Ecclesiastes

Ecclesiastes Chapter 10

• Ecclesiastes 10:1  Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour: so doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour. 

The foolishness within some humans is compared to swarms of flies that ruin food and make it unfit to eat. It causes it to stink. I would say that is a good comparison.

• Ecclesiastes 10:2  A wise man's heart is at his right hand; but a fool's heart at his left.
• 3  Yea also, when he that is a fool walketh by the way, his wisdom faileth him, and he saith to every one that he is a fool. 

A fool does not walk in wisdom and all who see him will eventually know that he is foolish in all his ways.

• Ecclesiastes 10:4  If the spirit of the ruler rise up against thee, leave not thy place; for yielding pacifieth great offences. 

Be wise enough to stay put and not rise up and rebel against those that rule. They have the upper hand. It's better to wait than be hasty in one's response to the rulers. Be calm. I would say also that if the police come around to question anyone, if they act scared and try to run, it's the worse thing one could do. If we are not guilty of anything, be calm and just answer their questions.

• Ecclesiates 10:5  There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, as an error which proceedeth from the ruler: 
• 6  Folly is set in great dignity, and the rich sit in low place. 
• 7  I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking as servants upon the earth. 

The errors that some rulers that are not wise is seen here. Choosing the wrong type of people to rule under him. Exalting servants that are not ready to be rulers over anyone. It probably goes to their head and they become lifted up in pride. An example is when the king in Esther's day, exalted Haman to a high position. That almost resulted in a whole race of Jewish people being killed.

• Eccclesiastes 10:8  He that diggeth a pit shall fall into it; and whoso breaketh an hedge, a serpent shall bite him. 

I can use the example of Haman again here. Haman desired to hang Mordecai the Jew but ended up being killed upon the gallows he built for Mordecai.

• Ecclesiastes 10:9  Whoso removeth stones shall be hurt therewith; and he that cleaveth wood shall be endangered thereby. 
• 10  If the iron be blunt, and he do not whet the edge, then must he put to more strength: but wisdom is profitable to direct. 

If one removes stones or wood to tear down a building may easily get hurt or cause others to be hurt if its not done properly. An experienced person who is hired to do construction work is better than one who is hasty and does things in a hurry without using caution. Tools should be sharpened and in good condition also for things to be done safely.

• Ecclesiastes 10:11  Surely the serpent will bite without enchantment; and a babbler is no better. 
• 12  The words of a wise man's mouth are gracious; but the lips of a fool will swallow up himself. 
• 13  The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness: and the end of his talk is mischievous madness. 
• 14  A fool also is full of words: a man cannot tell what shall be; and what shall be after him, who can tell him? 

He that is quick to speak foolishness and is full of idle words, gossip, backbiting or just nonsense, is compared to a snake that bite without giving a warning beforehand. It could cause discord, hate, fear and separate friendships.

• Ecclesiastes 10:15  The labour of the foolish wearieth every one of them, because he knoweth not how to go to the city. 
• 16  Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child, and thy princes eat in the morning! 

This is more descriptions of foolish people who wander about causing no good. Having a king that is not wise but acts childish in his ways could cause a lot of trouble and bring down the government he is ruling over. We see this today.

• Ecclesiastes 10:17  Blessed art thou, O land, when thy king is the son of nobles, and thy princes eat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness! 

A nation, country or city that have rulers that rule wisely, have fair and balanced judgment, and really cares about the people he rules over is blessed.

• Ecclesiastes 10:18  By much slothfulness the building decayeth; and through idleness of the hands the house droppeth through. 

Repairs and upkeep keeps buildings safe and they last a lot longer than a neglected building.

• Ecclesiastes 10:19  A feast is made for laughter, and wine maketh merry: but money answereth all things. 
• 20  Curse not the king, no not in thy thought; and curse not the rich in thy bedchamber: for a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter.

We all need to remember this verse. Backbiting, gossip, speaking foolishly about someone can be overheard easily and cause a lot of trouble either for himself or the reputation of others.

I would hate for the words of my mouth to cause someone's ministry to be harmed especially when it is just repeated gossip that may not be true. We can type some well known person's name in a search engine on the Internet and see both good and bad said about him or her. This is dangerous. Unless we know a person well ourselves, we could be just listening to someone that heard something from someone else that someone else said because they were angry or mad at the person whose name we typed in the search engine. We really don't know if we are repeating something that is an exaggerated lie.

I had a school teacher once that whispered something to one of the students, she told him to repeat it in the ear of the second student. This was done until it came to the last student. The last one was to speak out loud what they heard. Well, the result was something completely different than the first words the teacher whispered in the ear of the first child. She was showing us the danger of repeating gossip. -DC

Ecclesiastes Chapter 11