In this episode of Hope for Today, the focus is on Ecclesiastes Chapter 7 and the profound insights offered by Solomon on the futility of life without divine guidance. As we delve into God’s Word, we confront the harsh realities that righteous people sometimes suffer while the wicked may prosper. Solomon’s reflections expose the limits of human judgment and self-righteousness, calling us back to the fear of God and true wisdom.
00:00:00 Introduction and the Need for Godly Wisdom
The problem with human understanding is once you learn about something, it completely disappoints. It doesn’t satisfy. To honor God, to recognize He’s number one in your life, to desire to please Him in all things is the check, is the moral check on our lives. The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge. The knowledge of the holy ones, as Proverbs 9, 10, gives us understanding. And that we desperately need in our lives.
SPEAKER 01 :
It’s a blessing to have you with us for a new week of Bible teaching on Hope for Today. In our current series in Ecclesiastes, we’re going back to chapter 7 today, verses 15 through 29. And this section confronts a reality that God’s Word doesn’t hide. Righteous people sometimes suffer, and the wicked sometimes prosper. Solomon is not questioning God in this passage. He’s correcting us. He exposes the folly of self-righteousness, the limits of human judgment, and the danger of thinking we can master life by our own wisdom. This passage calls us away from moral pride and back to the fear of God. This is day three of The Search for Wisdom. And if you want truth that corrects your thinking and humbles the heart, stay tuned. Open your Bible to Ecclesiastes chapter 7, verses 15 through 29, and we continue our study there in mere moments. Just before our study time, you know, a lot of people want to know God. They want to know God, but they’re tired of religious noise that never answers real questions. They want truth they can trust and clarity that comes from God’s Word. Well, our good friend Richard A. Bennett wrote a book titled Your Quest for God. Your Quest for God is for people who are serious about seeking God and want straight answers rooted in Scripture. And we’re making this book available as a free download. You can get your copy of Your Quest for God right now on our homepage at davidhawking.org. And by the way, it’s available in multiple languages. And when you download it, share it with as many people as you like. Your Quest for God. at davidhawking.org. Let’s go back to Ecclesiastes chapter 7 now, verses 15 through 29. And here’s David with day three of The Search for Wisdom.
SPEAKER 02 :
Let’s take our Bibles and turn to Ecclesiastes, please, as we continue our study of this great book, which Solomon attempts to explain the concepts of God and His plan to a world that desperately need to hear it. Israel had heard it, but the Gentile nations around Israel were the responsibility of Israel. They were to tell them about God and his plan for them. And Ecclesiastes was especially written for that. That’s why we call it a cultural apologetic, telling his world and his day what it means to have a personal relationship with God, to fear him, to please him. And he tries to summarize all the problems of life, the frustrations, the futilities of them. The last time we started looking at the value of wisdom in chapter 7, just to remind you, in the first 10 verses we said that wisdom evaluates life circumstances from God’s point of view. That’s the first 10 verses. Then in verse 11 and 12, we said that wisdom exceeds all the advantages of worldly possessions or security. Simply exceeds it. That was verse 11 and 12. Then verse 13 and 14 is that wisdom encourages our dependency upon God and his plans for us. As the writer says very clearly in verse 13, consider the work of God. You can’t do anything to straighten out what he’s done. And if it’s prosperity you’re enjoying, then be joyful in your heart. But if it’s adversity, consider carefully. God’s made both of them. And you can’t find anything out about the future, so you’ve got to trust him completely. Carefully consider the work of God. Well, he really continues his discussion in verse 15, and we’re going to take it all the way down to chapter 8, verse 1, because I believe verse 1 of chapter 8 belongs in the section of the end of chapter 7. Let’s read it now, verse 15. I have seen all things in my days of vanity. There is a just man who perishes in his righteousness. And there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his wickedness. Do not be overly righteous, nor be overly wise. Why should you destroy yourself? Do not be overly wicked, nor be foolish. Why should you die before your time? It is good that you grasp this and also not remove your hand from the other. For he who fears God will escape them all. Wisdom strengthens the wise more than ten rulers of the city. For there is not a just man on earth who does good and does not sin. Also, do not take to heart everything people say, lest you hear your servant cursing you. For many times also your own heart has known that even you have cursed others. All this I approve by wisdom. I said, I will be wise, but it was far from me. As for that which is far off and exceedingly deep, who can find it out? I applied my heart to know, to search and seek out wisdom and the reason of things, to know the wickedness of folly, even of foolishness and madness. And I find more bitter than death the woman whose heart is snares and nets, whose hands are fetters. He who pleases God shall escape from her, but the sinner shall be taken by her.” Here is what I have found, says the preacher, adding one thing to the other to find out the reason, which my soul still seeks but I cannot find. One man among a thousand I have found, but a woman among all these I have not found. Truly this only I have found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes. Who is like a wise man, and who knows the interpretation of a thing? A man’s wisdom makes his face shine, and the sternness of his face is changed. Down in verse 23 to 26, he tells us something about wisdom, that it not only exhorts us to avoid extremes and excels the advice of others, but third, it escapes the traps of sin. Wisdom does. It escapes the traps of sin, as well as our inability to understand things by ourselves. You know, there are a lot of things in life I don’t understand and you don’t understand. But when I get wisdom from God, it will help me to escape the traps of sin. And there are a lot of them. Let’s look at this again. Verse 23, Solomon says, all this I prove by wisdom. I said, I will be wise, but it was far from me. As for that which is far off and exceedingly deep, who can find it out? I applied my heart to know and to search and seek out wisdom and the reason of things and to know the wickedness of folly, even of foolishness and madness. And I find more bitter than death the woman whose heart is snares, traps, and nets, whose hands are fetters or chains. He who pleases God shall escape from her, but the sinner shall be taken by her. Talking about a very common problem. That’s the problem of prostitution, the affair. Whatever you want to call it. The woman whose motive is not right. The woman about whom he spoke often in the book of Proverbs. Read the opening chapters. He spoke often about the trap and the snare. That by flattery and deceit, the world often offers things to us that we think somehow will bring pleasure or momentary satisfaction. And it becomes a trap. It is bondage. It’s a chain. It will pull us down. Wisdom will escape those traps. There’s certain things here that really struck me. One, I noticed that in this particular section, the problem of human understanding is clearly presented. I don’t understand things sometimes. And you know, you try to judge people’s motives. You don’t understand what they’re really up to. And you can sometimes be in a trap before you even know it. People that look good, talk good, dress good, seem to be nice people, and all of a sudden lead you into something you don’t want to be let into. That happens all the time. Kids are often led into things they never want to be led into, but they are because they’re trapped by human understanding. If you think as humans we can understand always what people are presenting to us in the world, you’re crazy. The devil is a master deceiver. He can appear as an angel of light, transform himself and deceive us. Look at the problem of human understanding here. Three things. One, it quickly discovers its own limitations. Solomon said, I applied my heart to know to search and seek out wisdom and the reason of things. But the verse preceding it said that it was far off and exceedingly deep. Who can find it out? You see, human understanding quickly discovers its own limitations. It often desires to know the wrong things, seeking after foolishness and folly and wickedness. And Solomon said many times in this book, don’t do it. Don’t even go that way. Don’t even try to find out on the fringe what it’s really like. So many problems like this in society. Much of what we formerly thought was sinful… is now in our homes through cable television and videocassettes. I wonder where it is going to all end. Where is it going to stop? Where are the people going to stand up and be counted? I don’t know. Folks, we need moral discernment and wisdom from God today like we’ve never needed before. Human understanding is not cutting it. The third thing that I see about the problem of human understanding is that it not only discovers its own limitations and desires to know the wrong things, but it disappoints us with what it learns. He says in verse 26, I find more bitter than death the woman whose heart is snares and nets. Don’t think Solomon didn’t try to find out. He had a thousand of them, 700 wives, 300 concubines. He’s trying to find out, but he can’t find out. You say you’re going to find out? Are you kidding? The problem with human understanding is once you learn about something, it completely disappoints. It doesn’t satisfy. A guy I talked to a few months ago who was messed around, had an affair for a period of time, messed up his marriage, his family. He thought it was so attractive. Man, he thought it was what he really needed. But now after a terrible, terrible experience with it, he discovered that it’s not what he thought it was. It disappoints and it becomes more bitter than death in the end. Even though it’s so attractive to start with. Don’t think Solomon isn’t talking about this. You read this whole context again. That is what he is talking about. And he talks about it many times in the book of Proverbs. We better understand what the wisdom of God is. So that’s the problem of human understanding. It quickly discovers its own limitations. And it desires to know the wrong things in life. And it disappoints us when it does learn something. That brings us to the priority of godly wisdom. Look at verse 26. In contrast to the problems of human understanding, look at the priority of godly wisdom. It says, he who pleases God, verse 26, shall escape from her, but the sinner will be taken by her. The one who pleases God, match that with the end of verse 18, the one who fears God. Fearing God and pleasing God is the same thing. To honor God, to recognize He’s number one in your life, to desire to please Him in all things is the check, is the moral check on our lives. The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge. The knowledge of the holy ones, as Proverbs 9, 10, gives us understanding. And that we desperately need in our lives. And one final thing about wisdom. We’ve said that wisdom exhorts us to avoid extremes. that it exceeds the advice of others, though they be the ten smartest people in town. It escapes the traps of sin and our inability to understand things by ourselves. One more thing. Wisdom, according to Solomon, beginning at verse 27, enables you to discover and experience what God can do. That’s what wisdom does for you. It enables you to experience, to discover what God can do in your life. You begin to understand His way, and it’s what your heart really needs. Let’s look at these verses again. Verse 27. Here’s what I found, says the preacher, adding one thing to another, to the other, to find out the reason, which my soul still seeks, but I cannot find. One man among a thousand I have found. But a woman among all these I have not found. Now, gals, what do you think of that verse, really? Not too swift, right? Not too swift. This is a very common, common type of colloquialism that was said in ancient times. In fact, if I read you, gals, all that was said in ancient times, you’d have a bad self-image or at least be angry on your way out. Thank God things have changed. But what Solomon says here is not as bad as what was being said in his society about it. Women were treated as though they were never wise or never smart, were always getting into trouble, and never were worth much except having kids and taking care of the house. And some of you are saying, what else is new? But we live in a free age, right? Women’s liberation, man, that’s machoism of the past. I’m not so sure. Let’s come back to this. First of all, it’s interesting to me that there were 999 guys who didn’t have it either. He said he only found one among a thousand. Have you ever made the expression, boy, he’s one in a million? That’s what you call an exaggeration. Hyperbole for effect. And what he’s saying is, out of a thousand guys, I found only one who finally understood this. Who do you suppose he’s talking about? Wright himself. How did Solomon learn that? He learned that by seeking the Lord and the wisdom of God. But as he looked around, everybody’s doing the same thing. Everybody’s playing the game. And here he is as an old man having experienced all the frustrations and futilities of life and also the frustration of having none of the younger men listen to you. Isn’t it interesting how often in Proverbs he wrote to my sons, will you listen to me? One of the frustrations of getting old when you know something, and younger people won’t listen to you. They’ve got to go through it, you say. No, they don’t. If they listened to God, they wouldn’t have to go through it. But if they’re going to listen to themselves, yeah, they’re going to go through it. And they’re going to see the same bitter disappointments that you’ve seen. And you wish you could stop them. Solomon is sitting at the end of his life, and he said, Hey, I’m telling you, as I look at life, very few people have seen this point before. about God’s wisdom. He searched and searched for a woman like that. He even wrote in Proverbs 31.10, Who can find an excellent and virtuous woman? Her price is far above rubies. He sought them all, 700 wives, 300 concubines. What I think we have here, whether you like it or not, is some of the real truth about where people are. There are so very few that see their need of God. Hyperbole for effect. Exaggeration for effect. Oh, I’m sure there are many people. We don’t want to get into the Elijah syndrome who said, I’m the only one who’s left. And God said, no, I’ve got 7,000 who haven’t bowed the knee to Baal yet. We don’t want to get an Elijah syndrome that I’m the only one, a Messiah complex, and that’s not what Solomon’s saying. What he’s saying is, hey, I’ve looked at life, and the majority of people, I tell you, are not seeking God. They’re seeking their own way. And my whole book here, everything I’m saying to you, is showing you the meaninglessness and futility of life. I think Solomon even knew that future generations would look at this book and conclude this. Oh, that was written many years ago. As though it no longer has any relevance today. How foolish we are. There isn’t anything he said in this book that doesn’t apply to our situation right now. So he says very clearly. Verse 29, God made man upright. That I have learned. But they sought out many schemes. Is that ever the truth? When God made man, he made him right. He made him good. But man has sought many schemes. He’s ruined the whole thing. And what we need now is to call upon the Lord and to seek his wisdom more than ever before in our lives. Sir, ma’am, I ask you, I don’t care how long you’ve been a Christian, do you find it as natural for your heart to fall before God and to seek his face about the decisions and the needs and the problems of your life? Often God brings some trouble sometimes into our lives to cause us to do that. To fall upon God’s wisdom and say, God, I need to know your word. I need to know what you want me to do. And the result of that is tremendous. Verse 1 of chapter 8 says, Who’s a wise man? A summary to the whole discussion. Who knows the interpretation of a thing? Who can understand and apply it in his life? Hey, it’s a wise man. And a man’s wisdom will make his face shine. He may have a thousand reasons to be sad. But God’s wisdom can make it shine. And the sternness of his face… is changed. I like the New International here that says, wisdom brightens a man’s face and changes its hard appearance. Why do some people have a certain softness and sweetness, even though they may look gruff? How do they have that softness of spirit in their lives that just seemingly can cope and take all the hassles and troubles and frustrations of life? They seem to understand. They seem to know what’s happening. They seem to have a sweet peace about it all. And Solomon says those are people who know God’s wisdom. God is controlling them completely. as to what should be done, what should be said, what is true, what is not. And the things they don’t know, they leave in the hands of God and say, the Lord knows. Praise be to his name.
SPEAKER 01 :
That’s David Hawking, and this is Hope for Today. David will be back to bring our time and a word to a close in just a moment, so stay right there. First, though, Matt’s here, and Matt, we’re going to share about our special study package that goes along perfectly with our current series in Ecclesiastes. Ecclesiastes is one of the most profound and needed messages for our culture today. It’s written by the wisest man who ever lived, King Solomon, who describes himself as the preacher. And his divinely inspired writing in the biblical text of Ecclesiastes is a reflection, Matt, on all that life offers, which is vanity without a relationship to God. Solomon had it all. He had fame, wealth, wisdom, pleasures in abundance. But as you know, Matt, he grew to be utterly unsatisfied. Yeah, because the accumulation of it all did not bring him happiness or peace. He learned the hard way. What Jesus taught in Matthew 6.24, No man can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon money. Yeah. In our Ecclesiastes radio series and in his book, Is Life Worth Living?, David Hawking will show you Solomon’s divinely inspired reflections on these matters. Solomon Discovered and this book and radio series will help you discover all of life as God intends. And if your life is rightly related to God. it will be abundantly worth living. Amen, Matt. And right now we have an excellent value package for you that combines my dad’s book on Ecclesiastes titled Is Life Worth Living? Plus the complete collection of David’s messages in our current Ecclesiastes radio series. And with this package, you’ll have the book, which is a powerful study guide, and the complete series saved and secured on audio for years to come. Order the Is Life Worth Living package for just $40 by phone or online at today. To get your copy of the Is Life Worth Living Ecclesiastes bundle, call 875-BIBLE. That’s in the U.S. or 888-75-BIBLE in Canada. And Bible by the numbers 24253. Or you can order online at DavidHawking.org. That’s David Hawking, David, H-O-C-K-I-N-G.org. And David is coming back in just a few seconds here. But first, hope for today continues because people who love God’s word refuse to let it go silent. This program exists to do one thing, teach the Bible clearly, verse by verse, without watering it down, or for that matter, dressing it up. If this teaching has helped you to think biblically, to stand firm in your faith, or to see the world more clearly through God’s Word, then you already know why this ministry matters. Your support makes it possible for Hope for Today to stay on the air and online and reach others who are still searching for truth. And you can give right now by calling us at 875-BIBLE in the U.S., 888-75-BIBLE in Canada. Or give online at davidhawking.org. And many folks still like to write a good old-fashioned letter. We’d love those too. Write to Hope for Today, Box 3927. Tustin, California, 92781. In Canada, write to Hope for Today, Box 15011, RPO 7 Oaks, Abbotsford, BC, V2S, 8P1. Every gift helps keep God’s Word going out. And thanks for whatever you can do. Well, once again, here’s David. Let’s close with prayer.
SPEAKER 02 :
God, you know how much we run around trying to understand things ourselves instead of coming to you, and how quickly we get messed up. We’ve been trying to understand things and solve things ourselves, and we’ve gotten ourselves into a lot of trouble. Some of us have tried legalism. Outwardly, we appear so righteous, so good. But inwardly, we are greatly disappointed. Some of us have been sinning. As Christians, we feel the pain and the guilt of that, the misery of that, wish we would stop. But somehow we presume upon your grace that it’s okay, that you’ll always forgive. Wisdom, we know we desperately need to avoid both of those matters. God, how we need to turn to you. Some of us who are Christians need to make tremendous, momentous decisions in our life today. We’ve been just on a wrong course. We’ve been doing things, thinking things, running things in a way that is not pleasing to you. God, we pray by your Holy Spirit, stop us. We might right now call upon the Lord. Oh God, we need you desperately. You tell us if we confess and forsake our sin, we will find compassion. It’s in Jesus’ name we ask these things.
SPEAKER 01 :
Well, next time on the program, who has authority and who doesn’t? You know, Ecclesiastes chapter 8 cuts straight to it. God’s rule, human power, and the cost of resisting both. Join us for the problem of authority from Ecclesiastes 8, verses 1 through 9. And until then, stay in God’s Word. This is Hope for Today.
