The Limits of Wisdom

[Read Ecclesiastes 8:1-17]

Ever since the Enlightenment, humanity has been increasingly putting knowledge and wisdom in the position of god. We’ve increasingly been looking to wisdom and knowledge for our salvation. 

If you listen to conversations happening throughout the world, you’ll begin to notice these things. I repeatedly hear people saying that education is going to solve all of our problems. If people knew more things, they would do better things. If people mess up and do wrong things, it’s because they are “uneducated.” 

We’ve begun to think that we can do anything through knowledge and wisdom. We think that we can solve the problem of evil through knowledge and wisdom. We think that we can predict the future through our knowledge and wisdom—through our algorithms and equations. We think we can bring peace to the world through knowledge and wisdom. I’ve even heard people say that we can prevent death through knowledge and wisdom. A number of years ago, the cover of Time magazine read, “Can Google solve death?,” talking about Google’s ambitions to extend our lives. 

We can even bring this idea further into our current reality. Now, don’t read anything into this more than what I’m saying, but please hear what I’m saying. What is the repeated refrain that we have been hearing throughout this pandemic? “What does the science say?” OR “We will make all of our decisions based on the science.” Another way to say that is, “We will make all of our decisions based on our human wisdom and knowledge.” We are treating these things as a savior. Rather than doing everything we do in light of the glory of God, we are being told to do everything we do in light of human wisdom and knowledge. 

Now, we can take this too far in the opposite direction. Some may be tempted to throw off all science, and reject all human wisdom and knowledge. Well, that’s not wise. A repeated refrain in the book of Ecclesiastes is that wisdom and knowledge are a good thing. 

Yet, it’s important to understand the difference between wisdom and knowledge. We all know people who are very knowledgeable and very foolish. We also know people who are very wise but only have a high school education. Wisdom is about the application of knowledge. Biblically speaking, it’s about living out the things you know and rightly applying what you know to your current situation. That’s wisdom and that’s a good thing. 

So, this passage begins by saying, “Who is like the wise? Who knows the explanation of things? A person’s wisdom brightens their face and changes its hard appearance.” (Ecclesiastes 8:1, NIV). The first question is rhetorical. It assumes the answer, “No one.” No one is like the wise person. The wise person has people coming to them regularly for advice and wisdom because a truly wise person is hard to come by. 

But wisdom is more than advice it actually changes you from the inside out. The wise person’s face is changed. It is brighter than the fools. It is softer than the fools. And we know that a face that is soft and bright are external expressions of something happening in someone’s heart. So, wisdom is a good thing that changes us from the inside out. 

The author also talks about how wisdom helps us in difficult situations and circumstances. He says, “Obey the king’s command, I say, because you took an oath before God. Do not be in a hurry to leave the king’s presence. Do not stand up for a bad cause, for he will do whatever he pleases. Since a king’s word is supreme, who can say to him, “What are you doing?” Whoever obeys his command will come to no harm…” (Ecclesiastes 8:2–6, NIV). Wisdom helps us when we find ourselves working for a fickle and foolish king—or anyone in authority over us. 

As I read this passage, I couldn’t help but think about Daniel and King Nebuchadnezzar. When I think about a fickle and foolish king, I think about King Nebuchadnezzar. He would fly off the handle when things didn’t go his way and he would threaten to kill anyone who didn’t give him what he wanted. Now, think about this for a moment. Daniel was an employee of this king for over thirty years. He was also an employee of other Babylonian kings who were fickle and foolish—for a total of 70 years. How in the world did he do it? 

Through wisdom. At the beginning of Daniel it says, “To these four young men God gave wisdom and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning.” (Daniel 1:17, NIV). So, as Daniel served these fickle kings, trying to understand when to say “No” and when to say “Yes,” he relied heavily on his God-given wisdom. 

The author lays this out as a general principle for all of us. We will all find ourselves living in difficult times—in uncertain situations and circumstances. We will be placed in positions where we don’t know what to do or what decision to make. The author reminds us that wisdom helps in these situations: “The wise heart will know the proper time and procedure. For there is a proper time and procedure for every matter, though a person may be weighed down by misery.” (Ecclesiastes 8:5–6, NIV). There is a time and place for everything. There is a certain way that things should be done and a certain time to do them. We can mess these up and do the right thing at the wrong time, or do the right thing in the wrong way. The wise person knows when to do the right thing in the right way at the right time. Wisdom helps us navigate these uncertain times and uncertain circumstances. 

However, those who are truly wise recognize something else: Wisdom is not everything. There are limits to wisdom. As we grow in wisdom, we learn how little wisdom we truly have. The author says, “Since no one knows the future, who can tell someone else what is to come? As no one has power over the wind to contain it, so no one has power over the time of their death. As no one is discharged in time of war, so wickedness will not release those who practice it.” (Ecclesiastes 8:7–8, NIV). Wisdom cannot help us know the future. Wisdom cannot change the weather. Wisdom cannot overcome death. Wisdom cannot bring peace in the midst of war. Wisdom cannot bring righteousness to the wicked. Wisdom is a good thing, but it is NO SAVIOR. 

We think we can predict the future through our knowledge and wisdom. We cannot. We think we can control the weather through our knowledge and wisdom. We cannot. We think we can overcome death through our wisdom and knowledge. We cannot. We think we can bring peace and righteousness through our wisdom and knowledge. We cannot. Wisdom and Knowledge are not our savior. 

Take a moment to remember back to the beginning of this pandemic. We had all of our best scientists, all of our smartest—most knowledgable people— working to predict the future. They predicted that 2.2 million people would die in the United States from this virus. I remember listening to Fauci say that number was high, but he predicted that most likely 150 million people would die, possibly 2 million. We’ve had 220 thousand deaths. All of our best scientists and smartest people confidently said they could predict the future. They weren’t even close. We cannot predict the future. We are not smart enough. We are not God. 

Throughout this pandemic, we have increasingly relied on our wisdom and knowledge to give us “power over the day of our death” (Ecclesiastes 8:8, NIV). From the beginning of this pandemic, I have watched multitudes of people put their hope in science and wisdom and knowledge to get us through. Many have placed their hope in a vaccine. Many have placed their hope in the CDC and their recommendations of masks and social distancing. Yet, the science keeps changing. One day one thing is recommended and the next something else BECAUSE we do not really know what we are doing. 

Science is a fickle god—changing every minute. We are not as smart as we think we are. We are not God. 

Now, because everything is so polarized right now, I feel like I have to clarify what I’m saying. I am not telling you whether you should take the vaccine or not. I’m not telling you whether you should wear a mask or not. Obviously, God can use science and masks and vaccines for his purposes. That’s not my point. Here’s my point: Do not put your hope in these things. Do not fall into the trap of worshiping these things like idols—putting your comfort there. They are not God. We are not God.

The author pounds this point home: “When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe the labor that is done on earth—people getting no sleep day or night—then I saw all that God has done. No one can comprehend what goes on under the sun. Despite all their efforts to search it out, no one can discover its meaning. Even if the wise claim they know, they cannot really comprehend it.” (Ecclesiastes 8:16–17, NIV). Do you get his point? Three times he says: No one can figure it out. No one can figure it out. No one can figure it out. Even the really smart, really wise people in this world cannot figure it out. It doesn’t matter if they think they can, if they claim they can, or try to do it. They CANNOT do it. They are not God. We are not God. 

Since we are not God, we need to place our hope and trust in Him. He is the only one who can bring us salvation. He is the only one who actually knows the future, who can change the weather, who has power over death, who can bring peace, AND who can make the wicked righteous. We cannot do that. God CAN and he DOES. 

So, since we are not in control of these things—and God is—how are we called to live? First he says that we need to trust God and live thankfully and joyfully today. He says, “So I commend the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany them in their toil all the days of the life God has given them under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 8:15, NIV).

He says this in an interesting context: “There is something else meaningless that occurs on earth: the righteous who get what the wicked deserve, and the wicked who get what the righteous deserve. This too, I say, is meaningless.” (Ecclesiastes 8:14, NIV). Like last week, he says I see good things happening to bad people and bad things happening to good people. Then he calls us to trust God and live thankfully and joyfully today. He’s pushing back against trying to calculate the future. We’re tempted to look at what’s happening right now and use that to predict the future. We’re tempted to think: “Since the wicked are prospering, maybe that’s what will get me ahead in life” or “Since the righteous are suffering right now, maybe that’s not the way to go.” He says, “Knock it off. Stop trying to calculate what’s going to happen in the future. You cannot predict the future. Stop trying to measure whether righteousness or wickedness will get you further ahead. Stop looking to your own wisdom—or the wisdom of others—to be a savior. Every one of these idols will let you down. God has called you to live today, trusting Him and joyfully giving thanks for every gift he has given you: food, drink, and life. This is true wisdom.” 

Yet, he also points us toward the future. He voiced his frustration over the wicked prospering and receiving praise in this life. Then he says, “Although a wicked person who commits a hundred crimes may live a long time, I know that it will go better with those who fear God, who are reverent before him. Yet because the wicked do not fear God, it will not go well with them, and their days will not lengthen like a shadow.” (Ecclesiastes 8:12–13, NIV). He may get frustrated as he watches the wicked prosper and receive praise, BUT he knows it will not work out for them in the end. It will not end well. Yet, for those who fear God—even if they suffer in this life—it will be better for those who fear God and worship Him. The wise know this to be true. 

Jesus gives us a powerful parable of this truth: “Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared. “The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’ “ ‘An enemy did this,’ he replied. “The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’ “ ‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’ ”” (Matthew 13:24–30, NIV). Later we read: “Then he left the crowd and went into the house. His disciples came to him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.” He answered, “The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the people of the kingdom. The weeds are the people of the evil one, and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. “As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear.” (Matthew 13:36–43, NIV). 

Although we don’t know the future, we can be certain of this event because our God—who knows the future—has promised it to come. Right now, we live in a field full of weeds and wheat. We see a world mixed with wickedness and righteousness, but it will not be that way forever. One day the harvest will come. One day Christ will return again and he will send his angels to separate the weeds from the wheat. The weeds may have prospered for a little while, but in the end they will be thrown into a blazing furnace where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Yet, the righteous—those who fear God and follow Him—will shine like the sun and will he harvested and brought into the Father’s house where they will hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant!…Come and share your master’s happiness!’” (Matthew 25:23, NIV). 

Let me end on a very clear note. The difference between the weeds and the wheat—between the wicked and the righteous—is faith. The weeds put their faith in idols—in their own strength and abilities, in their own wisdom and knowledge, in science. Their end is the furnace. But the wheat—the righteous—put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ—the true Savior of the World; the one who has power over sin, and death, and hell; the one who lived, and died, and rose again from the dead so that we could be counted as righteous and receive eternal life in the presence of our Father. Those who are truly wise, place their faith and trust in Jesus Christ and live each day joyfully and thankfully trusting Him.