Ecclessiastes Chapter Seven cont... Jesus as our guide...

26 “And I find more bitter than death the woman, whose heart is snares and nets, and her hands as bands: whoso pleaseth God shall escape from her; but the sinner shall be taken by her.”

This is, of course, being spoken experientially from Solomon whose heart we are told was led astray by his wives (1Kings 11:4 “For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father.”). He says of this seductress: "...whose heart is snares and nets, and her hands as bands..." This word snares means "lying in wait to catch men"; in other words she is a huntress (See Proverbs 6:26). We would emphasize this verse with all caution; this woman is the subject of Proverbs 7 (See Proverbs 7:6-27). Solomon had fallen, no doubt, into this snare many many times. He found it bitter personally! But the caveat is this: "...whoso pleaseth God shall escape from her..." There are weights and measures with God; those who please the Lord are directed by the Lord and escape her snares and nets whilst those abhorred by Him are not preserved (Proverbs 22:14 “The mouth of strange women is a deep pit: he that is abhorred of the LORD shall fall therein.”)! How does one please the Lord? Christ said: “And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.”  (John 8:29). By walking in humility, the fear of the Lord and keeping His commandments we bring pleasure to the Lord. Proverbs 7:1-5 begins with the good advice on how to please the Lord and how to avoid this woman.  “My son, keep my words, and lay up my commandments with thee.  Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of thine eye.  Bind them upon thy fingers, write them upon the table of thine heart. Say unto wisdom, Thou art my sister; and call understanding thy kinswoman:  That they may keep thee from the strange woman, from the stranger which flattereth with her words.”

It is important to distinguish the difference between being loved by the Lord and bringing Him pleasure. One can have a child that they love dearly but if the parent strongly disagrees with his or her choices then there is no pleasure in them. It is the same with the Lord He may love us but is He taking pleasure in us, it is not the same thing. At the end of this book Solomon wisely summarized the whole duty of man and gave to us the key to pleasing the Lord (Eccl 12:13)

Ecclessiastes Chapter Seven cont... No mixture!

25 “I applied mine heart to know, and to search, and to seek out wisdom, and the reason of things, and to know the wickedness of folly, even of foolishness and madness:”

Solomon illustrates for us time and time again the mixture that was in him; this is not the pathway to righteousness peace and joy but rather to confusion and misery. The quest one should be on is not one the mixture of Ecclesiastes 1:17 “And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit.” Or of Ecclesiastes 2:12 “And I turned myself to behold wisdom, and madness, and folly: for what can the man do that cometh after the king? even that which hath been already done.” Our quest should be to have the mixture removed from our lives and to have singleness of vision; David illustrates this for us in Psalm 27:4 “One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple.” Whilst Solomon sought for, and pursued, many things his father David was seeking for one thing only!

Ecclesiastes Chapter Seven cont... The deep things of God

24 “That which is far off, and exceeding deep, who can find it out?”

That which is afar off (in the future) and deep (profound), who can know it? Man, without help, cannot discern the future nor discover the profound, deep and hidden treasures known only to God. However, that being said we do have a way of seeing deep things and knowing these things that are far off if we draw near to God in the person of the Holy Spirit. Consider the words of 1 Corinthians 2:9-11. “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.  But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.  For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.” If we draw near to Him with a true heart He will draw near to us (See James 4:8) and it is those who are close to Him that He reveals the hidden deep things of God

Ecclesiastes Chapter Seven cont...gifts versus character!

23 “All this have I proved by wisdom: I said, I will be wise; but it was far from me”.

All of Solomon's observations he made by his gift of wisdom. Because of the anointing that was upon him he could see and observe with the ability to form what he saw into a statement that was instructive. This is seen more so in the book of Proverbs than in Ecclesiastes; by now he has corrupted his gift by a reckless and licentious lifestyle (See V:25). There should have been two tracks running in the life of Solomon; the gift and the character to sustain the gift and to prevent a crash. Because these two tracks were not in their proper order in his life his gift was corrupted. This is very instructive for us as well; over the years I have observed it is not to the talented or the gifted to take the prize but it is to the man or woman of character.

1) The Gift - first of all we have the gift itself; a gift is something given from the hand of God to a man or a woman that makes their way in this life (Proverbs 18:16 “A man's gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men”.)

2) Good Character - this is what is needed to ensure proper behavior in the execution of the gift. God is very much about behavior and how we conduct ourselves. Character preserves the anointing.