Ecclesiastes 10:4-11

Ecclesiastes chapter 10 looking at verses 4 through 11 for our study and text this evening if the spirit of the ruler rise up against thee leave not thy place for yielding pacifieth great offenses there is an evil which I have seen under the sun as an air which precedeth the ruler. Folly is set in great dignity and the rich sit in a low place. I’ve seen servants upon horses and princes walking as servants upon the earth. He that digeth the pit shall fall into it. Whosoever breaketh a hedge, a serpent shall bite him. Whosoever remove his stone shall be hurt therewith. He that cleaveth wood shall be endangered thereby. If the iron be blunt and he do not wet the edge, then must he put to more strength. But wisdom is profitable to direct. the serpent will bite without enchantment and a babbler is no better. God bless to us his holy and sacred word this evening. Steel King Andrew Carnegie, which we’re familiar with here in Pittsburgh area, ironically knew precious little about the material which made him famous. He did, however, know about people. He learned an early lesson about customer relations when as a boy in Scotland, his pet rabbit gave birth to several little bunnies. And so in order to feed them, Carnegie said that to his friends, if you will go out and gather some dandelions and clover to feed the bunnies, I’ll let you name one of the bunnies after you. And so they were out there and gathering the clover than things that he need. When Corneghi grew up, he wanted to steal steel to the Pennsylvania Railroad. So he built a new steel mill in Pittsburgh and named it the J. Edgar Thompson Steelworks. Why did he name it the J. Edgar Thompson Steelworks? Because J. Edgar Thompson was the president of the Pennsylvania Railroad. He was so flattered that Carnegie named this steelworks after him that he bought all his steel from Carnegie after that. Solomon here begins a section of proverbial observations about the use of wisdom in the affairs of life. As you go through life, you’re bound to run into one of these situations that he mentioned in our text tonight. And you’re going to need spiritual guidance. Andrew Carnegie knew how to deal with people on a human level. He knew how to appeal to a person’s ego to get what he wanted to get accomplished. But here, you’re taught to deal with people on a spiritual level and how to use wisdom in dealing with people. So he addresses the subject of the application of wisdom here and this. So we have spiritual guidance, wisdom’s guidance, if you would, in this. section of scripture. Now wisdom will guide you with regard to authority. Versus four to seven. Now you should remain calm when dealing with those in authority. Notice verse four with me tonight. If the spirit of the ruler rise up against the, leave not by place for yielding pacifieth great offenses. Wisdom is a guide with regard to government. authority. Like all wisemen, Solomon recognizes that human life has a very much a political element to it. It’s hard to escape this element about life because everyone lives under somebody’s authority. You have a ruler over you in some capacity, one way or another. Whether you are a, jungle native or whether you are a suburban intellectual, yeah, I live under some form of government because God has ordained government. Knowing how to deal with those who order and regulate your life in various areas, an essential part, I think, of your spiritual education. So Solomon is saying, pay attention here on how you deal with these people. And he basically says, he says, stay on good terms with the powerful. Honor the king. Use self-control. When your superior displays a temper tantrum, remain calm. He says, a soft answer turn its way wrath here. So be careful in your response. Don’t get in a heated exchange with the political leader. Don’t walk out in the middle of a tirade and join the ranks of the rebels who want to overthrow the king. That can’t lead to any good. Zalma isn’t saying you should be a doormat and let everything go by without a word of protest, but there are ways and means of dealing with those in government, and we have to be careful in dealing with them. By grace and practice, wisdom you can accomplish much. After all, it’s dangerous to face up to an angry and powerful superior, even if you’re right. You know, I think about Ahaz and Jezebel and Elijah praised there wouldn’t be any rain, and they got mad at them. Instead of looking at the fact that they were sinful, they said, you are the troubler of Israel. You’re the troublemaker. Of course, they threatened his life. Why stoke the fire when it’s already overheated? And so the lesson is that the self-controlled person is really more powerful than the out-of-control superior. Proverbs 2515 says this. By long for bearing is a person. Prince persuaded, and a soft tongue breaketh the bone. By long-forbearing, you can overcome. Now, you must realize that this piece of advice doesn’t merely apply to political leaders, but anybody who has authority in your life. We could talk about the government and the senator and the president, honor the king. We could talk about your boss. servants obey in all things your masters fearing God you talk about the husband wives submit yourselves under your own husbands and of course we could talk about parents children obey your parents in all things we could talk about the elders of the church obey them that have the rule over you yielding by seeking a healing pacifies great anger. I had Russell read the story about Abigail and David because we know he was furious and he was going to get an A ball and he was going to get every male in the family and kill them. And he had the sword strapped on, he and his men, and they were coming to do the work. But that was going to get every male in the family and kill them. Abigail wisely intercepted him, provided the food that was needed, and then persuasively, gently, but persuasively, said, you don’t want to do this. There’ll be a blight on your name when you become king and so forth. And she persuaded him, gently. And so I think that was very useful. that was the case. You remember the story about Daniel in chapter one. When he wanted to not eat the king’s food because it was against the law of God, some of these food was evidently unclean food. He and his three companions didn’t want to eat that food, but he had to persuade the eunuch that was over him about it. and he says, well, why don’t you just test us? Just give us pulse. Just give us vegetables for 10 days. And if we look better and we’re not thinner and we look healthier and we look healthier and we look healthier, then let us eat the pulse. Don’t force us to eat the king’s meat, which, or the king’s food, which goes against our religious beliefs. And he persuaded the eunuch to do this, and of course, you know the outcome. They look better than everybody else. And so he persuaded him by this means. So you should remain calm when dealing with those in authority. Now, you often have to deal with the great evil of bad leadership. Versus five to seven. them. There is an evil which I have seen under the sun as an error which precedeth from the ruler. Folly is set in great dignity and the rich sit in low place. I’ve seen servants upon orses and princes walking as servants upon the earth. One thing to deal with an angry leader, but it’s another thing to deal with one who is foolish and incompetent. And somehow, rather, they get entrenched in political positions. But all I do is look at our government. You can see it all over the place. You wonder how this is possible. But it’s common in all generations that this is going to happen. It’s very difficult to live in a situation where you have the wrong kind of person in power and their foolish decisions are things that trouble you and directly affect you. Can you imagine if you were in Afghanistan and President Biden says, well, we’re pulling all the troops up. And he pulls out the troops first before you and get a chance to get out. And then you’re stuck. And then every advice he seems to give you doesn’t work out. It hurts the people. when you have foolish leadership. Servants, he says, are out of place on horses because they rarely have the experience in talent to lead armies in battle. Usually the horse is related to the military action. He’s saying, well, if you have a bad leader, it’s not going to help you when you’re in this situation because the man is ill-equipped the lead. And then he says, Those who should be serving are leading, and they’re the ones on the horses. Those who ought to be princes and ruling and being the leaders, they’re walking among the foot soldiers. It doesn’t make any sense, but that’s the way it is sometimes. The issue here is competence. And in many cases, it does not reside with those in authority. They’re incompetent. They’re fooling. Solomon offers no further analysis here, far less advice. And his silence seems ominous here. Bad leadership breeds discontentment, disloyalty, and great evil that plagues God’s people. All you’ve got to do is look at King Saul. What a terrible leader he was. And how it harmed the people of God, because he was so foolish. It can happen in the spirit. realm also if we have bad leadership in the church. So when you were ruled by a full order, a governor, or a husband, like Abigail, or a parent, you need to know that there is a God who is truly sovereign, who rules over all things, and that’s your only confidence in that bad situation. Indeed, the king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord. And as the rivers of water, he turneth it whithersoever he will. It’s true of kings, but it’s also true of those lesser in authority. Sometimes the Bible just gives us the top line situation, but it would apply as well to those in authority under that situation. There’s comfort at such times to know that. So wisdom will guide you with regard to authority. Wisdom will also guide you with regard to vindictiveness. That’s my second major point, verses 8 and 9. He that diggeth a pit shall fall into it. Whosoever breaketh a hedge, a hedge, a serpent shall bite him. Whosoever remove his stone shall be hurt therewith. He that cleaveth wood shall be endangered thereby. You have sort of four piffy illustrations here, sort of like little parables, Solomon provides for us. Evil shall fall on the heads of those who plot it. Now, if you dig a pit for someone, may fall into it yourself. Let’s look at a couple of passages here. This is repeatedly spoken of in Scripture. I’m going to look at just two verses or two passages. The first is in Psalm 7, 14 to 16. He finds his truth in Proverbs as well. Psalm 7, verses 14 to 16. Scripture says this. Behold, he travaileth with iniquity, and have conceived mischief and brought forth falsehood. He made it. a pit and digged it in his fall into the ditch which he made. His mischief shall return upon his own head and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate. Then look at chapter 9 verse 15. The heathen are sunk down into the pit which they made. In the net which they hid, is their own foot taken. And on and on we could go. There’s plenty of scriptures with regard to this truth. Then he says, you attempt to tear down someone’s hedge, maybe a landmark, you know, to move the boundary of something, or destroy the property they possess in some way. See, a snake may come out and bite you. Attempt to pull down someone’s house. destroy their family, and you may find the building coming down upon your own head. Attempt to chop down the trees, which you’re in your way. Perhaps the reference here is to rivals, and you may injure yourself in the undertaking. But the moral is this, if you play with fire, you’re going to get burned. Many of terrorists has been blown up by the very bomb they were arming or preparing. to blow somebody else up with. Just as God promises blessing upon acts of genuine kindness, he warns of destructive consequences of those who are engaged in malicious activities. Our Lord taught the same basic principle during his arrest in the garden. Remember what he said to Peter in Matthew 25 or 2652. Put up by again thy sword. into its place. For all that take the sword shall perish with the sword. Very similar idea. Wisdom will wait upon the Lord to bring about vengeance. Vengeance is mine, saith, the Lord, I will repay. So wisdom says be patient. The evil doer will find the wrong coming back to haunt him, like a boomer. it will come back against him. This is a just principle. And think about the story of Haman, who attempted an Old Testament Holocaust and an extinction of all the Jews in Persia. He’s going to slaughter them all. He failed. And his own family became extinct. Remember the gallows that he made for Mordecai, he gets hung on him. And all his sons get hung in the same manner. Remember the men who wanted to have Daniel thrown into the lion’s den and destroyed? And he gets thrown in, but of course God protects him and the lions don’t eat him. But what happened to them and their families in the end? They end up in the lion’s den and they get destroyed. They were trying to destroy. They were trying to destroy some. who was good and faithful to the Lord and they ended up getting destroyed. Adonai Bezik, the Kroll king of Bezik, you read about it in the book of judges. He had 50, or excuse me, he had 40 kings that he had conquered, cut off their big toes and their thumbs. And they ate their food, tried to get scraps of meat and food, and food from underneath the king’s table. So when the Israelites conquered them, what did they do? They cut off his thumbs and his big toes. Came back on his own hand. Sin is like a rubber ball. Come back, bouncing back before long. So you’re called to serve God to advance his kingdom. So be slow to anger. Don’t give way to a spirit of getting even, which is very tempting at times. Trust that God sees the wrong done and will be pay in kind those who harm you. So wisdom will guide you with regard to vindictiveness. Thirdly, my third main point tonight, wisdom will guide you with regard to opposition. Your approach to dealing with opposition, verse 10. if the iron be blunt and he do not wet the edge, then must he put to more strength. But wisdom is profitable to direct. Galveston, Texas, there was a hotel that was on the Gulf Coast. The Gulf of Mexico. And they put a notice up in each room, no fishing from the balcony. because every day hotel guests would throw their lines to the waters way below them. And of course, their line may not be long enough. And with the weight of the sinker on it, it would fling back into the windows down below and break them. And so they said, don’t fish from your balconies. But for some reason, or rather just telling sinful people not to do something drove them to do it. And so they were always dealing with broken windows until they finally said, let’s take these signs out. And sure enough, when they took the signs out, and people weren’t thinking about it, I guess, they quit throwing the fishing line off the balcony, and it solved their problem. It’s like God’s law. You tell a person, thou shalt not do this, well, that. That’s the very same thing. That’s the very thing they want to do. And so people were stubbornly entrenched in this way. Now, Solomon here is teaching something about obstinate people, and he’s using the idea here of a woodsman or logger. And you can picture this rugged outdoorsman. He’s standing before this towering seater tree, and he’s got an axe in his hand. He’s going to use his muscles to drop this. tree down. The only problem is the blades doll. The wood isn’t being cut very well because of it. Now he has two options. One, you have to have to put more strength into the swing. Put more muscle into it because you’ve got a dull blade. Or two, you’ll wet the blade and sharpen it, and then it’ll cut much better. Now I think his point here is this. you’ve got to use more force to subdue obstinate people, or else you must use wisdom like a sharp edge in order to be successful. One or the other. Wisdom allows you to direct or manage obstinate people. And many times, if you handle a person properly, you’ll get much more out of him or her. You get a better result if you know how to handle them. Cliff. skimels said his dad must have learned a lot from Tom Sawyer because he was a master of the indirect speech. He said he elevated to an art form when he was younger. He said Cliff’s family lived on a farm. And his dad came in one day into the house and said to Cliff, he said, if you were little older, a little bigger, a little stronger, I would ask you to go out and help me unload the hay off the wagon today. He said, I don’t want you to go out there because it’s, you know, it’s too much for you. Cliff said, I literally ran out the door to show my dad, I I could do it. Lift those bales of hay off the, off the hay wagon. He said, my dad used that bigger and stronger thing. He said, until I was 21 years old and it finally dawned on me what he was doing. He said, when my children were growing up, he conducted, he said, his own experiments with his children. Cliff, children were growing up, and one day they had a very heavy snowstorm. And so the next morning, when Cliff woke up, he did his pre-teenage sunstorm. He said, no, son, I don’t want even try to shovel the snow off the driveway and the sidewalks. You’re too young, the snow’s just too heavy for you. Don’t worry about it. I’ll get it when I come home from work. See, when I got home from work, beautiful, cleaned off driveway and sidewalks. Now, I’m not saying we should trick anybody into anything. do some wisdom, though. He may get a lot further than you think with people. And apply wisdom for a solution, overcome the obstinate person. The second thing he says here, you have to deal, be careful in dealing with a mocker. Verse 11, study, or excuse me, surely the serpent will bite without enchantment. And a babbler. is no better. Just like a poisonous snake brings grave danger, the one who’s unskilled with piping. You can’t, you’re not charming it. So the babbler is dangerous and treacherous to deal with. The babbler here means master of the tongue, only it’s using a negative sense. It’s sort of like we read in the book of James. The tongue is an unruly evil. full of deadly poison. Well, that’s why it’s viper-like. So this type of person is always picking apart what you’re doing, always trying to find fault, mocking your efforts, looking for an opportunity to do you harm. So these are troublesome people. So he says they have to be handled with very great care, like a snake charmer. You’ve got to be very careful with these people. And you must use enchantment in order to keep them from biting you with their tongue. So wisdom allows you to disarm those who may be destructive with their tongues. It’s interesting if you study Christ’s life how he shut the mouths of those who sought the trick, condemned and discredit him. His answers were so astonishing that his enemies didn’t know what to say. They were left speechless. When it came to paying taxes to Caesar or not, he asked for a coin, he said, well, whose image and inscription is on this coin? They said, Cesar’s. They said, well, then render under Caesar the things that are Cesar’s. And under God, the things that are God, and they did not respond to that. With the woman. and taken an adultery. What should we do? Moses’ losses that she deserves to be stoned to death. What do you say? He didn’t answer them right away. So they kept pressing about it. So when he got up from writing on the sand, he looked at him and said, well, either is without the first sin, let him cast the first stone. If you’re without sin, you get to cast the first stone. Go ahead. Went back to writing. And, of course, they all got convicted from the greatest of the least, and they all left. He shut them down. He didn’t have, what could they say? These babblers, these troublemakers. Scripture says, be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is within you with meekness and fear, having a good conscience, that whereas they speak evil, you as evil doers they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conscience or your good conversation excuse me in Christ so saying guard your words carefully do the right thing you can silence even the bamblers that come against you oh Andrew Carnegie know how to deal with people on the human level flattered them and won them over. But you’re taught here how to deal with people on the spiritual level. You’ve got to use spiritual wisdom in dealing with people. Wisdom will guide you with regard to authority, with regard to vindictiveness, and with regard to opposition. So he says here, apply wisdom, the situation will come out further ahead. Let’s close with a word of prayer tonight.