Ecclesiastes 9:11-18 – Wisdom Over Strength

Reverend Leo H. McCrary II

True wisdom, walking in God’s way, often goes overlooked, but it holds more power than raw strength. Learn why it is better to heed God’s way rather than conventional wisdom.

Introduction

There is a fatal belief that will kill your effort at success.  Are you walking in it?

What is success, and how does one succeed?  This question is at the center of this week’s lesson as we dive into Ecclesiastes 9.  Our lesson this week warns believers about following worldly wisdom, or what some call logical or common sense.  The believer’s trust should always be to trust in God’s direction, as the Lord is directing us believers to our blessing  This week’s Sunday School commentary covers Ecclesiastes 9:11-18.

What we will focus on learning in this week’s Sunday School commentary:

1. True success in the eyes of God.
2. The fatalists’ view on getting lucky and why you must avoid such a belief.
3. How wisdom can help you overcome negative thoughts that will hinder your efforts.

Is Success Built on Luck?

Tradition has it that Solomon is the author of the Book of Ecclesiastes.  However, many have debated whether Solomon wrote the Book of Ecclesiastes, but most agree that he is the speaker, or preacher or teacher, mentioned in Ecclesiastes 1:1.  The reason why I make mention of the speaker/author of Ecclesiastes is because this week’s lesson covers an ancient philosophical discussion that people still have to this day.  

There are two things that man wishes to know about life, with the first being:  What is our purpose? Why are we here?  The second being:  What can we do to live a successful life?  Now, to some, life is coincidence, and everything happens by chance.  

The fatal belief of “getting lucky”

Ecclesiastes 9:11 falls in alignment with one who thinks along such lines.  Ecclesiastes 9:11 speaks of luck and coincidence by saying, “The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong.”  This is to say that the fastest person in a race could trip up, fall down, and lose the race.  This is to say that the strongest fighter might get caught by a lucky punch and lose the fight.

The speaker continued along such lines by saying that food doesn’t always go to the wise, nor riches to men of understanding, nor favor to men of skill.  The speaker concluded, “Time and chance happen to them all.”  In other words, the speaker expresses the notion that one has to “get lucky” in life in order to succeed.

Is this true?  Does success come from one simply getting lucky?  Some of us would certainly say that this is true.  There is a saying that perfectly sums up this notion: “A blind squirrel eventually finds a nut.”  

Now, as true as we may think this sentiment is, this sentiment is extremely dangerous for believers to buy into.  The danger in buying into the idea of getting lucky is that you would be putting “luck” over the authority of God.  

Let me ask:  Do you believe that God will bless you or do you believe that you got to get lucky?  Many ‘believers’ have gone astray because of how they answer this question.

For believers, we are to put all of our trust in the Lord.  However, when one believes in luck – time and chance – they will stop moving by faith and move in a manner to get lucky.  

Should one believe that God will bless them if they move in a manner to get lucky?  Absolutely not.  God repeatedly makes it clear that the blessing comes to those who wait on Him, which is to say, God blesses those who continue to trust in Him to sustain them.

The fatal belief of “time and place”

Ecclesiastes 9:12 brings up the idea that success comes by being in the right place at the time, which once again brings up the notion of luck.

The speaker said, “Man also does not know his time (when he will die): like fish taken in a cruel net, like birds caught in a snare, so the sons of men are snared in an evil time, when it falls suddenly upon them.”  

This is a view of time as being unfortunate, because we lack control of time and place.  The notion expressed is that if we knew when misfortune would strike, then we could avoid all misfortune and live (or succeed).  

How fortunate we would be if we knew bad things would happen, is what one would agree.  Such a thought reminds me of the movie “Back to the Future II”.  If you’re not familiar with that movie, the main character brought back an almanac from the future so that he could know all of the future sports scores and get rich betting on games.

Yes, IF we knew the future, then there’s a really good chance that we would succeed.  This mindset shows one’s desire to be in control, while at the same time, shows a lack of faith in the one who is sovereign.  

Warning against “time and chance” fatalism

The belief that is shown in Ecclesiastes 9:11-12 is a belief known as fatalism.  In general, fatalism is a belief that events are fixed in advance and that we are powerless to change them.  The speaker speaks of a belief, based on time and chance, where random coincidence overrides one’s efforts, so that even if you are good, there’s a chance you won’t succeed.

Now, many of us will hear that definition of fatalism and we will think that nothing is wrong about it.  In our minds, many of us genuinely believe life is a lottery, and that success comes down to getting lucky and the people you know.

However, the problem with fatalism is that such an outlook on life is why so many of us live in despair and depression.  Fatalism creates a view of life as pointless; many will move with a defeatist attitude, giving up and throwing in the towel.  If one desires to succeed, one cannot move about with a defeated mindset.

How to Overcome Fatalism

So, how does one overcome such a defeated mindset?  To grow beyond such a mindset, the speaker shared a parable in Ecclesiastes 9:13-15.

Here is the parable:  “There was a little city with few men in it; and a great king came against it, besieged it, and built great snares around it.  Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that same poor man.”

What’s interesting about this parable is that this is actually what happened to Jerusalem when Babylon came and conquered it.  2 Kings 24-25 speaks of Babylon besieging Jerusalem by building a siege wall all around the city until it conquered and laid waste to the city.

Prophets like Jeremiah tried to warn the people of what was to come, but the people did not listen to him.  The people mocked Jeremiah, threw him away so that they didn’t have to hear his words.  Eventually, Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians came and carried the many away in exile to Babylon.  Passages like this in Ecclesiastes are why some argue that the book was written during the post-exilic period, but truthfully, such tactics would’ve been common in ancient times.

Now, you can imagine that the people in the little city of the parable would have felt helpless with a great king coming against them.  You could imagine the fear, the panic, and what likely would have been a defeated attitude.  Yet, the speaker spoke of a poor, wise man who did not share such a defeated attitude and delivered the city from the great king.

Why did this poor, wise man not share the same defeated attitude as the people in the city?  What was it that led the poor, wise man to deliver the city from the hands of the great king?  Answer:  wisdom.

Let us remember what true wisdom is so that we can understand why the poor, wise man didn’t share the same defeated attitude as others.  As told to us in Proverbs 1:7, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.”  

One who fears the Lord will live in a manner that remains in God’s graces.  This means that one learns to heed God’s instructions and live putting their trust in Him.

So, while others moved with a defeated attitude because a great king moved against them, the poor, wise man put his faith in God.  The poor, wise man moved wisely, which is to say that he moved by faithfully trusting in the Lord.  Deliverance came for the little city because of one man’s faith in the hands of God.

How does one overcome the defeatist attitude to be able to enjoy success?  The speaker’s answer is this:  One must put their faith in the Lord by fully trusting in God’s deliverance and wait on Him.  

However, many will balk at the notion of waiting on the Lord.  I have that many will balk at the notion of waiting on the Lord because many don’t understand what it entails to wait on the Lord.  

Many believe waiting on the Lord means that one sits still and does nothing.  We feel that success will only come when we are on our grind and hustle.  How little do we understand that it is the grind and hustle that leads so many of us to develop the belief of fatalism.

Now, to be clear, waiting on the Lord does not mean sitting still and doing nothing — that is dead faith.  You see, faith is living, breathing, moving, and it is active.  Waiting on the Lord means patiently moving as God directs, rather than moving according to one’s own desires.  

As it is said in Proverbs 14:12, going in the way that seems right leads to a dead end.  However, if you go in the way that is right, obediently heeding God’s word, then success, or the blessing, will surely come.  You overcome fatalism, the defeated spirit, by learning to walk wisely with the Lord.  This is a step that requires one to become humble and to learn to be patient as well.

God Is Better than Time and Chance

After telling the parable, the speaker concluded in Ecclesiastes 9:16, “Wisdom is better than strength.  Nevertheless the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.”

It ought to be hard for one not to see Christ in this statement.  You see, Christ was Wisdom, the poor wise man, who also spoke words to lead one against a great king.

In John 12:31-32, Jesus said, “Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.  And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.”  When Jesus spoke of the “ruler of this world”, He spoke of the devil.  

Several other times in both Old Testament and New Testament scripture, Satan is referred to as the prince or ruler of this world.  In Ezekiel 28:1, the devil is recognized as the prince of Tyre whom the Lord said had lifted up his heart to say that he is god.  Some even suggest that the devil was the prince who withheld God’s angel from reaching Daniel in Daniel 10:13.

What does it mean that Satan is a ruler of this world?  Does it mean that he has authority over this world?  No, the Lord is the sovereign ruler over all of His creation, including this world.  In fact, Job 1 shows us that the devil still answers to the Lord.  However, Satan does have influence in this world, especially over those who disregard Wisdom.

It is because of Satan’s influence that we see Jesus speak of one needing to abide by His words.  Satan’s influence is why Jesus said, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.  And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free (John 8:31-32).”

Many of us don’t understand it, but we are all part of a spiritual battle.  The defeated mindset is an evil spirit that is meant to keep you from God’s blessing.  You cannot defeat that evil spirit with your own wisdom!  Again, God’s wisdom is better than luck, and once again, God’s wisdom will defeat that evil spirit.

It is only fitting that we end this week’s lesson by quoting Ecclesiastes 9:17-18:  “Words of the wise, spoken quietly, should be heard rather than the shout of a ruler of fools.  Wisdom is better than weapons of war; But one sinner destroys much good.” 

This is a statement that is fitting for today.  Fools get the world and the soul of man into a world trouble, but God, should the world turn to Him, will get us out of this trouble.