15 In my vain life I have seen everything. There is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his evildoing. 16 Be not overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself? 17 Be not overly wicked, neither be a fool. Why should you die before your time? 18 It is good that you should take hold of this, and from that withhold not your hand, for the one who fears God shall come out from both of them. – Eccl. 7:15-18
In the first half of Ecclesiastes 7, Qohelet presented to us a series of contrasts between wisdom and folly which were intended to draw us to think deeply about how it is that we will live out the days of our lives. In the second half of the chapter, he speaks to us about our sinful condition in order that we might develop biblical self-awareness. True wisdom is found in agreeing with God’s Word and living our lives accordingly, and the first step in that process is humbling ourselves to receive the truth that He would say to us and about us.
In 7:15-17, the Teacher makes an important set of observations which he will elaborate on throughout the rest of the chapter. He first points out that people do not always get what it seems that they deserve. Specifically, he has seen a righteous person perish and a wicked person prosper. His advice then, is for the truly wise person to avoid two specific dangers: (1) Self-righteousness, and (2) foolishness (7:16-17). While all are at times tempted towards one of these two extremes, the truly righteous person fears God and recognizes that he is not righteous in and of himself. As it is in Proverbs, biblical wisdom is again paired together with the fear of Yahweh.
In order the prevent any misunderstanding, the Teacher again emphasizes that wisdom is of great value (7:19), but it is not the same thing as righteousness. The reality is that there is no one who is truly righteous and that even those who would be referred to as ‘righteous’ still sin. We ourselves know this because we have all had people speak ill of us (7:21) and the reality is that we ourselves have spoken ill of others (7:22). These examples serve to further illustrate his point that we are all sinners who are incapable of being truly righteous and who must therefore fear and worship God who alone is true righteousness.
Finally, having considered these things, the Teacher speaks to us from his own personal experience. Although he sought to be wise, and perhaps thereby even righteous (7:23), he found that this was beyond him (7:24). What he did find regarding humanity he then shares, stating that there is a certain kind of woman that men must be ware of (7:26). This warning parallels many of the warnings in Proverbs about the adulteress, the ‘strange’ or ‘forbidden’ woman (Prov. 5:1-6; 6:23-29; 7:1-23). The one who fears God will escape from her because he will possess the wisdom that God provides.
Having spoken of this specific woman, he then makes some general observations about humanity in general based on his own experience. Specifically, he states that he has encountered only one man in a thousand who demonstrated wisdom and understanding, but from among women he found none. We must note that this assessment reflects in some ways more poorly on the one doing the assessing than it does on men or women generally. As we saw from 1 Kings, Solomon had a particularly bad track record with the women that he chose to associate with. We must also consider his position of power and influence and recognize that people like that are frequently surrounded by those who want to use and benefit from them rather than those who would be considered wise in the biblical sense. In the end, he makes a significant observation based on these experiences: “God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes” (7:29). Although he has previously attributed to God the frustrating nature of reality, he does not blame God for mankind’s sinfulness. Instead, it is mankind (all of us) who has actively schemed to go his own way even though God made him originally to be ‘upright.’
The Teacher’s words remind us that there is none righteous, no not one. While we would all recognize this truth, we are all prone to forget it and fall into either self-righteousness or folly. Throughout the gospels Jesus repeatedly condemned the self-righteous, but welcomed repentant sinners (both the formerly self-righteous such as Nicodemus as well as the openly sinful such as the woman at the well). We who are unrighteous can rejoice because “now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe” (Rom. 3:21-22).
Join us this Sunday as we come together to worship Jesus who alone was shown to be righteous in God’s sight. As His people, we have been credited with His righteousness through faith and we glory in His work on our behalf!
Soli Deo Gloria.
-Thomas