Eld Ko Swee Chay

Introduction

In Ecclesiastes 7:19-24, we learned about the value of wisdom and its ability to guide individuals in navigating life’s complexities. Wisdom strengthens a wise man and makes him stronger than ten men of authority and power.  A wise man understands the sinfulness of man and his own sinfulness. He does not take to heart or resent all the words that are spoken by others; he recognizes the imperfection of men, the weakness of others and self. Man must humbly accept that he doesn’t know many things, for his wisdom is limited compared to the infinite wisdom of God.

Ecclesiastes 7:25-29 is about Solomon’s diligent search for wisdom, his observation of “strange woman” and man’s depravity. 

Wisdom to guard against sexual sins (Eccl 7:25-26)

²⁵ I applied mine heart to know, and to search, and to seek out wisdom, and the reason of things, and to know the wickedness of folly, even of foolishness and madness: ²⁶ and I find more bitter than death the woman, whose heart is snares and nets, and her hands as bands: whoso pleaseth God shall escape from her; but the sinner shall be taken by her.

Solomon focused his heart and mind and concentrated all his might to investigate and discover true wisdom  and the evil of sins. He used three words, know, search, seek, to intimate his eager desire and express his vigorous and diligent endeavours after wisdom. He aimed to understand the underlying reasons of things, i.e. tracing effects to their causes, and the wickedness of stupidity and folly as well as the wickedness of foolishness and madness. God gave Solomon “a wise and understanding heart” (1 Ki 3:12), and yet he earnestly spent time and effort to know, search, and seek for wisdom; how much more do we need to diligently study and search the Scriptures to discern divine wisdom that will guard and protect us from falling into the temptation of fleshly lusts and sinning against God, and to help us live a godly, holy, and righteous life pleasing to God.        

Ecclesiastes 7:26 gives us the result of Solomon’s endeavours: His own sad and bitter experience of polygamy led him to a woman who is more bitter and pernicious than death and whose heart is snares and nets – full of crafty devices to ensnare men, and whose hands are bands – or chains to hold men fast in bondage. Those who please God, i.e. who are good, wise, righteous and pious before God, shall escape from her snare, by God’s grace, and be preserved from the dominion of fleshly lusts. But sinners, the foolish and undiscerning, who wilfully indulge in fleshly lusts shall be snared by her.  Solomon described the danger of such a woman whom he called “the strange woman” – she is a stranger to godliness. See examples of the strange woman in Proverbs 2:16, 5:3, 6:24 and 7:5.   

Solomon loved many strange women. His three hundred wives and seven hundred concubines turned away his heart to other gods. He wilfully ignored God’s commandments to not make marriages with the daughters of the heathen and multiply wives (1 Ki 11:1-4, Deut 7:3-4 & 17:17). Solomon, with a vast amount of God’s knowledge was led astray to the pleasure of sins. Knowing the Word of God in the head is not enough if the Word is not obeyed in the heart.

Man must be extremely cautious, to be on guard with great watchfulness to avoid falling into the temptation and to flee from the seduction of strange women at all costs. Joseph said, “how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” (Gen 39:9b) and fled from the advancement of his master’s wife.

Man’s depravity (Eccl 7:27-28)

²⁷ Behold, this have I found, saith the Preacher, counting one by one, to find out the account: ²⁸ which yet my soul seeketh, but I find not: one man among a thousand have I found; but a woman among all those have I not found.

Solomon spoke of what he had learned through deep and careful study and costly experience. He examined things or persons very exactly and distinctly one after another to discover the scheme of things and their explanation. He then made a startling observation evidently from his personal encounters: “one man among a thousand have I found; but a woman among all those have I not found.”      

Solomon was neither making a general comparison between men and women, nor disparaging women to conclude that men are more righteous and virtuous than women or that women are more depraved than men. He was not implying that one out of a thousand men are righteous and virtuous, and not one woman is like that. This is not to be understood of women in general, for Solomon must have known that there were chaste and virtuous women, and he had spoken very highly of godly women. He described them as gracious, virtuous, wise, prudent, God fearing etc. (Proverbs 11:16, 12:4, 14:1; 19:14; 31:10-31). Rather, Solomon was speaking the language of one who was penitent who could not find anyone within his own household who was virtuous and upright. He expressed this view using a form of Hebrew Poetry called “graded numerical sequence” or an “n/n+1 saying” in which the second item is the focus of attention since it comprises the climax or the point the writer was making. [Other examples of “graded numerical sequence” are Prov 6:16, 30:15, 18, 21 etc.] In this context, Solomon claimed that righteous man, in a generic sense referring to both men and women, is scarce and non-existent. Man is totally depraved, as what he pronounced before: “For there is not a just man upon earth, that does good, and sinneth not.” (Eccl 7:20). Man is born in sin because of Adam’s sin. Therefore, man needs a Saviour Jesus Christ to deliver him from the bondage of sin which is death and hell.

God made man upright (Eccl 7:29) 

²⁹ Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.

The observation of Solomon given in Ecclesiastes 7:28 is confirmed in Ecclesiastes 7:29, a most important verse, where he gave the reason – man’s original nature and his awful apostasy from it. Although God made man, our first parents Adam & Eve upright, they (Adam, Eve and all generations that follow) did not obey God but went in search of many inventions or schemes. Genesis 1:26, 27 & 31 reveal to us that God created male and female in His own image and after His likeness, and everything that God made was very good, i.e. upright, perfect, no corruptions and without sin. Sadly, Adam and Eve succumbed to temptation, rebelled against God and fell into the sin of disobeying God’s Word, and mankind plunged into sin. Henceforth, they know good and evil experientially; they follow their own inventions, schemes, imaginations and selfish desires; they lack wisdom, uprightness, righteousness and virtue, and displease and dishonour God. Through the sacrificial death of the Saviour of the world, our Lord Jesus Christ, God saves and delivers man out of this depraved state and returns him to uprightness according to His sovereign will.        

Conclusion

It would have been better for Solomon to learn the foolishness and madness by observations and by the mistakes of others, than by his terrible personal experiences. Similarly for us. Man, take heed of the warning of Solomon that the “strange woman” is seductive and dangerous. Man, guard and protect yourself from being snared by such women and a life that is ruined in shame. Men and women are born sinners and are totally depraved. Only through the saving grace of and through Jesus Christ can mankind be made righteous before God. AMEN.