1) He will recognize that all men end up there. 2) He will reflect on life and value it. 10/6/96. Ecclesiastes 7-8

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1 10/6/96 Ecclesiastes ) He will recognize that all men end up there. 2) He will reflect on life and value it. Solomon continues in his quest to find out what brings satisfaction and fulfilment in life, even as he has come up empty to this point. He now is going to be dealing with morality and human virtue that are commendable in and of themselves yet they can not give meaning to life as God can. The content of chapter seven is in answer to the closing question in chapter six. Eccl. 6:12a-b * The series of proverbs are most instructive! 7:1-14 The profit of practical wisdom 7:1 Solomon declares that character is important in life in contrast to mere reputation. 1) Men of character benefit the home and society. vs. 1 2) The day of their death finalizes any attempt of chance of marring their character. vs. 2 7:2 Solomon again declares that man will benefit more by attending a funeral than a party. 7:3 Solomon declares that sorrow and difficult times, be it by our own doing or others can teach us important lessons for life. 1) Sorrow causes one to weigh out the consequences and choices. 2) Laughter is not wrong in and of itself but it does little in comparison sorrow. 7:4 Solomon declares that the heart of the wise is in concerned with the hurts of others to relieve them, while the heart of fools is concerned only with himself. 7:5-6 Solomon declares that the openness to rebuke is of greater value than the song of flattery of the fools. * The metaphor is of noisy and little benefit as they burn so quickly. 7:7 Solomon declares that man is prone to over-estimate himself as not being vulnerable. 1) Every man has his limits. 2) Every man destroys his own character.

2 3 4 7:8 Patience and self control will reap great benefits. * The Colorado man who had a claim in a mine and lost the vain, being discourage he sold it and the man hired an geologist who told him to dig just five feet to the left and he struck the riches vain. Just five feet 7:9 Solomon warns about being quick tempered. 1) Anger as a manner of life is evidence of being a fool. 2) Anger causes people to say things they would not normally say. 3) Anger causes people to isolate themselves more and more. 4) Anger is taught to one s children. 7:10 Anger with the present conditions causes one to glorify the past and want to fall into depression and giving up at times. 1) The past is usually over glorified and distorted. 2) The past can never come back. 3) The present is where one is at and must be dealt with. 7:11-12 Solomon declares the value of wisdom. 1) An inheritance accompanied with wisdom profits those who live apart from God. vs. 11 2) An inheritance well managed reveals the superior value of wisdom over money. 7:13 Solomon declares that God is sovereign and man is to rest in His wisdom. 7:14 Solomon exhorts that man is not to exclude God from being involved in a man s prosperity and adversity. Rom. 8:28; Eph. 2:10 7:15-22 The prevailing evil of man 7:15 Solomon had personally seen the all things in the days of his vanity. 1) First he saw righteous men die and evil men live long. * These are inconsistencies that drive an crazy because they do not see the world as fallen, therefore they blame God for the evil and injustices. Eccl. 5:8 7:16 Second he saw the extremes of man to their own destruction. 1) There are the Pharisee extreme. vs. 16 2) There are those who don t believe they have to live holy. vs. 17

3 5 6 * He is not saying that it is all-right to sin with moderation! 7:18 The hearer will benefit if he grasps the two things. 1) The extremes. 2) The fact of not dying before his time. 3) The one who fears God will escape these. 7:19 The mind that exercises wisdom can accomplish much more that physical strength. 7:20 The abiding principle of man is that he is totally depraved. Ps. 14:1-3; Jer. 17:9; Rom. 3:10-18; 1Jn. 1:8 7:21 The caution about being so concerned with all that people say about your person and you become so offended as you hear some close servant speaking bad about you. 7:22 The exhortation is in view of recognizing that even you have done the same! Num. 12:2; Matt. 18:21-22; Lk. 17:3-4 7:23-29 The personal conclusions of Solomon 7:23 Solomon had attempted to prove or test all he has mentioned by natural wisdom. 1) He declared he would be wise. 2) He recognized he did not have wisdom or nay wiser than anyone else apart from God. 7:24 None can know foretell the future or understand difficult things. 7:25 Solomon s intent was to search and know the wickedness of folly and the foolishness of folly. 7:26-28 Solomon experienced personally the adversity of woman. 1) Solomon found more bitter than death, the woman whose heart is a snare and nets whose hands are fetters. vs. 26 * The man who pleases God will escape her! 2) Solomon found one man among a thousand but not a woman. vs a) You have to take Solomon s condition with 300 wives and 700 concubines which must of created an environment of jealousy, envy and dissension. b) That many woman competing for his attention would certainly make it difficult for him to find a friend in anyone of them.

4 7 8 c) The man on the other hand would not be competing on the same level as a woman and friendship could be established. 7:29 Solomon found out that God made man upright but man through the fall became evil in his imagination. 8:1-9 The wisdom of submitting to government. 8:1 The question again is followed by the answer to submit to the authority of the king. * He points out the confidence and strength of a wise man in his outward appearance. 8:2 Be subject in allegiance to God. Rom. 13:1-5; 1Pet. 2: :3 Solomon advises patient faithfulness. 1) Do not be impulsive in your response to the kings command. 2) Do not conspire against the king. 3) The king is sovereign in his rule. 8:4 He is in full authority and no one can question his authority. 8:5-6 The obedient will reap the benefit and the wise will know right timing to act and every situation has the right time despite the heartache. 8:7 No one can know the mind of the king or the event of things. 8:8 The ability to have absolute power over certain things is impossible. 1) No one can control the wind. 2) No one can stop death from coming upon him. 3) No soldier has furlough in time of war. 8:9 Solomon had seen the abuse of power under the sun to the point of the person s own hurt as time ran. 8:10-15 The unseeming inconsistencies of life. 8:10 The wicked who appear as holy die and they are soon forgotten, this was emptiness. 8:11 The lack of consequences encourages evil to prevail. Ex. 34:6; Ps. 86:15; Eccl. 9:3; Rom. 2:4; 2Pet. 3:9 8:12-13 The wicked can not escape the judgment to God regardless of how long he lives, so the righteous man will be rewarded by God.

5 8:14 The seeming unfairness of life are unexplainable. Ps. 73 8:15 Solomon s conclusion in the wisdom of he natural man is enjoy life and your labors. 8:16-17 The unending pursuit to understand. 8:16 The perplexities of life caused him to search out understanding even to the point of loosing sleep, to no avail. 8:17 God s ways are unknowable by man! 9 10