Ecclesiastes 7:15-29
Fear God and Avoid Extremes
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15In my futile life I have seen both of these: A righteous man perishing in his righteousness, and a wicked man living long in his wickedness.
16Do not be overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself?
17Do not be excessively wicked, and do not be a fool. Why should you die before your time?
18It is good to grasp the one and not let the other slip from your hand. For he who fears God will follow both warnings.
19Wisdom makes the wise man stronger than ten rulers in a city.
20Surely there is no righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.
21Do not pay attention to every word that is spoken, or you may hear your servant cursing you.
22For you know in your heart that many times you yourself have cursed others.
23All this I tested by wisdom, saying, “I resolve to be wise.” But it was beyond me.
24What exists is out of reach and very deep. Who can fathom it?
25I directed my mind to understand, to explore, to search out wisdom and explanations, and to understand the stupidity of wickedness and the folly of madness.
26And I find more bitter than death the woman who is a snare, whose heart is a net, and whose hands are chains. The man who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is ensnared.
27“Behold,” says the Teacher, “I have discovered this by adding one thing to another to find an explanation.
28While my soul was still searching but not finding, among a thousand I have found one upright man, but among all these I have not found one such woman.
29Only this have I found: I have discovered that God made mankind upright, but they have sought out many schemes.”
Berean Standard Bible
Read aloud
The Teacher has seen a righteous person perish in righteousness and a wicked person live long in wickedness. The observation challenges the assumption that every earthly outcome immediately reveals a person's moral standing.
He warns against being overly righteous and overly wise, then also against being excessively wicked and foolish. These difficult lines belong beside his observation that righteous conduct does not guarantee a long life. We should not treat our goodness or wisdom as a way to control what happens to us. Nor should we answer unfairness by giving ourselves over to evil. The next verse directs us to fear God and heed both warnings.
The Teacher says it is good to grasp one warning without letting the other go, because the person who fears God will follow both. Reverence for God keeps wisdom from becoming self-admiration and keeps realism from becoming permission for evil.
He then says there is no righteous person on earth who always does good and never sins. That sentence resists both superiority and despair. We cannot claim flawless goodness, and we do not need to pretend that wrongdoing is harmless.
The Teacher advises against listening to every word spoken by others. A servant may curse his master, but the hearer knows that he too has cursed others. Remembering our own failures can make us less eager to collect every insult.
Proverbs likewise warns against trusting our own understanding. Romans says all people are accountable and that the Law exposes sin rather than giving us a basis for boasting.
In his continuing search, the Teacher describes a woman whose heart and hands entrap, and says that the person who pleases God escapes her. He reports finding one upright man among a thousand, but no such woman among those he searched. This is a troubling report of his search, not a command to distrust every woman. His conclusion names the failure of humanity: God made mankind upright, but people have pursued many schemes.
How We Know
Verse 20 says nobody always does good without sinning, and verse 29 says that humanity has sought many schemes. Those statements keep the Teacher's difficult observations from becoming a basis for moral superiority. Proverbs 3:7 likewise joins refusing to be wise in our own eyes with fearing the LORD and turning from evil. And Proverbs 31:30 explicitly praises a woman who fears the LORD; the Teacher's unsuccessful search is not Scripture's final verdict on women.
Questions
1 What had the Teacher observed about righteous and wicked people?
AnswerHe had seen a righteous person perish despite righteousness and a wicked person live long despite wickedness, which makes simplistic explanations dangerous.
2 What keeps the two warnings together?
AnswerFear of God. The Teacher does not offer a safe amount of sin; he tells us to heed both warnings without pretending our wisdom can control life.
3 What should we remember when we hear someone speaking against us?
AnswerWe too have spoken wrongly about others. Remembering our own failures can keep us from dwelling on every insult.
4 What did God make mankind to be?
AnswerGod made mankind upright, but people have pursued many schemes, using their freedom to complicate what God made good.
What This Means for Us
When someone makes an unkind remark about us, we can remember words we regret saying ourselves. That does not excuse cruelty. It may keep us from collecting every insult or demanding a perfection we have never shown.
Fear God when life seems unfair, and be honest about your own need for mercy. Neither the success of a wrongdoer nor the suffering of a faithful person gives us permission to sin. We can obey without claiming to understand every outcome.
Prayer
God, keep us humble and honest. Protect us from self-righteousness, foolish permission, and contempt for others; teach us to fear You and walk uprightly. Amen.