Ecclesiastes Lesson Fourteen

Ecclesiastes Lesson Fourteen: Ecclesiastes 7:23-29 – The Limitations of Wisdom

I have tested all this by wisdom. I resolved, “I will be wise,” but it was beyond me. ²⁴ What exists is beyond reach and very deep. Who can discover it? ²⁵ I turned my thoughts to know, explore, and seek wisdom and an explanation for things, and to know that wickedness is stupidity and folly is madness. ²⁶ And I find more bitter than death the woman who is a trap,  her heart a net, and her hands chains. The one who pleases God will escape her, but the sinner will be captured by her. ²⁷ “Look,” says the Teacher, “I have discovered this by adding one thing to another to find out the explanation, ²⁸ which my soul continually searches for but does not find: among a thousand people I have found one true man, but among all these I have not found a true woman. ²⁹ Only see this: I have discovered that God made people upright, but they pursued many schemes.” (HCSB)

I’m going to split this lesson into two parts.

• Our inability to grasp God’s actions – verses 23-25.
• The sinfulness of humanity – verses 26-29.

Our Inability to Grasp God’s Actions

• The author explains that he set out on a challenge to discover the depths of wisdom. 
• He found that no matter how hard he tried, it was impossible to have wisdom that revealed all the answers to what was observed in the world.
• Even the statement “I have tested all this” is misleading since it’s impossible to test everything found in nature.
• Understanding the how and why of God and His creation is impossible.
  • Isaiah 55:8-9 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not My ways.” This is the Lord’s declaration. ⁹ “For as heaven is higher than earth, so My ways are higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.”
  • Micah 4:12a But they do not know the Lord’s intentions or understand His plan.
  • Psalm 147:5 Our Lord is great, vast in power; His understanding is infinite.
• The author then gets to the crux of the problem and reaches a fitting conclusion.
  • He sought to explore what he could and understand those areas that he did explore.
  • He never said that he did or intended to discover all the answers.
• It is in coming to this conclusion that the author has discovered wisdom.
  • First, by acknowledging it’s impossible to discover the answers to everything.
  • Second, by acknowledging that God is sovereign. 
• God is the answer.
  • Only God knows and understands His creation.
  • We begin to discover wisdom when we submit to God as His created beings.
  • Proverbs 9:10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. 
• By submitting to and following an infinitely holy and righteous God, we gain wisdom and turn from wickedness, which is better understood as stupidity and folly.

The Sinfulness of Humanity

This is a challenging section of the passage, and it’s easy to focus on the woman mentioned here. However, doing that leads us away from the bigger picture being presented here. The idea the author is trying to convey is the pervasive sinfulness of humanity.

• This section begins with the saying that a woman who is a trap is more bitter than death. The question that begs to ask is who or what type of woman is being described.
  • Some scholars believe the author is talking about a prostitute, and Scripture is ripe with passages that depict the trap of prostitutes.
    • Proverbs 2:16-19 It will rescue you from a forbidden woman, from a stranger with her flattering talk, ¹⁷ who abandons the companion of her youth and forgets the covenant of her God; ¹⁸ for her house sinks down to death and her ways to the land of the departed spirits. ¹⁹ None return who go to her; none reach the paths of life.
    • Proverbs 5:3-6 Though the lips of the forbidden woman drip honey and her words are smoother than oil, ⁴ in the end she’s as bitter as wormwood and as sharp as a double-edged sword. ⁵ Her feet go down to death; her steps head straight for Sheol. ⁶ She doesn’t consider the path of life; she doesn’t know that her ways are unstable. 
  • Other scholars believe this passage discusses the strife between a husband and wife.
    • Genesis 3:16b Your desire will be for your husband, yet he will rule over you.
    • Because of sin, married life will be a battle instead of a relationship filled with joy.
    • Women will try to ensnare and control men.
    • Most men, sometimes through force, will seek to dominate their wives.
    • In the end, both are miserable.
  • A third group believes the author was talking about foreign wives who would lead the man away from God.
    • 1 Kings 11:3-8 He had 700 wives who were princesses and 300 concubines, and they turned his heart away from the Lord. ⁴ When Solomon was old, his wives seduced him to follow other gods. He was not completely devoted to Yahweh his God, as his father David had been. ⁵ Solomon followed Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and Milcom, the detestable idol of the Ammonites. ⁶ Solomon did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, and unlike his father David, he did not completely follow Yahweh. ⁷ At that time, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh,  the detestable idol of Moab, and for Milcom, the detestable idol of the Ammonites, on the hill across from Jerusalem. ⁸ He did the same for all his foreign wives, who were burning incense and offering sacrifices to their gods.
    • A modern understanding of this is being married to an unbeliever. It doesn’t matter if they are an atheist, agnostic, or follow a false religion. In each case, the unbeliever can pressure the Christian to turn away from a pure relationship with Christ.
• It would be an incorrect understanding to think the author felt that 100% of women were inherently evil.
  • At this point, we need to remember the coherence of Scripture and the fact it can’t contradict itself.
    • Proverbs 12:4 A capable wife is her husband’s crown, but a wife who causes shame is like rottenness in his bones.
    • Proverbs 14:1 Every wise woman builds her house, but a foolish one tears it down with her own hands.
  • Since Scripture mentions capable and wise wives, it is evidence they exist.
• Now, let’s move on to an understanding of the bigger picture being painted here: the overall sinfulness of humanity.
  • When God originally created man and woman, there wasn’t any sin in the world.
  • Adam and Eve were originally “upright,” meaning they were sinless and righteous.
  • Once sin entered into the world, each person was capable of sinful behavior.
  • Humanity chased after their desires instead of chasing after God and following His will.
  • Romans 3:10b-12 There is no one righteous, not even one. ¹¹ There is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. ¹² All have turned away; all alike have become useless. There is no one who does what is good, not even one.
• So, what is the solution? It’s contained in verse 26b The one who pleases God will escape her, but the sinner will be captured by her.
  • Let’s understand “her” to mean sin and sinful behavior.
  • When we obey God, walk according to His commands, and surrender to Christ, we will escape the penalty of sin.
  • When we don’t surrender to Christ and follow God, we are ensnared by sin and will eventually pay the penalty.

Applications

• Don’t pursue knowledge and wisdom as the end all of your life’s pursuits. Accept that you’ll never understand everything, maybe most things, and place your trust in the sovereignty of God. Only He has all the knowledge and answers to the riddles of life. Pursue a relationship with Him as the most important pursuit in life.
• Although we can’t, and shouldn’t, avoid engagement with the world and those who don’t follow Christ, we need to be careful. It is easy to be led astray, regardless of how strong you think your relationship with Him might be. Many who came before us were led astray, and there will be many after us. We must set boundaries to protect ourselves and have strong Christian brothers and sisters to walk alongside us.