Please turn with me to Ecclesiastes, chapter 9.
Fun statistic to start today: Every minute, 500 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube. that’s 720,000 hours every day. Over 82 years' worth of new video is uploaded. Every. Day. And that’s just YouTube. TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat… It’s a nonstop avalanche of voices, opinions, hot takes, dances, rants, and “influencers” yelling for our attention. What is it teaching us? How is it helping us?
The Parable of the Poor Wise Man
Our passage today starts with Solomon telling us a parable.
Ecclesiastes 9:13–15 (CSB)
13 I have observed that this also is wisdom under the sun, and it is significant to me: 14 There was a small city with few men in it. A great king came against it, surrounded it, and built large siege works against it. 15 Now a poor wise man was found in the city, and he delivered the city by his wisdom. Yet no one remembered that poor man.
And the lesson of the parable?
Wisdom is Strong, Wisdom is Quiet
Ecclesiastes 9:16-17 (CSB)
16 And I said, “Wisdom is better than strength, but the wisdom of the poor man is despised, and his words are not heeded.” 17 The calm words of the wise are heeded more than the shouts of a ruler over fools.
A better translation of verse 17 is that the calm words of the wise are better than the shouts of rulers over a crowd of fools. I didn't make that up. You can see it in other English translations. The CSB, for some reason, chose a translation that's a little confusing. (This is one reason we recommend taking a look at several different translations when you are trying to understand the meaning of a passage, if you don't know the original languages. And even if you do, still look at other people's work.)
This is the main lesson of the passage today, as complicated as the rest of chapter 10 will be, this sets the theme for us. We are talking about wisdom and folly. Specifically, Solomon is observing that in this upside-down world, we live in under the sun, where everything is broken by sin and folly (foolishness), and wisdom that brings success and safety in life is overlooked by the crowds.
We are a species that tends to value power, prestige, and platform. We like pop stars. For some reason, we spent a lot of time listening to, wondering about, and caring about what pop stars have to say, instead of what wisdom might say.
I have heard many political commentators say that one of the problems with our modern system over the last several decades is the problem of being elected. Elected officials have to gain and retain voters' attention and favor. And Solomon is putting his finger on a major problem with that. Something like 2700 years ago, he observed a reality about humanity that still makes life difficult today: we tend to listen to the shouts of rulers or pop stars rather than to quiet wisdom, which would deliver us from our enemies.
Today's passage has two simple points. One, as we just discussed in Verses 13 through 17, wisdom is strong but also quiet and hard to hear. Two, the rest of the passage shows that sin and Folly are loud and destructive.
Sin is Loud and Destructive
I'm going to go through the rest of the passage and offer a few comments to help us understand what he's talking about, and then we will talk about what we're supposed to do with it.
Ecclesiastes 9:18–10:4 (CSB)
18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner can destroy much good. 1 Dead flies make a perfumer’s oil ferment and stink; so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor. 2 A wise person’s heart goes to the right, but a fool’s heart to the left. 3 Even when the fool walks along the road, his heart lacks sense, and he shows everyone he is a fool.4 If the ruler’s anger rises against you, don’t leave your post, for calmness puts great offenses to rest.
The small section starts by saying that it just takes one sinner to destroy the work of much wisdom. Dead flies make the perfumer's oils stink. This is where we get the phrase “the fly in the ointment.” It means the one little nagging thing that ruins the whole. We have a modern phrase, “one rotten apple spoils the whole bunch.”
Perfume-making takes time, with fragrances soaking in oils. If an insect gets in unnoticed at the beginning of the process, the whole thing will be infected and ruined. This is an illustration Solomon uses to discuss the destructive effects of a fool on a community. He uses the term foolishness or fool synonymously with sinner.
The next two verses about “going to the right or to the left” and “the fool walking along the road” are basically just saying that you can tell a fool by the way they behave. The proverbs say, “Even a fool will be considered wise if he keeps his mouth shut.”
But remember verse four as we go. It's a very important point in this whole passage. Another proverb says, “Gentle words turn away wrath.”
He then continues with another observation he has made, another illustration or parable. When a fool is in charge, everything seems backward and upside down.
Ecclesiastes 10:5-7 (CSB)
5 There is an evil I have seen under the sun, an error proceeding from the presence of the ruler: 6 The fool is appointed to great heights, but the rich remain in lowly positions. 7 I have seen slaves on horses, but princes walking on the ground like slaves.
Lack of wisdom in work
This next section speaks of the consequences of foolishness in our everyday work.
Ecclesiastes 10:8-11 (CSB)
8 The one who digs a pit may fall into it, and the one who breaks through a wall may be bitten by a snake. 9 The one who quarries stones may be hurt by them; the one who splits logs may be endangered by them. 10 If the ax is dull, and one does not sharpen its edge, then one must exert more strength; however, the advantage of wisdom is that it brings success. 11 If the snake bites before it is charmed, then there is no advantage for the charmer.
If we go about our work unwisely, harm can result. Also, because we live in a world where others are unwise, we may come to harm. Foolishness causes harm to ourselves and others.
Lack of wisdom in words
This next section speaks to the consequences of foolishness with our words
Ecclesiastes 10:12-15 (CSB)
12 The words from the mouth of a wise person are gracious, but the lips of a fool consume him. 13 The beginning of the words from his mouth is folly, but the end of his speaking is evil madness; 14 yet the fool multiplies words. No one knows what will happen, and who can tell anyone what will happen after him? 15 The struggles of fools weary them, for they don’t know how to go to the city.
Indulgence, Incompetence,Indifference
The preceding two sections on work and words are not merely a randomly inserted group of proverbs. Solomon uses them as a buildup to observations about foolishness in our rulers and officials. If foolishness harms normal people in their everyday work, the effect is only amplified when the people in charge are fools. He looks at indulgence, incompetence, and indifference
Ecclesiastes 10:16-19 (CSB)
16 Woe to you, land, when your king is a youth and your princes feast in the morning. 17 Blessed are you, land, when your king is a son of nobles and your princes feast at the proper time— for strength and not for drunkenness. 18 Because of laziness the roof caves in, and because of negligent hands the house leaks. 19 A feast is prepared for laughter, and wine makes life happy, and money is the answer for everything.
Verse 19 is a little hard to understand. There are several potential understandings. One is that he's being sarcastic and commenting on the foolish rulers, feasting and laughing, and getting drunk and just throwing money at problems.This seems a likely understanding.
Another likely understanding is that verse 19 is sort of a transition verse with Solomon applying things to the listener. The word for “feast” is literally just “bread.” Last Sunday we talked about enjoying the simple things of life, eating bread with gladness and drinking wine with cheerfulness, and first 19 seems to be a simple restatement of those things.
The phrase “money is the answer for everything” is also a little tricky for us. The Hebrew here has a range of potential meanings, and you'll see if you compare a number of translations that there are some differences. One simple understanding of this passage is that the word that answers for everything really means “is required for everything” or “is needed for everything.”
Indiscretion
To wrap up our section, he moves on from indulgence, incompetence, and indifference to the foolishness of indiscretion with our words. Simply this: avoid gossip and complaining about influential people.
Ecclesiastes 10:20 (CSB)
20 Do not curse the king even in your thoughts, and do not curse a rich person even in your bedroom, for a bird of the sky may carry the message, and a winged creature may report the matter.
Application
What do we do with today’s passage? There are many proverbs-like lessons to be learned. Primarily, that we should pursue wisdom in our words and in our work. Work hard wisely with a sharp axe. Be careful about the words you use. Seek after wisdom which is not found on TikTok from influencers or from this stage or platform of pop stars and politicians.
As Jesus’ brother, James said:
James 3:13–18 (CSB)
13 Who among you is wise and understanding? By his good conduct he should show that his works are done in the gentleness that comes from wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your heart, don’t boast and deny the truth. 15 Such wisdom does not come down from above but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there is disorder and every evil practice. 17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peace-loving, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without pretense. 18 And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who cultivate peace.
As we seek after this heavenly wisdom and hear Ecclesiastes’ warnings about the foolishness of influential people, it would be easy to point the finger at various leaders and celebrity figures in our world and moan about the destruction caused by their sin and foolishness. And we could spend a good amount of time doing that. We exist in a target-rich environment for that.
But for us, much more practical is to look in the mirror.If we are honest with ourselves, we are often the foolish sinners of this passage. Our words consume us. We fall into pits of our own making. We beat our heads against the rocks and snakes of life. We hurt ourselves, our loved ones, and the world around us with our sin. And our sin earns us a just punishment from our Creator.
But there is good news. Our sin is like that great king with large siege works marching against the city. We are the small and weak city. But Jesus is the poor, wise man who saves us.
1 Corinthians 1:24–30 (CSB)
24 Yet to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God, 25 because God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength. 26 Brothers and sisters, consider your calling: Not many were wise from a human perspective, not many powerful, not many of noble birth… …30 It is from him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom from God for us—our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.
Jesus is the true and better “poor wise man,” despised, overlooked, forgotten by the world—yet the One whose quiet wisdom saves His people. In the Gospels, we read about Jesus standing accused by the crowds, on trial before Pilate.
John 19:7–11a (CSB)
7 “We have a law,” the Jews replied to him, “and according to that law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.” 8 When Pilate heard this statement, he was more afraid than ever. 9 He went back into the headquarters and asked Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus did not give him an answer. 10 So Pilate said to him, “Do you refuse to speak to me? Don’t you know that I have the authority to release you and the authority to crucify you?” 11 “You would have no authority over me at all,” Jesus answered him, “if it hadn’t been given you from above.”
Jesus stood His ground before the shouting of the crowd and the anger of Pilate. He stood there in our place. He calmly stated the simple truth to Pilate: “You have no power at all except what is given to you by God.” This is all going exactly according to His plan.
His calmness—His silence before His shearers, as the prophet Isaiah put it—put our great offenses to rest. The sins Ecclesiastes describes so vividly…the destruction caused by our folly…the ruin brought by our foolish words… Jesus took it all onto Himself.
Because Jesus, the Wisdom of God, quietly took our place in the courtroom of heaven, all the destruction caused by our sin and foolishness, the traps we fall into, the words that ruin us, and the self-harm of our own sin and folly were laid on Him instead of us.
And on the cross, the poor wise man delivered the city. He conquered the siege of sin, death, and hell. And though the world despised Him and forgot Him, God raised Him in power and glory. So now everyone who trusts in Him receives not only forgiveness, but the very wisdom of God for life.
This is the invitation of the gospel: Come to the One whom the world ignores. Come to the quiet Wisdom who saves. Come to Jesus.
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