Ecclesiastes 6:10-7:2 Whatever has come to be has already been named, and it is known what man is, and that he is not able to dispute with one stronger than he.

¹¹ The more words, the more vanity, and what is the advantage to man?

¹² For who knows what is good for man while he lives the few days of his vain life, which he passes like a shadow? For who can tell man what will be after him under the sun?

7:1 A good name is better than precious ointment, and the day of death than the day of birth.

² It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart.

INTRODUCTION

As I’ve mentioned to you before, preaching through a book of the Bible is somewhat like having kids. It takes a lot of preparation, it’s a lot more work when you’re in it, and it’s always hard to be done, but it’s more than worth it. In other words, for everyone who preaches weekly, the book of the Bible we’re in is a big part of our lives, usually for a significant length of time. And for that reason, a normal question when pastors gather is, “So, what are you preaching on these days?”. Their answer is an important window into their lives.

In that vein, when I tell people that I’m in Ecclesiastes, they tend to chuckle. To know much of anything about the book is to know that as helpful as it is, it’s all over the place. It’s written from below and above the sun perspectives. The Preacher jumps from one subject to the next without any obvious rhyme or reason. He returns to subjects already addressed to add just a bit more detail. The tone changes consistently (albeit usually a bit defeatist sounding). It sometimes reads like a narrative, sometimes like a letter, sometimes like a memoire, sometimes like a report, and, as we’ll see this morning, sometimes like a chapter in Proverbs.

And to that end, if you have an ESV Bible, you can see from the different formatting that 7:1-13 contains a collection of proverbs. What our ESVs don’t reflect, though, is that the proverbs probably begin in 6:10.

Practically, that means the Preacher provides us with a batch of wise sayings. Like the proverbs in the book of Proverbs, they are usually not promises to be trusted in, but descriptions of the way things ordinarily work. They are things that are generally true in this world.

We’ll make our way through a handful of them this week and another handful next week. Our aim is to gain from the Preacher’s Spirit-inspired wisdom in such a way that we would live lives more in line with the world as it is for our good and God’s glory.

The big ideas of this passage are that God made the world to function in a certain way and, therefore, as we learn that way and conform to it, things tend to go better for us. Even as when we are ignorant of God’s ways or out of conformity with them, things tend to go worse. And the main takeaway is to order our lives according to God’s design and wisdom for His glory and our good. We’ll get lots of practical ways to do that today.

THE PREACHER’S PROVERBS

Have you ever seen someone unknowingly, completely misusing something? My first apartment had the first dishwasher I’d ever used. One of my roommates, who (unlike me) had a dishwasher in his home growing up, bought the soap for it and everything went well…until we ran out. I was alone in the apartment, loaded the dishes, noticed we were out of the normal soap, filled it up with regular dish soap, started the machine, and went to class. Most of you probably already know where this is going. I came back to frustrated roommates and a kitchen full of soap and water. I was well-intentioned, but totally misused the dishwasher and there were messy consequences for it.

The fact of the matter is that all of us go through life doing that kind of thing all the time. God made the world to function in certain ways and, often without knowing it, we miss them to our detriment.

We act as if marriage and intimacy can be used however we want. We act as if we can put hobbies and sports at the center of family life and our kids won’t be spiritually confused. We act as if we can put whatever junk we feel like into our heads and there will be no consequences. We act as if the spiritual disciplines are optional for spiritual growth. We act as if we are only physical or only spiritual and are surprised that our lives are out of balance. We act as if we can make the church about our preferences without that causing conflict within it. We act as if men’s gatherings can happen without smoked meat and still thrive.

The point is that we will either live in the world as it is—as God made it—or we will experience all manner of pathology. The Preacher’s proverbs are, once again, intended to help us do just that. They are meant to describe how the world ordinarily works in order that we might live in it as we ought. That is a great gift to us.

God Is Sovereign (6:10)

The first proverb is found in v.10. There is life-changing wisdom in it for all who will receive it. The heart of the proverb is that God is sovereign over all things and, therefore, trying to fight against Him is futile.

¹⁰ Whatever has come to be has already been named, and it is known what man is, and that he is not able to dispute with one stronger than he.

The idea that “whatever comes to be has already been named” is a big deal. The general idea is the same as Genesis 1-2. God alone has the power to create and name. There is tremendous power in both. The power it takes to create is obvious. But the power to name is no less significant. When God names something, He declares it’s reality. He defines it.

The Preacher’s first proverb, then, is a declaration that the things we experience, the things that come to be, do so because of God’s sovereign decree. Likewise, the things that are, are what they are, because God called them by that name. All that we experience and are, Grace, is because God has known and named it—past, present, and future. Everything belongs to Him. It is all His. God is sovereign over everything.

What’s more, while we like to think of ourselves as wise (wiser than God in our own estimation), we are the foolest of fools compared to God. Apart from God’s grace, we are blinded by pride. Like Job and Jacob, we believe we can contend with God and win. That’s at the heart of our every sin.

And yet, “[Mankind] is not able to dispute with one stronger than he.” In spite of our foolish belief otherwise, we cannot fight with God and win. He is infinitely stronger and wiser. God is God, the Preacher wrote, and we are not. Getting this wrong is like loading regular soap into a dishwasher, only a million times worse.

And while ordinary proverbs are only generally true, this one is true without exception.

Living in light of this wisdom means praying continually. How do you know if you truly believe and trust in God’s sovereignty, if you’re living in light of the wisdom of this proverb, if you’re living in line with reality? The first and main answer is that you pray. If you don’t pray, you don’t really believe this. Prayer at its most foundational level is a humble acknowledgement that God is God and you are not. It is a declaration that God is the only true Namer and Knower. It is the definitive expression of our belief that all things are God’s.

In that regard, one of the most helpful statements I’ve ever heard on prayer comes from a book we’re reading in Masculine Mandate (Disciplines of a Godly Man by Kent Hughes). Of the relationship between our prayers and God’s sovereignty, the author says, “…prayer bends our wills to God’s will.” To explain that concept, he then references an analogy by a different author who said, “If I throw out a boathook from the boat and catch hold of the shore and pull, do I pull the shore to me, or do I pull myself to the shore? Prayer is not pulling God to my will, but the aligning of my will to the will of God” (p. 83).

Living in light of this wisdom means knowing true rest. To know the sovereignty of God, inside the grace of God, and alongside the promises of God, is to be freed from worry and anxiety. When we know that God is perfectly sovereign, wise, and good, when we know that God works all things according to the counsel of His will, when we know that God is continually, actively causing all things to work together for good, we can endure any hardship in peace. No matter our circumstances, we can rest will in the knowledge that they belong to our great God and that He is using them for the greatest good of His name and people.

Living in light of this wisdom means being OK with mystery. A great deal of effort, philosophically and theologically, has been spent in trying to explain how it is possible that God can be sovereign to the extent that “whatever has come to be has already been named” by Him and mankind can make genuine choices. I’m thankful to God for that effort. At the same time, however, God has not chosen to reveal it to us exhaustively. And for that reason, there is mystery surrounding it. We trust that it is possible because God’s Word so clearly teaches both, mysterious as it is.

Living in this world as it is means living in light of the fact that God is sovereign over it.

More Words Are Worse (6:11)

While our first proverb is absolutely and universally true, the second is a more ordinary proverb—wisdom that is generally, but not always true. There are exceptions to the rule, but only fools don’t know the rule and order their lives accordingly.

In that way, it is not always true that more words are worse. Sometimes it’s best to give longer explanations for things. At the same time, in general, more words, the Preacher wrote, means more vanity, and more vanity means less advantage for those who hear.

¹¹ The more words, the more vanity, and what is the advantage to man?

That is an echo of 5:2-3, “Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few. 3 …a fool’s voice with many words.”

Combined, these passages help us to see that we are finite creatures. Unlike God, our knowledge is limited and, therefore, our words should be too. We’ve all experienced this at times. The more someone talks, the less they seem to make sense, and the more confused we become.

As a newer believer, I didn’t understand much in the way of biblical doctrine. Therefore, I tried to make up for it by using more words to explain myself and using bigger words to disguise my ignorance.

Two things opened my eyes to the power of fewer and simpler words. The first was R.C. Sproul. There are few people on earth with a deeper well of theological knowledge than he had, but he almost always spoke in clear, simple language that kids could understand. He put out a series on the history of Western philosophy and wrote engaging children’s books. He showed me that intelligence and intelligibility should be best friends.

The second thing that helped me to appreciate the wisdom of the proverb of Ecclesiastes 6:11 was a professor I had in grad school. Whenever she would ask us to explain complicated philosophical principles, she generally listened patiently as we babbled on, and would then politely ask us to tell her a story that made our point. “If you can’t explain it in a simple story, you don’t understand what you are saying,” she would say.

Living in light of this wisdom means listening a lot and talking a little. It means giving the best of our energy to understanding others and to considering how we might communicate our thoughts in the most helpful, concise ways possible.

In the same vein, when teaching, this proverb calls us to be able to communicate in language that is accessible to children. In almost every ordinary situation, if you can’t say whatever you’re trying to say in a way that a 10-year-old can grasp it, and in the length of time a 10-year-old can hang on for, then you don’t really understand it and are disadvantaging your listener. Say it clearly and simply and invite questions for depth.

Living in light of this wisdom also means purposely speaking to advantage your listener. If our words aren’t intended to benefit someone in some specific way, we should keep them to ourselves. Those attempting to live in light of the wisdom of this proverb ought to have Ephesians 4:29 continually ringing in our ears, “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.” Say the right words, at the right time, and for the right reason…always and only.

Living in this world as it is means living in light of the fact that more words are worse.

We Are Ignorant and Our Days Are Short (6:12)

The third proverb flows neatly out of the first. It has two key points. The first continues on with the theme that we are ignorant the second adds the idea that our days are short. Listen for both in v.12.

¹² For who knows what is good for man while he lives the few days of his vain life, which he passes like a shadow? For who can tell man what will be after him under the sun?

The first idea of this proverb is, once again, that we are ignorant creatures. Much of what happens and should happen in our lives, therefore, is elusive and mysterious to us.

The Preacher observed all kinds of apparent inconsistencies in the world around him. Often things didn’t end up as they seemed like they should. Good people got sick while bad people were healthy. Honest people were poor while crooks were wealthy. In a world like that, by common sense alone, it is hard to know how a man should live. What is the good path to the good life? It’s often hard to say. “Who knows?” the Preacher wondered.

We barely know what was before us, our own lives are often confusing, and we have no idea what’s next. Again, that seems like vanity of vanities and it’s hard to know what to do in a world like that. We cannot live in this world as we ought to unless we realize that good observation and common sense are never enough.

The second idea embedded in this proverb is that the longest human life is relatively short in the whole scheme of things. We live and die in the blink of an eye. The sun rises each day and sets each night, shadows shrink and then lengthen and then disappear, and so do we.

When all is mystery and the mystery only lasts like a fleeting shadow, how shall we then live? The answer is not often obvious to those whose eyes are under the sun.

Living in light of this wisdom means being humble. This proverb is a call to kill pride.

Living in light of this wisdom also means being people of the Word. What under the sun wisdom can’t do, God’s Word can. What common sense lacks, God’s Word has in abundance. Our reason alone is incapable of making sense of most of ourselves and the world around us, but God’s Word gives us everything we need to live as God designed and commands us to (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

And living in light of this wisdom means carefully considering our own mortality. The next several proverbs set us up well to do just that.

Living in this world as it is means living in light of the facts that we are ignorant and our days are short.

God Establishes Value Scales (7:1)

One thing that mankind has been doing since the beginning is creating our own value scales. For instance, throughout history, men have valued the appearance and flattery of a woman over almost everything else (to our consistent demise). But God’s Word tells us that “Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised” (Proverbs 31:30). Men, God’s value scale prioritizes a woman’s fear of the LORD way over her charm and beauty.

In the same way, for millennia, mankind has valued staying alive over almost everything else. But God’s Word tells us that Christ is more valuable. Therefore, “to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21).

This next proverb helps us to see two more often misplaced values.

¹ A good name is better than precious ointment, and the day of death than the day of birth.

Precious ointment in the ancient world was precious. Baths were uncommon, washing clothes was hard, roads and homes were dirty. Bad smells were easy to come by, but sweet ones weren’t. The sweet smell of ointment requires a lot of time, money, work, and expertise. For that reason, precious ointment was easily and universally understood to be among the most precious things a person could possess.

God’s Word, however, ranks precious ointment below a good name. You can have vats of the most expensive ointment but it means nothing if you are a liar, a swindler, an adulterer, or a lazy glutton. Cultivating character and living in a manner that is commended by God, ought to be prized above almost every earthly thing. It is always better to be around an honest, selfless, God-fearing stinky man than a swindler who smells good.

The first part of the Preacher’s proverb helps us to properly calibrate our value scale. So too does the second part.

Another area of often misplaced value is birth and death. We tend to rejoice at births and cry at deaths. There is, of course, a way in which that is right. But the only way it is right is if those responses flow out of a properly calibrated value scale. And when that’s the case, we’ll see that in many ways, death is more valuable in God’s economy than birth. How can that be?

It is a gift from God every time a child is born. But what happens next will either be a gift or a curse. A godly, obedient, hard-working child is a gift. A dishonoring, godless, disobedient, lazy child is a curse. Birth merely makes the two paths walkable. And it isn’t until death that we can be truly clear on which one a child will take. In that way death is better—it always gives a more accurate diagnosis of a person’s spiritual condition.

Another way death is better is in the fact that while birth fills us with the joy of hope, “Going to a funeral encourages somber contemplation of our own mortality, and this in turn teaches us how to live” (Ryken, PTWC, 153). We’ll come back to this one in the final proverb.

Living in light of the wisdom of the first part of this proverb—a good name is better than precious ointment—means valuing and cultivating godly character in ourselves above all other things. It means gladly letting go of our athletic prowess, earning potential, vacation cabin, and everything else if it hinders the growth of our character.

In a similar way it means valuing godly character in others above all. Guys, girls be thrilled to marry someone who is less externally attractive, but more filled with the character of Christ. Be eager to marry someone who shares less with you in the way of hobbies and more in the way of love for the gospel and a desire to make it known. The same is true for friendships and members in a local church.

Living in light of the wisdom of the second part of this proverb—death is better than birth—means going to funerals. This too we’ll come back to in the next (and last) proverb. Most simply, it means acknowledging that you are going to die, considering what that means, and living in light of it.

And living in light of this wisdom means recognizing that Ecclesiastes only finds its full meaning when it is understood to be a part of the whole. Ecclesiastes was inspired by God to tell a critical part of God’s story, but it only really has meaning inside of the whole of God’s story. In that way, the Preacher had one understanding of how death is better than birth, but the Word of God gives us a fuller one.

“To understand how it is possible for our last day to be our best day, we need to go back to the day Christ was born, and the even better day when he died for our sins. The day Jesus was born was one of the best days ever—the coming of our God and King…but even that blessed day is not the best day. We look beyond Bethlehem to Calvary, where the Savior in the manger died upon the cross. It is not the birth of Jesus that saves us, although of course he had to be born before he could die. Rather it is the death of Jesus that delivers—the shedding of his blood for the atonement of our sins” (Ryken, PTWC, 151-152).

Living in this world as it is means living in light of the fact that God establishes value scales.

Mourning Is Better than Feasting (7:2)

The final proverb that we’ll consider this morning is found in 7:2. It expands on and helps explain the previous one.

² It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart.

Most people are invited—at least a couple times a year—to someone’s home who is celebrating something significant (a birthday, an anniversary, a graduation, a wedding, retirement). The invitation is to join in the celebration. There is joy and thankfulness and joy and thankfulness are always best shared.

It’s been great to celebrate with so many of you who have kids graduating and getting married already this summer. I love feasting with you all and sharing your joy. That’s an important aspect of being human and an even more important aspect of functioning well as a part of the body of Christ.

Likewise, most people are occasionally invited to someone’s home who is grieving something significant (an accident, a hard diagnosis, the loss of a loved one). The invitation is to join them in their suffering, to help bear their burdens. There is sadness, grief, and mourning and those things are not meant to be experienced alone.

Rightly oriented, it is good to go into houses of feasting and mourning. It is easier to go into a house of feasting but, the Preacher proverbially asserts, it is better to go to a house of mourning. Again, we are right to wonder how/why that’s the case.

The Preacher tells us the reason for this: “for this [mourning/death] is the end of all mankind.” In other words, as he’s said many times already, death comes to all and so we simply cannot live in this world as it is without that aspect of our personhood properly factored into our living, without properly “[laying] it to heart.”

Grace, the truth is most of us live like we might not die. We either never think about it at all or spend way too much effort in worrying about and attempting to avoid it. The result of denying that aspect of reality is that we continually forsake the blessings and obediences that come from embracing our mortality. The wisdom of this proverb frees us to live life to the fullest. It frees us up to gladly obey even if it puts our lives in danger and therein to find more opportunities to feel our dependence on God.

Living in light of this wisdom means going to the parties (houses of feasting) of those in your life, and especially in your church. Make this a priority. There are still several coming up that you’re all invited to. Go to them. Eat a taco. Drink a pop. Bring a gift. Laugh. Share in the feasting. It’s easy to underestimate the goodness and importance of this. The Preacher’s proverb helps us not to do so.

At the same time, living in light of this wisdom means being even more intentional about being in the lives of those who are suffering (houses of mourning). It means going to them in their time of mourning to sit with them, to listen to them, to pray with them, and, if the opportunity presents itself, to serve them and speak the truth in love to them. It means setting your comfort aside and laying your life down for another.

And with all of that, it means taking the opportunity that affords to consider your own mortality. It means, like Jonathan Edwards, resolving to “think much on all occasions of my own dying, and of the common circumstances which attend death.” And then turning that into the kind of living that only comes when we settle on the fact that our death is inevitable.

Living in light of this wisdom means not approaching life as if prolonging it is your highest aim. That is not at all to say that we are indifferent to living. But it is to say that knowing that we will all eventually die, frees us up to live boldly, courageously, and fearlessly in obedience to God’s commands. Full obedience leading to premature death is better than cautious, semi-obedience leading to a prolonged life on earth.

Living in this world as it is means living in light of the fact that mourning is better than feasting.

CONCLUSION

The Preacher gives us significant wisdom in this section. We will do well to live in light of it. And we will usually do worse when we don’t. At the same time, as I mentioned in our look at 7:1, Ecclesiastes only gives us a part of the story. Let me close, then, with the fuller wisdom of God from 1 Corinthians 1:18-24.

¹⁸ … the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. ¹⁹ For it is written,
        “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
        and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”

²⁰ Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? ²¹ For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. ²² For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, ²³ but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, ²⁴ but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

Look, therefore to Jesus, and know the full measure of the wisdom and power of God, that you may live the fullness of life you were made to live in the world as it really is.