Reflections with Andy - Ecclesiastes 9: 17-18 - 10: 20 – Where Wisdom Is
The teacher continues to struggle, but understands that it is better to have wisdom than. But, what exactly is wisdom?
In this reflection on Ecclesiastes 9:17–10:20, the Teacher continues exploring the value and limitations of wisdom. While wisdom is portrayed as better than foolishness, stronger than weapons, and worthy of pursuit, it still cannot remove life’s uncertainty or guarantee control over the future. The devotion contrasts the Teacher’s growing cynicism with the Christian conviction that wisdom itself is not the ultimate goal—Jesus is. The reflection wrestles honestly with anxiety, uncertainty, and the human desire to control outcomes, ultimately suggesting that true wisdom is not found in mastering the future but in trusting that God is already present there. Even when life feels uncertain, believers can rest in the promise that wherever the future leads, God will meet them there.
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Well, good morning. It’s good to be with you on this Wednesday morning. We are getting close to being finished with Ecclesiastes. We’re going to finish chapter 10 today, then tomorrow chapter 11, and finally chapter 12 on Friday. So we are almost at the end of this great season of angst that is Ecclesiastes, because the Teacher really does feel like the biblical representative of the ‘90s grunge movement, where everything is terrible and everything is awful.
And honestly, as someone who grew up listening to Nirvana and Pearl Jam, I get it. It resonates with me.
Today we’re actually going to back up into chapter 9. I mentioned yesterday that there was kind of a break in the rhythm of the chapter where it moved into a more poetic section. So we’re going to pick up in Ecclesiastes 9:17 and then read through all of chapter 10, because it really feels like one poetic movement.
“The quiet words of the wise are more to be heeded than the shouting of a ruler among fools. Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one bungler destroys much good.
Dead flies make the perfumer’s ointment give off a foul odor; so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor. The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of a fool to the left. Even when fools walk on the road, they lack sense and show to everyone that they are fools.
If the anger of the ruler rises against you, do not leave your post, for calmness will undo great offenses.
There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, as great an error as if it proceeded from the ruler: folly is set in many high places, and the rich sit in a low place. I have seen slaves on horseback and princes walking on foot like slaves.
Whoever digs a pit will fall into it, and whoever breaks through a wall will be bitten by a snake. Whoever quarries stones will be hurt by them, and whoever splits logs will be endangered by them.
If the iron is blunt and one does not whet the edge, then more strength must be exerted; but wisdom helps one succeed.
If the snake bites before it is charmed, there is no advantage in a charmer.
Words spoken by the wise bring them favor, but the lips of fools consume them. The words of their mouths begin in foolishness, and their talk ends in wicked madness, yet fools talk on and on. No one knows what is to happen, and who can tell anyone what the future holds?
The toil of fools wears them out, for they do not even know the way to town.
Alas for you, O land, when your king is a servant, and your princes feast in the morning! Happy are you, O land, when your king is a nobleman, and your princes feast at the proper time, for strength and not for drunkenness.
Through sloth the roof sinks in, and through indolence the house leaks.
Feasts are made for laughter, wine gladdens life, and money meets every need.
Do not curse the king, even in your thoughts, or curse the rich, even in your bedroom; for a bird of the air may carry your voice, or some winged creature tell the matter.”
When I read that last line about the bird of the air carrying your voice, I immediately thought about The Lord of the Ringsand Saruman sending the birds out to spy on the Fellowship. My brain immediately went there: spies everywhere.
Obviously, the Teacher is speaking poetically here, but this whole section really felt a lot like Proverbs to me. Proverbs and Ecclesiastes almost function like bookends. Proverbs is deeply concerned with wisdom and the importance of wisdom, and Ecclesiastes, in its own way, still values wisdom.
The Teacher is not against wisdom. In fact, he repeatedly says wisdom is better than foolishness. “Wisdom is better than weapons of war.” “The quiet words of the wise are more to be heeded.” “Wisdom helps one succeed.”
But the Teacher also believes wisdom is not the cure-all. Wisdom does not fix everything. Wisdom does not remove uncertainty. Wisdom cannot guarantee a pain-free life.
And that’s where we begin to see the tension.
At one point he says, “Feasts are made for laughter, wine gladdens life, and money meets every need.” Compare that with Jesus saying you cannot serve both God and wealth. You can see the Teacher struggling to make sense of the world and trying to locate meaning in things that ultimately cannot hold it.
I think one thing we can take from this passage is the call to seek wisdom. We should seek wisdom. We should seek understanding. We should seek maturity.
But we do not have to end up in the same place of cynicism.
Wisdom itself is not the point. For us as Christians, Jesus is the point.
That’s what I keep coming back to every time we read Ecclesiastes. No matter what the Teacher pursues—wisdom, money, pleasure, success—in the end, none of those things can ultimately bear the weight of meaning.
The Teacher keeps circling around the same hard truth: we cannot control the future.
“No one knows what is to happen, and who can tell anyone what the future holds?”
And honestly, I resonate with that. I don’t like uncertainty. I don’t like the unknown. I worry a lot about things I cannot control.
I’ve been working on that. I’ve got a good therapist helping me process some of my worrying, and I’m beginning to realize that a lot of my anxiety comes from believing that if I can just do everything right—say the right thing, make the right decision, manage everything perfectly—then everything will turn out okay.
But I can’t make everything okay. And neither can you.
Who can tell anyone what the future holds? We can’t. Only God can.
So maybe that’s where wisdom finally leads us—not to control, but to trust.
Maybe true wisdom is learning that while we do not know the future, we know the One who will meet us there.
God has met us in the past. God is with us in the present. And God will be with us in the future.
There’s a great line from Rich Mullins where he says, “I’m home anywhere if You are where I am.”
Maybe that’s wisdom.
Maybe wisdom is knowing that wherever we find ourselves—past, present, or future—God will meet us there.
So no, we do not know what tomorrow holds. But we know that whatever tomorrow holds, God will already be there.
Thanks for being with us today. We’ll pick up tomorrow with chapter 11, and then finish Ecclesiastes on Friday with chapter 12.