Part 3 of 3
We have been looking at Ecclesiastes 7:1-14 under the theme, “Allowing Death, Sorrow, and Adversity to Teach us.”
In verses 1-6, Solomon talks about two very important and serious matters. The first has to do with a serious consideration of one’s own mortality in the face of the death of others. The second has to do with hearing and receiving the rebuke of a wise man. In both cases, it is better to confront reality head on rather than take a frivolous and light hearted approach to the problems and issues at hand.
In verses 7-12, Solomon gives us various miscellaneous proverbs that contrast wisdom and folly. For example, he teaches us that wisdom is better than wealth because it equips a person to lead a truly meaningful life.
We come now to our third and final section where we are called to consider God’s works.
Consider God’s Works (vv. 13-14)
Solomon says in verses 13 and 14, “Consider the work of God: for who can make that straight, which he hath made crooked? In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider: God also hath set the one over against the other, to the end that man should find nothing after him.”
The foolish person will say that God does not exist or that God has nothing to do with what goes on in this world. The wise man will acknowledge not only the existence of God, but also His sovereignty over all things, and he will seek to live his life in light of that truth.
Verse 13 calls us to consider God’s work. God does all things according to His sovereign pleasure. When God has decreed or determined something, no one can change it or make it different. Rather than trying to fight against God, which is utter foolishness, we should seek to submit to His sovereign will.
Then in verse 14, Solomon speaks about the day of prosperity and the day of adversity, and he declares that God has made both kinds of days. God not only makes the good days but also the bad ones. We should be joyful in the day of prosperity but in the day of adversity, we should bow in humble submission to His sovereignty and not give in to a spirit of rebellion and discontentment.
The phrase at the end of verse 14 “to the end that man should find nothing after him” probably means that it is impossible for man to discover or unveil what the future holds. Who knows whether tomorrow will be a day of prosperity or a day of adversity for you? Only God knows for He has determined all things.
We started our study of this passage with a consideration of the day of death and the importance of receiving rebuke. Then in the middle part, we considered a variety of things such as the external pressures that come upon us in life, the uncertain outcome of future events, and the possession of both wealth and wisdom. And we end with a consideration of the sovereignty of God over all things. Indeed, everything from the day of one’s birth, to the day of prosperity, to the day of adversity and finally the day of one’s death is in the sovereign hand of God.
Conclusion
As we conclude, let us remember that we live in a foolish world where the house of feasting is preferred to the house of mourning, where laughter and merry making is preferred to serious reflection upon the issues of life, where the song of fools is better than the rebuke of the wise, where pride is preferred to humility, where a hasty show of force and wrath is better than meekness and self-control, where wealth is preferred over wisdom, and where the sovereign God is either forgotten or denied altogether.
Oh how we need the wisdom that comes from above to enable us to live rightly in a world that has gone so wrong. Oh how we need the Saviour of the world, even the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the very wisdom of God, and in whom is hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
This contrast between wisdom and folly throughout our passage is ultimately a contrast between the mind of Christ and the wisdom of the world.
Dear friend, if you are a stranger to Christ, then you are in desperate need of His rescue and deliverance from the utter folly and vanity of this world. The very best that this world has to offer you is nothing but foolishness in comparison to Christ. Would you not turn to Jesus this day and cry out to Him for rescue while there is still time. He says to you as He said to Martha of old, “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?” (John 11:25-26)
But for those of us who are believers in Christ, may we live according to the wisdom of Christ that is found in His word. May we find our joy and peace in Him whether in the day of prosperity or in the day of adversity.
The Apostle Paul tells us in Romans 8 that we are more than conquerors in Christ because neither death (no matter how tragic), nor life (no matter how difficult), can ever separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Praise God for that! Amen.