Ecclesiastes 9:11-18 Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all. 12 For man does not know his time. Like fish that are taken in an evil net, and like birds that are caught in a snare, so the children of man are snared at an evil time, when it suddenly falls upon them.
13 I have also seen this example of wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great to me. 14 There was a little city with few men in it, and a great king came against it and besieged it, building great siegeworks against it. 15 But there was found in it a poor, wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that poor man. 16 But I say that wisdom is better than might, though the poor man’s wisdom is despised and his words are not heard.
17 The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools. 18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.
INTRODUCTION
The informal logic text that we used to teach our kids (The Art of Argument) defines bifurcation or false dilemma or false dichotomy like this: “A kind of fallacy of presupposition, the bifurcation fallacy attempts to frame the debate in such a way that makes only two options possible when, in fact, other possibilities may exist.”
A semi-famous way to make use of this fallacy is to ask someone if they are the only idiot in their family.
“Yes. I mean no. I mean…”.
The framing of the question necessitates one of only two answers. Either you are an idiot and no one else is or you are an idiot along with at least one other person in your family. The question form means there’s no way for you to get out of being an idiot. And yet, even though the question doesn’t allow for it, as we all know, there are other possibilities (such as there are no idiots in your family at all).
On a more serious note, as we’ve already seen in Ecclesiastes, readers of the Bible will find false dilemma fallacies all over if we’re not careful.
- Either God is sovereign or we are rightly held responsible for our choices (Philippians 2:12; Romans 9:19).
- Either God is omnipotent, wise, and good or there can be evil (Genesis 50:20; Romans 8:28-29).
- Either God desires all to be saved or He doesn’t (1 Timothy 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9).
- Either God knows all things or prayer works (Matthew 6:8).
In each of these cases, two claims seem to be at odds. It seems, therefore, like there are only two possibilities for each: Either one of them is not true or there’s a logical contradiction. And yet, in each case, both claims are clearly taught in the Bible (often side-by-side) and we know God never lies.
Anticipating an objection on the grounds of a bifurcation fallacy regarding his teaching on God’s sovereignty and human responsibility, the Apostle Paul responded, “who are you, O man, to answer back to God?” In other words, Paul admitted that he didn’t fully understand how both could be true, but also humbly acknowledged that whenever we cannot understand how certain aspects of God’s Word are compatible, the problem lies with us, not the Word.
We may not always know how certain biblical doctrines are compatible, but we do know that where God’s Word teaches both, there is never a mistake or an ultimate contradiction.
Along these lines, for those of you who are in your late teens and early twenties, especially those of you who are regularly around non-Christians, this is one of the most important things you can hear me say. You are at the age when you and your peers are learning to work out the things you’ve been taught growing up. That’s a good thing for the most part.
But one of the things you’ll find is that the cultural currents and winds are flowing and blowing away from Christianity as being a reasonable conclusion for intelligent people. More than likely, in the course of your conversations with skeptics or your YouTube research, you’ll find many who say that they are not Christians because of the clear contradictions within the claims of Christianity.
But here’s what I’m driving at and hope you will hear and find confidence from: Christianity is true and is, therefore, able to stand up to every scrutiny. That is not to say that there aren’t questions that are hard to answer, but it is to say that there are answers. It is not to say that there is no mystery in the Bible’s claims, but it is to say that mystery is not the same as false.
Do not be afraid of asking or hearing questions, even pointed and difficult questions concerning the claims of God’s Word. Don’t worry when skeptics claim to know that Christianity can’t possibly be true for their various reasons. Be humble in admitting that you don’t know the answers to their questions, but let them know that you are as eager as they are to find the answers, and be confident that there are answers.
I bring all of this up because we have another example of a seeming false dilemma—a seeming contradiction—in our passage for this morning. Unlike some of the questions you may face, however, this is not a particularly complicated one.
In the first section (11-12) the Preacher teaches that wisdom is no real help. In the second section (13-16), he teaches that it helps a great deal. And in the third section (17-18) he teaches both. On the surface, it seems obvious that either under the sun wisdom is beneficial or it isn’t; that it can’t be both. And it seems obvious on the surface that someone making both claims simultaneously must be wrong about one or the other.
The solution to this apparent bifurcation is, again, simple, straight-forward, and familiar. It is also the big idea of this sermon: Under the sun wisdom has real and inevitable limits and it has real and genuine benefits. When we understand the limits and benefits, we are in a good place to make the best use of it. The Preacher helps us see both and therein brings us to a good place if we will hear him. The main takeaway, then, is to learn its benefits and limits in order that we might order our lives accordingly.
WISDOM DOESN’T HELP (11-12)
Wisdom doesn’t help, it helps, and it doesn’t help. The Preacher began his first description of the unhelpfulness of wisdom alongside a bunch of other counterintuitive aspects of the world we live in.
When two people race, and one is objectively faster, wisdom suggests that the outcome of the race ought to be predetermined, right? Likewise, wisdom teaches that if two nations go to battle and one has a king who is a much better leader and an army that is much larger and better equipped than the other, the better/stronger one will win, correct? And wisdom obviously leads us to conclude that wise, intelligent, and knowledgeable people will have more food, wealth, and blessing than those who lack those things, doesn’t it?
While it seems like those things should be the case, the Preacher observed something different. That’s just not how things work a good chunk of the time.
11 Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge…
Again, as we all know, wisdom suggests each of those things, but reality often proves wisdom to be unhelpful. More than a simple assertion, the Preacher describes what he saw instead.
11 … but time and chance happen to them all.
Chance is an interesting word choice here, given the fact that the Preacher clearly believes that it is ultimately the sovereign providence of God that governs the outcome of things. It may have been him who wrote (Proverbs 16:33), “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.” And it was definitely him who said (Ecclesiastes 9:1), “the righteous and the wise and their deeds are in the hand of God.”
The Preacher’s point, then, is not that some things are truly left to chance (to randomness, to fate, to something other than God), but that the providence of God is so mysterious and unpredictable that it often looks like chance to us, and even when it doesn’t, we can’t be sure of what God is really up to in whatever we’re seeing.
In that way, he observed that regardless of a person or nation’s mental, moral, or physical aptitude, things entirely out of our control and understanding—things contrary to wisdom—dictate the outcome of our lives as often as not.
One of the sillier, but more memorable examples of this in my life took place on a Monday, many years ago. Monday has been my day off for nearly 30 years now. Ideally, they look much the same today as they did in the very beginning—slow days with little necessary stuff; up early for QT, a chance to run, make a big breakfast for everyone, spend time in the shop, and date night.
On this particular Monday, everything was going as planned through the first four elements of a good day off. Wisdom suggested that things would continue on as planned. But then, while in the shop, I ran two fingers on my left hand through my table saw and the fifth element of a good day off was toast. My first and immediate thought was, “This is really going to mess up date night.”
Time and chance got me good even though I had plenty of knowledge, experience, and wisdom, having made the same cut successfully hundreds of times before.
Elaborating on this idea, the Preacher wrote (v.12)…
12 For man does not know his time. Like fish that are taken in an evil net, and like birds that are caught in a snare, so the children of man are snared at an evil time, when it suddenly falls upon them.
Just think about it. You’re a fish, you’re doing what you were designed by God to do (swimming around, laying or fertilizing eggs, and eating stuff). The day’s going great. Food is plentiful. The water’s the right temperature for eating and making baby fish. And then you notice a particularly tasty looking bug not far from you. You swim over to it, swallow it whole, and BAM…all of a sudden your mouth really hurts and you’re being pulled violently in a direction you don’t want to go. The next thing you know, you’re in a net and in the best case scenario, you’re forced to endure a selfie session with some guy dressed in the goofiest clothes you’ve ever seen.
The Preacher’s point is that life is like that for us all in a certain sense, no matter how wise we are and how much we order our lives according to wisdom.
You’ve experienced that too, haven’t you? You wisely lined everything up “perfectly” to produce some desired outcome only to have something completely unexpected and unpredictable derail it entirely; only to be caught in a net or a snare?
In this way, the Preacher concluded that wisdom doesn’t help in the ultimate sense because it isn’t foolproof. There’s always the chance that you’ll find success, having ordered everything according to wisdom, and then for reasons you could never have predicted, everything will get completely upended by sickness or sin or a car crash or a crashed stock market or a global pandemic or the loss of a job or an uncooperative table saw.
You can’t trust wisdom to provide with or protect from anything with certainty and few things with regularity. Knowing how things ordinarily work is not the same as knowing how things will work in any given situation.
In other words, the Preacher’s first point is that under the sun wisdom is unhelpful as a trustworthy provider of protection or success.
WISDOM HELPS (12-16)
At the same time, the Preacher’s second point is that wisdom is useful. It is valuable. It is “great.” It is helpful.
To illustrate this point, the Preacher recalled a (possibly true and certainly) interesting story.
13 I have also seen this example of wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great to me. 14 There was a little city with few men in it, and a great king came against it and besieged it, building great siegeworks against it. 15 But there was found in it a poor, wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that poor man. 16 But I say that wisdom is better than might, though the poor man’s wisdom is despised and his words are not heard.
The story is pretty straightforward, right? There was a great king who had a great army and every advantage. The king and his army made their way to a small city, determined to conquer it. They took their time to set things up properly, according to accepted military strategy—surrounding it, to isolate it from food, water, help, and escape, before attacking it. And yet, the king and his army were unable to do so on account of the plans of a single, poor but wise man within the tiny city.
The Preacher purposefully uses words of significant contrast to make his point especially clear. One the one side was “little,” “few men,” “poor,” “no one remembered,” “despised,” and “words are not heard.” And on the other side was “great king,” “great siegeworks,” and “might.” In this, he means us to recognize that according to conventional wisdom, this confrontation is a slam dunk.
For me, the most interesting aspect of this example, however, is that it is one of wisdom being unhelpful, then helpful, then unhelpful again. Did you catch both wisdom’s losses and win?
Its first loss was exactly the kind of loss the Preacher wrote about in his first point. Wisdom suggests that a great king from a great city will win against a little city every time. But the battle did not “go to the strong” in this case, just as the Preacher predicted.
Wisdom’s win (and the main point of the story) came in the form of a poor man who, through wisdom alone, devised (an unnamed) plan sufficient to repel the attacks of the great king. In that way, the Preacher rightly declared, “I say that wisdom is better than might!” If that’s not helpful, what is?!
As we all know, wisdom really does work like that sometimes. That’s part of what makes sports fun to watch, for instance. Sometimes the coach of a team with every disadvantage is wise enough to come up with a gameplan sufficient to overcome the other team’s advantages—especially if the advantaged team is coached by a prideful fool.
Wisdom’s victory in the Preacher’s story was not long-lasting, however. Its second loss came immediately on the heels of its win. Again, wisdom suggests that there will be bread for the wise, riches for the intelligent, and favor for the knowledgeable. In other words, wisdom suggests that the poor man whose wisdom delivered the city would be esteemed, celebrated, rewarded, and remembered in perpetuity in the little city and great city alike. Wisdom suggests that a man with such significant practical wisdom would be looked to for the rest of his days.
But also as the Preacher predicted, that is not always the case. Indeed, instead of being lauded, “No one remembered the poor man” and soon enough the poor man’s wisdom was “despised and his words…not heard.” And in that, wisdom failed to deliver on its “promise” once again.
In this is an example of the power and helpfulness of wisdom as well as two clear examples of its limits. It is right to seek wisdom and live according to it, but not to trust entirely in it.
And on a really practical level, in last part of the story is a significant warning not to do what is wise and good for the approval or praise of men. Doing what is right in God’s sight is its own reward. This is why Jesus said to the Pharisees, who did their deeds of “wisdom” and “righteousness” for the praise of men, “When you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward” (Matthew 6:2).
In this the Preacher means us to see as clearly as possible that while wisdom is unhelpful in areas it wasn’t designed to be helpful in—that is, while wisdom is fallible and vulnerable to “time and chance” and the fickleness of mankind—that is not to say that it is unhelpful in every area.
Even though wisdom can’t be counted on to win every battle, it is an essential component of victory more often than not.
WISDOM DOES AND DOESN’T HELP (17-18)
In the final section, the Preacher sums it all up and reiterates the helpfulness and unhelpfulness of wisdom he observed.
Transitioning back into imparting wisdom in the form of proverbs (all of the next two chapters, chapters 10 and 11), the Preacher wrote first of wisdom’s helpfulness by explaining that wisdom spoken in quiet (spoken in humility to humility) is better than anything spoken at great volume, by great power, to foolish people.
There is more effective power in simple wisdom whispered among a few, simple people than in anything shouted, by anyone in power, to any number of people.
And in that way, the right wisdom in the hands of the right people, can defeat the most powerful weapons on earth in the hands of fools.
17 The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools. 18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war…
In that way, and once again, Grace, seek wisdom. Do so by putting into practice the same things I’ve been encouraging you toward throughout Ecclesiastes.
- Think about things that matter
- Do your homework
- Read good books
- Take good classes
- Study biology and astronomy and geology and botany and agriculture
- Spend time around older people (especially those who aren’t enamored with the latest technology, who don’t have their phone out all the time, who work with their hands most of the time, who are known to be more contemplative than talkative, who are serious about serious things)
- READ THE BIBLE
- PRAY FOR GOD’S GUIDANCE
- And in these things, learn to love the Lord your God with all your mind.
At the same time, do your best to take the understanding, the wisdom you gain through those things and live more fully in light of it. Reject folly. Put the Proverbs into practice.
- Stay away from foolishness, it corrupts everything (10:1)
- Be slow to anger and slower still to act on it (10:4)
- Look to a man’s heart, not his appearance or position in society (10:5)
- Always speak kindly, that you might not unnecessarily stir up anger (10:11)
- When you speak, speak for the building up of others (10:12-14)
- When you work, make sure it’s for a worthwhile purpose (10:15)
- Don’t get drunk, but be sober minded and practice self-control at all times (10:17)
- Don’t be lazy, but work hard (10:18)
- Don’t gossip or slander, but be prudent with your words in quantity and content (10:20)
Do these things, but don’t trust in these things. They are not meant to be trusted entirely.
Finally, in the final clause of the final verse, the Preacher wrote again about wisdom’s limits.
18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.
Remember, under the sun wisdom is nothing more than an understanding of the way things ordinarily (but not always) work. That’s why we don’t treat the Proverbs like promises.
In other words, all the wisdom in the world, in the hands of the wise, practiced wisely does not guarantee a single outcome. All kinds of things can get in the way of wisdom—especially time, chance, and sinners, as the Preacher witnessed. O, how time and chance can derail the best laid plans and o, what damage a sinner can do.
The two great ditches to fall into are folly on the one side and hoping entirely in under the sun wisdom on the other. Trusting fully in the kind of wisdom the Preacher wrote about is as dangerous as rejecting it entirely.
What, then, is the right path to walk between the ditches? It is learning the way the world ordinarily works and living in light of it, while being directed above all by, and placing your hope only in, the above the sun commands and promises of God.
The right path is making wise plans and the entrusting them to the Lord.
The right path is heeding the words of James 4:13-15, “Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— 14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”
Learn the Preacher’s wisdom and live consistently with it, but do not place your trust in it. That is, train yourself to run fast and to be strong, do all you can to grow in knowledge and intelligence, and elect great rulers and build formidable armies (all of that is wise), but do those things with your eyes wide open to the fact that time, chance, and sin can make all of them impotent in a matter of seconds.
And learn even more the wisdom of God, revealed in the Word of God, live entirely conformed to it, and trust entirely in it. That alone is true wisdom. That alone never fails. That alone can truly bear the weight of all your hope.
CONCLUSION
In all of this we ought to be able to easily see that there is no true dilemma, only a false dilemma in the claim that either worldly wisdom is helpful or it is unhelpful. It has limits, but in its proper place, it also provides tremendous help.
Likewise, the claim that there is necessary tension between following under the sun wisdom and above the sun wisdom is a false dilemma as well. Each has a proper place among God’s people in God’s World. Above the sun wisdom must always rule, but often they fit together for a fuller wisdom.
In the end, however, the most important of all wisdom is folly by every under the sun measure. Indeed, it is nothing but folly to those who accept only under the sun wisdom (1 Corinthians 1:18) and a stumbling block who cannot see above the sun (1 Peter 2:8).
Under the sun wisdom can get us far, but the best of it falls infinitely short of getting us to Jesus and His salvation. Under the sun wisdom is enough to know that there is a God, that we’ve sinned against Him, and that we’re in big trouble because of it, but it isn’t enough to know what to do about it. Under the sun wisdom always makes men seek to earn their way to God or make up for their sins on their own. But above the sun wisdom reveals that what we are powerless to do ourselves, God did for us by sending His Son to be born of a virgin, to live a perfect life, and then die in place of all who would trust wholly in Him. Trust in Him, Grace, for that is the true beginning and greatest help of wisdom.