GENESIS 37 - THE LIFE OF JOSEPH: "Joseph And His Dreams"

 

Last time we looked at the brief history of  Esau and the Edomites in Genesis 36. Esau, the father of the Edomites was the twin brother of Jacob. The Bible makes only a brief mention of the   generations of Esau (36:1),  the non- covenantal   race, before it returns to  the story line of the  covenant  people,  led by Jacob,  and now in particular in  the   story of Joseph. This then brings us to the last section of the book of Genesis as we consider the life of Joseph at the beginning of   Chapter 37.

OUTLINE

1.The brothers’ hate  towards him (37:1-11)

(i)  Because he  brought a bad report about them to his father (v. 2).

(ii) Because  their  father loved him more than them  (vv. 3, 4).

(iii) Because he dreamed of his dominion over them (vv. 5-11).

2. The brothers’ revenge (37:12-36)

(i) The opportunity that arose  for  them to  get rid of him (vv. 12-17)

(ii)  They  conspired to kill him (vv. 18-20).

(iii) They providentially changed their  plan (vv.21-24)

(iv) He was  sold  as  a slave to Ishmaelites.  They took  Joseph to Egypt. (vv. 25-28).

(iv) They made their father believe that he was killed  by a wild animal (vv. 29-35).

(v) He was sold to Potiphar in Egypt (v. 36). And all this was working together for good.

 

1. The brothers  hate towards  Joseph (37:1-11)

These are the generations  of Jacob… (37:2) and now  we are introduced  to the story of Joseph. Joseph was the  firstborn of his mother  Rachel. Rachel, you will remember  was Jacob’s  first love. The story of his  four   wives (Gen. 29 &30)  is  a sad  one, but we need to rest in the fact that God  was working out His sovereign  plan  despite  the  broken and sinful  world  in which  God’s  covenant  people needed  to make their living. The same is true for us, and Romans  8:28 remains true.  Rachel, struggled to conceive (29:31; 30:1). When she did eventually conceive she gave birth to Joseph[1] (30:22-24). When we are introduced to Joseph we learn that he is 17 years old (37:2b). Later in  41:47 we shall  learn that  he  is  30 years old when he finally enters into Pharaoh’s  service in Egypt. 

We read in 37:3  that  “Israel (Jacob) loved  Joseph more than  any other of his sons, because he was the son of his old age. And he made him a robe of many colours“.[2] The writer  obviously wants us to know that  Joseph was Jacob’s favoured son, and he  was not even  subtle about this.  Remember also that his father Isaac favoured his brother Esau above him.  The multi-coloured robe  that he had  made for him  set him apart  from the other sons, and the other sons  knew it.  Now clearly this will become a problem, and we may safely say that Jacob was not wise in making this distinction between Joseph and his brothers.  Parents must learn to be impartial.

The problem is quickly seen in 37:4. As the oldest brothers were tending the flocks,  Joseph was bringing bad reports about his brothers to his father, causing even further  resentment. His reports about his brothers were probably true, but they did not endear himself to his brothers.

And now, to crown it all, come those two dreams in 37:5-11. To be sure, they were revelations from God. They were prophetic dreams.  But the way (tone/timing/context)  he communicates  these dreams to his brothers and father, did not exactly endear him to his brothers. It takes real maturity and discernment to know what we must do with the information that we get from the Word of God. We cannot share everything profitably without considering the context in which we share truth from God’s Word. In Matthew 7:6, in the context of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus reminds His disciples, “Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.” This would indeed  come back upon Joseph, and so we read in 37:8 that they hated him even more, and in 37:11 we read that “they were jealous of him”.  We also note in passing that Jacob, like Mary [3]  kept the saying in mind.  Jacob was mature and older, and though he did not understand the dreams, he kept in mind that God  might be in the details.

These dreams, we shall see were indeed from God as Joseph would remember them in Gen. 42:9. They were not given to lord it over, or to put his brothers down at this time.  These dreams were given as a private help to him when he would be facing his brothers once again, many years later in Egypt. The Lord our God  sometimes  prepares us  by  giving us a glimpse of that which lies ahead, but that is for personal consumption, and can only be verified after  what was seen  in a vision/ dream has come to pass. We do well to keep our dreams to ourselves and not burden others with them.

God has ways of preparing His people beforehand for the trials which they cannot yet see. There is no doubt that these dreams would have come back to the brothers, when they really did bow on 4 occasions before Joseph (Gen. 42:6;43:26,28; 44:14)

Now all this information was given to an immature Joseph, and Joseph did not do well with the information given. Matthew Henry astutely  observes,  “Joseph dreamed of his preferment, but he did not dream of his imprisonment. Thus many young people, when they are setting out in the world, think of nothing but prosperity and pleasure, and never dream of trouble”.

 2. The Brothers Revenge (37:12 – 36)

In this portion we  find  Joseph taken from the love and protection of his father’s home in Hebron, via the hostility  of his brothers in  Dothan, to the completely alien world  of Egypt.[4] Jacob expected to find his brothers near Shechem (37:12),  about 80 kilometres  north of Hebron where his family now  lived. We read of Shechem in Chapter 34. This was the place where their sister Dinah had been raped, and where the  sons of Jacob wreaked terrible  havoc in terms of exacting revenge.

Jacob was concerned about his sons and sent Joseph on an errand to find out how they were doing.  As a dutiful son he went (see v.13b), but neither he nor his father  were suspecting what might happen.  He did not find them  at Shechem, but  was helped by  a man (37:15) to find them at Dothan, another  24 kilometers further north of Shechem. It says something about Joseph’s sense of duty to his father and brothers, and it says  something  about  his  perseverance to find them. 

Next we read, “They saw him from afar… they conspired against him to kill him” (37:18,20).Maybe his multi-coloured coat gave him away.  Note how deliberate they were  in  this. They called him ‘ this dreamer  for they resented him for his dreams  (37:19).  They were ready to kill their brother and moreover  they were ready  lie about it to their  father. Not good! Calvin says, “It never enters  into their mind that what is hidden from men cannot escape the eyes of God”[5]. This is the same frame of mind that possessed Cain, when he killed his brother Abel  (Gen. 4:8). God did not let Cain get away  with this murder.

But God protects His own. We are immortal until our work is done[6].   Next we read of  the firstborn of the sons of Jacob, Reuben, coming to the rescue cf.   v.22. Rather than being killed  he was thrown into  a dry well, being stripped of his robe (like Jesus in that sense) of many colours- the symbol of all that they had come to hate about him. In 42:21 we read that Joseph begged for his life,  but  they would not hear him. It takes real hardness of heart to  do this to your own  flesh and blood. Thankfully Reuben  saved him from being murdered  (42:22)

Next in vv. 25-30  we read of a caravan of Ishmaelites[7]  (also called Midianites 37:28,36 cf. Judges  8:24) on their way from Gilead via Canaan to Egypt  to sell their  aromatic spices  and perfumes there. This was the providence of God. Judah made the  suggestion  that they should sell Joseph to them (v.26), to be carried off to Egypt, where he would disappear  never be heard of again. They sold him for 20 pieces of silver (Jesus was sold for 30 pieces of silver).  And so Joseph’s brothers were wonderfully kept from murdering him. In fact this  would ultimately lead to their  deliverance  in a few years down the line, for  Joseph would in some sense  be their Saviour  in a period of  extreme drought.

Vv.31-36  They made up a story for  their father, telling him that  he was torn in pieces by a wild animal (vv. 29-35). We have all learned of Adam to  cover up and hide  our sin. The devil has taught us well  in this regard. When we  commit one sin,  then he teaches  us  to hide and cover it up  with another.

As  for Jacob , when he receives this news from his sons  he deeply  grieved. He  tore his clothes and sat in sackcloth and ashes (37:34). His sons hypocritically pretended to comfort him, but  Jacob refused to be comforted (37:35). 

In the meantime the  truth is that Joseph was alive. He was sold to Potiphar in Egypt (v. 36). Jacob never thought that he would ever  see Joseph again. But God was in the detail, preserving for Himself the covenant line, and all this was ultimately  working together for good. The NT martyr Stephen  in Acts 7:9-52   tells of this story – beginning with the treatment  of  Joseph by his brothers and ended his story   by applying it to the religious rulers of this day , who had  been so bitterly opposed to Jesus. History repeats itself constantly. Joseph’s story is so remarkably divided between his humiliation and his exaltation that we cannot avoid seeing something of Christ in it. Jesus was first humbled and then exalted.  This also shows us the path  which we often must tread … through many tribulations  we must enter into the kingdom.

Thank God then that  the  days  of  God’s covenant  people are in His hands.

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[1] Hebrew: May He add

[2] Technically, Benjamin, also born to Rachel   was the  youngest.

[3] Luke 2:19,51

[4] The Book of Origins : Philip Eveson,  Welwyn Series, p.479

[5] The Book of Origins : Philip Eveson,  Welwyn Series, p.481

[6] George Whitfield: Journals, p.

[7] Ishmaelite was a general term for ‘ nomadic trader’,  and Midianite relates specifically to the tribal grouping

GENESIS 36: "THE ORIGIN OF THE EDOMITES - THE HISTORY OF A NON - COVENANTAL PEOPLE"

 

In this chapter we find the account of the ‘generations[1], the offspring of Esau’. Here we have the story of the father of the nations that have essentially nothing positively to contribute to the story line of the Bible.

The story of the Bible is mostly about the history and development of God’s covenant people. This does not negate the fact that there are a ‘non-covenantal’, non-elect people on the face of the earth. They too are made in the image of God, but unlike God’s covenant people they have no future with God.  To such a group of people we now turn our attention. They present  a sobering truth, and each  one  will have to  determine for themselves whether they  belong to God’s covenant people or  whether  they  belong  to that group of people  that have nothing to do with the   God  who is the Creator  of all mankind, who is the God  that has divided all of  mankind into these two groups of people.

Following this we shall consider the life of Joseph,  a son of the covenant,  and with  him the book of Genesis  shall  be brought to  a conclusion.

OUTLINE OF CHAPTER 36

1.                  Esau’s wives and children in Canaan (vv. 2-9).

2.                  Esau’s move to the hill country of Seir – Edom and a list of his grandchildren (vv. 10-14).

3.                  The names of the chiefs in Seir- Edom (vv. 15-19).

4.                  An account of the Horites, the original people in this area of Seir (vv. 20-30).

5.                  A list of the kings, offspring of Esau who ruled in Edom (vv. 31-43 cf. 1 Chron. 1:35).

So then chapter 36 is a family register of Esau’s offspring.  Remember that God made a promise to Abraham that he would  be "the father of many nations’’, and Esau is a physical   offspring of Abraham, although he would not follow the faith of Abraham.  So too  we remember that the  Jews of Jesus‘ day prided themselves in being  an offspring  of Abraham, a fact  which Jesus  challenges, for although they are physical descendants of Abraham, they did not  possess  the   true spiritual  faith of  Abraham [e.g. John 8:39-47].

1.  Esau and his  three  wives and children in Canaan (vv. 2-9).

A brief history of Esau is needed. Esau was the son of Isaac and Rebekah. Rebekah gave birth to twins, Esau and Jacob (Gen.25:19-28). Esau is the firstborn of the twins, but before they were born, she was told that the older twin would serve the younger (25:23). This story is similar to Abraham’s sons, Ishmael and Isaac. Though Ishmael is Abraham’s first born (mother Hagar), the covenant promises and the messianic line will go through Isaac (mother Rachel). We must point out again  that  the doctrine of election runs through the Bible like a golden thread. It is a mysterious thread, but it is a clear thread, woven by the hand of God. It forms  part of  Paul’s  treatise  on the doctrine of salvation in Romans 9.

And so it was, that from birth Esau showed a behaviour and values contrary to the covenant line. Notably, he sold his birth right to his younger brother (25:29-34). Inevitably he also lost out on his father’s blessing of the firstborn (Gen.27). Take note of his father’s  prophecy  concerning him in Genesis 27:39-40.  Much to the grief of his father and mother he married foreign women (27:46, 28:6-9). He  despised his birth right; he despised  his family roots. The commentary  of Hebrews  12:15-17 is  sobering:

“See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birth right for a single meal. For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.”

Esau was also known as Edom, which means “red” - see  25:25 and  30. He was born with a red appearance, but his name ‘Edom’,  became settled when he exchanged his birth right  with Jacob for a pot of red lentil stew. Hence he was known as ‘red’.  

In time the people of Esau became known as the Edomites.

Esau took three wives[2]  and with  them he had   five sons.  An interesting observation can be made from 36:10.  "Eliphaz" was his firstborn son to his first wife Adah. There has been some discussion as to whether this is the same Eliphaz as in the book of Job (Job 4:1 -  Eliphaz the Temanite). There seems to be some credibility to this because the land of Uz (i.e. attributed to  a son named Uz) is mentioned in 36:28.  Teman is mentioned in 36:15. These two evidences may point toward Edom as the homeland of Job.

Also take note of  36:12: "Timna was a concubine of Esau's son Eliphaz ... she bore Amalek to Eliphaz". Concubines  usually don’t feature in the history of families. But here she is  singled out because she is the mother of the sworn  enemy of the Israelites known as the "Amalekites" (cf. Exodus 17; Deut. 25:17,19; I Samuel 15). This is the only child of a concubine mentioned in this genealogical list.

2.  Esau’s move to the hill country of Seir –Edom, and a list of his grandchildren (vv. 10-14).

The hill country of Seir would be the country God had given him for a possession (see Deut. 2:5; Josh. 24:4). Canaan was  reserved for  the covenant nation represented here by  Jacob. They could not co-exist economically (36:7). But it was more than that. They were fundamentally different people. The God of the covenant had made a firm and everlasting distinction between them. Esau therefore withdrew to the hill country of Seir. God’s counsels shall certainly stand. “God determines our allotted periods and the boundaries of our dwelling place”. [Acts  17:26].

3.         The names of the chiefs in Seir- Edom (36:15-19).

The names of Esau’s sons and grandsons in Seir are recorded, but not much more than that. The genealogy goes scarcely  further than the third and fourth generations.  Remember that the primary interest of the inspired writers is to record the story of the covenant people of God – if you like, the story of the OT church and  the NT church -   which constitutes  the royal line  of  Christ.

Please note that Esau’s descendants had an ordered political arrangement. They had chiefs and they had military   inclinations.  The prophecy of 27:40  tells us that  they  would live by the sword.  Jacob’s sons by contrast   were peaceful pastoralists/shepherds  (47:3).

4.  The Horites (36:20-30)

In the midst of this genealogy of the Edomites we find another  genealogy – that of  the sons of Seir the Horite (36:20). They are first mentioned in 14:6, and they are an evil tribe. In time the Edomites would conquer them and dispossess them, but not without their cultures mixing and blending with them. Here is the pathology of Esau’s gradual demise.   Esau had sold his birth right. He had lost his blessing. He had married foreign wives, much to his parents  displeasure,  and then he disappeared  into those foreign cultures.  Like Cain in 4:16 he went away from the presence of the LORD. That is unfortunately the sad trajectory of many children that have been born to covenant parents.

5.      A list of the kings, offspring of Esau, who ruled in Edom (vv. 31-43 cf. 1 Chron. 1:35).

By degrees then it seems, the Edomites obtained full possession of the country, and we read in 36:31 that they were ruled by kings. They had kings long before there was ever a thought given by Israel in terms of having a king.[3] God was their King, and Moses was his spokesman, and that was enough. As long as Israel was in the hands of godly leaders she was alright.  We take note that God had promised Jacob earlier in 35:11 that kings would come from his offspring in time.  But, as we  survey the OT we know that all earthly kings  would eventually become a snare to the nations which they  were called to serve.

CONCLUSION

·         There  would be  numerous problems between Israel and Edom through the years.

[Numbers 20:14-21;   Judges 11:16-17;  1 Samuel 14:47-48 ;  2 Samuel 8:14;  1 Kings 11:14-25;   2 Kings 14:22; 16:5, 6 ;   2 Chronicles 20:10-30; 21:8-15;  Amos 1:6, 9]

·         There are numerous prophecies against Edom.

[Isaiah 34:5ff; 63:1ff;   Jeremiah 49:7-22; Lamentations 4:21,22;  Ezekiel 25:12ff; 35:lff; 36:2-6;  Amos 1:11, 12;   Obadiah

The classic NT distinction of the Bible is that of children of darkness versus  children of the light. They are at war with each other. That war is apparent in our day.

In NT terms we can however no longer make distinctions of covenant versus non covenant  nations.  In NT terms it is   the people of the new covenant,  saved by the blood of Jesus, and called to belong to him, and   drawn from every nation, tribe and tongue, constituting the church, the bride of Christ. 

Again, it is important that we examine ourselves in this regard  as to where we stand.

Are we sons/ daughters of Esau or  sons/ daughters of Jacob?  That is the ultimate distinction by which the Great King  Jesus will one day separate  His sheep   from  everything else.

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[1] This recurrent phrase marks the divisions of the book of Genesis (cf. 2:4; 5:1; 6:9; 10:1; 11:10, 27; 25:12, 19; 36:1, 9; 37:2).

[2] 36:2 "Esau took his wives from the daughters of Canaan" The names of Esau's Canaanite wives are recorded in three different places: Gen. 26:34, 35; 28:8; and 36:2ff. However, the problem arises when these three accounts differ on the names of the wives. This discrepancy has been explained in different ways: (1) that there were not three wives, but four and (2) that these women had more than one name. It seems obvious from the text that Esau had at least two wives from Canaan and one daughter of Ishmael.

[3] 36:31 "Now these are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king reigned over the sons of Israel" . Because of the mention of the kings of Israel it seems to have been written in a later period when Israel had kings. This seems to imply that Genesis, if not written later, at least was edited at a later time. Those who hold to the documentary hypothesis (four different later authors, J.E.D.P.) use this as solid evidence that Moses is not the original author of the Pentateuch. Those who assert Mosaic authorship say that this was a prophecy about the days when a king would appear. Israel is prophesied to have a king in Gen. 35:11.  Brief editorial comments like this one do not seriously affect Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch

Ecclesiastes 7:15-18 "Be not overly righteous ... be not overly wicked..." ... What do you mean?

As we live our lives under the sun we need to know that our greatest obstacle and frustration in living this life is our inherited human sinfulness. 

Although  God has made us  originally perfect, wise and upright, Solomon says that “they have sought out many schemes” (7:29).

That is  who we are: schemers, people  wise in our own eyes, and always in search of a plan apart from God!  We waver between wisdom and foolishness at the best of times, and the more we detach ourselves from God, the more foolish we become. We struggle to make sense of life, particularly when it comes to sickness and dying. We have a sense of immortality in us  and  death and sickness don’t make sense.

We also have a sense of fairness in us. 

Unfairness is repulsive to us.  

In v. 15  Solomon  expresses  these frustrations when he says, “In my vain life I have seen everything. There is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his evildoing.” 

Do you see the problem?  How can a righteous man die an early death, while a wicked man enjoys a long life? According to our sense of fairness, a righteous man  is not supposed do die  early. A wicked man is not supposed  to live long, and yet some wicked men  do  live  to a ripe old age. Solomon says, “In my vain life  I have seen everything. I have seen it all!”  Solomon discovered, much to his agitation,  that the length of a person’s life does not depend upon or godliness  or  spirituality.

It is against  the  greater background  of this chapter  (on living between wisdom and foolishness)  and  in particular against  the background  of  v.15  then  that Solomon now  makes  this  very provocative  observation in 7: 16-18:

“Be not overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself? Be not overly wicked, neither be a fool. Why should you die before your time? It is good that you should take hold of this, and from that withhold not your hand, for the one who fears God shall come out from both of them.”  

What does Solomon mean by being ‘not overly righteous‘ and by being ‘not too wise’  and  by being ‘not overly wicked’? 

There’s a real danger of misinterpreting these verses. Walter C. Kaiser, a respected OT theologian warns us that "few verses in Ecclesiastes are more susceptible to incorrect interpretations than 7:16-18."[1]  So, what is the danger of misinterpreting this text?  

Is  Solomon discouraging us  from  being  too  holy or too  righteous? Is he telling us  that  its  OK to sin a little here and a little  there -  to be  a little naughty here and there but  not too wicked? If   this be  the case   then we are faced  with a massive   theological problem.

• Do we really believe that a holy God will leave an open door for us  to indulge in    ‘respectful immorality’ (don’t be overly wicked!)?

• Do we  really think that God will indulge us   in a  ‘lukewarm morality’ (don’t be overly righteous)?

• Do we really believe that  there is  a safe middle ground, as we attempt to live  between an extreme righteousness and  an extreme wickedness?

•  And if that is so, can we determine where the boundaries are  that  would define  what is ‘not overly righteous  or wicked’?  

You see, if we now follow such reasoning  we will be  in danger of  writing another book of law, another set of rules, determining  (by our  own standards of flawed righteousness) what is  acceptable/ not acceptable. And  then we shall  find that every fallen human culture under the sun will have a different interpretation  of what is ‘overly wicked’ and what is  ‘overly  righteous’.  

This  is exactly what the Pharisees had developed in terms of a system of 613 laws, consisting of 365 negative and of 248 positive laws.

In Jesus’ day this  became a complex and  a burdensome system, and we know that He criticized it severely! Ultimately,  the law of Scripture was summarized in 10 laws alone,   and ultimately they  could be summarized into  two categories: Loving  God – loving one’s neighbour (cf. Mark 12:28-31). 

The brand of Pharisaical law keeping  produced  some tragic flaws:[2]

 (1) New laws continually needed to be invented for new situations.

(2) Accountability to God was replaced by accountability to men.

(3) A person’s ability to personally discern was reduced.

(4) It created a judgmental spirit.

(5) The Pharisees confused personal preferences with divine law.

(6) It produced inconsistencies.

(7) It created a false standard of righteousness.

(8) It became a burden to the Jews.

(9) It was strictly external.

(10) It was rejected by Christ.

So what   thinking concerning  righteousness is Solomon dealing with here?

Solomon is not dealing here with the doctrine of  God’s imputed righteousness,  so central to the Bible. According  to   this doctrine  (and with the hindsight of the NT), to   be right with God,  and to  have peace with God, and to enjoy  a  true sense of the forgiveness of sin(s)  from God,   and having  the hope  of  eternal life  in  heaven,  we must have  a Redeemer that bears our sin. The NT teaches us that Christ bore the believer’s  sins on the cross (1 Peter 2:24). The believer’s  sins were imputed to Jesus. His righteousness  is transferred to the believer.

No one is justified by their own merits. NO one  can be right with God  simply by balancing their lives between  the categories ‘being not overly righteous’  and ‘being not overly wicked‘.  The truth is that no one achieves that perfect balance! In that sense “no-one  is righteous, no , not one… no one is good not even one” (Ps. 14:1-3  cf. Rom. 3:10-12).

No one  will get to heaven  by saying to God, “Well I wasn’t perfect, but then again … I wasn’t terribly sinful!”.  This is  a very common  and  self -righteous assumption  by many!

The  truth is that  God is so holy that all sin (even the tiniest)  is reprehensible and damnable. For every sin you deserve  eternal hell,  for  all sin flies in the face of a holy God. His perfect holiness means  His perfect hatred of sin, and according to that scale of perfect justice, none of us  are sinless and all  deserve to be cut off from God.  

This is where the good news comes in. God, in Christ offers us salvation through His appointed  Redeemer. He does two things for you: He atones (takes away) your sin, and He takes away God’s righteous anger towards  sinners[3]. Only Jesus could do that! (Jude 24,25).

So what is Solomon referring to? This righteousness, and this wickedness  which Solomon refers to here is not a question of  being right with God.  This refers  to something  within  our  life of faith. It is  a  question  of our attitude  within our life of faith in God.

With this  in mind, let us revise  what we have  considered so far:  

Generally speaking we may say  that righteous living and  obedience to the Word of God, prolongs a person’s life, while disobedience and wicked living generally  shorten an individual’s life.

However, this does not mean that the righteous will always live longer than the average person’s lifespan, or that the wicked will live a shorter time than the average.  This is what v. 15  observes.   Ultimately, only God knows what the lifespan is for each individual (Job 14:5; Eccl 3:1–2).

Now the way is clear to explore a very common problem in the life of any believer:  self- righteousness and presumptuousness! Unfortunately  there is  a tendency among believers  to become  “overly righteous”  and “overly wise”, while on the other hand we also find some believers who  will  always  seek to live  on the borders  of  “wickedness”  and  “foolishness”.  One is never quite sure where they stand. To such Solomon has good advice:  

(i)                 The “overly righteous” need to learn  to think of themselves with sober judgement; not “more highly than they ought“ (Rom.12:3). Overly righteous believers generally lack spiritual humility. They are easily tempted to think of themselves as God’s appointed spokesmen  and custodians of His  truth on earth. Wisdom dies with them (Job 12:2). Think here of Job’s comforters. Many Christians think that they are the prime defenders of God and His Word. 

In a 1886 sermon by C.H. Spurgeon’s  entitled, “Christ and His Co-Workers” he says,

“Suppose a number of persons were to take it into their heads that they had to defend a lion, full-grown king of beasts! There he is in the cage, and here come all the soldiers of the army to fight for him. Well, I should suggest to them, if they would not object, and feel that it was humbling to them, that they should kindly stand back, and open the door, and let the lion out! I believe that would be the best way of defending him, for he would take care of himself; and the best 'apology' for the gospel is to let the gospel out.”  

Spurgeon reminds us here  that  we do not need  to defend the Word of God any more than we need to defend  a lion.  

Peter thought that he needed to defend Jesus   when arrested.  He  drew his sword  (Matt 26:51). Jesus rebukes him for this. He did not understand  that this was the plan of God being executed. Peter was  frequently overzealous and overbearing. In his younger days he was not always a careful listener and interpreter of Christ’s words. The ‘overly righteous’  try to tackle every social and moral and political issue, and  have a nearly infallible  opinion on  everything. They are like James and John, the sons of Thunder[4]. They want to call down fire from heaven to destroy God’s enemies (Lk. 9:54). It is significant that Jesus also rebukes them for this!  Some  overly  righteous Christians   try  to answer  every enemy of the gospel. They want to die on every hill, and  some zealous Christians do  die, and they  are  burnt out  or killed   before they reach their  allotted  life span of  70 or 80. 

(ii)               The “overly wicked” and “foolish” Christian on the other hand  lives close  to the  world,   and so  they easily  destroy themselves. They do not flee temptation (1 Tim. 6:11), like Joseph did when tempted by Potiphar’s wife (Gen. 39:12). Examples :

•        David did not guard his heart, when looking  from the  balcony of his apartment  at a careless, naked woman  bathing  on the top of her roof. He has not made a covenant with his eyes (Job 31:1), and before long he has committed adultery with her. His family history is a tragedy of many  young deaths! 

•  Noah is tempted when he loves alcohol too much, and in the state of drunkenness (which is a sin) he  curses one of his sons (Gen.  9:21).

•  Lot  (who had lived in  the wicked cities  of Sodom and Gomorrah prior to God’s judgement) also became drunk, and  in this state conceived illegitimate  children  by his daughters, thus  producing the  nations  of the Moabites and the Ammonites  (Gen. 19:37,38) who would   later become   bitter enemies  of  Israel, and in their wars  leaving in its wake many deaths. 

Conclusion   

Verse 18: "It is good that you should take hold of this, and from that withhold not your hand, for the one who fearsGod shall come out from both of them." 

In humility we should take hold of  the true righteousness  that is ours  in Christ, and  from there  seek Him and His strength alone and humbly  learn  from Him. The fear of the Lord is central to all this. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Prov. 9:10). Jesus Christ is to the believer “our wisdom and righteousness” (1 Cor. 1:30). We need to learn to lean hard on Him. Solomon warns  us against  “self-righteousness and the pride that comes  with that when we think we have “arrived” and know it all.  

Solomon makes  this  also  clear in v. 20: “Surely there is not a righteous man  on earth  who does  good and who never sins.”

In Eccl. 7:15-18, Solomon  discusses the value  and balance of righteousness and wisdom. He has concluded that,

•     Our fallen human wisdom cannot really explain all of life nor the future (6:10-7:14)

•       the principle that righteousness brings prosperity is subject to exceptions. Thus, he notes in 7:15 that some righteous people die in spite of their righteousness, and some wicked people live long lives in spite of their wickedness.

•      In the light of that Solomon offers some helpful counsel. Don’t think that you know everything! Don’t strive for exaggerated righteousness. Don’t try to make yourself the wisest person on earth, for these are not really worthwhile goals. In the end such secondary ambitions  will ruin your life. Likewise, do not become immoral; don’t flirt with sin and  do not  be foolish  as  a Christian,  and think that you will get away  that!  God holds you accountable, and you may put yourself in danger of dying prematurely.

•       What then of righteousness and wisdom?  Solomon  answers that they are both of great benefit. Grasp them both. If you learn to fear God (which is the important thing to seek after), leaning  hard on  the imputed righteousness of  Jesus for help and wisdom you will come out right in both areas.

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[1] Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., Ecclesiastes: Total Life (Chicago, 1979), p. 85.

[2] https://bible.org/illustration/pharisaic-laws

[3] The twofold  work of Christ on the cross : expiation  ( takes away our sin)  and propitiation  ( deals with the just wrath of God)

[4] Mk 3:17 – Jesus gave  them this name