In this engaging episode, Dr. David Jeremiah delves deep into the often overlooked yet profound lessons found in the book of Ecclesiastes. Solomon’s wisdom provides a mirror for us, highlighting the folly in our everyday decisions and guiding us toward the path of wisdom. Through stories and historical contexts, listeners are treated to a thoughtful examination of how foolishness can creep into the mundane aspects of life—from leadership blunders to careless words.
We’re often quick to find foolishness in others while failing to see it in our own lives. That’s why we need the mirror of God’s Word. Today on Turning Point, Dr. David Jeremiah sheds light on foolishness in some common areas of life, as noted by King Solomon in his book of Ecclesiastes. From Searching for Heaven on Earth, here’s David to introduce today’s message, Fools Rush In.
SPEAKER 01 :
Well, today we’re going to talk again about some imponderables in the book of Ecclesiastes, some things that most people don’t talk about. And you won’t find them often in the Bible, but here in Ecclesiastes, Solomon, he widens the border. He gets to the issues that… that sometimes we wish somebody would talk about. Well, he’s going to talk about them, and we’re going to listen in these next two days. From the 10th chapter of the book of Ecclesiastes, in the first 20 verses, we’re going to learn how wisdom can prevent the effects of foolish mistakes and choices. This is a preventative message. Be sure and stay with us for these two days. And if you haven’t already done so, let me encourage you to take advantage of the month of February and get your copy of 31 Days to Happiness. This is a written commentary on the book of Ecclesiastes. All 31 chapters take you from the beginning to the end. It will help you understand the book. It will most of all help you apply the book and make sure the book is making a difference in your life. 31 Days to Happiness is available to you for a gift of any size to Turning Point during the month of February. Thank you in advance for your generosity. Do your best gift. Send the gift and ask for the book, and it’ll be on its way. It’s a very simple thing. We want you to have this book. We know that you will return to it often in the days ahead. Here’s part one of Fool’s Regime.
SPEAKER 02 :
Will Rogers, the great American humorist, was called to the White House one time when Calvin Coolidge was the president. He said, Mr. President, would you like me to tell you all the latest political jokes? No, said Coolidge, I’ve hired them all. Solomon had a great insight into political jokes. He no doubt hired a few of them in his day and he had actually played the fool himself on more than one occasion. As you know he’s looking back over his life now in this book which is sort of a journal of his existence and he’s evaluating life under the sun. Basically talking about what life is like when there is no God in the picture. And as we come to this section here in the 10th chapter, we need to remember that Solomon has written what we call the wisdom literature. Wisdom literature being the Proverbs and the Song of Solomon and Ecclesiastes. And in the wisdom literature are ideas and thoughts and We should not be surprised that Solomon, as he nears the end of his journal, takes just one little section of the journal to go back once again to the theme of wisdom and foolishness. He wants us to understand the difference between being wise and being foolish. In fact, if you count them as I did, the word for folly or foolishness is found nine times in the 10th chapter. Solomon is going to tell us once again that there are two ways to live life. There’s the way of wisdom and there’s the way of foolishness. And as we look around us in the world, which is beamed into our home by television, we see the evidences of those two different lifestyles, the wise way to live and the foolish way to live. It seems like we have far more illustrations of foolish living than we do of wise living. Solomon wants us to understand That you can make a choice. Ecclesiastes 10 is like a slice out of the book of Proverbs. The teacher king wraps out one short proverb or wise saying, one after another. And in this chapter, he’s going to warn us about foolishness in four areas of our lives. He’s going to talk with us about foolishness in little things and foolishness in leadership, foolishness in the labor pool and foolishness in our language. Let’s talk for a moment about foolishness in little things. Notice what Solomon says in verse 1. Dead flies putrefy the perfumer’s ointment and cause it to give off a foul odor. So does a little folly to one respected for wisdom and honor. Now, back in chapter 7, Solomon had used the illustration of perfume, and if you remember when we were studying chapter 7, in the first verse he said, a good name is better than precious ointment or precious perfume. Now he returns to that picture again, and he was going to make a very important point for all of us to notice. He says that if a dead fly gets into a perfume box, it can spoil the perfume and putrefy it. Well, he is saying that’s a good illustration. And notice what he says in the text. He said in the same way, a little bit of foolishness in somebody’s life can destroy the perfume of their life. It can destroy their dignity and their reputation. Did you know that this is the place where we get the expression a fly in the ointment? Have you ever heard that? Well, there’s a fly in the ointment. It comes right out of Ecclesiastes 10.1. Now, Solomon wants us to understand that foolishness in our lives doesn’t have to be some big, huge mistake that we make, but we can be foolish in little things. In fact, it’s interesting how little things can come along and ruin everything that a person has lived for. You don’t have to make a big mistake. You just have to make a little one. You don’t have to do anything huge to mess up your life. Just do some little thing and look what happens. We don’t know what happened in the perfume box. Perhaps somebody forgot to put the top back on before they went to bed at night. And while the top was off during the night, a fly got in there and got down in the ointment and died. And the next thing you know, you open the box for perfume and you go, whoa, what is that? It isn’t anything you thought it was going to be. Well, throughout the Bible, there are little vignettes of warning about taking care of the little things in life that can ruin you. For instance, in 1 Corinthians 5, 6, we read that a little leaven leavens the whole lump. Have you ever seen that? And you know what? It doesn’t take very much yeast to have a great impact upon the dough. Just a little bit, and it leavens the whole amount. Song of Solomon chapter two in verse 15, it says, catch us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vines. That comes out of an agricultural, but it says, you know what, you don’t have to have a big fox to ruin a grape vineyard. Just a little fox can ruin the vine. And James chapter three tells us that even so the tongue is a little member and it boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles. What is he saying? One little spark out of control, man, and you got a mess. Acres and acres of property destroyed. Solomon is saying that you don’t want to take the little things for granted. Little things can make a lot of difference. And he says, be careful that you don’t assume that one little thing is not going to make any difference. You ever hear anybody say, well, you know, it’s not that big deal, just a little thing. The wrong kind of a relationship, the wrong kind of a conversation, somebody who’s not your spouse, just was no big deal, just a little thing. And oftentimes when they get to the other end of it and there’s destruction, they say, well, you know, it was just no big deal, man. It was just a little thing. But sometimes little things can reap great fruit. Rewards in the wrong way. And Solomon says, just like a little bit of a fly in a bottle of a perfume can spoil the perfume, so a little foolishness in a man’s life or in a woman’s life can ruin their life. Only takes one little foolish mistake. Now, in this passage of scripture, he makes an interesting comment. He says, even so, the tongue’s a little member. Then in verse 18 of the ninth chapter, he makes this comment. Look back in chapter nine. Wisdom is better than weapons of war. Now watch this. But one little sinner destroys much good. It’s not only one little thing, one little person. Do you know one person can do a lot of damage in a group? Did you know that? One person could cause a lot of trouble. Little things do have an impact. It only takes, listen to me again, one little foolish mistake or one thoughtless slip of the tongue to destroy a career. You see, we ought to get up every day and say, Lord God, give me wisdom today not to do some foolish little thing that could undercut all that you’ve been doing in my life. Solomon warns us against the power of little things, and he says, a little folly to one respected for wisdom and honor. And then he makes this comment. How many people here today are left-handed? Now, you’re going to think I’m picking on you right here, and I want you to know I’m not. I’m just reporting what Solomon said. Here’s what he says in chapter 10. He said, a wise man’s heart is at his right hand, but a fool’s heart is at his left. What he’s saying is, and you have to go back into the culture of Solomon, a person’s right hand was perceived as the place of power, and his left hand was perceived as a place of weakness. It was just part of the culture. It has nothing to do with being left-handed. He’s saying that it’s possible for you to do something little, and when you do something little, fall into foolishness. Warren Wiersbe points out in one of his commentaries that the word sinister comes from the Latin word that means on the left hand. So he’s talking about the fact that in that culture, a person who does something little can make a big mess out of his life. The foolishness of little things. It’s sort of like the story that’s so popular, the children’s story called The Emperor’s New Clothes. Do you remember that story? In the story, a ruler is roaming around naked because someone has told him that he is clothed. What got the emperor into such a mess? Well, just one little thing. He believed the two strangers who came to town declaring that they could make clothes that were made of stuff which had the peculiar property of becoming invisible to every person who was unfit for the office that he held or who was exceptionally stupid. And the emperor believed him. and for a period of time walked around without any clothes on until the kid said, hey, you got no clothes on. All he did was just listen to somebody, tell him something that wasn’t true, one little thing. I have a feeling if this were a true story, that might have messed up his life pretty good, don’t you think? Well, foolishness in little things. Let’s notice in verses four through seven, and then again in verses 16 through 19, foolishness in leadership. Solomon goes now to the next part of his discussion, and he talks about how easy it is for foolishness to get into leadership. And perhaps this is a message for me and for all of us who are in places of leadership or anybody who aspires to leadership or who is involved in business. First of all, in verse 4, he talks about the ego-driven leader. Notice. Notice. He says, if the spirit of the ruler rises against you, do not leave your post for conciliation pacifies great offenses. Now, let me just tell you that here is a picture of a leader who thinks he’s arrived and he shouts and screams at everybody who’s around him. And there are people around him who want to serve him and all he does is abuse them because he’s now the leader. The foolishness in the heart of a proud leader causes him to think that he’s above everybody else and that for some reason he has the right to oppress them with cruel language. Woodrow Wilson once wrote that every man who takes office in Washington either grows or swells. He said, when I give a man an office, I watch him carefully to see whether or not he’s swelling or growing. Proverbs 16, 32 says, “‘He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, “‘and he who rules his spirit “‘is better than he that takes a city.'” Proverbs 25, 28 says, whoever has no rule over his spirit is like a city broken down without walls. Solomon says that sometimes there can get into leadership foolishness, this ego-driven guy who thinks he’s something and he just runs roughshod over everybody. Now he gives us a little counsel about what we should do when we get up against somebody like that. Some of you are kind of shaking your heads back there because you work for this guy I’m talking about right here. Here’s what Solomon says. He says, conciliation pacifies great offenses. Basically, he’s saying, don’t panic. Don’t quit your job. Don’t leave your post. In other words, hang in there and deal with the person, but deal with them according to the scripture. Proverbs 16, 14 says, as messengers of death is the king’s wrath, but a wise man will appease it. Proverbs 25, 15 says, by long forbearance, a ruler is persuaded and a gentle tongue breaks a bone and a soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. Proverbs 15, one. Solomon says, sometimes you get into a situation at work and you got this tyrant ego driven leader and he’s running roughshod over everybody. Don’t quit. Don’t panic. Follow the scripture. Soft answer turns away wrath. Deal with them according to the word of God. You’d be surprised what would happen if you ever try that. What is your response usually when something like that happens? You get angry? You get mad? You try to figure out a way? Do you ever make speeches to yourself? You get in your car on the way home from work, do you ever give a speech to the guy on the way home? His ears would be scorched if he was sitting next to you. And some of my greatest speeches have been in my car with the windows up and the radio going and nobody there. Have you ever done that? Solomon says, man, you can do that if you want to, but the best thing you can do is just be soft in your response and try to figure out how you can help him understand that what he’s doing is wrong. an ego-driven leader. Then he goes on and he goes to the other extreme and he says, sometimes foolishness falls into ego-driven leaders and sometimes it falls into easygoing leaders, verses five through seven. He said, there’s an evil I’ve seen under the sun as an error proceeding from the ruler. Folly is set in great dignity while the rich sit in a lowly place. I have seen servants on horses while princes walk on the ground like servants. Here is another folly according to Solomon, an easygoing leader who puts unqualified people in office while he ignores those who should be leading under him. Perhaps he does what he does because he’s so insecure and he doesn’t want anybody to threaten him, so he puts in all of these people who shouldn’t be in leadership. They’re riding the horses while the people who are leaders are walking around like servants. Really qualified people are placed where they cannot possibly be challenged or encouraged while the servants are given the positions of honor and you know that there is no way that can ever work. Ultimately, it will fall into disrepute and defeat. So we got the ego-driven leader and we got the easygoing leader. Now here’s one that’s really interesting in this passage, the engineered leader. Verses 16 and 17, watch this. Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child and your princes feast in the morning. Blessed are you, O land, when your king is the son of nobles and your princes feast at the proper time for strength and not for drunkenness. Now let me just kind of unpack all of that for you so that you can get the nuance of what Solomon is saying. He’s talking about the kind of leaders that sometimes get into office. They are not experienced leaders. They are put in office by the help of their friends. Their leadership is orchestrated, arranged, or negotiated. They don’t have a clue what they’re doing. And consequently, they don’t do anything. In the morning when they should be caring for the matters of state and government, they’re already feasting and drinking, and the implication is they party all day long. They are not deserving of leadership and office. And Solomon says, woe to you when your king is childish, when your leader’s like a little kid when he’s immature. Well, let me go on to the last one, the ego-driven leader, the easygoing leader, the engineered leader, and the last guy is the evil leader. He doesn’t have anything good you can say about him at all because he’s just plain out lazy. Because of laziness, the building decays, and through the idleness of hands, the house leaks. A feast is made for laughter, and wine makes merry, but money answers everything. Here’s a guy sitting at home, with a bottle of beer in his hand watching television. He’s supposed to be doing work, taking care of things. The house is falling down. Nothing’s going on right. He’s not doing his job. He’s just a plain old lazy bum. Yet he’s in a position where he’s supposed to have leadership, and Solomon says he has no excuses. He’s just an evil man who cares nothing about his responsibilities. Through his laziness, his leadership is dissipated, and his kingdom is destroyed. Solomon, in the book of Proverbs, has a lot to say about laziness. Have you ever studied that? Sometime take your Bible and just read through Proverbs, read through all 31 chapters, and underline all the verses where Solomon talks about being lazy. And you’ll come away with a whole new perspective on ambition and energy in your life. Well, Solomon has given us a little kind of a closing chapter here on wisdom and foolishness. And he says, sometimes you can be foolish in little things and it can have a great impact. And sometimes you can be foolish in leadership. There’s a lot of foolishness in leadership. Can I get a witness? Amen. Now he’s gonna talk about another area, and we’ll cover this real quickly in verses eight through 10, and that’s foolishness in labor. He says you can be foolish when you go to work. Notice verses eight through 10, and remember this is written in the time of Solomon. He who digs a pit will fall into it, and whoever breaks through a wall will be bitten by a serpent. He who quarries stones may be hurt by them, and he who splits wood may be endangered by it. If the axe is dull and one does not sharpen the edge, he must use more strength, but wisdom brings success. Now this is not really an easy section to interpret, but most scholars agree that Solomon is pointing out the things that can happen in the workplace when laborers are foolish. When you go to work and you don’t put your head on, you can get into trouble. You can make a lot of dumb mistakes. He says, there are five illustrations I want you to think about. Here’s a laborer who’s digging a pit, and because he is not careful and wise, he falls into the hole that he is digging. Look at the rest of these. A laborer is breaking through a section of a wall, and because he’s not careful and wise, he forgets that snakes love to live in the cold caverns of walls, and when he reaches into the wall he just breached, he gets bitten by a snake. That wasn’t too smart. That was pretty dumb. Here’s a laborer who’s quarrying stones in the stone quarry, and because he’s not wise and careful, one of the stones he’s quarrying falls on him, and he gets hurt. Here’s a guy who’s splitting wood, and because he’s not careful, A piece of wood apparently flies off the block. He’s splitting, maybe hits him in the head and cuts his head open or maybe hits his wife who’s watching him cut wood. Who knows? And then he says it’s important when you go to work to be wise. Solomon says it’s foolish for a laborer to cut wood with a dull axe, and because of that, he has to work twice as hard. You see that passage? If he were wise, he’d take some time off to sharpen his axe, and he would save himself a lot of time and energy. In other words, he’s working harder, and he should be working smarter. Isn’t it hard sometimes when you’re working hard to do the thing that you’re supposed to do to realize that in order for you to really be effective, you need some time away to sharpen your tools? I have to do that sometimes. I have to get away and sharpen my tools so that I don’t have to work so hard to do what God has called me to do. Solomon is just saying, all right, now listen to me, class. He says, before I get into my last little section of this book, I want to just run by some important things. Don’t be foolish in the little things because they can really have a big impact on your life. Don’t get involved in leadership and be foolish in leadership. And don’t get foolish in labor because you can get hurt, make a big mess. Now he concludes with probably the most important point of the chapter. Because I’ve observed in studying the wisdom literature that wherever you have discussion about foolishness and a fool, it’s almost always in the context of the use of his tongue, his mouth. So Solomon’s going to talk now about foolishness in language. And oh, how easy it is for us to be foolish in our language. A deacon… was briefed beforehand on what his role would be in an upcoming missionary banquet, and he was told to be sensitive to the fact that there would be guests in this banquet from foreign countries, and those who were there would not be accustomed to the English language or the American culture. During the banquet, the deacon found himself seated next to an African man who was hungrily devouring his chicken. Trying to think of some way to communicate with the man, the deacon leaned over and said, chomp, chomp, chomp, good, huh? And the man gazing back at the deacon simply replied, hmm, good. A few minutes later, as the African man savored a delicious cup of coffee, the deacon leaned over and commented, clug, clug, clug, good, huh? Hmm? The man, a little uncertain, replied, hmm, good. To the deacon’s dismay, when the speaker for the evening was announced, it happened to be the African man next to him. The gentleman got up and he delivered a flawless message in Oxford-accented English. Upon concluding, the speaker headed straight for the deacon, whose face was red with embarrassment, and the speaker simply said, Blab, blab, blab. Good, huh? Does that remind you of the most embarrassing thing you ever said or did? Well, Solomon says, if there’s one place where you can really see foolishness, it’s in the way you use your tongue.
SPEAKER 01 :
And every one of us have rewound our minds in this last moment, remembering some of the dumb things we’ve said. And thankfully, we probably remember them, and most people have forgotten them. But we do have a very important task ahead of us as believers, and that is to put a guard on. on our tongue. The tongue is a powerful tool. James writes about it. He tells us that it is harder to control the tongue than a wild horse, and I think that’s true. Unfortunately, the tongue can do a lot of damage and it can do a lot of good, but oftentimes the damage that’s done is very difficult to repair. We’ll have more about this list of things that Solomon’s talking about when he says fools rush in when we meet together tomorrow. I want to thank you for listening. I’m David Jeremiah. I’m here every day. And thank you for being here, too. We’ll see you next time.
SPEAKER 03 :
For more information on Dr. Jeremiah’s series, Searching for Heaven on Earth, please visit our website where we also offer two free ways to help you stay connected. Our monthly Turning Points magazine and our daily email devotional. Sign up today at davidjeremiah.org slash radio. That’s davidjeremiah.org slash radio. Or call us at 800-947-1993. Ask for your copy of David’s book, 31 Days to Happiness. It’s filled with Solomon’s wisdom and it’s yours for a gift of any amount. You can also purchase the Jeremiah Study Bible in the English Standard, New International, and New King James versions, complete with notes and articles from Dr. Jeremiah’s decades of study. Get all the details when you visit our website, davidjeremiah.org slash radio. This is David Michael Jeremiah. Join us tomorrow as we continue Searching for Heaven on Earth on Turning Point with Dr. David Jeremiah.
