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Ecclesiastes 7:15-29
15 In this meaningless life of mine I have seen both of these:
a righteous man perishing in his righteousness,
and a wicked man living long in his wickedness.
16 Do not be overrighteous,
neither be overwise—
why destroy yourself?
17 Do not be overwicked,
and do not be a fool—
why die before your time?
18 It is good to grasp the one
and not let go of the other.
The man who fears God will avoid all extremes.[a]
and a wicked man living long in his wickedness.
16 Do not be overrighteous,
neither be overwise—
why destroy yourself?
17 Do not be overwicked,
and do not be a fool—
why die before your time?
18 It is good to grasp the one
and not let go of the other.
The man who fears God will avoid all extremes.[a]
19 Wisdom makes one wise man more powerful
than ten rulers in a city.
than ten rulers in a city.
20 There is not a righteous man on earth
who does what is right and never sins.
who does what is right and never sins.
21 Do not pay attention to every word people say,
or you may hear your servant cursing you—
22 for you know in your heart
that many times you yourself have cursed others.
or you may hear your servant cursing you—
22 for you know in your heart
that many times you yourself have cursed others.
23 All this I tested by wisdom and I said,
“I am determined to be wise”—
but this was beyond me.
24 Whatever wisdom may be,
it is far off and most profound—
who can discover it?
25 So I turned my mind to understand,
to investigate and to search out wisdom and the scheme of things
and to understand the stupidity of wickedness
and the madness of folly.
but this was beyond me.
24 Whatever wisdom may be,
it is far off and most profound—
who can discover it?
25 So I turned my mind to understand,
to investigate and to search out wisdom and the scheme of things
and to understand the stupidity of wickedness
and the madness of folly.
26 I find more bitter than death
the woman who is a snare,
whose heart is a trap
and whose hands are chains.
The man who pleases God will escape her,
but the sinner she will ensnare.
the woman who is a snare,
whose heart is a trap
and whose hands are chains.
The man who pleases God will escape her,
but the sinner she will ensnare.
27 “Look,” says the Teacher,[b] “this is what I have discovered:
“Adding one thing to another to discover the scheme of things—
28 while I was still searching
but not finding—
I found one upright man among a thousand,
but not one upright woman among them all.
29 This only have I found:
God made mankind upright,
but men have gone in search of many schemes.”
28 while I was still searching
but not finding—
I found one upright man among a thousand,
but not one upright woman among them all.
29 This only have I found:
God made mankind upright,
but men have gone in search of many schemes.”
Footnotes:
- Ecclesiastes 7:18 Or will follow them both
- Ecclesiastes 7:27 Or leader of the assembly
LEE YIN: Being overrighteous would lead to us being legalistic and rigid, following everything law by law like the Pharisees. "Oh you didn't pray/do QT! You can't make it as a Christian." JC healed on the Sabbath and the Pharisees condoned it 'cos you shouldn't do anything on the Sabbath, but they missed the real reason God made the Sabbath. Legalistic, ritualistic. It makes us fail to see the Holy Spirit working and the true meaning for any of the laws he set up for us.
On wickedness, we are all alr wicked and sinful in nature. If we always give in to our flesh, we are going to the extreme of being overly wicked. Dun give in to self. Emotions and self can cause trouble. We can strike the balance between not going to the extremes. How? vs 18, by fearing God.
