Ecclesiastes 1:12-18 Click here for Bible Verses
Hi GAMErs!
Today’s passage is Ecclesiastes 1:12-18. Let’s go!
Ecclesiastes 1:12-18 (NIV)
12 I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem.
13 I devoted myself to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven. What a heavy burden God has laid on men!
14 I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
15 What is twisted cannot be straightened; what is lacking cannot be counted.
16 I thought to myself, “Look, I have grown and increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem before me; I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge.”
17 Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom, and also of madness and folly, but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind.
18 For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief.
On verses 12-18: In verse 12 Qohelet (the Teacher) confirms that he was king of Israel, ruling in Jerusalem. Then in verses 13-15 Qohelet describes how he pursued wisdom and knowledge, yet it led him nowhere. Despite trying to wisely explore everything that is done on the earth (v13), he found nothing that was truly meaningful; everything was just “a chasing after the wind” (v14). Moreover, Qohelet found that there were certain problems that could not be solved (“what is twisted cannot be straightened” – v15) and certain questions where key information was lacking which made finding an answer impossible (“what is lacking cannot be counted” – v15). Thus he concludes that pursuing wisdom and knowledge this way was “a heavy burden” that God had laid upon people (v13).
In verses 16-18 Qohelet again describes how his search for wisdom led him nowhere. He had “grown and increased in wisdom more than anyone who had ruled over Jerusalem before” (v16). Yet having “experienced much of wisdom and knowledge” (v16), he found that with much wisdom comes much sorrow, and with more knowledge, more grief (v18). Why is that? Maybe it’s because:
– the more wisdom you have, the more you realize how much people lack wisdom in the way they live, and that can be frustrating and sad;
– wise people will often find themselves dealing with tough situations and difficult problems, not just the fun stuff. Whereas the hedonist intentionally turns a blind eye to problems and focuses on pleasure, the wise person is compelled to look at the tough stuff that the hedonist ignores. The wise involve themselves in ways that the hedonist doesn’t, and that can be burdensome;
– the wiser you are, the more people want to get wisdom from you, and that can be tiring.
Likely because Qohelet became disillusioned with pursuing wisdom, we learn that Qohelet not only tried to understand and explore wisdom but also madness and folly (v17), which foreshadows what Qohelet will talk about next: the pursuit of pleasure.
Whereas the Solomon of Proverbs celebrated the benefits of wisdom, how wisdom brings life and peace (Proverb 3:16-18), the Solomon of Ecclesiastes bemoans wisdom as a burden, as something that brings sorrow and grief. What are we to make of all this? Notice that in the book of Proverbs, wisdom and God are intimately connected such as to be inseparable. You can’t really have one without the other. But here in Ecclesiastes 1:12-18, Qohelet seems to treat wisdom as something separate and apart from God. He seems to regard wisdom as something that he can attain or manage without God. This might explain his disillusionment. In the words of James 3:13-18, it appears that Qohelet (Solomon in his later life) had settled for an inferior kind of “wisdom” – an earthly, unspiritual wisdom as opposed to the wisdom that comes from God and being with God.
When we try to pursue wisdom with God, what we ultimately gain is life, peace and joy. But when we try to pursue wisdom on our own apart from God, or we pursue wisdom for wisdom’s sake rather than for God’s sake, we leave the foundation of wisdom (Proverbs 1:7) and end up empty, unfulfilled and burdened.
It matters how you pursue wisdom and why. We need to pursue wisdom with God for God’s glory, not on our own for our own glory.
Father, I pray that I would always have the right view of wisdom. May I never forget that the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom. May I pursue wisdom as an outflow of my relationship with You rather than as an independent pursuit on my own. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
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