In this enlightening episode, we delve into the profound concept of wisdom as presented in the book of Ecclesiastes. Discover why Solomon, the wisest man, believed that wisdom is far more precious than any possession. We explore how our understanding of life’s challenges can be transformed by seeing them through the lens of God’s eternal perspective, rather than being swayed by earthly temptations and influences. The episode emphasizes the paradoxical nature of wisdom – how sorrow can be more beneficial than laughter, and how true character is defined by a good name, surpassing even the most precious fragrances.
Wisdom is far more excellent than any possession you have. But the tragedy is that not many of us are seeking it as we should. We need God’s wisdom. You say, where do I find God’s wisdom? God’s wisdom is God’s word. The more I know of this, the more I’m able to relate, to react properly to circumstances. The more I shut this book and put it on the shelf and pay no attention to it, the less I will know how to react as God wants me to react. The more the pain will be felt. the fewer times of comfort will be there. ¶¶
SPEAKER 02 :
This is Hope for Today, the Bible teaching ministry of David Hawking. Solomon doesn’t comfort us. What he does is confront us. He tells us the moments we try to avoid are often the very ones God uses the most. Loss can teach us what laughter never will. Correction can do what praise never does. And pain has a way of stripping us down to what’s actually true. This isn’t wisdom for people looking for quick encouragement. It’s wisdom for people who want to live honestly before God. Today, David continues in Ecclesiastes chapter 7, verses 1 through 14, as God’s Word shows us why He appoints both the good days and the hard ones, why He allows what shakes us, and how real faith is formed not in comfort, but in the fear of the Lord. Our study time begins in just a moment. First, we want to quickly tell you about David’s Is Life Worth Living Ecclesiastes study package. This special bundle takes us into Ecclesiastes where God shows us the emptiness of life without him and the deep peace that comes when life is rooted in fearing God and keeping his commandments. Ecclesiastes 12.13 reminds us that this is the whole duty of man. The complete package, the Is Life Worth Living Ecclesiastes package, includes David’s book, Is Life Worth Living, plus the full audio of our current radio series through Ecclesiastes. And the whole bundle, the book, Is Life Worth Living, plus the Ecclesiastes radio series, it’s available for just $40. And you can order online at DavidHawking.org. Or call us at 800-75-BIBLE, that’s in the U.S., or 888-75-BIBLE in Canada. And Bible is 24253. Your purchase or your donation helps us continue teaching God’s Word and strengthening believers in uncertain times. And here’s David for our time in God’s Word.
SPEAKER 03 :
Ecclesiastes Chapter 7 The Value of Wisdom Seeing things from God’s perspective. Boy, how we need that. In Ecclesiastes chapter 7 and beginning at verse 1, it says, “…a good name is better than precious ointment, and the day of death than the day of one’s birth. It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for that is the end of all men, and the living will take it to heart.” Sorrow is better than laughter, for by a sad countenance the heart is made better. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth. It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise than for a man to hear the song of fools. For like the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool. This also is vanity. Surely oppression destroys a wise man’s reason and a bribe debases the heart. The end of a thing is better than its beginning, and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit. Do not hasten in your spirit to be angry, for anger rests in the bosom of fools. Do not say, why were the former days better than these? For you do not inquire wisely concerning this. Wisdom is good with an inheritance and profitable to those who see the sun. For wisdom is a defense, as money is a defense. But the excellence of knowledge is that wisdom gives life to those who have it. Consider the work of God, for who can make straight what he has made crooked? In the day of prosperity, be joyful. But in the day of adversity, consider, surely God has appointed the one as well as the other, so that man can find nothing that will happen after him. You know, in Israel, these thorns, dry thorns, grow everywhere, especially up in the north around the Sea of Galilee. Now, you can take those thorns and you can get a quick fire off those dry thorns. The only trouble is it doesn’t last and it never produces much heat. Now, once again, the Hebrew writer and Hebrew poetry is throughout Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon. The Hebrew writer, again, has two words that rhyme with each other. And we have here the matter of the crackling of thorns and the matter of the pot. And those two words rhyme. It’s like what one author said, nettles under the kettle. OK, that’s what we’d be saying. We’re having two words rhyme with each other to make a point. Now, the crackling of thorns is something that, you know, it’ll give you a quick fire, but it’s temporary relief. Now, when somebody tells a joke and they cause a lot of laughter and make you laugh, there’s temporary relief. There’s nothing wrong with that, except that it does not minister to the heart as we should have it ministered to. It is better to hear a rebuke that will really help your life than it is to listen to laughter that only temporarily relieves the pain. When there’s something wrong, folks, something is wrong. When somebody jokes with you about something you’re involved with that you ought not to be involved with, and somebody makes a joke about it, hey, it may temporarily relieve you, and their justification of it may help in a moment, but you know immediately when it’s over that the pain is still there. The crackling of thorns under the pot is like the laughter of a fool. It’s all vanity. It’s emptiness. It’s meaningless. It doesn’t deal with our hearts as our hearts need to be dealt with. And you see, God’s wisdom helps us to respond to others as God would desire. Even look at verse 7. It says, Now that’s either oppression that you’re causing. You’re coming down on somebody. Or it’s oppression that’s being caused to you. Somebody’s coming down on you. And sometimes you lose all reason. You blow your stack because it’s unfair. It’s not just. And you’re all angry about it. You see, inward character is more important than outward fragrance. Now, I think you ought to smell good, okay? Let’s get that straight right off the bat. No reason to stink, okay? Amen? There’s lots of products on the shelf you can use. And if you’re having problems along that way, hey, use some stuff, okay? Make us all feel better about you, amen? Okay, enough said, but let me tell you something. Inward character is much better, okay? Than outward fragrance. And it takes God’s wisdom sometimes to understand that. We can be deceived by attractive perfumes. Song of Solomon chapter 1 verse 3. It says because of the fragrance of your good ointments. Your perfumes. Your name. Is ointment poured forth. Therefore the virgins love you. The name the character behind Solomon. was the sweetest perfume of all. Inward character is much more important than outward fragrance. And so it helps us to recognize what’s important in life. As we even look at that simple proverb, a good name is better than precious ointment. Too many of us are treating that lightly. By the way, that’s a play on words in Hebrew, and it’s a form of of poetry that we even use today. We have words that rhyme. And in Hebrew, the word name is shem, and the word perfume or ointment is shemen. And it’s simply a play on the words. And it’s showing us that some things sound very much alike, but they are radically different. A good name and a good character, though it sounds like expensive perfume in the Hebrew language, yet it is much more important. And thus the writer is using even a form of poetry to emphasize the point. A lot of things in life seem like they’re valuable and they’re both the same, but when you think about it more… When you really analyze it from God’s point of view, one is much better than the other. And who knows what is good for man in life, as 612 said. And the answer is God does. And one thing that is better is inward character, what you are made of. Your character is what God knows you to be. Your reputation is just what people think you are. Your character is what you are in the dark when no one else knows. Your character is what you think you can get away with. A good name, the Bible says, is better than the most expensive ointment. We’ve said that wisdom evaluates circumstances in life from God’s point of view. But the second thing is in verse 11 and 12. And that is that wisdom exceeds the advantages of worldly possessions and security. And it’s easy to get messed up on this point. You all of a sudden start looking at the goodies that you’re acquiring as though somehow they are the big advantage. That they’re going to really make your life meaningful. How ridiculous can we get? Things do not bring happiness. And the tragedy is that almost all of us have to get those things and watch this happen in order to believe the statement. Would to God that we believe it before we start. Man’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things which he possesses. Jesus said that. But sometimes it takes some hard experiences for us to believe that. It’s not things. It’s not the material world at all that solves the problem of the heart. God’s wisdom can. But the world cannot. Now, it’s interesting to me that Solomon is very honest about things. I think more so than some of us, if we tried to write Scripture without the Holy Spirit’s involvement, we would try to say that there is no advantage to money at all. He does not say that. Look at verse 11. Wisdom is good with an inheritance. Now, some of you, depending on the translation you have, are going to have different readings here, very different, right through these verses. And let me tell you the reason for that. The reason for that is the Hebrew here is not spelled out like we would do in English. There are a lot of options. For instance, I could just as surely read the first statement that wisdom is better than an inheritance. And it certainly is. But when I analyze this passage and others who have, we’ve come to the conclusion that that’s not the point. Even in verse 12, when it says wisdom is a defense, I wrote down the actual Hebrew. It says, in the shadow of wisdom and in the shadow of money and the excellence of knowledge, etc., etc. So the idea of a shadow becomes like a defense or a protection. Under the shadow of his wings, I will be protected, etc. That’s how they got the idea that wisdom is a defense like money is a defense. And because of that statement, I backed up to verse 11. I said, what he’s doing here is showing us that an inheritance is good, and so is wisdom good. There are some similarities. There are some good things about having possessions. Wisdom is a defense like money is a defense. Is money a protection? Certainly. It can be a protection to several things. And wisdom is a protection like money is a protection. But once you discuss the similarities, that’s where it ends. The point of the proverb is to see the difference. And so he says in verse 12, but the excellence of knowledge is that wisdom gives life to those who have it. Money does not. You see, that’s why things don’t bring happiness. Is there an advantage to having money? Is there an advantage to having an inheritance? Yes, it’s a certain kind of a protection in our life. Namely, pay your bills. But it cannot do for us what we desperately need on the inside. He started out by getting us to think about inward character. A good name is better than outward fragrance or expensive perfume. He’s dealing with character, what’s going on in your heart. And wisdom can minister to your heart, but money can’t. Wisdom exceeds all the advantages of worldly possessions and security because the difference is it gives life. Or as a new American standard says, it preserves the lives of those who have it. Turn to Proverbs, please, chapter 8. Proverbs chapter 8. It’s so important to understand that wisdom is far more excellent than any possession you have. But the tragedy is that not many of us are seeking it as we should. Look, please, at Proverbs chapter 8, beginning at verse 33. Hear instruction and be wise and do not disdain it. Blessed is the man who listens to me. This is wisdom talking. watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors. For whoever finds me, wisdom, finds life and obtains favor from the Lord. Whoever finds me, wisdom says, finds life. That’s the same thing that Solomon is saying in Ecclesiastes 7, verse 12. Wisdom gives life. To all those who have it. We need God’s wisdom. You say, where do I find God’s wisdom? God’s wisdom has been given to us so far for the 12 verses we’ve already studied. God’s wisdom is God’s word. Over and over again, the Bible tells us that this is wisdom. The more I know of this, the more I’m able to relate in life properly, to react properly to circumstances. The more I shut this book and put it on the shelf and pay no attention to it… The less I will know how to react as God wants me to react. The more the pain will be felt. The fewer times of comfort will be there. This is the comfort of the scripture. This is that which solves my problem. This is that which helps me to know God’s ways and what he is doing. I need God’s wisdom desperately. I can pray and ask God for it too. The Bible says if any man lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives to all men liberally. and never rebukes us for asking. We are not to waver like the wave of the sea that’s driven with the wind and tossed. We’re to ask in faith to believe that God has a plan, that God has a way, that God has the power to accomplish it. Which brings me to the third point about the value of wisdom in verse 13 and 14 of chapter 7. We’ve said that wisdom evaluates the circumstances of life from God’s point of view. We’ve said that it exceeds all worldly possessions and security. But third, God’s wisdom encourages our dependency upon God and His plan for us. And I want to show you three reasons. In verse 13, it says, consider the work of God. Now stop right there. How often do you sit down and consider the work of God? Take time to think. I took the little word consider and I wrote out to myself, go out under a tree and think. How many of us take a break and just consider the work of God? Hey, there’s so much going before us every day. There’s so much happening in our lives that we don’t have the time. We need to take time. Consider the work of God. You’d be more relaxed. You’d be more able to handle things. You’d see things differently even when it’s a painful experience. Consider the work of God. Now there are three reasons why wisdom encourages our dependency upon God and His work. One, because we cannot change what God has done. Do you realize that? Now, when something painful happens, we usually conclude that God didn’t do it. That’s the way we handle it. The other day I heard on the radio a man speaking. I think he was sincere, but he was telling everybody on the audience that anything that’s in the category bad comes from the devil. I simply don’t believe that. I do believe that anything the devil produces is bad. But, hey, the Bible speaks about us being buffeted for our own faults. And the Bible tells us that a lot of the sorrow and the suffering of this world is coming from the hand of God. Look, there are certain things that God has done that we can’t change. Therefore, wisdom encourages dependency upon God by that simple fact alone. It says, who can make straight what he has made crooked? The answer is, no one can. You cannot change what God has done. What’s done has been done. The second reason why it encourages you to depend upon God is because we can’t control our circumstances. You can do it. You think you can. I even have those, maybe you have those little agendas that says these things I’m supposed to do today. You know, I write them out. Somebody told me that some company paid $250,000 to get that little idea, just numbering all the things. But you know, there’s something about that that bothers me. You know, I try to line up my day, but I found my day doesn’t go like I line up. I want it to go that way. And when it does, I’m amazed more often than not. I’m not amazed when something goes wrong. I’m amazed anything goes right. If I made an order of things, say these 10 things are going to happen today and they all happened in order, I think I would frame it or announce it or something. It would be a very special experience. The truth is the order is reversed and some of them don’t get done that day and they have to go to another day and all kinds of things happen. Interruptions and the telephone, which God did not make. But anyway. We can’t control our circumstances, so why don’t we wake up? Look what it says. In the day of prosperity, be joyful. God told Israel, you be careful when I prosper you. I want you to bless my holy name, and I want you to praise me, and I want you to give me joy. Are things going okay for you right now? Listen, if they are, then you ought to be praising God. There ought to be joy coming out of your heart. But look what it says next. But in the day of adversity, consider, surely God has appointed the one as well as the other. You see, you can’t control your circumstances. The New International says, when times are good, be happy. But when times are bad, consider, God has made the one as well as the other. Jesus said that God reigns on the just as well as the unjust. A third reason why it encourages our dependency upon God is because we cannot comprehend our future either. The last phrase of verse 14 says, so that man can find nothing that will happen after him. You can’t understand or comprehend or do anything about the future that’s laid before you, including tomorrow. You don’t even know what’s going to happen tomorrow, but God does. You see, when we look at God’s wisdom, it encourages our dependency on him. And we back up and think through the chapter and we say, hey, no wonder sorrow is better than laughter. No wonder it’s better to go to the house of mourning than the house of feasting. No wonder that one’s death is better than one’s birth. It depends on your view. It depends on who’s looking at it. Are you looking at it from the standpoint of God? God is in control of all things. Do all things still work together for good to those who love God? That’s what the Bible says. And we have to rest on that. And God’s wisdom is seeing things from his point of view.
SPEAKER 02 :
That’s Bible teacher and author David Hawking, and this is Hope for Today. David will be back in a moment to close out our time in the Word. Some additional teaching for you, so stay tuned for that. First, Matt’s here, and Matt, we’re going to tell folks about the Ecclesiastes study package. What a great bundle this is. We mentioned it at the beginning of today’s broadcast, and you have some more detail.
SPEAKER 01 :
Is life worth living? Some are unsure. Some will say yes. Either way, we need clear, inspiring teaching from God’s Word to understand not only the emptiness of life without God, but also a deep peace of life centered on Him. Ecclesiastes leads us to this conclusion, Matt. You know this.
SPEAKER 02 :
Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. That’s Ecclesiastes 12.13. Life is indeed worth living when… Yeah, it’s rooted in a reverent relationship with God, right? Yeah, and focused on our coming King. Amen. As the signs of our Lord’s return become clearer, let’s be encouraged that life really is worth living.
SPEAKER 01 :
And let’s be prepared, too, at the same time, Jim, to share that biblical encouragement with those in our circle. So many around us.
SPEAKER 02 :
And folks, you see this. So many around us and around you are downbeaten, angry, and confused in today’s world. And the hope for today, Is Life Worth Living?
SPEAKER 01 :
Ecclesiastes resource package is the perfect tool to help. It contains my dad’s book on Ecclesiastes titled Is Life Worth Living? Plus all of the audio messages in our current radio series through Ecclesiastes. And the complete package, Matt, just $40. That’s a big package, yeah. You can purchase it online or you can give us a quick call. Your purchase today will not only bless you, it will also help us to continue proclaiming prophetic truth, defending the reliability of scripture.
SPEAKER 02 :
Sharing the gospel, Matt, so important to what we do here and building up the faith of believers in difficult times.
SPEAKER 01 :
And of course, so much more through radio and online. Please prayerfully consider standing with this ministry so that together we can watch, warn, and encourage believers to live faithfully, purposefully, and with quiet confidence, knowing that our hope rests not in this world, but in the sure promises of Christ.
SPEAKER 02 :
To get your copy of this wonderful bundle, call 800-75-BIBLE in the U.S. or 888-75-BIBLE in Canada. You can also order online at davidhawking.org. And for those who would like to give a special donation, you can do that online or by phone or by mail if you like. Write to us in the U.S. at Hope for Today, Box 3927, Tustin, California, 92781. In Canada, write to Hope for Today, Box 15011, RPO, Seven Oaks, Abbotsford, BC, V2S, 8P1. Let’s get back to David.
SPEAKER 03 :
Father, there’s much in our lives that confuses us. We don’t understand why things happen as they do. But Lord, you’re in charge. You tell us your throne is in the heavens. You do whatever you please in heaven and on earth. You’ve told us that all things are working for the good of those who love you. Problems from the past we wish never would have happened. And you’ve got so much in your word, Lord, about resting in you and trusting you. But it’s hard when it hurts. Lord, I know that you are the God of all grace and of all comfort. And I know the sweetest comfort and the sweetest release that can come to anyone’s heart is when we get rid of our arrogance and pride and we bow our knee to you and we say, Lord, you are my master. You are my savior. When we give our hearts to Jesus Christ, we begin an adventure of dependency on you. You say, trust in the Lord with all your heart and don’t even lean to your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge him and he will direct your paths. Oh, God, help us to do that. And those that have not begun that personal relationship with you, Father, through your son, Jesus Christ, God, by your spirit, just draw them to Jesus right now. Help them to humble themselves before God. Say, God, I need your wisdom. I need you, your power, your strength, your love, your joy, your peace in my life. I’m calling unto you, Lord. God, we pray that you’ll work in our hearts as only you can do. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
SPEAKER 02 :
If you’re listening today and you don’t yet know the Lord Jesus, or you’d like to know more about biblical Christianity, what does the Bible say a Christian is? Well, we’d love to send you David’s free booklet called What Is Christianity? along with a free Bible study by mail. Again, these are free if you’re not yet a Christian or if you’re new to the Christian faith. Reach out at 875-BIBLE, that’s in the U.S., 888-75-BIBLE in Canada, or use the contact form on our website, davidhawking.org, and we’ll get these resources to you. Oh, and don’t forget, when you visit davidhawking.org, you can catch up on any programs you might have missed. Recent broadcasts are available online for a limited time. Well, next time on the program, we’ve talked about the value of wisdom. Now we’re going to look at the search for wisdom. Ecclesiastes 7, 15 through 29 is our destination. And in this passage, Solomon blows up self-righteousness. He calls human wisdom a dead end and leaves us with one unescapable truth. Fear God or get left behind. This isn’t feel-good religion. It’s God’s word straight up. Join us next time right here on Hope for Today.
