11/3/22. Study 18. Ecclesiastes 7:13-22

 Consider the work of God:
    who can make straight what he has made crooked?

¹⁴ In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him.

¹⁵ In my vain life I have seen everything. There is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his evildoing. ¹⁶ Be not overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself? ¹⁷ Be not overly wicked, neither be a fool. Why should you die before your time? ¹⁸ It is good that you should take hold of this, and from that withhold not your hand, for the one who fears God shall come out from both of them.

¹⁹ Wisdom gives strength to the wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city.

²⁰ Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.

²¹ Do not take to heart all the things that people say, lest you hear your servant cursing you. ²² Your heart knows that many times you yourself have cursed others.

 

1. Review the two truths about what God does in vv.13-14. Where has Qoheleth mentioned these before? How do these truths help us to live wisely? 

• God's ways cannot be changed by man. (cf. 1:15 "What is crooked cannot be made straight,
      and what is lacking cannot be counted." 3:14  "I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him.") Things are not what we wish they could be. God often frustrates the plans of man.
• God makes good and bad days, so we can't predict what will happen in our lives. (cf. 3:1-11 "He has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end."  3:22 "Who can bring him to see what will be after him?" 6:10-12. "Whatever has come to be has already been named, and it is known what man is, and that he is not able to dispute with one stronger than he... For who knows what is good for man while he lives the few days of his vain life, which he passes like a shadow? For who can tell man what will be after him under the sun?"
 We should enjoy happy days as they come our way, and remember in tough days that God also made those days. 

The truth is that God brings prosperity and suffering into our lives. (cf. "I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the Lord, who does all these things" Is 45:7). We cannot deal with life's realities if we do not have a correct theology of suffering (e.g. blessing is from God, suffering is from Satan) Again, the right response from us is to trust in God's sovereign purposes and care. We can rejoice in happy times, and are to be humble before His greatness and wisdom.

In the course or the discussion on suffering, we mentioned the following:

God ordains evil, but is never the direct author of evil (i.e. He always works His will through free moral agents who are accountable for their evil actions e.g. Judas).

We understand that God has a 'permissive' will (of decree) as well as a prescriptive/preceptive will (of command) (e.g. the Crucifixion)

The promise of ultimate good in Rom 8:28 does not apply to non-Christians.

2. Qoheleth says he has 'seen everything' and he summarizes his life as 'vain'  (cf. 1:12-2:26). Then he cites an experience of his and draws a conclusion from there (vv.15-18). 

a) Why do evil people do well and good people suffer? What truths from Scripture help us to accept this?  (e.g. Jer 12, Ps 37, 73)

They do so according to God's good and holy purposes. These are not usually revealed to us in this world. Justice will come, but not necessarily in this life. The story is not finished. We are called to trust, to be patient, to accept the situation and to find strength and joy in God.

• Jer 12: Endure injustice and pain, because God also endures injustice and pain. He answers our complaints and prayers for action in His own way.
  
• Ps 37: God will vindicate the righteous. Rest in God. Eventually the wicked will fail. God supports the righteous.
• Ps 73: We must draw near to God. The wicked never do well. The psalm turns on v.17, Before then the psalmist sees from man's perspective, but after that, in God's presence, he sees as God sees. We are to stay close to God.
  

b) How do we understand  his advice? Is there support for his conclusions elsewhere in Scripture? 

 Righteous people can die quickly because they were righteous. Wicked people can live longer because they were not restrained by righteousness. So there is no point being too righteous or wise. This leads to self-destruction. Don't be deliberately evil and forsake God's wisdom, or you will die young as well.

So you should not be unecessarily righteous, nor should you show unrestrained evil. Consider the example of Jesus: not sinning does not mean being 'overly righteous'. I said that we should not import NT ideas of false self-righteousness into what Qoheleth is advising us. We are not (even with a good heart), to be constantly and insensitively picking out the faults and flaws of others. There should be tact and sensitivity regarding the time to display righteousness. Part of this wisdom has to do with the ability to suffer wrong.

• “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves."(Mt 10:16). There is a time and place to be righteous and wise.
•  Rom 10:2-4 For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. ³ For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness." So,there is a type of righteousness that is driven by  pride.
  

c) How does his conclusion in v.18 help us in our quest for wisdom?

Qoheleth is advising "one who fears God", not just people in general. The phrase "come out from both of them" suggests to me the idea of escaping the consequences of being too righteous or too evil, because God guides those who fear Him in a quest for balance, not those who do not. This is a promise of protection.

3 In vv. 19-21 Qoheleth gives some more perspectives on life. Enumerate and expand these.

^"Wisdom gives strength to the wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city.". Wisdom gives security from harm, order and governance to the life of the wise.("ten rulers" is probably a hyperbolic picture of overflowing goodness)  Wisdom can be defined as the desire and understanding of how to live life well according to God's ways.

²⁰ Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins. Even wise men are not perfectly wise. There are limits to human wisdom.

²¹ Do not take to heart all the things that people say, lest you hear your servant cursing you. ²² Your heart knows that many times you yourself have cursed others. Wisdom also includes not being sensitive to all cricitism. If we do this, we will even take into account the criticisim of those with no right to criticise us at all. We ourselves criticise others freely. We ourselves also engage in sinful behaviour ourselves