Pastor's Sermon Notes: Ecclesiastes (series), #2 - The Wages of Wisdom (Ecclesiastes 1:12-18)

Series: Ecclesiastes

Sermon #2: The Wages of Wisdom

Ecclesiastes 1:12-18

¹² I the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem. ¹³ And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven: this sore travail hath God given to the sons of man to be exercised therewith. ¹⁴ I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit. ¹⁵ That which is crooked cannot be made straight: and that which is wanting cannot be numbered. ¹⁶ I communed with mine own heart, saying, Lo, I am come to great estate, and have gotten more wisdom than all they that have been before me in Jerusalem: yea, my heart had great experience of wisdom and knowledge. ¹⁷ And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit. ¹⁸ For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.

Outline:

I. The Sore Travail of Mankind’s Search for Wisdom (1:12-13)

II. The Conclusion of the Preacher (1:14-15)

II. The Credentials of the Preacher (1:16)

III. The Perception of the Preacher (1:17-18)

I. The Sore Travail of Mankind’s Search for Wisdom (1:12-13)

¹² I the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem. ¹³ And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven: this sore travail hath God given to the sons of man to be exercised therewith.

12. “was”?

13. A total commitment to the study of all earthly wisdom

“under heaven” - cp. “under the sun”

Words, subjects, terms, themes  related to the Fall: vanity, sore travail, grief, sorrow, vexation, crooked, wanting, madness, folly, etc.

All such terms must be understood as rooted in the Fall, and descriptive of the nature of a fallen creation, our fallen state, and our existence between the Fall and Glory.

The introduction of two of the main repeated themes of the book of Ecclesiastes is included in verse 13: “God,” (40x), and  “gift/given” (12x)

The translation and force of “sore travail”

YLT: a sad travail

NASB: a grievous task [Note: “Lit an evil”]

HCSB: this miserable task

NIV: a heavy burden

There is a problem with one modern translation which seems to inexplicably downplay or deemphasize the force of this expression.

ESV: an unhappy business

From the ignorance of childhood to the wisdom of maturity

Add books, libraries filled with books, manuscripts, ancient literature, old books, new books, good books, great books, scholars, scribes, wise men, geniuses, put them all together with a lifetime of study, research, pondering and meditation

Google searches, Wikipedia, supercomputers, ad infinitum, ad nauseum, information overload

II. The Conclusion of the Preacher (1:14-15)

¹⁴ I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit. ¹⁵ That which is crooked cannot be made straight: and that which is wanting cannot be numbered.

“under the sun” - cp. 1:3; 2:11, 19; 4:3, 7; 5:18; 6:12; 7:11; 8:15–17; 9:3, 6, 13.[1]

difficulty of translation of the Hebrew for “vexation of spirit”

some trans. “a striving after wind” (feeding, chasing, pursuing, etc.)

The proverb of verse 15 cannot be taken in an absolute sense, but should be understood in a human, relative sense “under the sun”

III. The Credentials of the Preacher (1:16)

¹⁶ I communed with mine own heart, saying, Lo, I am come to great estate, and have gotten more wisdom than all they that have been before me in Jerusalem: yea, my heart had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.

1 Kings 3:5ff.; 4:29-34

IV. The Perception of the Preacher (1:17-18)

¹⁷ And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit. ¹⁸ For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.

Why is it vexing?

Connect the dots. Climb the rungs of Solomon’s ladder (not Jacob’s!). Never arrive. No final connection. No top to Solomon’s floor to reach via Solomon’s ladder.

And remember that he was given his wisdom by God. The truth of this vexation produced by human wisdom and knowledge is not eliminated by inspiration or spiritual gifts!

1 Corinthians 13:8-12

We have heard the illustration of scientists climbing a great mountain range in their tremendous efforts to learn the secrets of the universe by observation and application of the principles in their “method.” We have heard that when these scientists finally arrived at the peak of the highest mountain in that towering range of human endeavors after wisdom they discovered that the theologians had already been there. What we do not hear is what the theologians are doing when discovered by the scientists.

Conclusion:

Isaiah 40

[Sermon preached 11 OCT 2015 by Pastor John T. “Jack” Jeffery at Wayside Gospel Chapel, Greentown, PA.]

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End Notes:

[1] Canne, J., Browne, Blayney, B., Scott, T., & Torrey, R. The Treasury of Scripture knowledge (Ec 1:3). London: Samuel Bagster and Sons.