Ecclesiastes 7

Ecclesiastes 7:1-11

Indoctrination: Practical Wisdom to Fear God – In Ecclesiastes 7:1 thru Ecclesiastes 11:8 the Preacher gives illustrations of practical wisdom, or doctrine on how to fear God in this life. In other words, these proverbs give us wisdom on how to bring our lives into God’s divine plan that we were created to pursue. Much of this passage is delivered as a collection of proverbs, or short, pithy sayings, that summarize wisdom and is very similar to the book of Proverbs in structure. However, I believe that these particular set of Proverbs are designed to guide us into finding the answers for how to serve the Lord with all of our strength. Why is this section the longest one in the book of Ecclesiastes? Perhaps the reason lies in the fact that the underlying theme of the book is the keeping of God’s commandments in the fear of the Lord. Thus, the Preacher takes the time to list these commandments. In a similar way, the longest section in the book of Proverbs is wisdom’s call (Proverbs 1-9), since man’s daily walk in wisdom requires him to constantly recognize and hear wisdom’s call in order to make the right decisions each day. Outline – Here are a number of topics discussed in this section: Wisdom Seen in Being Sober-minded — Ecclesiastes 7:1-6 Wisdom’s Ability to Protect — Ecclesiastes 7:11-12 Wisdom Found in Recognizing God’s Hand in Daily Life — Ecclesiastes 7:13-14 Wisdom Found in Moderation — Ecclesiastes 7:15-18 Wisdom Found in Ignoring What Others Say About You — Ecclesiastes 7:21-22 The Preacher’s Pursuit of Wisdom — Ecclesiastes 7:23-25 The Tongue of the Wise and the Fool — Ecclesiastes 10:11-14 The Principles of Sowing and Reaping — Ecclesiastes 11:1-6 A Reminder of the Vanities of Life — Ecclesiastes 11:7-8

Ecclesiastes 7:7-29

Ecclesiastes 7:7 Surely oppression maketh a wise man mad; and a gift destroyeth the heart. Ecclesiastes 7:8 — Wisdom Seen in Patience – Ecclesiastes 7:8-9 places emphasis upon the virtue of patience. Ecclesiastes 7:8 Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof: and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit. Ecclesiastes 7:9 Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of fools. Ecclesiastes 7:9 — “for anger resteth in the bosom of fools” – Word Study for “resteth” - Strong says the Hebrew word “resteth” “nooakh” (ðåּ ?çַ) (H5117) means, “to rest, settle down,” and carries a wide variety of applications, “dwell, stay, let fall, place, let alone, withdraw, give comfort, etc.” Comments - This verb implies that a fool will allow anger to settle down and remain in his heart. He allows carnal thoughts to keep this anger kindles. He is not able to lay aside an issue and forget it. Everyone feels angry, but a righteous man will soon lay aside his anger. It is a fool who will cling to his anger. Illustration - I was getting ready to enter a courtroom one day to deal with a business lawsuit and the Lord quickened to me Ecclesiastes 7:9 (June 15, 2001). I knew that I was in court because the opposing party lacked control over his anger. Ecclesiastes 7:10 Say not thou, What is the cause that the former days were better than these? for thou dost not enquire wisely concerning this. Ecclesiastes 7:11-12 — Wisdom’s Ability to Protect – Ecclesiastes 7:11-12 places emphasis upon wisdom’s ability to protect those who live by its rules. Ecclesiastes 7:13-14 — Wisdom Found in Recognizing God’s Hand in Daily Life – Ecclesiastes 7:13-14 places emphasis upon the wisdom that one finds in recognizing God’s hand at work in our daily lives. Ecclesiastes 7:15-18 — Wisdom Found in Moderation – Ecclesiastes 7:15-18 places emphasis upon the wisdom that is found in living a life of moderation. Ecclesiastes 7:21-22 — Wisdom Found in Ignoring What Others Say About You – Ecclesiastes 7:21-22 places emphasis upon the found in being able to ignore those who are speaking negative words around us. Ecclesiastes 7:23-25 — The Preacher’s Pursuit of Wisdom – In Ecclesiastes 7:23-25 we are given a description of the Preacher’s pursuit of wisdom. Although he found wisdom, he also discovered the difficulty of applying it to his life. This reveals man’s sinful nature in this life, and reflects the Preacher’s cry for redemption from his own vanity.