Photo by Atharva Tulsi on Unsplash
The minds of wise people think about funerals, but the minds of fools think about banquets.
Don’t ask, “Why were things better in the old days than they are now?” It isn’t wisdom that leads you to ask this! (Eccl 7:4, 10 GW) [context– Eccl 7:1-10]
Changing and Unchanging Wisdom
Wisdom is a broad subject. A narrow definition of wisdom is insight or understanding. But the subject of wisdom is broad because of how the word is applied and the focus of its application.
Philosophic wisdom is based on varying ethical and moral values. Theological wisdom is based on certain biblical and spiritual beliefs.
There’s a broad spectrum within the fields of philosophy and theology because of the beliefs and values of the people who develop various philosophical and theological views.
Scientific knowledge and wisdom are said to be based on empirical evidence—observable and definitive proof.
As scientific knowledge develops, so do the conclusions of scientists. But here’s some historical perspective— “authoritative experts” once believed the earth was flat and bloodletting with leeches was a common medical practice up until the late 18th century.
General awareness of world history reveals great swings in the beliefs and values of humanity over the course of centuries and past ages. We can see this from the times of the Dark Ages to the Renaissance, and then came the Age of Enlightenment, along with the great change from agrarian to industrial economies.
During these major shifts in the world, religious, philosophical, and political views also changed. Commonly held wisdom also changed with these shifts in history and culture.
These varying views of wisdom are referred to as conventional or prevailing wisdom—the majority view of insight and understanding that influenced beliefs and values.
Human wisdom changes over time. It is not absolute. Conventional or prevailing wisdom changes in a similar way to how culture changes.
What doesn’t change is human nature.
We are self-centric and selfish by nature, which makes human wisdom unreliable.
But true godly wisdom doesn’t change because God is unchanging in His nature. This is why Solomon declares this simple truth at the beginning and throughout the Book of Proverbs—
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, But fools despise wisdom and instruction. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.(Prov 1:7; 9:10 NKJV)
Insights
At first glance, these verses at the beginning of Chapter 7 have a morbid tone. We might wonder, “Why so much focus on death?”
The short answer—life is short. This is an important emphasis of the overall message of Ecclesiastes. Currently, the average life expectancy of a person in the US is about 80 years.
Do you remember your perception of time when you were a child? I can remember wanting to get to certain ages so I’d be able to go to school, drive a car, graduate, and so on.
As we get older, time seems to go faster and the years seem to slip by before we’re ready to let them go.
Life is short.
There is a simple progression from verse 1 to verse 10 in this chapter. From a focus on the shortness of our lives to some proverbial thoughts related to our character to a sober sense of perspective on life in general. It’s a snapshot of the speculative wisdom of Ecclesiastes.
The first few versers start with a morbid perspective to remind us of the importance of good character, that is, “a good name.” Wisdom is contrasted with foolishness, which is a common theme throughout the book of Proverbs.
We find a key thought at the end of verse 2— “Everyone who is alive should take this to heart!”
The next few verses focus on a contrast between the wise and foolish with a reminder of the danger to our soul of corruption. But verse 3 leads us to a clearer understanding of these ten verses— “sober reflection is good for the heart” (Prov 7:3 NET).
By “sober reflection,” we see the thought of verse 2 extended and this leads us to verse 10—
Don’t ask, “Why were things better in the old days than they are now?” It isn’t wisdom that leads you to ask this! (Prov 7:10 GW)
Nostalgia is nice but deceptive. When we focus on “the old days” as better, it’s a matter of selective memory. Again, we should all take to heart the simple reality that life is short.
Existential Reflections
Most of us have fleeting thoughts about our younger selves, especially as we get older. More than a few people have remarked how we tend to view things in life now through the lens of our much younger self.
When I watch my grandson play sports, I think of the times I played sports with his dad and uncle as a young parent. But now when I pick up a ball to throw or kick a soccer ball, my body reminds me how much time has passed from then to now.
High school reunions are good reminders of the deceptiveness of nostalgia, especially with the 30th, 40th, and 50th-year reunions.
I went to one of my high school reunions. We wore name tags with our senior photo and name, but these photos didn’t match the faces and bodies that wore them. Nostalgia crashed into reality!
How can we make sense of this inverted wisdom for our own lives?
First, look at what Solomon points out as important priorities.
Beginning in verse 1, he reminds us of the importance of integrity in character, a sober reflection on life, the value of wisdom, listening to a wise rebuke instead of flattery, humility with patience instead of anger or pride, and rejecting nostalgia for a truer perspective on life.
Think of this as inverted goal-setting. Our goal isn’t death, it’s the life we live each day between now and whenever our life will end.
Of course, none of us know when our own death will come, no matter how much planning we do or precautions we take to prevent premature death.
When we have a deadline for finishing a project, we set priorities, schedule our time, and work towards completing the project the best we can.
Every life has a deadline. Literally.
But that’s not the point of Solomon’s morbid view of life. It’s the opposite. It’s inverted wisdom.
What would you do with your time if you knew you only had six months to live?
What or who would you put your focus on? How would you prioritize your time and energy?
The answers to these questions may reveal the substance of your life.
If you committed yourself to have as much fun as you can, enjoy as many pleasures as possible, or something else along these lines—what would this reveal about you?
I asked my wife this question and she told me her priorities would be—spend as much quality time as possible with her family and the Lord. Simple, personal, and doable.
There may be no real right or wrong answers to these questions because it’s a personal choice. But with all the uncertainties in life, it just might be a good thing to take an inventory of your life and make some changes.
Here are some things you could ask yourself—
What are your priorities in life? What do you spend most of your time, energy, and resources on?
Who is important to you? How much time do you invest in sharing quality time with the people who are important to you?
Where do things stand with you and your Creator? Are you ready to meet Him face to face?
If it were me, I’d start at the bottom of this list and work my way up. But that’s what I would do.
What about you?
This is an excerpt from my newest book available on Amazon! Glimmers of Light in the Darkness of Life
The Scripture text for this devotional study can be found by clicking the blue button link– “Ecclesiastes Chap 7” [I’ve used God’s Word Translation (GW) for ease of reading but the button link will take you to the text in a parallel version with the NKJV text.]
Also, for further commentary, I recommend Enduring Word by Ptr David Guzik.