Ecclesiastes Part 11

Ecclesiastes 7:1-14
Teacher: Rob Sweet
Upside Down Wisdom

Ecclesiastes 7:1-14: "A good name is better than fine perfume, and the day of one's death is better than the day of one's birth.  It is better to go to a house of mouring than to go to a house of feasting, since that is the end of all mankind, and the living should take it to heart.  Grief is better than laughter, for when a face is sad, a heart may be glad.  The heart of the wise is in a house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in a house of pleasure.  It is better to listen to rebuke from a wise person than of listen to the song of fools, for like the crackling of burning thorns under the pot, so is the laughter of the fool.  This too is futile. Surely, the practice of extortion turns a wise person into a fool, and a bribe corrupts the mind.  The end of a matter is better than its beginning; a patient spirit is better than a proud spirit.  Don't let your spirit rush to be angry, for anger abides in the heart of fools.  Don't say, 'Why were the former days better than these?' since it is not wise of you to ask this.  Wisdom is as good as an inheritance and an advantage of knowledge is that preserves the life of its owner.  Consider the work of God, for who can straighten out what he has made crooked? In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity, consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that no one can discover anything that will come after him."

We live in an upside down world.  EVERYTHING IS  DYING as opposed to EVERYTHING COMING TO LIFE.

v1 talks about a name. In Hebrew a name is more than just a label...It is a representation of one's character and reputation...An ointment at the time was an expensive luxury item.  Solomon is telling us that character and reputation is worth much more than wealth...even great wealth.

Solomon also mentions that death is better than birth.  In Hebrew,  "better" is not necessarily more enjoyable, rather more valuable of significant.

v2 points out that we should live with the end in mind.  In my old life, teaching, we always planned based on what we wanted our students to know in the end...Planning with the end in mind. Likewise, when we live life, we must anticipate the end; as Christians the end is an eternity with our savior reveling in the magnificence of His glory, righteousness and majesty. Tombstones always contain the year of birth - year of death.  The important question in life is NOT the day we are born or the day we die, rather, how we spend our hyphen.

v3 "return mankind to the dust" Our wounds never heal by faking happy.  We must be real and feel.  We should not miss the hard stuff, but live them to the fullest extent.  There is healing in facing our own wounds.

v4 mind is also the word used for heart.  True life cannot be found from distracting ourselves from what is true about life.  Movies, games, mindless activity certainly has a place, but it should NOT distract us from actually living our life.



The wisdom of the world will not save our souls, this is why we must make counterintuitive choices.  Conventional wisdom does not work.

True life is found in places we do NOT expect.

v7 extortion and bribery makes one foolish.  Power and greed must be kept in check, or we become foolish.

v9 It is wise to be patient.  Often we feel pressure and our rushed into making decisions.  The wise person is patient and makes choices when necessary, not when under pressure.

v10 Nostalgia is a powerful emotion. Solomon reminds us, that there is nothing new under the sun...We should not desire the past, but should live for the day we have been given.  Every day is a gift from God.

v.12 Solomon speaks of money and wisdom...Both are good however money does not preserve life, knowledge and wisdom does.  Both are good, only one saves.

v 14 good and bad things happen in life...we cannot control or predict this...God stands in control over it all...

I'm constantly amazed that the God of the universe, who controls it all, as indicated in v14, pursues me and draws me to Him.  He wants a relationship with me and pursues it.

We are all in s sailboat, not a motor boat, to coast through life.  We are riding the winds of God, not pushing through with a  motor of our own making.  We should praise God for the good winds, and trust him in the storm.  The Lord brings them both, according to His purposes.


v13 Solomon has left no stone unturned and he has discovered that everything is broken.  How do your explain brokenness of creation apart from God's authority.  Only 1 person can straighten out the brokenness.  Solomon cannot answer the question of who can straighten it, but his question is an arrow that points us to the New Testament.  Christ tells us He is coming to make all things new.

God said creation must be broken and fallen, because we/Adam chose sin.  Only Jesus Christ can make things new.

Looking ahead we see that Solomon is not the only person with upside down wisdom.  Jesus also taught us through upside down wisdom.  The Sermon on the Mount, specifically the beatitudes are also upside down.

While Solomon could not see the future, Jesus could.  Jesus picks up where Solomon left off, AND He sees beyond death. 

All of the upside down wisdom expires when Jesus returns and makes straight all things broken

We should all live as citizens of a new world (heaven) while living in a broken world.  We need to anticipate life after death, with the hope of faith.