I the Preacher have been king over Israel in Jerusalem.13 And Iapplied my heartto seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven. It is an unhappybusiness that God has given to the children of man to be busy with.14 I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all isvanityand a striving after wind.
15 What is crooked cannot be made straight,and what is lacking cannot be counted.
16 I said in my heart, “I have acquired greatwisdom, surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me, and my heart has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.”17 And Iapplied my heart to know wisdom and to knowmadness and folly. I perceived that this also is buta striving after wind.
18 Forin much wisdom is much vexation,and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.
When I was in seminary, Dr. Reymond told us a story about sitting in a little evangelical church where the minister was ranting against formal education as an enemy to faith.
The minister said, “We don’t need any of them thar seminaries…knowledge puffeth up…I’m just prayin that the Lord would make me ignoranter and ignoranter.”
Dr. Reymond said that he wanted to stand up and say, “Brother, the Lord done answered that prayer.”
We know that such a perspective, still a force in the evangelical church, is not a godly one. But Solomon sees another problem in verses 12-18 of chapter one, a problem that comes in the opposite direction. He even says in 12:12: “Of making many books there is no end, and study is wearisome to the flesh…”
This is where Solomon starts, he himself possessing great wisdom and intellectual prowess. And remember his point, that under the sun the answer is not found in intellectual pursuits, it is not found in education.
Some commentators argue that the terms crooked and numbered, refer to that kind of pursuit that focuses on the hard sciences. You remember that the Enlightenment sought to control the world rationally and orderly, and so man’s mind, his intellect, his ability to reason became god. And there are those in the church who promote a similar agenda. Mystery is stripped out of the Christian experience and replaced by a rationalistic approach to the Christian life. Certitude, the pride that “I know” is an idol of man’s making. Love without knowledge has slain its thousands, but knowledge without love has slain its ten thousands.
I have been told that the problem is that people are ignorant and all we need to do is to educate them and everything will be fine, we hear this all around us. Do you find that to be the case? Is it true for you that all you need is to know what God says and then you automatically do it? All I need to do as your pastor is to educate you about bitterness and you will then stop being bitter? Educate us about pride and or pride then dissolves into humility?
Is YOUR problem in the Christian life that you just don’t know how the Lord wants you to live, you just need more information and then you would be fine? I don’t think so. Most of us KNOW plenty, the issue is the heart, the issue is our sanctification and the work of the Spirit of God in changing our hearts, affections, desires and behavior.
This is the mistake of many Christian parents. We think to train the mind, teach the facts, to memorize the catechism and you all know that such is not bad or wrong by any means…but the answer is to train, to teach, by the grace of God, the hearts of our children. To live by faith so as to inspire them to a life whose moorings do not have earthly foundations, but heavenly ones.
Solomon is tackling an assumption that was obviously real for him and that is just as real today: Folks tell us that ignorance is our greatest enemy, if only we can increase in knowledge we will begin to solve more of the problems that seem to make our lives meaningless. Again, learning can be a very good thing unless we take it as the ultimate thing. (Ferguson)
Listen to this commentary from a University Newspaper. The author tells of his Christian upbringing and how he was backslidden and not faithful to the Lord but as he considered going back to the church, something happened:
“I began to think for myself. I began to question everything. I had to see everything for myself and draw my own conclusion, and stop letting other people supply my beliefs for me. This newfound analytical ability quickly placed me at odds with my religious upbringing. Science and observation discredited many of the central tenants of Christianity. When completely honest I realized that I could not believe in the religion of my youth. I could no longer sacrifice my common sense to the fear and control of organized religion. I don’t believe there is a singular being that is responsible for creating the universe that intervenes in our lives and hears our prayers. I believe life is the result of forces that we understand only through the study of math and science. For me, worship is celebrating the characteristics that make me human. Is there a God? Maybe Christianity has it right and my eternity roasting in an inferno awaits. But at the very least I can say I lived based upon my own beliefs as reasoned by the sole means of survival available to me…my own mind.”
Remember, God did not judge the builders of Babel for their ingenuity, but for their arrogance.
They wanted to define and establish life apart from God; they exalted themselves, their mind and their accomplishments, and THAT Solomon says is vanity, nothing but vanity, for the answers to life are NOT found in and by the mind of man as the end. It ignores the REAL problems! It has man at the center, man to fix problems that are inherently spiritual. Let’s look at our own culture. We have had more widespread educational opportunities than any civilization ever. Are we finding answers?
We worry about education as the key to keeping the USA on top, and so we put computers in the classroom…is that solving our problems? Has drug education stopped drug use, or for that matter, has it even curtailed it? We are told that sex education has to be taught because of illegitimate births…and it could be as suggested that there ARE fewer babies born BUT, there are not fewer babies conceived, we just murder them. And do you know that the concept of DATE RAPE originated and belongs to the most educated sub-culture in our society.
Solomon says, verse 15, “What is crooked cannot be made straight and what is lacking cannot be numbered.” Education, and the seeking out of intellectualism is not the answer, for there are things that even the best education cannot do, it cannot untangle the twists in the human heart. It cannot fix the soul. (Sinclair Ferguson)
Brothers and sisters, I recently was told a criticism of our branch of the church. This person said to me: “While other Christians study books so that they can grow closer to the mind of Christ, you Reformed people study books just to be better than the rest.”
Learning is good, wonderful even, but what is the end of my learning, what is the purpose? Is it just another way to exalt myself? Solomon concludes on this front that wisdom is better than folly, BUT whether we pursue wisdom or live in foolishness, whether we are wise men or fools, the net result of our lives, under the sun, without faith, appears to be the same. You can’t really make sense of things if this is how you are going to measure them, whether you build towers, or play with Legos.
Sinclair Ferguson asks the question, “Where will you find the most offensive graffiti? In the massive and socially under provided housing projects where the educational standards are low? Perhaps, but in all likelihood no graffiti surpasses the vulgarity of that found in abundance on the walls of our universities. Here some of our brightest minds give expression to their cynical ill-disciplined and sometimes-spiteful souls. Education may have filled the mind but in itself it has no power to cleanse or to tame the spirit.”
Prayer: Father, may any knowledge I obtain be tempered by love and Your grace that I might use what I know to see myself clearly and to see You more clearly. If I cannot use what You teach me to love you and my brothers and sisters, then I do ask for it. Father, forgive my pride and arrogance and give me sanctified knowledge to the praise of my Savior, who knows everything and loves to the end, Amen.
Song: By Our Love