Year 8, Day 337: Ecclesiastes 7

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Chapter 7 is a difficult chapter to grasp.  To me, it feels like reading poetry.  I know there is meaning out there, but its meaning is always just out of my grasp.  The same is true with this chapter.  Being a part of God’s Word I know it is useful for instruction.  But its meaning is just out of reach.  It will take some stretching and mental lunging to pull the meaning in.

For example, take the first third of this chapter.  At first pass it seems to be saying that it is pointless to be happy and we should all live in sadness.  After all, it is in sorrow that the face of the heart is made glad.  What kind of a verse is that, right?  Or, we can rad that it is better to go into a house of mourning than a house of feasting.  But really, who wants to go into a house where something terrible just happened when we could go into a house where people are happy and excited and loving the life they are living?  What is the author trying to tell us?

I believe the point here is that if we are looking for truth, we need to go to the hard moments in life.  When people are at a party, they aren’t looking for truth.  They are looking for fun.  When people are wrestling with a dark moment of life, that is when they are most likely to encounter truth and wisdom.  If we want life to have meaning, we need to chase the real moments in life, not the party.  The party will always fade; we’ll always be chasing it.  The real moments will linger and allow us to explore the truth contained within.

The next portion of this chapter seems to be about the wisdom of moderation.  Do not be too wise, but don’t be a fool.  Be joyful in prosperity, yet consider that God has also ordained the time of adversity.  When we step back from this we see that it is really the same sentiments as the first third of this chapter.  We want to be joyful at the party, but there is so much to be learned about life in the hard moments.  We wish life was all fun and excitement, but the truth is that life is more real than just the happy moments.

Then we get to the closing third.  I think this section is about our perspective.  No human is perfectly righteous.  We all make our fair share of mistakes.  Don’t get upset if someone says something harsh about you, because you’ve done the same to other people.  Don’t be surprised if you get caught up in the schemes of other people, especially the less righteous you are acting.  It’s all about seeing humanity through an honest lens.

We tend to want to see the best in others.  After all, what fun is there in being a skeptic all the time? I should know, I am one for most of my life except when I’m actively teaching or actively mentoring.  But the point of this last section is that we need to have a realistic approach.  Accept that other people are not perfect, just as I’m not perfect.  Accept that people will do rash things that are fueled by their emotion.  We all have those moments!  Don’t judge them by their rashness, but do not be caught off-guard by it, either.  Live with an honestly righteous perspective.

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