Ecclesiastes Part 14

Ecclesiastes 7:18, says that in the face of the apparent inequities of the unfolding of God’s plan, we need to keep hold of both cautions of verses 16–17 to avoid destruction and not becoming self-righteous against God or giving up doing right and turning to evil. Notice especially the last part of verse 18: “For he who fears God will escape them all,” which previews the conclusion of the entire book. It is the proper fear of God that will keep us from self-righteousness and from turning to evil, in both cases preserving us from destruction. Solomon gave the same prescription in Proverbs 3:7: 

“Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and depart from evil.”

Looking to this counsel is to exercise true wisdom. And the next verse, another proverb, shows its value: 

“Wisdom strengthens the wise more than ten rulers of the city” (Ecclesiastes 7:19). 

The word for “rulers” here, rendered “mighty men” in the King James Version, is the Hebrew shallitim, a rare term. The singular form had been used for the patriarch Joseph as governor in Egypt (Genesis 42:6), and Solomon uses the word for a ruler in Ecclesiastes 10:5, as even the KJV renders it. It is clear that the referenced men participate in military defense. As a group of powerful men serve to defend a city, so does a wise person’s use of his wisdom strengthen him in vital ways. This recalls the mention of wisdom as a defense in verse 12, one that gives life. And Solomon will later note that wisdom is better than strength and weapons of war after giving an example of a poor wise man delivering a city by his wisdom (Ecclesiastes 9:13–18).

True wisdom is crucial for self-governance and for navigating interactions with others. No one is perfect! Everyone sins, as Solomon states in Ecclesiastes 7:20, repeating what he said in 1 Kings 8:46 in his dedicatory prayer at the temple. As pointed out earlier, none of us are entitled to a blissful, problem-free life. What we deserve is the penalty for sin because we all sin, which is death. Whatever life and blessing we have is through God’s grace and mercy.  

Solomon gives a simple common example, likely proverbial, of not getting too bent out of shape when others, even those you trust, badmouth you behind your back, as you know you have done the same thing (Ecclesiastes 7:21–22). We all have. We should also note the value of wisdom here in not taking everything too grievously to weather the common difficulties of this life.  

In verses 23–25, Solomon writes that he proved all of this by wisdom. In the face of life’s difficulties, he determined to be wise and find the underlying cause of it, but found the answers to be far out of reach and came to see that there is no way to figure it all out. In verse 25, he mentions his seeking “to know the wickedness of folly, even of foolishness and madness,” and we saw some of his pursuits in this regard presented in the first two chapters of the book.

Verse 26 shows where his course took him: 

“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 trapped by her.” 

What is he talking about here? There are a few possibilities. Considering that he just mentioned coming to know “the wickedness of folly,” the woman described in verse 26 could be a personification of that. It may also be that Solomon is here speaking of an actual woman or of multiple women in his experience. This makes perfect sense when we think about what happened in Solomon’s life. His many wives led him away from God, even to the point of building pagan shrines for them and participating in idolatrous worship (1 Kings 11). It is hoped that Solomon at last came to his senses, with Ecclesiastes being a repudiation of his former apostasy. Another possibility regarding Ecclesiastes 7:26 is that Solomon is speaking generally of the danger of being destroyed through enticement to sexual immorality or to simply being pulled into a toxic pairing, as he also would have seen in observing others, not just his own case. He also may be speaking of all of the above.

In verses 27–28, Solomon makes a disturbing statement regarding his search for wisdom and understanding: 

“One man among a thousand I have found, but a woman among all these I have not found.” 

It seems he was looking for a wise or righteous person who did not disappoint him. We should not take this as some kind of measure of the spiritual caliber of men versus women in an overall sense. This was Solomon’s personal experience. The general takeaway from the statement is that such was rare among either gender. “One man among a thousand” could refer to a single man among those Solomon knew well.

Solomon then declares in the next verse, Ecclesiastes 7:29, regarding both men and women, “Truly, this only I have found: That God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes,” referring to invented ways to do wrong. The word for “man” here, as at the end of chapter 6, is Adam, or actually ha-Adam, defined as “the man,” a word used in a plural sense in Ecclesiastes 7:2, so that the reference here goes back to man’s original creation in the Garden of Eden and probably means not just Adam himself but the whole human race beginning with him.  

Wisdom Literature is a course taught at ABC by Dr. Urwiller. Recordings from the 2018–2019 class year are available to listen to on the ABC website.

UYA Team | uya@ucg.org  

United Young Adults (UYA) primarily serves the 18–32-year age group for the United Church of God. There are three main areas of contribution to the lives of the young adults: Promoting Spiritual Growth, Developing Meaningful Relationships, and Making the Most of Your Talents. The Know Your Sword series is a daily expository message introducing God’s Word from a trusted perspective.