fear (respect) God in reverence and this wisdom is the key to integrity.
Claiming to be better than we are is playing at wisdom and can be seen as a deadly sin and we are warned concerning it in verse 16. The self-destructive nature of this conduct is made clear in a question on this commanding verse and we are taught that pretending is bound to find us out.
To remain in integrity, we should close both our heart and our ears to what others may say about us. To take seriously the words of others is to put ourselves at risk of being hurt or of judging others harshly.
Reflections on our human limits (23-29):
Here we see a test and its results. It tells of the preacher's persistent attempts to use his wisdom as the means of putting to the test his various theories about finding true profit and ultimate meaning in life. We see the limited and negative results of that test.
We see here how he considers the following:
Confession of failure in finding true wisdom.
How the test ranged from profound wisdom to crazy foolishness.
A discovery of the dangers of a grasping woman.
Final thoughts on the contrast of what God created and what mankind became.
What he found were the schemes of man that bring us no closer to understanding life, future, or God. It is as if he feels we have learned not one thing since that day of disobedience or damnation to sin in the garden.
It would be almost 900 years until a view of light and love would change this view in a manger in Bethlehem.