Ecclesiastes 7:10-29 - Do not be over righteous

7:10-12

We can often think that the old days were better. The thing is that we forget the negative aspects of the past. Wisdom is good. Remember that despite all the negativity the Teachers never forgets what is truly good, Wisdom and knowledge are good, but not if we make an idol out of it. Likewise, money is good, but not if we worship it.

7:13,14

“Consider what God has done”. We cannot make sense of life if we discount God. \we cannot undo what He has done. So in a sense we need to accept the times we are in. If they are good we should be happy and enjoy them. But when times are difficult we need to accept that as well.

7:15-19

“In this meaningless life of mine”, Om Mr Cheerful!. He then explains his statement, He has seen the righteous die young, and the wicked live long. He then counsels us not to be over-righteous or over wise or overwicked. Instead we should avoid extremes. Why? Going to an extreme is a sign of making an idol of whatever extreme we are going to, it is also a sign that we think we can save ourselves. Indeed he says that avoiding extremes is a sign that we are fearing God.

7:20

The Teacher then extols the value of wisdom, wisdom can make us very powerful, wisdom is good. We then get a very true statement, “there is no one who is righteous. If only the Pharisees had grasped this they may have reacted differently to Jesus. Realising that we are not, and cannot be righteous is key to understanding the gospel.

7:21,22

Verse 20 is also valuable for treating others well. We are now advised not to listen to every word people say, for we may well hear something bad about ourselves, and if we are honest we know that we have either said, or at least thought, bad things about others.

7:23-25

The teacher then decided to test things by wisdom, and so to understand the stupidity of wickedness. The Teacher is then trying to understand

7:26-29

Proverbs warns about the folly of falling for immoral women, this is a snare. Part of the fruit of pleasing God is to avoid sexual sin. Sexual sin is a trap that can ensnare and ruin a man. The Teacher then sums up what he has learnt. There are very few upright men, but not one upright woman. Such a sentiment does not go down well in our age! God created us upright, but we have all gone astray.