Latest / Reformed Thinking / The Perfumer’s Peril: Guarding the Fragrance of Grace in a Vaporous World (Ecclesiastes 10:1-20)

Transcript

The Perfumer’s Peril: Guarding the Fragrance of Grace in a Vaporous World (Ecclesiastes 10:1-20) · Reformed Thinking

• 0:00
  Welcome to reformed thinking. Glad to be here for this.
• 0:02
  I am so glad you could join us for this deep dives.
• 0:05
  We are getting into some really heavy material.
• 0:07
  Today I want you to think about a master chef.
• 0:10
  Oh OK, like a high end Michelin star situation.
• 0:13
  Yeah, precisely. A chef who has spent hours,
• 0:16
  maybe even days, sourcing the finest ingredients.
• 0:19
  You know, they have roasted the bones, they reduced the stocks,
• 0:23
  and they perfectly seasoned this massive pot of expensive,
• 0:27
  pristine soup. So a lot of time and money went
• 0:30
  into this. Right.
• 0:30
  The aroma fills the entire kitchen.
• 0:32
  It is an absolute masterpiece of culinary skill.
• 0:36
  But then someone walks by and drops a single bead of dish soap
• 0:39
  right into the center of the pot.
• 0:41
  Oh man, that is brutal. It is ruined in a fraction of a
• 0:45
  second. The entire batch is destroyed.
• 0:47
  A tiny, almost imperceptible fraction of an ounce of
• 0:49
  contaminant just ruins gallons of perfection.
• 0:53
  Because you cannot just scoop it out.
• 0:54
  No, you cannot dilute it either. The chemistry of the pot has
• 0:57
  changed for good, and that precise, devastating ratio is
• 1:01
  what we are looking at today as we dissect the 10th chapter of
• 1:04
  Ecclesiastes. Yeah, looking at the stark
• 1:06
  contrast between wisdom and folly and a very fleeting,
• 1:10
  vaporous life. Spot on.
• 1:12
  We have two source texts guiding our discussion today, which are
• 1:16
  The Perfumer's Peril and Wisdom Under the Sun.
• 1:19
  Our goal is to bring you the historical and theological
• 1:22
  weight of this text. And to really grasp what is
• 1:25
  happening here, we have to look at the author Kohelith, who is
• 1:28
  historically understood by the Church as King Solomon.
• 1:31
  Right, And you probably know the basics of Solomon's reign.
• 1:33
  He was a man who possessed unparalleled wisdom given
• 1:36
  directly by God. He ruled during this golden age
• 1:39
  of peace and wealth in Israel. But, you know, his later years
• 1:42
  were just an absolute disaster. He succumbed to catastrophic
• 1:45
  folly. He did, multiplying foreign
• 1:48
  wives, turning his heart toward and setting the stage for a
• 1:51
  violently divided Kingdom. So when we read Ecclesiastes,
• 1:55
  we're not reading abstract philosophy from some detached
• 1:58
  academic. We are reading an urgent,
• 2:00
  agonizing reflection on human limits under the sun.
• 2:03
  Written by a man who lived the very destruction he is warning
• 2:06
  us about. Yeah, so let us jump right into
• 2:09
  the most arresting image from the text which is found in verse
• 2:12
  one. We see the striking picture of
• 2:14
  the perfumer and the flies, right?
• 2:17
  Is Solomon's imagery basically describing that ruined pot of
• 2:20
  soup we talked about? The analogy of the ruined soup
• 2:22
  is spot on, but the imagery Solomon uses carries an even
• 2:25
  more visceral physical repulsion in the ancient world.
• 2:29
  Oh, really? How so?
• 2:31
  Well, the Hebrew phrase used in verse 1 is a Zebubo mawet that
• 2:36
  translates literally to flies of death.
• 2:38
  Wow, flies of death. Yeah, it is aggressive.
• 2:41
  We are looking at a scenario where these dead insects drop
• 2:44
  into the Shimen rokash, which is the perfumer's oil.
• 2:48
  And that oil was not cheap. Right.
• 2:50
  Not at all. In the ancient Near East,
• 2:51
  creating this perfumed oil was a very laborious, highly skilled
• 2:55
  craft. The perfumer or the apothecary
• 2:58
  would crush specific, very expensive spices.
• 3:01
  It's. Like what kind of spices things
• 3:02
  like? Myrrh, cinnamon and cashew.
• 3:05
  They would heat them and carefully extract their
• 3:07
  fragrance into an olive oil base.
• 3:09
  It was costly and highly valued. Right.
• 3:11
  Used in royal or priestly context, I imagine.
• 3:13
  Exactly. So when these flies of death
• 3:16
  drop into the VAT, they do not just sit on the surface, they
• 3:20
  drown. They sink and they begin to
• 3:22
  ferment. That is a terrible image.
• 3:25
  It gets worse. The verb Solomon uses indicates
• 3:28
  A literal putrefaction. The decaying insects cause the
• 3:32
  oil to bubble, fester and emit a physical stench.
• 3:35
  So it is actively offensive to the senses.
• 3:38
  Very much so. Furthermore, in the Levitical
• 3:41
  context of ancient Israel, a dead insect carries the weight
• 3:44
  of ritual impurity. Oh wow, I had not thought of
• 3:47
  that. So the oil is ruined chemically,
• 3:50
  aesthetically and ritually. Yeah, Solomon takes this
• 3:53
  repulsive, physical reality and applies it directly to human
• 3:56
  character. How so?
• 3:58
  Well, a person might spend decades building a faithful
• 4:00
  life, developing a character that is a sweet fragrance to
• 4:02
  their family, their community and the church, right?
• 4:05
  Yet one unguarded moment, a sudden loss of temper, a hidden
• 4:08
  addiction or a capitulation to lust acts like that dead fly.
• 4:12
  And it ferments. It ferments.
• 4:14
  It makes the whole life stink. The sources draw out a mass
• 4:17
  theological implication here regarding human nature.
• 4:20
  What do they assert? They assert the biblical
• 4:22
  doctrine of human depravity. Sin acts as a virulent,
• 4:25
  aggressive contaminant. A little folly outweighs wisdom
• 4:29
  and honor. That completely refutes the
• 4:31
  popular notion that human beings can just balance out their bad
• 4:34
  deeds with good deeds, right? Like on some sort of cosmic
• 4:38
  scale? Yeah, sin does not sit neatly on
• 4:40
  a scale like a static weight. It infects and ruins the whole
• 4:43
  batch. It takes far less to destroy a
• 4:46
  reputation than it takes to build 1.
• 4:48
  That shifts the perspective entirely, right?
• 4:50
  We tend to think of character as a bank account where deposits
• 4:54
  and withdrawals can balance out. Right, like if I make a mistake
• 4:57
  I can just make a deposit of good behavior tomorrow?
• 4:59
  But Solomon is telling us character is more like
• 5:01
  chemistry. Once the contaminant is in, the
• 5:04
  chemical makeup changes completely.
• 5:06
  You cannot unferment the oil. You really cannot.
• 5:09
  So that outward ruin, the spoiled perfume, forces us to
• 5:13
  look at the inward root, 'cause we cannot just look at the
• 5:15
  flies, we have to look at the VAT they're falling into.
• 5:19
  Yeah. The text moves from the outward
• 5:20
  action to the human heart. In verses 2 and 3, Solomon
• 5:24
  writes that the wise man's heart inclines to the right and the
• 5:28
  fool's heart inclines to the left.
• 5:29
  Yes. I have to ask about the literal
• 5:32
  interpretation here. Is Solomon giving us an ancient
• 5:35
  superstition about left handedness and right handedness?
• 5:38
  No, not at all. What is the actual significance
• 5:40
  of these directions then? It seems strange to read a
• 5:43
  geographical or directional map into the anatomy of the human
• 5:47
  soul. It is not a superstition about
• 5:49
  physical handedness, though it is easy to see how modern
• 5:52
  readers might make that jump. To grasp this, we must clarify
• 5:56
  the ancient Near Eastern definition of the heart, which
• 5:59
  is the Hebrew word LEB. OK.
• 6:02
  In our modern Western context, we associate the heart almost
• 6:05
  exclusively with romance, fleeting feelings, and
• 6:07
  sentimentality. Yeah, we contrast the heart with
• 6:09
  the head. But in biblical anthropology,
• 6:11
  the LEB is the absolute command center of the human person.
• 6:15
  It encompasses the intellect, the human will and moral
• 6:18
  reasoning. It is the seat of decision
• 6:20
  making. Oh interesting, so it is much
• 6:21
  more cognitive. Very much so.
• 6:24
  When Solomon speaks of the hard inclining, he's talking about
• 6:27
  the fundamental driving orientation of the soul.
• 6:30
  So what about the directions? The directions of right and left
• 6:34
  are heavily weighted theological markers in biblical geography.
• 6:37
  The right hand Yaman is consistently recognized in
• 6:41
  Scripture as the place of strength, covenantal blessing,
• 6:43
  and salvation. OK.
• 6:45
  And the left. The left hand some all
• 6:47
  represents the place of rejection, weakness and
• 6:50
  judgement. Think of the sheep and the goats
• 6:53
  in the New Testament, divided to the right and to the left.
• 6:56
  So when Solomon says the fools heart inclines to the left, he
• 6:59
  means the fools internal compass is desperately miscalibrated.
• 7:02
  Yes, his intellect and will are bent toward destruction.
• 7:06
  The sources note that this miscalibration is so severe that
• 7:10
  a fool cannot even walk down a physical Rd. without advertising
• 7:13
  his lack of sense to everyone. Because his choices, his
• 7:16
  reactions, and his daily habits just leak out.
• 7:18
  Yeah, revealing the emptiness inside.
• 7:21
  The authors of our sources draw a strict theological binary
• 7:24
  here. What kind of binary?
• 7:25
  They argue that people are either in Adam, meaning their
• 7:30
  fundamental nature is inclined to the left, or they are in
• 7:34
  Christ, meaning their nature has been regenerated and inclined to
• 7:37
  the right. OK.
• 7:38
  And we need to pause here for a second for you listening.
• 7:40
  We are impartially reporting the authors theological critique
• 7:43
  right now. Yes, we are not endorsing either
• 7:46
  side of the political or theological spectrum here.
• 7:48
  We are just stating what is in the text.
• 7:50
  Right, we want to be clear that we are just bringing you the
• 7:53
  authors arguments neutrally. Absolutely so.
• 7:56
  The authors explicitly contrast this stark biblical binary
• 8:00
  against progressive or liberal theology.
• 8:03
  In their view, modern liberal theology promotes moral
• 8:06
  relativism and subjective truths.
• 8:08
  Suggesting that the compass can point wherever a person feels is
• 8:11
  best for them. Yeah, the sources argue that
• 8:14
  this kind of theological framework institutionalizes the
• 8:17
  fool's leftward inclination. So we are recording their
• 8:20
  specific critique here to show how the authors apply Solomon's
• 8:23
  ancient directional metaphor to draw an absolute unyielding line
• 8:27
  in the sand regarding human nature and modern theological
• 8:31
  debate. That is correct.
• 8:32
  Well, that makes perfect sense of the text, and it is a
• 8:35
  fascinating way the sources apply it to modern theological
• 8:38
  conversations. If the internal compass is
• 8:40
  structurally broken, every step the person takes will be in the
• 8:44
  wrong direction. Even if they sincerely believe
• 8:47
  they were walking straight. Yeah, the sincerity of the fool
• 8:49
  does not fix the broken compass. So if the heart dictates the
• 8:54
  person, we must ask what happens when these foolish left inclined
• 8:58
  hearts acquire public authority and political control?
• 9:00
  That brings us to verses 4 through 7 and 16 through 17,
• 9:04
  which deal with rulers and society.
• 9:07
  Let me use an analogy regarding authority.
• 9:09
  Imagine you were on a flight cruising at 30,000 feet and you
• 9:13
  suddenly hit severe, violent turbulence.
• 9:15
  Oh, I hate that feeling, right? The plane is dropping, luggage
• 9:19
  is rattling and panic is setting in.
• 9:21
  The impulse might be to unbuckle your seat belt, stand up, March
• 9:24
  to the cockpit and yell at the pilot to fix the weather.
• 9:27
  Which would be a terrible idea. It would.
• 9:30
  Doing so only creates chaos in the cabin, distracts the crew
• 9:34
  and puts you at physical risk. Remaining buckled in your seat,
• 9:38
  staying calm and waiting out the storm is the only prudent
• 9:41
  action. That is a great analogy.
• 9:43
  So how does that map onto the text's advice on dealing with
• 9:46
  angry rulers and the societal disorder Solomon is describing?
• 9:49
  Your turbulence analogy captures the exact tension Solomon
• 9:53
  addresses in verse 4 where he commands do not leave your place
• 9:56
  when the ruler spirit rises against you.
• 9:59
  Do not leave your place. We have to understand the
• 10:01
  historical reality of the ancient Near East.
• 10:04
  A King's anger was not just a political inconvenience or a bad
• 10:08
  news cycle. It meant literal, immediate
• 10:11
  danger to a person's livelihood or their very life.
• 10:14
  Because kings had absolute unchecked authority.
• 10:16
  The temptation when faced with an unjust or raging ruler is to
• 10:20
  panic, resign your post in a huff, or retaliate with
• 10:23
  explosive anger. Just like running to the cockpit
• 10:25
  during turbulence. Right.
• 10:27
  But Solomon says that calmness pacifies great offenses.
• 10:30
  Remaining buckled in your seat, to use your analogy, is not an
• 10:33
  act of cowardice. It is not enabling injustice.
• 10:36
  What is it then? It is a display of steadiness
• 10:39
  under Providence. It shows a resolute trust that
• 10:42
  God rules over the King and that abandoning your post in a moment
• 10:45
  of panic only multiplies the damage.
• 10:47
  That requires a lot of trust. It does.
• 10:50
  Solomon then moves to describe a terrifying societal inversion.
• 10:54
  He talks about a reality where fools are placed in high
• 10:57
  positions and Princess walk on the ground like servants.
• 11:00
  So the society turned completely upside down.
• 11:02
  Yes, he acknowledges that public life can become entirely
• 11:06
  inverted, where the unqualified are exalted and the noble are
• 11:11
  degraded. Do the sources talk about how
• 11:13
  this applies today? They do.
• 11:15
  The authors of our sources critique modern society's
• 11:17
  handling of such foolishness at the institutional level.
• 11:20
  They claim that the secular world frequently coddles the
• 11:23
  fool. In what way?
• 11:24
  The sources argue that modern society offers psychological
• 11:27
  excuses or utilizes sociological frameworks to explain away what
• 11:32
  the authors define as personal, rebellious, alien against God.
• 11:35
  Do they name specific frameworks?
• 11:36
  Yes, they specifically name critical race theory.
• 11:39
  OK. And again I want to step in here
• 11:41
  and reiterate our neutral observational stance for you
• 11:44
  listening. We are presenting this strictly
• 11:47
  as the authors argument against secular frameworks.
• 11:50
  Right, we are just imparting the material found in the sources.
• 11:53
  Spot on. So the authors present this as
• 11:56
  the direct challenge to secular frameworks that, in their view,
• 12:00
  remove individual moral agency and blame systemic structures
• 12:05
  instead. That is their position, yes.
• 12:07
  Returning to the biblical text, Solomon contrasts childish
• 12:11
  rulers who feast in the morning for drunkenness with noble
• 12:14
  rulers who feast at the proper time for strength.
• 12:17
  What is the difference there? The childish ruler is governed
• 12:20
  entirely by his appetite. He uses his authority to consume
• 12:23
  the nation's resources for his own pleasure, neglecting his
• 12:26
  duties, and that brings a severe curse upon the land.
• 12:29
  And the noble ruler? The noble ruler exercises
• 12:32
  self-control, eating only to gain the strength required to
• 12:35
  fulfill his duty, bringing a blessing to the land.
• 12:38
  Leadership, in Solomon's eyes, is a moral and spiritual issue
• 12:41
  before it is ever a managerial or political one.
• 12:44
  That distinction between the childish ruler and the noble
• 12:47
  ruler is really striking. It is.
• 12:50
  The childish ruler views the Kingdom as a buffet designed for
• 12:54
  his consumption, while the noble ruler views his own strength as
• 12:58
  a tool to sustain the Kingdom. Yeah, that is a great way to put
• 13:02
  it. It is fascinating how the text
• 13:04
  scales from the private heart to the throne room, showing that
• 13:07
  the lack of self-control is disastrous at every level of
• 13:11
  human existence. It ruins everything it touches.
• 13:14
  But Solomon does not stay in the high courts of kings.
• 13:17
  He transitions down to the dirt, the quarry, and the daily grind
• 13:21
  of ordinary labor in verses 8 through 11 and 18 through 19.
• 13:25
  Yes, moving to the physical work of the hands.
• 13:27
  Now I want to push back on the texts examples here for a
• 13:30
  moment. Solomon talks about digging a
• 13:32
  pit and falling into it or breaking a wall and having a
• 13:34
  snake bite you. I read that and think, doesn't
• 13:37
  that just sound like random bad luck or maybe workplace hazards?
• 13:41
  If I am tearing down a wall and a snake is sleeping in the
• 13:44
  bricks, that is not a moral failure.
• 13:45
  That is just biology and bad timing.
• 13:48
  It does seem that way at first glance.
• 13:50
  How is this a moral or spiritual issue?
• 13:53
  It feels like we are reading an ancient manual for Occupational
• 13:57
  Safety rather than rigorous theological instruction.
• 14:00
  Well, it is incredibly easy to misread these verses as simple
• 14:03
  fatalism or bad luck, but the Hebrew grammar reveals A
• 14:06
  deliberate theology of work and preparation.
• 14:09
  Oh real, tell me about the grammar.
• 14:11
  Solomon uses a specific sequence of Hebrew participles to
• 14:14
  describe these actions. He uses chauffeur for the one
• 14:17
  digging, Messia for the one quarrying stones, and bouqueta
• 14:21
  for the one splitting locks. OK, so very.
• 14:23
  Very active, he is describing ongoing, strenuous human labor.
• 14:28
  The central metaphor that ties these dangers together is the
• 14:31
  concept of the blunt iron, the barzel.
• 14:33
  The blunt iron, What does that signify?
• 14:35
  If a worker is splitting wood and his axe had his blunt and he
• 14:38
  refuses to stop and sharpen the edge, he must use far more
• 14:41
  physical strength to accomplish the exact same task he expends.
• 14:45
  Exhausting. Needless.
• 14:46
  Energy. Oh I see.
• 14:47
  So the failure to sharpen the axe is not bad luck.
• 14:50
  Exactly. It is a failure of wisdom.
• 14:52
  It is a refuse to recognize the physical limits of the material
• 14:56
  world. The same principle applies to
• 14:58
  the snake charmer analogy he uses.
• 15:00
  I'll say, if the serpent bites before it is charmed, the skill
• 15:03
  of the charmer is entirely useless.
• 15:05
  The charmer failed to recognize the urgency of timing and
• 15:08
  preparation. So it is about being prepared
• 15:11
  and aware, yes. Solomon is connecting all of
• 15:15
  this to a severe warning against sloth, famously illustrating a
• 15:18
  sagging roof and a leaking house caused by lazy hands.
• 15:22
  So it is not just random bad luck.
• 15:24
  No, the sources argue vigorously against vagalism, which says,
• 15:27
  well, whatever happens happens. And they argue against the
• 15:30
  tendency within some Christian circles to spiritualize poor
• 15:33
  planning. That is a great point,
• 15:34
  spiritualizing poor planning. Yeah, in a fallen world,
• 15:37
  physical laws exist and human limits exist.
• 15:41
  Preparation, counting the cost, maintaining your tools and
• 15:44
  executing with diligence are not secular concepts.
• 15:47
  They are moral duties mandated by the Creator.
• 15:50
  So failing to prepare is actually practical denial of the
• 15:53
  reality God has structured. Precisely.
• 15:56
  A believer cannot use faith as an excuse for laziness or
• 15:59
  incompetence. Wisdom demands that we sharpen
• 16:02
  the axe. That brings a sharp conviction
• 16:04
  to the way we handle our daily responsibilities.
• 16:07
  I love that point. You cannot spiritualize poor
• 16:10
  planning. You really cannot.
• 16:11
  If my roof is leaking because I was too lazy to patch the
• 16:14
  shingles, I cannot blame spiritual warfare for the water
• 16:17
  in my living room. I just need to sharpen the axe
• 16:19
  and do the work. Do the work, yes.
• 16:21
  So we have moved from the physical labor of the hands to
• 16:24
  the verbal labor of the tongue. Verses 12 through 15 and verse
• 16:29
  20 zero in on human speech. This is where it gets really
• 16:34
  convicting and. Let me suggest that the full
• 16:36
  speech is like a runaway train. OK, I like that.
• 16:39
  It starts at the top of a hill with a slight downward slope of
• 16:42
  nonsense, which seems harmless enough.
• 16:44
  But as it rolls, it accelerates, gathers massive momentum,
• 16:47
  completely loses its brakes, and eventually violently derails,
• 16:51
  destroying everything in its path.
• 16:53
  It never just stops on its own. How does the text detail this
• 16:56
  lethal multiplying of words? The runaway train is a
• 16:58
  remarkably accurate picture of the trajectory Solomon outlines.
• 17:02
  He begins by tracing the syntax of speech in the passage.
• 17:05
  OK, what does the syntax show? The words of a wise man bring
• 17:09
  favor, translating the Hebrew word Shen, which signifies
• 17:12
  grace, benefit, and structural soundness.
• 17:15
  And the fool. But the fool's lips, the text
• 17:18
  says, swallow him up. The Hebrew word tibalenu
• 17:22
  indicates a self consuming destruction.
• 17:24
  The fool is eaten alive by his own mouth.
• 17:27
  Wow, eaten alive by his own mouth.
• 17:30
  The progression of the fool's speech starts in foolishness,
• 17:33
  but ends in what the Hebrew calls Holotra.
• 17:36
  That translates to evil madness. Evil madness, so it does not
• 17:39
  stay static. It accelerates.
• 17:41
  The specific phrase Solomon uses is yarba de barim, meaning the
• 17:45
  fool multiplies words. Multiplies words, meaning he
• 17:48
  just keeps talking. Yes, he talks incessantly about
• 17:50
  a future he cannot possibly know.
• 17:53
  He attempts to usurp God's omniscience by declaring what
• 17:55
  tomorrow will bring, acting as though he holds the timeline of
• 17:58
  the universe in his own hands. So it is deeply arrogant.
• 18:01
  Very arrogant. He talks so much and so loudly
• 18:05
  that he becomes physically and mentally disoriented.
• 18:07
  Really disoriented. Yeah, Solomon uses this
• 18:10
  brilliant, almost tragic imagery of a man who talks so much he
• 18:14
  cannot even find the way to the city.
• 18:16
  He is completely disconnected from reality, lost in a
• 18:19
  labyrinth of his own verbiage. That is a terrifying picture
• 18:23
  lost in a labyrinth of words. It is then in verse 20, Solomon
• 18:27
  delivers a chilling warning about the danger of secret
• 18:30
  cursing. He tells the reader not to curse
• 18:33
  the king even in their thought. Even in their thought, wow.
• 18:36
  The Hebrew concept used here is Mata, which refers to the
• 18:39
  resting place of the mind. It is the innermost private
• 18:42
  Chamber of human consciousness. Mada.
• 18:45
  Right. Solomon uses the imagery of a
• 18:47
  bird of the air carrying the voice to illustrate a weighty
• 18:50
  theological reality, which is that God hears absolutely
• 18:53
  everything. No sin remains truly hidden.
• 18:55
  The silent whispers of our bedrooms.
• 18:57
  The unspoken contempt in our minds, the internal monologues
• 19:00
  of bitterness, they are all fully known to the Lord.
• 19:03
  Our speech, whether public or entirely secret, is a
• 19:06
  terrifyingly accurate gauge of our spiritual state.
• 19:09
  It is incredibly sobering to realize that our private
• 19:12
  thoughts have a volume level in heaven.
• 19:15
  Yeah, that is a sobering thought.
• 19:17
  We treat our minds like a soundproof room where we can
• 19:20
  indulge in any bitter fantasy or arrogant judgement we want.
• 19:24
  But Solomon shatters that illusion.
• 19:26
  The Mata, the resting place of the mind, is totally exposed.
• 19:31
  Totally exposed. This brings us to a crucial
• 19:33
  turning point in our discussion. If we treat Ecclesiastes 10 is
• 19:38
  just an ancient manual for risk management, or a corporate
• 19:41
  success guide for middle managers, or self help seminar
• 19:44
  on how to win friends and influence people, we miss the
• 19:47
  main point the authors are making.
• 19:48
  We absolutely do. We see the reality of the flies
• 19:50
  in the perfume, the blunt axe, and the evil madness of the
• 19:53
  tongue. But how did the sources bridge
• 19:55
  these gritty practical observations by Solomon directly
• 19:58
  to Jesus without forcing an artificial connection?
• 20:02
  That is the big question. Because it is very easy to read
• 20:04
  ancient wisdom literature and just slap a Jesus sticker on the
• 20:07
  end of it. How do the sources avoid that
• 20:09
  trap and show how this points to a future hope?
• 20:12
  Well, the sources insist that we must read this text through a
• 20:15
  Christological lens, recognizing that Jesus is the literal
• 20:19
  incarnation of the wisdom of God.
• 20:21
  The connection is not forced. It is structurally embedded and
• 20:25
  redemptive history. Solomon, the earthly son of
• 20:28
  David, was granted massive wisdom, yet he failed through
• 20:31
  his own agonizing folly. His reign ended in compromise
• 20:35
  and division. And Jesus.
• 20:37
  Jesus, the greater son of David, succeeded perfectly where
• 20:39
  Solomon failed. When you look at the life of
• 20:42
  Jesus in the gospels, you see a life with 0 flies of death in
• 20:46
  his character. Zero flies of death.
• 20:48
  That is beautiful. There was no hidden corruption,
• 20:50
  no sudden loss of temper, no capitulation to temptation in
• 20:53
  the wilderness. His obedience was a perfect,
• 20:56
  unblemished fragrance to the Father.
• 20:58
  How does he fulfill the specific categories in Ecclesiastes 10?
• 21:01
  Well, in verse 17 Solomon speaks of the blessing of the king of
• 21:04
  nobility, whose rule is righteous and governed by
• 21:07
  self-control. Christ is that ultimate king of
• 21:10
  nobility. He did not rule by childish
• 21:12
  appetite. He submitted entirely to the
• 21:14
  will of the Father, even to the point of death.
• 21:16
  And what about the speech, the multiplying of words?
• 21:19
  When you contrast the full speech in verses 12 through 14
• 21:22
  with the speech of Christ, the difference is absolute.
• 21:26
  The fool multiplies idle words ending in madness.
• 21:29
  Christ's speech was perfectly gracious, perfectly timed, and
• 21:32
  never excessive. Yeah.
• 21:34
  He knew precisely when to speak cutting truth to the Pharisees.
• 21:37
  And precisely when to remain entirely silent before pilot.
• 21:41
  The authors conclude this analysis by explaining the core
• 21:43
  mechanism of the gospel. Human beings cannot simply read
• 21:47
  Ecclesiastes 10, grit their teeth and try harder to be wise.
• 21:51
  Right, we cannot just muscle our way to wisdom.
• 21:54
  No, the law exposed in these verses shines A blinding
• 21:57
  clinical light on our human laziness, our corrupt speech,
• 22:00
  and our miscalibrated hearts. This exposure is designed to
• 22:04
  crush our self-reliance. It drives us to despair of our
• 22:07
  own works. Yes, it drives the center to
• 22:09
  seek the imputation of Christ's perfect righteousness.
• 22:12
  Christ lived the perfectly wise life we failed to live, and his
• 22:16
  wisdom and righteousness are credited to all who believe.
• 22:19
  That completely changes how we walk away from this text.
• 22:22
  It moves from a crushing list of behavioral demands to a mirror
• 22:27
  that points us toward a perfect substitute.
• 22:29
  It really does. We are not just told to stop
• 22:31
  being fools, we are shown the one who became wisdom for us.
• 22:36
  I want to bring these weighty theological concepts back down
• 22:38
  to a personal level for you listening to carry into your
• 22:42
  day. That is a great idea.
• 22:43
  We talked about the bird of the air from verse 20, the idea that
• 22:46
  the Mata, the resting place of your mind, is fully audible to
• 22:49
  God. I want you to conjure this
• 22:52
  specific scenario. OK?
• 22:53
  If the hidden silent monologue of your mind was broadcast out
• 22:57
  loud over a loudspeaker in your living room for a single day,
• 23:01
  what would it reveal to your family?
• 23:03
  Oh man, that is a heavy question.
• 23:06
  Would. It show the sharpened acts of
• 23:07
  diligent preparation, a hard inclined toward grace and
• 23:10
  careful thought. Or would it broadcast the
• 23:13
  exhausting multiplied words of a fool, full of secret contempt,
• 23:17
  bitterness and runaway madness? Yeah, that is something to
• 23:20
  really sit with. Before we close, consider the
• 23:23
  reality of your own hidden realm.
• 23:25
  Are you allowing a little folly to ferment right now, ignoring
• 23:29
  the flies of death in the perfumers oil because no one
• 23:31
  else can smell it yet? I challenge you to look closely
• 23:34
  at what your silent broadcast reveals.
• 23:36
  Let the conviction of that reality drive you away from
• 23:39
  self-reliance and seek the true perfect wisdom that only comes
• 23:42
  from outside yourself.