Chapter seven of Ecclesiastes begins with a Proverbial section of text—it has a number of wise sayings, many of which sum up the previous six chapters in some way. Some are fairly simple, but others carry a lot of weight and require some understanding of the first six chapters to make the connection, so let’s just dive into them.
Verse 1 says, “A good name is better than fine perfume, and the day of one’s death than the day of one’s birth.
What’s important to understand is that one’s name is synonymous with their reputation. In essence, it’s your character. In some cases, it’s character that is somewhat delineated from your family’s reputation and position in society, in others, it’s the reputation you’ve built up for yourself. But the important idea being conveyed here is that, even if you can cover up an ugly character with perfume, it will wear off. It’s better to make a good name for yourself by establishing good character than to attempt to cover up your actions when you need to look good.
This fits pretty well with a key theme of integrity from Ecclesiastes 5. It’s important to establish yourself as someone who does good rather than someone who does bad. The second part of that verse is similar to the topic I discussed last week and fits well with Philippians 1:21. Life after death will be beyond conceivably better than life on Earth for the believer.
Verse 2 is a request to take this life seriously and not to live it as though it’s an 85-year party, even though this life isn’t the end. “It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, since that is the end of all mankind, and the living should take it to heart.”
For the importance of this life to sink in, it is necessary to understand that it does end at some point. Similar to the phrase, “you don’t know what you have until it’s gone,” you don’t know how valuable this life is until you understand that it is limited. It’s far better for your eternal health to understand that there is importance to this life beyond just having a good time.
Verse 3 says, “Grief is better than laughter, for when a face is sad, a heart may be glad.” This refers back to joy. It’s an outlook on life that allows you to go through hard times and still be glad. It’s a perspective shift granted by a life reliant on God that only allows circumstantial events to affect you on the surface.
And on the flip side of this statement, though likely not intended here by Solomon, it’s possible for someone to appear happy but in reality be sad—something that our society today faces and understands better than most. So, don’t fool yourself, or let yourself be fooled by, an appearance of happiness. You’re looking for a root of happiness rather than a flower.
Verse 4 takes us all the way back to chapter 1. “The heart of the wise is in a house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in a house of pleasure.” Those who truly understand the position people on this Earth are in mourn for it. We believers should be mourning for the state of the world, for the lost, because we know the end result for those who do not know our God.
And now more than ever we see the second half of verse 4 being lived out wherein people gleefully cheer and celebrate about going to Hell. They exclaim that Satan is for them because they’ve found pleasure on this Earth.
In light of the explanation of verse 4, verses 5-6 are fairly self-explanatory, so I’ll leave those to you and move on to verse 7. “Surely, the practice of extortion turns a wise person into a fool, and a bribe destroys the mind.”
Personally, I think a better word to use for “mind” in this verse is “heart.” The Hebrew word used here could mean both. Using wisdom to take advantage of others or accept bribes is, in essence, incredibly unwise. It destroys your heart and changes who you are as a person. It’s degrading to your character, which changes how you can employ wisdom. To say it another way, wisdom without morals is tantamount to folly. We’ll expand on that in verse 12.
“For wisdom is protection as money is protection, and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of its owner.”
The thing about money is that it’s a finite resource. Yes, it can be used to protect you, but only until it runs out. The advantage of wisdom is that it is endless, and the one who owns it automatically uses it to his/her advantage. It’s a biased resource to be used, whereas money is completely unbiased. But that’s also why you should use it wisely because the tool of wisdom is only as good as the actions it is used for.
For all the procrastinators out there, verse 8 is for you, and me, “The end of a matter is better than its beginning; a patient spirit is better than a proud spirit.”
The beginning of anything is difficult, whether it’s because of an anxiousness for it to start but having to wait or it’s because you know you need to start but are too anxious to do so. But once you get over the hump of doing it, the thing itself, and the conclusion of the thing, is well worth the satisfaction of starting it.
I like the idea of reading the second half of verse 8 as “give time for others to notice your work rather than being quick to justify your own skill.” We sometimes have this sentiment that no one else will notice what we do, so we have to be the ones to announce all our accolades. But it’s far better to wait—people don’t like prideful people, so be patient and others will notice.
Verse 10 says, “Don’t say, ‘Why were the former days better than these?’ since it is not wise of you to ask this.”
I like this one a lot because it covers the grass is always greener idiom. It’s not right to dwell on the past or the lives of others. Comparison is the root of jealousy, which is often the root of greed. You’ll never have joy in good or bad times if you’re constantly comparing your current situation to times you thought were better. We’re tasked to live in the moment so we do not rob ourselves of joy.
Verse 11 says, “Consider the work of God, for who can straighten out what He has made crooked?”
This verse has a hefty meaning behind it, and it’s one that we often overlook in our fervor for righteousness. But there are some things in this world that are just unchangeable for us. And instead of railing against the immovable object, we should learn to work with what we have. There are some avenues of sharing the gospel that just won’t work. Think of it this way: there are just some avenues for sharing the gospel that have a roadblock on them. People have been made fully obstinate in this way, but often, we try to beat the dead horse to prove God when God’s saying, “try another way to reach this person’s heart.”
Finally, verse 14 says, “In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity, consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man cannot discover anything that will come after him.”
And I think of that simply like this: God has made times for us that are easy, and He has times for us that are hard. But both are under God’s domain. Both are under His control. There is nothing that happens in this world that He does not see, know, and have power over. In times that are rough, be reminded that the Lord is still in control, and place your joy in that.