Ecclesiastes 7 - In this chapter, Solomon (or whoever the writer is) concludes that, though wisdom can't explain all of life's mysteries, it can make at least three positive contributions to our lives:
(1) Wisdom can make life better - vs. 1-10 - in verse 1, Solomon contrasts two significant days of the human experience - the day a person receives his or her name and the day that name shows up in the obituary. The life in between those two days determines whether that name leaves behind a lovely fragrance or a foul stench. In verses 2-4 he advised us to look death in the face and learn from it. If we try to avoid confrontations with the reality of death and not take life as seriously as we should. In verses 5-6 he compares rebuke to praise and states that praise of fools is like the burning thorns in a campfire where you hear a lot of noise, but don't get much lasting goodness from that kind of fire - whereas a wise person's rebuke can accomplsih much more in our lives than the flattery of fools. And that is so true - wise rebuke may not always feel good, but it does help if we listen to it and take it to heart - lots of people call something like this as constructive criticism - I like to think of it as loving words of showing each other how to be better.
(2) Wisdom helps us see life clearly - vs. 11-18 - One of the marks of maturity is the ability to look at life in perspective and not get out of balance. When we have God's wisdom, we will be able to accept and deal with the changing experience sof life. Wiersbe quotes Francis Bacon - "Prosperity is the blessing of the Old Testament; adversity is the blessing of the New." I think that is a very fitting quote - those of the Old Testament had many blessings in the form of prosperity and going into the Land of Milk and Honey (even though there were hardships along the way) and now that we are in the New adversity is our blessing because it conforms us more to the image of Jesus. He suffered beyond what is imaginable for us and every time we suffer for Him or go through adversity, we are given the chance to grow and become more like Him if we take the opportunity. God's wisdom also gives us a better perspective of eternity because if we only look at this life on earth as it, we may see the wicked as prospering, but in the end it will not be this way.
(3) Wisdom helps us face life stronger - vs. 19-29
Ecclesiastes 7 (ESV) 1 A good name is better than precious ointment, and the day of death than the day of birth. 2 It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart. 3 Sorrow is better than laughter, for by sadness of face the heart is made glad. 4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth. 5 It is better for a man to hear the rebuke of the wise than to hear the song of fools. 6 For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fools; this also is vanity. 7 Surely oppression drives the wise into madness, and a bribe corrupts the heart. 8 Better is the end of a thing than its beginning, and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit. 9 Be not quick in your spirit to become angry, for anger lodges in the bosom of fools. 10 Say not, "Why were the former days better than these?" For it is not from wisdom that you ask this. 11 Wisdom is good with an inheritance, an advantage to those who see the sun. 12 For the protection of wisdom is like the protection of money, and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of him who has it. 13 Consider the work of God: who can make straight what he has made crooked? 14 In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him. 15 In my vain life I have seen everything. There is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his evildoing. 16 Be not overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself? 17 Be not overly wicked, neither be a fool. Why should you die before your time? 18 It is good that you should take hold of this, and from that withhold not your hand, for the one who fears God shall come out from both of them. 19 Wisdom gives strength to the wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city. 20 Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins. 21 Do not take to heart all the things that people say, lest you hear your servant cursing you. 22 Your heart knows that many times you yourself have cursed others. 23 All this I have tested by wisdom. I said, "I will be wise," but it was far from me. 24 That which has been is far off, and deep, very deep; who can find it out? 25 I turned my heart to know and to search out and to seek wisdom and the scheme of things, and to know the wickedness of folly and the foolishness that is madness. 26 And I find something more bitter than death: the woman whose heart is snares and nets, and whose hands are fetters. He who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is taken by her. 27 Behold, this is what I found, says the Preacher, while adding one thing to another to find the scheme of things-- 28 which my soul has sought repeatedly, but I have not found. One man among a thousand I found, but a woman among all these I have not found. 29 See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes.
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