Making Sense of a Crooked World

Paul Hamilton

Exposition of Ecclesiastes • Sermon • Submitted 4 years ago

Ecclesiastes 7:15–29

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Transcript

Intro

READ Eccl. 7:15-29

Ecclesiastes has been all about looking at the world as it is. No rose colored glasses here. Things don’t make sense, they don’t work out as they should. Sin is real.

Solomon, the preacher, has been looking for meaning, understanding, and wisdom, under the sun. He despaired of hope, lost himself in pleasure and pursued every dream. Last week we looked at Solomon’s poem about the good life in a bad world.

Living for the end, considering death is better than ignoring the reality of this world. That poem ends

Ecclesiastes 7:13 (ESV) — 13 Consider the work of God: who can make straight what he has made crooked?

Because of our sin, this world is Crooked. The Curse of God on this world is the result of sin, of bending away from God and goodness. Sin isn’t arbitrary, like that is bad because God flipped a coin, no sin is bad because it is turning away from what is good – from God. so yes our world is crooked, and no, we cannot fix it.

In the last half of Chapter 7, that we’re looking at today, Solomon focuses on this Crooked World. We Live in a Crooked world, filled with Crooked people, doing Crooked things. And none of it makes sense. And Solomon is trying, TRYING to make sense of it all.

He has seen everything in verse 15, he’s tested it all in his wisdom, verse 23, he has turned to know and search out and seek wisdom and the scheme of things in verse 25.

He’s trying to Makes Sense of this Crooked world. and it’s not pretty. He doesn’t come up with nice answers. Sin really has broken this world.

So my title for this morning is Making Sense of a Crooked World. and we’ll walk through the passage- and we’ll look at Christ – our glorious hope in the face of a desperately crooked world.

A Crooked World (vs. 15-18)

A. Reality

Ecclesiastes 7:15 (ESV) — 15 In my vain life I have seen everything. There is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his evildoing.

It’s crooked. Things are not as they should be. You should not perish in your righteousness. The wicked should not be prolonged in his wickedness.

But that is reality! Christians were Martyred for their faith. Think of Stephen, stoned to death for proclaiming the truth. To most clearly – think of our savior Jesus Christ, THE righteous man who perished in his righteousness!

That should not be. IF things were all right, that would not happen!

And the wicked are prolonged. The coworker who lies and cheats and gets ahead. Politicians make backroom deals and succeed. The cheaters win!

This should not be. But that is what is happening under the sun. this world is crooked.

B. Response

Ecclesiastes 7:16–17 (ESV) — 16 Be not overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself? 17 Be not overly wicked, neither be a fool. Why should you die before your time?

That is a bit of a head-scratcher. Is Solomon saying don’t be so righteous that it causes trouble, and don’t be so wicked that you get into trouble?

Can you be overly righteous? Overly wise? We’ll see in a few minutes there is no one who is completely righteous. We all sin. – so what do we do with this?

To be clear: We need to strive to be as truly righteous and wise as we can be but the pursuit of righteousness can have a down side. If we pursue righteousness with the reality that we can never actually attain the goal, we never will be fully free of sin, while we are under the sun, sometimes that never ending race becomes a burden – I’m never going to be free of that sin!

The temptation is to subtly flip the switch, we cross over and in our own minds, we made it.

We stop seeing the world as it is, and we start seeing ourselves as the RIGHTEOUS. NOT the righteousn in CHRIST, but the righteous on my own.

We’ve made it. I believe that is what Solomon means when he says don’t be TOO righteous, or TOO Wise, don’t cross over into self-righteousness.

where all the rules we make for ourselves and keep (outwardly) make us feel better than others.

Solomon writes “why should you destroy yourself” or ruin yourself. That word translated Destroy or ruin literally means to make desolate, or make uninhabited. – THAT COULD EITHER MEAN, don’t kill yourself, with your unrealistic pursuit of righteousness. Almost always that is a wrong view of righteousness.

Or maybe don’t make yourself obnoxious to every one around you because you have this unrealistic understanding of your own failures (I don’t have any) and an unrealistic standard for everyone else (they have a lot)!

Don’t take your self so seriously. You’re going to mess up. Repent, fight your sin, but realize the truth you need the gospel today and you’ll need it tomorrow, so give yourself a break, you are forgiven in Christ so get up, repent, and follow Jesus.

Leave the judgement to him. “are you righteous enough?” of course not! You are righteous in Christ, so follow him. Is that other person righteous enough, of course not! point them to Christ.

But, on the other hand, don’t be too wicked, don’t be a fool! Why should you die before your time. Don’t fall off the other side of the cliff!

Don’t give yourself so much of a break that you don’t care about your sin! that is foolishness. Well I’m going to sin anyway, God will forgive me so I’ll just go and look at that porn. Don’t be a fool!

Don’t wreck your marriage, your life! Don’t chase those dangerous things, there is real danger there! Don’t be a fool.

Repent of your sin and turn and follow Jesus. There is life and freedom in him, so follow him! I think that is what Solomon is getting at with the third part.

C. Rest

Ecclesiastes 7:18 (ESV) — 18 It is good that you should take hold of this, and from that withhold not your hand, for the one who fears God shall come out from both of them.

Don’t worry about if you’re righteous enough, you’ll never meet that standard. This world is crooked, and it is slippery. You can’t just make your own way, that will slip right through your fingers. You can’t control everything, it slips through your fingers.

You TAKE HOLD OF THIS… the one who fears GOD shall come out from both of them.

You’ll be humble, not self-righteous, you’ll be repentant, not wicked. The way through this crooked world is to rest in God. To find your life in God, to fear him. That is the path through.

We’ll see that more clearly in Christ at the end.

The World is Crooked. Unjust, a mess and we are tempted to be crooked in this world, self-righteous, or wicked. This is a CROOKED WORLD

II. Filled with Crooked People (19-24)

This middle section sounds at first reading like a scattershot of random thoughts. But as we look at it, we’ll see this is part of Solomon’s testing. Considering everything that he sees. It starts with a worthy goal.

A. Wisdom is a good pursuit

Ecclesiastes 7:19 (ESV) — 19 Wisdom gives strength to the wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city.

Wisdom gives strength to the wise man. There is a thing out there worth pursuing.

Proverbs 3:13 (ESV) — 13 Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding,

We talked about that last week. Wisdom is where safety is going to be, and life! Wisdom is good, it is from God, and it is the path that God lays before us. He is all wisdom!

There is a worth goal out there. But notice how immediately Solomon looks and sees:

B. No one is perfectly righteous

Ecclesiastes 7:20 (ESV) — 20 Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.

You should notice how Solomon often puts righteousness and wisdom together. Wisdom is to walk in righteousness, the two are inseparable. That why the FEAR of THE LORD is the beginning of wisdom.

Wisdom is always good, but we all at different points choose sin instead of righteousness. All of us at some point choose death instead of life. There is some lie that gets all of us. And we choose darkness instead of light… folly instead of wisdom, insanity instead of rationality.

And get this right, sin is always insane. It is choosing something other than the infinitely good God.

That never makes sense. Except in our sin, crooked mind. and we all do it.

Romans 3:10 (ESV) — 10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one;

Proverbs 20:9 (ESV) — 9 Who can say, “I have made my heart pure; I am clean from my sin”?

This is what Solomon is finding. No one is righteous. Instead of pursuing wisdom we are cursing each other and getting offended.

C. Hypocrisy hides in our hearts

Ecclesiastes 7:21–22 (ESV) — 21 Do not take to heart all the things that people say, lest you hear your servant cursing you. 22 Your heart knows that many times you yourself have cursed others.

We all have our little hypocrite living in our hearts. Judging others, “they were talking bad about me! can you believe it”, we complain to your other friends. Don’t get so worked up over the offenses you receive, you’re pretty offensive yourself!

Our foolish hearts are manifested often in our hypocrisy. Our self-righteousness is on clear display when we judge others in a way we don’t judge ourselves. Jesus was passionate about this.

Luke 11:46 (ESV) — 46 And he said, “Woe to you lawyers also! For you load people with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers.

Do as I SAY not as I DO! Parents this is often humbling. are we laying burdens on our children we don’t bear. are we judging them for what we do?

Romans 2:1 (ESV) — 1 Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things.

Man it feels good to judge others. That person is so WRONG! What power, what a rush! I get to be offended! I’ve been wronged!

I get to let loose my RIGHTEOUS INDIGNATION! You’re taking yourself too seriously, don’t take it to heart – you do the same thing! You see, Solomon is looking around and he sees this mess. Sin and hypocrisy. Self-righteousness and self-indulgence.

D. Wisdom is out of reach

Ecclesiastes 7:23–24 (ESV) — 23 All this I have tested by wisdom. I said, “I will be wise,” but it was far from me. 24 That which has been is far off, and deep, very deep; who can find it out?

Wisdom is a good goal, but who can find it? “I will be wise” Solomon declares.. but it was far from him. Solomon looks out into this crooked world, and finds only crooked people. None righteous, hypocrites, wisdom is out of reach.

Solomon was the wisest man to ever live. God granted him exceptional wisdom. Yet still, before the reality of God, his wisdom was nothing. – it’s too deep!

Isaiah 55:9 (ESV) — 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

With all of his wisdom, yet his 700 wives and 300 concubines the Bible tells us turned his heart away after other Gods, and his heart was not wholly true to YHWH his God as was the heart of his father David. Our wisdom, even our greatest wisdom isn’t enough.

The Crooked world is filled with Crooked people.

III. It Doesn’t Makes Sense (25-29)

Solomon recaps what he’s doing here, he’s trying to make sense of all this. Look at verse 25. He turns his heart to know--- to SEARCH OUT--- to SEEK WISDOM--- the SCHEME of things - This word SCHEME here is a Hebrew word meaning Reckoning or conclusion - the reason or explanation.

To understand the wickedness of folly and the foolishness that is madness. He’s trying to find a reason and explanation – we are all so crooked. Sin is madness and we are all a little crazy.

And what does he find? Crookedness. Something more bitter than death.. a woman whose heart is a snare and a trap.

A. Good things are traps

Marriage, love, companionship these are God’s good gifts to humanity. Adam was alone that was the only NOT GOOD in God’s creation so God made him his wife, Eve.

It is more bitter to Solomon, than death when that gift of joy is a deadly snare and a trap. This should not be!

Proverbs 7:22–27 (ESV) — 22 All at once he follows her, as an ox goes to the slaughter, or as a stag is caught fast 23 till an arrow pierces its liver; as a bird rushes into a snare; he does not know that it will cost him his life. 24 And now, O sons, listen to me, and be attentive to the words of my mouth. 25 Let not your heart turn aside to her ways; do not stray into her paths, 26 for many a victim has she laid low, and all her slain are a mighty throng. 27 Her house is the way to Sheol, going down to the chambers of death.

The TRAP is real! and it brings destruction.

Solomon notes that he who pleases God escapes but the sinner is taken. There are traps and snares. More now than then. The trap of sexual sin is all around us. this is more bitter than death when the good blessing of sex is a snare of the devil. The good gift of ease can be a snare, food can be a snare

You have to believe God is better and make choices that keep you from getting your heart ensnared. Keep your heart close to your wife or husband, make choices that keep you from the opportunity of letting your heart get ensnared. - computer/phone/relationships.

The godly escape. One writer put it this way:

“Do you struggle with pornography? Flee from the unobserved computer. Do you struggle with a drug addiction? Flee from your dealer. Do you struggle with gambling? Flee from the casino. Do you struggle with coveting? Flee from the shopping mall. Do you struggle with sloth? Flee from the sofa. … Don’t let wickedness grab hold of your life. Shake it off, head for the door, and run like mad! Please God instead, not only because it is right, but also because he is more pleasurable than anyone or anything that this crooked world offers”

There are traps in the world and in our heart… crooked world filled with crooked people and it doesn’t makes sense.

B. People are confusing

Ecclesiastes 7:27–28 (ESV) — 27 Behold, this is what I found, says the Preacher, while adding one thing to another to find the scheme of things— 28 which my soul has sought repeatedly, but I have not found. One man among a thousand I found, but a woman among all these I have not found.

Solomon was repeatedly trying to find the scheme of things. The reason, the explanation… something that makes sense. – he searches repeatedly but finds nothing. BUT I HAVE NOT FOUND.

Then there is that odd sentence, One man among a thousand I found but a woman among all these I have not found. What does that actually mean?

Does he mean one man among a thousand is good? well the word good is not in the verse. Wise? That’s not in the verse? Solomon is looking for an explanation. A reason, something that makes sense.

So most simply Solomon is looking and no one makes sense, they are all crooked people doing crooked things… one in a thousand makes sense to him and no women make sense to him.

perhaps if Solomon was a woman she’d reverse that. one woman in a thousand makes sense but no men. He is searching to find the scheme of things…

Nothing makes sense, And people make bad choices, foolish choices and you wish you can make them change. And people who love you, wish you wouldn’t make the foolish choices you make. Sin is confounding, destructive, and foolish.

And because we cannot get in the heart of another person, we don’t know how powerful the lies are that they are believing. and to us their behavior doesn’t makes sense. we can learn, and talk to them and know them better… but even still sometimes it just won’t make sense.

People are confusing.

C. We all chase after our own schemes

So, he ends, with a broad general statement:

Ecclesiastes 7:29 (ESV) — 29 See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes.

This is all he has found. God made us upright, but we seek many schemes. Here the word schemes is a different Hebrew word for plans. We all make our own plans.

We all go our own way.

Isaiah 53:6 (ESV) — 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

This is the reality of our crooked world. WE go our own way – the way that leads to death. There are traps, we don’t makes sense, and we are all going our own way. This is what Solomon has found.

There is ONE NARROW ROAD, and few find it. That is the way of God, and life.

we don’t find it because we don’t want it. the BROAD, EASY way is every other way we come up with to live. if you choose anything other that GOD, you are choosing our own way that leads to death. that’s not a trick, that’s life.

You don’t get in your car and just decide, i’m going to drive backwards today. that will cause a wreck. not cause the world is mean, that’s reality!

we chase after our own schemes and it leads to death. that is just reality. GOD MADE THIS WORLD, and choosing to go our own way, is leaving GOD, and following death. that is THIS CROOKED WORLD.

Filled with crooked people, doing crooked things.. and none of it makes sense… it is the insanity of sin.

So God sent his Son into he world.

CHRIST MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE

In Christ, the crooked world is made straight

Isaiah 40:3–5 (ESV) — 3 A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. 4 Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. 5 And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

Romans 8:19–21 (ESV) — 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

Ephesians 1:9–10 (ESV) — 9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

Christ comes to do this cosmic work. The recreate/renew this broken place.

Ultimately that will be experienced in the new heavens and the new earth. BECAUSE FIRST, THERE WILL BE A JUDGMENT. Every wrong will be made right. Every sin will be removed, there will be a divide, those who stand in Christ, forgiven and in his righteousness, and those who stand alone, in their sin.

And once every sin is removed, then all things will be made new! But he is doing that work… starting NOW in his people!

In Christ, his broken people are made whole

1 Corinthians 1:27–30 (ESV) — 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption,

We were the foolish ones, the lowly and despised – BUT GOD, through CHRIST has raised us up! And he is our wisdom and our righteousness our sanctification and our redemption!

2 Corinthians 5:21 (ESV) — 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

For everyone who is in Christ Jesus, there is life and healing and hope and power. For everyone who will believe. The foolish, the sinful, the addicted, the immoral, the profane. For you, if you will believe in Christ and turn from your schemes and plans and find rest in Christ – this is for you! LIFE, FORGIVENESS, HOPE!

Christians, see this, this is what Christ has done for you. with your weakness, your hurts, your failures. CHRIST MAKES YOU WHOLE.

1 Corinthians 6:11 (ESV) — 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

In Christ, his wayward people find home

No longer wandering on the broad way to destruction. No longer with hearts fighting against God. Now, if you are in Christ Jesus you are new, and God has made his home in you.

John 14:23 (ESV) — 23 Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.

John 15:4–5 (ESV) — 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

Please hear this. Christian, in Christ you have found home. And in that home, in CHRIST abiding in you, there is power to live a life glorifying to God. There is POWER for you to change.

REST IN HIM!! REST IN THIS! trust in Christ and live!

This is the world made right, starting in your heart, filling you up to live a life pleasing to God, a life of joy and peace and truth. A life of LIGHT in this dark, broken Crooked world.

Christ is the light of the world, and we walk in his light and we shine forth his light. You weak Christian, you struggling Christian, you every day Christian. YOU BELIEVE this! You HOLD TIGHT TO THIS! REST ALL YOUR HEAVY LIFE IN THIS.

CHRIST IS YOUR LIFE! HE is the straight way, He is your hope and help! believe on him and live!

PRAY

SING – Jesus, Thank You!

2 Corinthians 13:14 (NASB95) — 14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.

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