A sermon preached at Covenant Presbyterian Church of Fort Smith, Arkansas on September 17, 2023.
Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good. Dead flies make the perfumer’s ointment give off a stench; so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor. A wise man’s heart inclines him to the right, but a fool’s heart to the left. Even when the fool walks on the road, he lacks sense, and he says to everyone that he is a fool. If the anger of the ruler rises against you, do not leave your place, for calmness will lay great offenses to rest. There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, as it were an error proceeding from the ruler: folly is set in many high places, and the rich sit in a low place. I have seen slaves on horses, and princes walking on the ground like slaves. He who digs a pit will fall into it, and a serpent will bite him who breaks through a wall. He who quarries stones is hurt by them, and he who splits logs is endangered by them. If the iron is blunt, and one does not sharpen the edge, he must use more strength, but wisdom helps one to succeed. If the serpent bites before it is charmed, there is no advantage to the charmer. The words of a wise man’s mouth win him favor, but the lips of a fool consume him. The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness, and the end of his talk is evil madness. A fool multiplies words, though no man knows what is to be, and who can tell him what will be after him? The toil of a fool wearies him, for he does not know the way to the city. Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child, and your princes feast in the morning! Happy are you, O land, when your king is the son of the nobility, and your princes feast at the proper time, for strength, and not for drunkenness! Through sloth the roof sinks in, and through indolence the house leaks. Bread is made for laughter, and wine gladdens life, and money answers everything. Even in your thoughts, do not curse the king, nor in your bedroom curse the rich, for a bird of the air will carry your voice, or some winged creature tell the matter (Ecclesiastes 9:18-10:20).[1]
The bulk of the tenth chapter of Ecclesiastes consists of individual proverbs, poetically-structured truisms, varying by subject, interconnected by theme. What can seem repetitive to modern ears is intentionally reinforcing these themes, repetitively engaging the reader’s imagination, and leading to greater insight. But all of these varying proverbs flow into one general theme: Wisdom is better than folly. And who would disagree? But when we look at real life, in everything that is happening in this life under the sun, we often see folly in abundance.
We are not immune to its reach either, which is why we need Ecclesiastes, and the other wisdom literature of the Bible, to remind us of the superiority of wisdom, in contrast to the folly of the world. Because, in this life in which so much emphasis is put on power, in a world that seems at war, Solomon says wisdom is more valuable than weaponry. Weapons may be needed in battle, but wisdom wins wars. Yet, folly insidiously slips in, preying upon the weakness of our will, enticing us to welcome it in. And once present, folly makes itself known.
For example, God made man in his own image, “in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them” (Gen. 1:27). But rather than glorify God with praise and thanksgiving for life itself, man neither honors nor gives thanks to God, worshiping not the Creator but the created (Rom. 1:18-23). Rather than live in the wisdom of God-given gender, man rejects God’s design and assigns his own seemingly autonomous labels. God created the woman for the man and gave them the blessing of one-flesh union and communion for life, but man rejects God’s design and adulterates and perverts his gift. God gave man the vast and plentiful resources of creation to work and keep it (Gen. 2:15), but man chose to desecrate and destroy it through ceaseless greed and unbridled consumption. Folly has made itself known since Eden, but it is not confined to history. If history tells us anything, it is that folly knows no limits.
Folly Knows No Limits
Solomon says, “One sinner destroys much good” (9:18). The folly of sin corrupts, even in limited quantity. For example, consider the costly craft of perfumery, where valuable natural resources are crafted into a beautifully fragrant aroma, but drop a few dead flies in the oil, and their presence is pervasive, the perfume is ruined. Sin is like that, corrupting what is otherwise beautiful. So powerful is the folly of sin’s corrupting, consuming presence that it even dictates one’s direction. Wide and popular is the gate that leads to destruction, Jesus said (Matt. 7:13), a path paved with the stones of folly. Yet, the fool is oblivious: his folly seems evident to others, but not himself.
In fact, it is no more obvious than through the words of his mouth. As folly knows no limits, so the fool’s speech. He must say something, anything; he is consumed with being heard. His vocabulary becomes a verbal vomiting of the contents of his heart. As Jesus said, “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matt. 12:34). Little does the fool know, Solomon says, that he is moving precipitously toward madness. The foolish spewing of his heart’s corruption drives him crazy.
Self-justified, he’d rather talk than do anything. In fact, one of the signs of a fool is he can talk about work all day but never actually do it. Just the thought of work is exhausting, better talk about it. Perhaps he meant to work, better talk about it. Though a job awaits him in the city, he conveniently cannot find his way, better talk about it. And while his roof sinks in and his house leaks, he knows just what to do, better talk about it.
But eventually a fool will be found out, at least by the wise. So, how can a fool hide his folly? One option is to mask it with money, because “money answers everything” (10:19). Long is the line to hear the advice of a fool if he’s wealthy, but no one asks the poor man. And if the rich is a ruler, a governing official, spending money hides his ineptness, safeguards his self-indulgence, protects his place in history. Money pacifies his critics, builds his supporters, and promotes his prominence. When problems arise, focus attention on the economy. When faced with hardships, send out money. Trouble paying debts? Print more money. Truly, folly knows no limits.
And this then helps us identify it. Its financial foolishness is continuous. Its persuasive words are endless. Its lack of discernment is infamous. Its consuming corruption is ubiquitous. Folly flourishes in the boundless, but wisdom knows its limits.
Wisdom Knows Its Limits
Martin Luther said, “A Christian is an utterly free man, lord of all, subject to none. A Christian is an utterly dutiful man, servant of all, subject to all.”[2] The paradox that Luther describes confronts the illusion of limitlessness. Christians know that we are free to serve and submit, to love the Lord our God and our neighbor as ourselves (Matt. 12:30-31). And we see wisdom in the limits of God’s design and provision. In his writing, Wendell Berry talks a lot about the wisdom of limits, as a kind of self-imposed governance or restraint, which he describes as
the ability to accept and live within limits; to resist changes that are merely novel or fashionable; to resist greed and pride; to resist the temptation to ‘solve’ problems by ignoring them, accepting them as ‘trade-offs,’ or bequeathing them to posterity. A good solution, then, must be in harmony with good character, cultural value, and moral law.[3]
Such self-governed restraint doesn’t restrain freedom but rather frees us to live wisely. For example, given the divergent paths of choice, wisdom doesn’t consider every path equally right, but limits choice to prudence. Wisdom then is “doing the right thing the right way at the right time.”[4] Or, consider Solomon’s example of the angry ruler. Whether warranted or not, he is angry. Fact: You and I will encounter rational and irrational angry people in this life. How we respond is a matter of choice; we are not victims. Wisdom teaches us not to explode in impassioned self-defense or run away from conflict but to keep calm, seeking to understand and then be understood.
This, of course, doesn’t mean that we will always see with perfect clarity or even understand what we see. Solomon was one of the wisest sons of Adam to ever live, and yet he could not explain the presence of folly, especially in the unlikeliest of places. Observation doesn’t mean understanding. Just because we see something doesn’t explain why it is the way it is. But in the case of folly, at the very least we can avoid it when we see it. It’s better to learn from someone else’s mistake to avoid your own. But sometimes, we do make mistakes:
He who digs a pit will fall into it,
and a serpent will bite him who breaks through a wall.
He who quarries stones is hurt by them,
and he who splits logs is endangered by them (10:8-9).
Part of living involves accidents. They happen to us all, including the wise.
The difference is that the wise learn from mistakes to prevent repeating them. When chopping wood with a dull axe, the wise have learned to stop and sharpen the bit. When faced with a biting snake, the wise have learned to run (and quickly!) or kill the snake. When asked to speak, the wise have learned to limit their words to the timely and appropriate. When confided in, the wise have learned to be discrete (who knows who is listening?). The point is to learn from our mistakes and thereby gain wisdom. Folly is repeating them.
God Knows It All
There are, however, some things out of our control. Solomon gives the examples of a foolish and wise ruler. Sometimes God establishes a ruler in authority who has the maturity level of a child. Everything about his governance seems to be his self-indulgence and the support of his on-going pleasure. And yet, God can also raise up a ruler of noble stock and character, governing in wisdom, knowing what to do, how to do it, and when to do it. Intentionally limiting his self-interest for the sake of those he serves, he leads a happy nation. How is one raised up and not the other? God only knows.
But know he does, and so wisdom teaches us to rest confidently in his providential care. We will not understand everything. We will be perplexed at times. Our lack of understanding does not make God any less sovereign, but it does teach us to trust him and to learn the distinction between worldly and godly wisdom.
Or, to oversimplify it: What the world often thinks is wisdom is folly, and what the world thinks is often folly is wisdom. For example, Christ crucified is foolishness to the world, Paul reminded the Corinthians, and “the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing” (1 Cor. 1:23, 18). But by God’s grace, through the “folly” of Christ’s cross, he “became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption” (1 Cor. 1:30). So, if the world seems to us to abide in a wisdom contrary to God’s, Jesus confirmed it. For, the wisdom of God is found in Christ.
Consider then some of the limits of God-given wisdom: Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6); such is the wisdom of God. John said, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16); such is the wisdom of God. And “Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. … Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life” (1 John 4:15, 5:12). Such are the limits of the wisdom of God, and in his wisdom is life. Let us give thanks and praise for the wisdom of God.
[1] Unless referenced otherwise, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (Wheaton: Crossway Bibles, 2001).
[2] https://lutheranreformation.org/theology/on-the-freedom-of-a-christian/#_ftn1
[3] Wendell Berry, “Solving for Pattern,” The Gift of the Good Land (Berkley: North Point Press, 1982).
[4] Benjamin Shaw, Ecclesiastes: Life in a Fallen World (Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust, 2019), 140.
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