On 10-9-11 Ecclesiastes 9:13-18 or 9:13-10:4 will be our Adult Sunday School/Uniform Series/International Sunday School Lesson, herein is my commentary. This lesson is known by some as The Superiority of Wisdom aka Wisdom is Better than Might. You will find the 10-2-11 lesson directly beneath this message and/or on the right side.
Jed
Commentary
By
Jed Greenough
Do you ever spend a couple hours in watching a movie or maybe devote days in reading a book and as you build up to the climax the moment you have been led up to disappoints? Of course you have and though today’s first verse wasn’t any great investment of time, I had also just read all the preceding scripture in the book, and I felt that way today.
Here I am being led along through the doom and gloom of the meaningless of life found in the book of Ecclesiastes. That is according to the author, who I suppose to be Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived when I read, “I also saw under the sun this example of wisdom that greatly impressed me.” Now if this wisest and wealthiest of men was greatly impressed, I was prepared to be as well. And then, the air all went out as I read of the example.
We see a small city that doesn’t sound like if conquered would offer much to the seeking victor, an already powerful king. Great time and effort was put into the preparation to succeed in taking the city. But then one poor man of wisdom saved the city.
That is all great and should lead us to our climax of how he did it, but Solomon if he knew wasn’t sharing. I guess for him the point was enough. And that was that wisdom can triumph over might. Though the great king raged and planned and built, all that wasn’t enough to stand up to one poor man of wisdom.
After time to contemplate this passage what came to the front of my mind is that this is all rather analogous to the foolishness of men and the wisdom of God. We as men can be like the great king and spend our lives building huge siegeworks as we attack our lives. But in the end because of our foolishness as to what really matters victory eludes us not just in this life but for eternity. Or we and those we share the gospel with can be saved like the simple poor man by choosing wisdom.
1 Corinthians 1:17-18
For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
1 Corinthians 1:21-25
For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.
1 Corinthians 1:30
It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.
For Discussion:
1. Something to share could be examples from scripture as well as the world where wisdom triumphed over might. One example is the way that David used his head against Goliath.
2. Discuss examples that come to mind of verse 17’s words of the wise as well as different rulers “shouts”.
3. Discuss examples of one sinner destroying much good with your own examples being the most powerful.
4. Don’t get hung up on the poor man personally not being remembered for what he did. My thoughts are that Solomon meant more along the lines that people who fail to remember the past are doomed to repeat it. Something akin to his saying in Ecclesiastes 1:9, “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.”
5. Discuss how your class could share your wisdom from God with the unsaved.
6. Discuss the wisdom and foolishness discussed in 1 Corinthians 1 if you agree with my analogy as it relates to today’s scripture.
7. Do you ever need a lesson that is not yet posted? Shoot me an email I have probably already done it.
10-16-11: Wisdom for Aging (Remember Your Creator), Ecclesiastes 11:9-12:7, 13
10-23-11: Tradition and Love (How Sweet is Love), Song of Solomon 4:8-5:1a
10-30-11: Living as God’s People (Blessed by God), Matthew 5:1-12
11-6-11: Forgiving as God’s People (First be Reconciled), Matthew 5:17-26
Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved
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