The Wisdom of Life
Ecclesiastes 1:12-18; 2:12-16
There is an old saying, “A man begins cutting his wisdom teeth the first time he bites off more than he can chew.” In life it seems that it doesn’t take long until we have more than we can chew. Wise men believe they know when our universe began (i.e., The Big Bang Theory) and how human life came to be on this earth (i.e., Theory of Evolution). But wise men still struggle to answer critical questions about why we here and the meaning and purpose of our life. The Teacher/Preacher in Ecclesiastes concluded that worldly wisdom was not the key to finding meaning in life.
12 I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 I applied my mind to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under the heavens. What a heavy burden God has laid on mankind! 14 I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
15 What is crooked cannot be straightened;
what is lacking cannot be counted.
16 I said to myself, “Look, I have increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem before me; I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge.” 17 Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom, and also of madness and folly, but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind.
18 For with much wisdom comes much sorrow;
the more knowledge, the more grief (Ecc 1:12-18, NIV).
The Way of Wisdom (1:12-18)
The Teacher had already declared, “Meaningless! Meaningless! . . . Everything is meaningless” (Ecc 1:2). He concluded that everything “under the sun,” that is every human pursuit in this world apart from God’s guidance and purpose, is meaningless. The world presents many broad avenues that promise us meaning in life. However, these broad avenues ultimately become blind alleys of meaninglessness. We will consider over the next several weeks some of the avenues that the world suggests following to find meaning in life. We begin our journey by examining the way of wisdom. The Teacher pursued wisdom in hopes of finding meaning in life. He was “devoted” (Hb., wanetati at-lobi - “gave my heart/mind”) to study and explore. He studied deeply and broadly in his search for “wisdom” (Hb., hokema – “intelligence, logic, reason”). He examined “all things that are done under the sun,” that is the world and its wisdom. The Teacher makes three conclusions about earthly wisdom.
- Problems of life are ordained by God for mankind and can’t be solved with earthly wisdom (13). “What a heavy burden God has laid on men!” (13b) – But don’t blame God. The “sons of men” (Hb., beni h’adam – “sons of Adam”) asked for this burden. In the Garden of Eden Adam and Eve ate fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil contrary to God’s command. They ate to gain wisdom so that they could be like God, and humanity still has intellectual heartburn from eating that fruit. Human wisdom has become a “heavy burden,” “an unhappy business,” and we have done a lousy job applying wisdom to life. This is a part of the curse of sin.
- Problems of life frustrate mankind and can’t be solved by earthly wisdom (14). “I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind” (14). Applying worldly wisdom to the problems of life is as frustrating as “chasing after the wind,” which is something that can never be caught. We pursue wisdom in life but never seem to have enough or the problem changes. During recent flooding in our area, some people had generators hooked to natural gas lines. They thought this source of fuel was better than propane tanks. However, due to the many fires, the gas company turned off the gas and the generators stopped. Just when we think we understand and have the problem solved, the problem changes.
- Problems of life can’t be neatly explained or resolved with earthly wisdom (15). There are heartbreaking problems and tragedies, such as the murders of innocent people in terrorist attacks that simply cannot be explained with all the logic and reason of the wisdom of this world. We wonder what the solution is. How can we bring peace? How can we resolve this violence and unrest? Peace talks? Court proceedings? War? The wise teacher says, “What is twisted cannot be straightened, what is lacking cannot be counted” (15). Human wisdom becomes twisted such that killing others is seen as good. Human wisdom lacks the power not only to explain why these things happen but also to provide a solution for them.
So, the Teacher went to the opposite extreme of wisdom and tried madness and folly (17). By “madness” (Hb., holela) he means “insane, irrational, illogical, unwise” decisions. By “folly” (Hb., siklut) he means “seeking personal pleasure and things.” But the Teacher found this way also to be “a chasing after the wind.”
Wisdom and knowledge in themselves only bring “much sorrow” and “more grief” (18). Sometimes the more you know, the more you ache. Young doctors studying diseases often become convinced that they have a rare and incurable one. The more we know the more we become aware of our own stupidity, ignorance, limitations, inequities, and impossibilities. That is the sign of a good education.
Wisdom and Folly (2:12-16)
The Teacher returns to the avenue of wisdom at several points. It is important to him.
12 Then I turned my thoughts to consider wisdom,
and also madness and folly.
What more can the king’s successor do
than what has already been done?
13 I saw that wisdom is better than folly,
just as light is better than darkness.
14 The wise have eyes in their heads,
while the fool walks in the darkness;
but I came to realize
that the same fate overtakes them both.
15 Then I said to myself,
“The fate of the fool will overtake me also.
What then do I gain by being wise?”
I said to myself,
“This too is meaningless.”
16 For the wise, like the fool, will not be long remembered;
the days have already come when both have been forgotten.
Like the fool, the wise too must die! (Ecc 2:12-16, NIV)
The Teacher was the wisest of the wise but could not solve the problems of life using worldly wisdom. Can anyone else do better? NO. While there are two ways to go in life, wisdom or folly, both ways end in death (13-14). The fool walks in darkness and is unprepared for death, which takes him by surprise. The wise man may see that death lies ahead, but ultimately cannot escape it. Brain surgeon or brainless beggar, both lives end in death, the great leveler of life. All the wisdom of this world will not overcome the ultimate problem of death. So the Teacher concludes that worldly wisdom is empty, meaningless, vain, a blind alley in mankind’s attempt to understand and explain life.
So, Who is Wise?
Paul Harvey, a great storyteller, wrote of heavenly wisdom and earthly foolishness in recounting “The Day Philip Joined the Group.”
He was 9—in a Sunday school class of 8-year-olds. Eight-year-olds can be cruel. The third-graders did not welcome Philip to their group. Not just because he was older. He was “different.”
He suffered from Down’s syndrome and its obvious manifestations: facial characteristics, slow responses, symptoms of retardation.
One Sunday after Easter the Sunday school teacher gathered some of those plastic eggs that pull apart in the middle . . . .
The Sunday school teacher gave one of these plastic eggs to each child.
On that beautiful spring day each child was to go outdoors and discover for himself some symbol of “new life” and place that symbolic seed or leaf or whatever inside his egg.
They would then open their eggs one by one, and each youngster would explain how his find was a symbol of “new life.”
So…
The youngsters gathered ‘round on the appointed day and put their eggs on a table, and the teacher began to open them.
One child had found a flower.
All the children “oohed” and “ahhed” at the lovely symbol of new life.
In another was a butterfly. “Beautiful,” the girls said. And it’s not easy for an 8-year-old to say “beautiful.”
Another egg was opened to reveal a rock. Some of the children laughed.
“That’s crazy!” one said. “How’s a rock supposed to be like a ‘new life’?”
Immediately a little boy spoke up and said, “That’s mine. I knew everybody would get flowers and leaves and butterflies and all that stuff, so I got a rock to be different.”
Everyone laughed.
The teacher opened the last one, and there was nothing inside.
“That’s not fair,” someone said. “That’s stupid,” said another.
Teacher felt a tug on his shirt. It was Philip. Looking up he said, “It’s mine. I did do it.” It’s empty. I have new life because the tomb is empty.”
The class fell silent.
From that day on Philip became part of the group. They welcomed him. Whatever had made him different was never mentioned again.
Philip’s family had known he would not live a long life; just too many things wrong with the tiny body. That summer, overcome with infection, Philip died.
On the day of his funeral nine 8-year-old boys and girls confronted the reality of death and marched up to the altar—not with flowers.
Nine children with their Sunday school teacher place on the casket of their friend their gift of love—an empty egg (Alice Gray, ed., Stories For The Heart. Multnomah Publishers Inc., 1996, pp 15-16).
Who was wise and who was foolish? Phillip, perceived as the fool, was wise while the seemingly wise children were revealed to be the fools.
18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written:
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”
20 Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe (I Cor 1:18-21, NIV).
If the source of our wisdom is heaven and not the world, then we are truly wise. The true meaning of life is found by living with heavenly wisdom not earthly wisdom. The sacrifice of Christ on the cross for our sins is seen by earthly wisdom as foolish, but the foolishness of the cross is revealed by God to be the entry point to heavenly wisdom. The way of worldly wisdom leads to darkness, meaninglessness, and death. The way of heavenly wisdom leads to light, meaning, and abundant/eternal life. Which wisdom will you pursue? The world’s wisdom or God’s wisdom? Accept the wisdom of God revealed in the foolishness of the cross and follow God’s path of meaning in life.
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