What is the secret of life? The longer you live, the more you will ask that question. A good start place in answering that question is through God’s Word which tells us through King Solomon: "that the words of the wise are like goads"-meaning they are designed to annoy the reader.
Today, I am going to show you through Solomon WHY God’s wisdom was given to ANNOY us. King Solomon writes, “The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings they are given by one Shepherd” (Ecclesiastes 12:11).
WHAT IS SOLOMON SAYING AND WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?
Solomon uses words such as “GOADS” to PROD us and “NAILS” to ANCHOR us. “DRIVEN NAILS” means, the nails, or pegs referred to in 2nd Chronicles: These would have been pegs or hooks in tents where family members hung the cloths and pots needed for everyday living life. Here, Solomon uses this analogy of “mental hooks giving stability and perspective to life itself".
The bottom line is that Solomon wrote this as inspired by God, for the simple reason that He expects His Word to STIMULATE some form of action or reaction through our reading the Bible. Let’s get started. This is not from man but from God.
THIS IS OF GOD AND NOT MAN
Fast forwarding, Solomon closes by giving credit and authority to the “ONE SHEPHERD.” This makes clear to the reader that the these words, the teaching of Solomon, are God given. Solomon states outright that the source of his ideas here and through the entire Book of Ecclesiastes are from God, the one true Shepherd of Israel (Psalm 80:1).
SO WHAT DOES THAT MEAN FOR US TODAY IN OUR MODERN AGE?
It means that God is nudging us, meaning you and I TODAY are to put ACTION into our FAITH. We used to call this putting legs to our words.
Just as an ox goad prods an animal (meaning to nudge gently or poke or jab or more aggressively) in the RIGHT DIRECTION, so will the WORDS written in the Book of Ecclesiastes when they are properly understood and applied to our lives. I find it fascinating that Solomon jumps to warn the reader about reading too much non-biblical literature. While it may seem out of place to the reader, it fits perfectly into what Solomon is saying, as God prods and nudges us through His Word, not secular literature.
WISDOM WARNS OF EXCESSIVE CONSUMPTION OF SECULAR LITERATURE
Now, I find this one very interesting. Ecclesiastes 12:12 says, “My son, beware of anything beyond these (WORDS). Of making many books there is no end and much study is an earnings of the flesh”.
In other words, many other BOOKS (and I would submit YouTube) may “weary” their readers. Careful study of Ecclesiastes will have the opposite effect of secular literature, as it instructs, warns and admonishes its readers. Secular literature tells affirms to make us feel good according to worldly values while God’s Word properly leads us to a better life according to God’s leading. In other words, God makes it deep, simple, good, true and eternal, while we make our knowledge expansive, shallow and temporal.
GAINING PERSPECTIVE
Solomon is writing Ecclesiastes at the end of his life which gives us a whole new perspective. He didn’t write it as a young, inexperienced man, but at the tail end of his life, before going to be with the Lord. This means that he had lived out his life, experienced most everything wealth and power can offer, and gave a God inspired lesson to us as God inspired him to write Ecclesiastes.
TAKING GOD SERIOUSLY AND HAVING A HEALTHY FEAR OF GOD
Solomon makes clear at the end of the entire Book of Ecclesiastes that the end game of God’s Word and wisdom is taking God seriously. Verse 13 says this.
“The END of the matter ALL HAS BEEN HEARD, “FEAR GOD AND KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS, for this is the WHOLE DUTY OF MAN” (Ecclesiastes 12:13).
To “FEAR GOD” is one of the main themes of the book of Ecclesiastes, wisdom literature in whole, and throughout the entire Old Testament.
To FEAR GOD is to RESPOND to Him in AWE, REVERENCE, and WONDER, to SERVE Him in purity of action, and to SHUN EVIL. This includes shunning the worship of anything else in His created universe.
The command to “FEAR GOD” goes hand in hand with the command to KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS. This indicates that true “REVERENCE” toward and of God is to be manifested through obedience to Him. In today’s rebellious society, this command is at the center of most all the sin and evil we see and experience in our lives. It is our DUTY.
SOLOMON WRITES: “THIS IS THE WHOLE DUTY OF MAN,” literally meaning that this is the whole of man "i.e. for this is what man is all about." We as men and women should be all about this command. It’s not something we apply but who we literally are and how we are to think at our core. by “Core”, I mean our MIND, HEART, STRENGTH and SOUL (Luke 10:27; Matthew 22:37; Mark 12:30-31). In other words, “Our ALL”. As we close out today’s entry, I would like to zoom in on Solomon’s LAST words. WHY? Because these are God’s last words through Ecclesiastes in the last chapter of the Book, through Solomon in the last chapter of his life. In the Bible, God will more often emphasize His point at the end of His inspired word. Let’s take a look.
SOLOMON’S LAST WORDS TO US IN ECCLESIASTES
Solomon ends this passage and the entire Book of Ecclesiastes making very clear that with all God has blessed us with, we are to enjoy all of it-but within the context of God’s COMMANDMENTS. As such we must enjoy all God has blessed us with with an UNDERSTANDING that we will be held accountable to the mission calling God has given each of us. In other words, we will be held ACCOUNTABLE as to how we used what God has given us: Both material wealth, our time, personal and spiritual gifts, and the opportunities God provided or allowed to use all these things. Verse 14 says:
“FOR GOD WILL BRING EVERY DEED INTO JUDGEMENT, WITH EVERY SECRET THING WHETHER GOOD OR EVIL” (v.14).
This idea of accountability and judgement is the same teaching echoed by the apostle Paul in 2 COR. 5:10 in that death is not the end. All of life will be reviewed by our righteous Lord (3:17). For us, the bottom line is that life must be lived through faith with the virtues of the eternal God.
With that in mind, God has not told man how to comprehend all the frustrating futilities of life, but He has instructed man to enjoy life as His gift (2:24). As such, we are to make the most of every opportunity God leads us to (9:10), and to live life with a real REVERENCE toward Him (God) (12:13).
IN CLOSING
We are made WHOLE and COMPLETE ONLY when we fear God and obey His commandments. What profit otherwise is there in living? If we follow what this book has said, we will have an authentic relationship with God and find life in and through Him. I find it fascinating that Solomon learned to live with life’s paradoxes by MAINTAINING A PROPER ATTITUDE TOWARD LIFE AND GOD. My personal take away is: So should we (starting with me). And this is the secret of life.
