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LESSON 1:
In Ecclesiastes
9:13-18 Solomon shares an unusual story.
I believe the
event really occurred. The opening verse says:
"This wisdom have I seen also under the
sun, and it seemed great unto me." Sounds like an
eye-witness account is about to begin!
The main
character of our story is "a poor wise man."
Here's the
Paragraph in full: "This wisdom have I
seen also under the sun, and it seemed great unto me:
There was a little city, and few men within it; and there
came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great
bulwarks against it: now there was found in it
a poor wise man,
and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered
that same poor man. Then said I, Wisdom is better than
strength: nevertheless the poor man's wisdom is despised,
and his words are not heard. The words of wise men are
heard in quiet more than the cry of him that ruleth among fools.
Wisdom is better than weapons of war: but one sinner
destroyeth much good." Ecclesiastes 9:13-18
Bible
commentators seldom agree on this Text!
I don't know that
I've ever seen so much divergence of opinion over a single Bible
Passage!
Obviously, this "poor
wise man" must be studied!
I personally
believe he is a picture of our Lord Jesus Christ!
Jesus ...
pictured by a poor wise man?
Jesus, God's Son,
did become "man" at the incarnation and Virgin Birth two
thousand years ago!
Jesus, who in the
Old Testament is Wisdom personified, is called by Paul
"The One in Whom are hid all the treasures
of wisdom and
knowledge." (Colossians 2:3) Yes, Jesus is "man" and
Jesus is "wise."
But, is Jesus
poor?
Listen again to
Paul: "For
ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though
he was rich, yet
for your sakes he became
poor, that ye through his poverty might be
rich."
(2 Corinthians 8:9)
Jesus indeed
during His physical earthly Ministry was "The Poor Wise Man!"
But ... did He
deliver a city? Our Lord, by His death on Calvary, delivered a
whole lost world! "For God so loved the
world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
John 3:16
But, was that
city besieged by an enemy king?
Yes, the devil!
Three times in John's Gospel Jesus called Satan
"the prince of this world!" Paul
calls him "the prince of the power of the
air!"
But, is Jesus
largely forgotten by the people He came to save?
"He came unto his own,
and his own received him not." (John 1:11) And Jesus
Himself asked ... "When the Son of man
cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?" Luke 18:8
Although today
(maybe more tomorrow) I can't develop each point of the Text,
applying all of them to our lovely Lord, I can say this:
Every Book of the
Bible directly or indirectly points to Him, the Lamb of God, the
Saviour of the world, the Lord Jesus Christ!
And surely
Ecclesiastes is no exception!
As you go to
Church Sunday morning, look for Jesus in the Pastor's
Text! Listen for Jesus in the songs you sing! And share the
love of Jesus with all who are in attendance today!
After all, just
as He is in this Ecclesiastes paragraph ... Jesus will be in the
service you attend too! He promised!
"For where two or three are gathered together in My Name, there
am I in the midst of them." Matthew 18:20
I can hardly wait
to study this poor wise man some more! Let me correct my
punctuation though ... He's really A Poor Wise Man!
Jesus ... in
Ecclesiastes!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 2:
Solomon, in Ecclesiastes 9:13,
begins relating something he had seen in his reign as King of
Israel.
He relates the
event in a first-person narrative.
"This wisdom have I seen also under the sun, and it seemed
great unto me."
Now the Bible,
being an honest Book, is NOT here presenting just a parable or
an allegory or some kind of an emblematic happening.
What Solomon saw
("raah" = Hebrew verb = to behold, to consider, even to
perceive) was real!
We are discussing
a historical occurrence.
But, that having
been said, I still wonder if there's not a "deeper" truth in
this short paragraph of Scripture.
What did Solomon
see that so impressed him?
He saw a poor
wise man who had successfully delivered a whole city from death
at the hand of a giant enemy! Yet, after such a great deed, no
one remembered or honored that poor wise man at all! And the
only way anyone could learn about this event was through the
spirit of Wisdom in a place of quietness! And apparently sin
even further suppresses this story somehow!
This situation
may have occurred in one of the nations with whom Solomon did
business. There were many of them. The event may not be
elsewhere recorded in Scripture either.
Yet ... I still
am drawn to a series of questions!
"Poor Wise Man!"
Who is the
Perfect Man? (The God Man ... but still Perfect Man!)
Who is Wisdom
personified?
Who became "poor"
that we might be saved?
Jesus! Jesus!
Jesus!
I guess I'm
reading between the lines here ... but I know The Real Poor Wise
Man ... The One Who came to earth and delivered mankind from an
enemy! That enemy being sin and death and the grave and hell and
even Satan himself!
Again, That Wise
Man is Jesus Christ, the Son of God!
But is this
interpretation just Brother Bagwell's enthusiasm to find Jesus
in the Bible ... or has it some Scriptural foundation as well?
Earlier today I
saw two "hints" in our verse at hand:
"This wisdom
have I seen also under the sun, and it seemed great unto
me."
The word "wisdom"
("chokmah" = 145 times in the Bible as "wisdom" = 1 time in
Scripture as "skill" = 1 time as "wit" = meaning godly skill of
heart, mind, word or act) is first used in Exodus 28:3. There
it describes those who made the High Priest Aaron's beautiful
garments! "And thou shalt speak unto all
that are wise hearted, whom I have filled with the spirit
of wisdom, that
they may make Aaron's garments to consecrate him, that he may
minister unto me in the priest's office."
Look at that!
The first
"official" Bible act of wisdom concerns the High
Priest of Israel! He was a clear picture of Jesus!
By the way, Jesus
is The High Priest of every believer today!
Then notice the
adjective "great."
"This wisdom have I seen also under the sun, and it seemed
great unto me."
The first time
this word is used is in Genesis 1:16 where God had just made the
sun, the GREATEST light in the heavens! Now we all know that
the sun is a type of Christ Jesus! This is illustrated both in
Psalm 19 and in Malachi 4.
Two words that
are initially used in the Bible to describe types of Christ ...
are used in the opening verse of this story of the poor wise
man!
Anybody
listening?
Solomon's unique
narrative here is going to point to our dear Saviour!
After all He
is The Deliverer!
Micah goes so far
as to call Him the Breaker! (In the sense of delivering a band
of imprisoned slaves!) "The Breaker is
come up before them: they have broken up, and have passed
through the gate, and are gone out by it: and their king shall
pass before them, and the LORD on the head of them."
Micah 2:13
Thank God, He
delivered me!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 3:
Solomon told an
unusual story in Ecclesiastes chapter nine.
A little city was
attacked by a great king. It faced sure defeat! Then, a poor
wise man appeared and delivered the whole town! Solomon then
made some observations about the outcome of that battle.
"There
was
a little city, and few men within it; and
there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built
great bulwarks against it: now there was found in it a poor wise
man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city."
Ecclesiastes 9:14-15
I have long
thought that the "poor wise man" might be a picture of the Lord
Jesus Christ, Who was indeed a Deliverer!
Today I am more
convinced of that than ever!
Earlier this
morning, while it was still dark outside, the Lord showed me
something.
This "little
city" is one interesting place!
The word "city"
(in Hebrew = "iyr") is used 1089 times in the Bible.
Of those it is
translated "city" 1074 times in the King James Bible. But also
there it is rendered as "town" 7 times. So far we have found
nothing surprising.
Yet, get this ...
two times (and only two times) our word "iyr" means
"every
one!"
Let me apply this
finding to our Lord Jesus.
He, like the poor
wise man who came and delivered this little city, died for EVERY
ONE as well!
I know this is a
controversial statement to some, but I believe the Scriptures
support this fact.
"For God so loved the world, that he gave
his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16
"And He is the propitiation for our sins:
and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the
whole world." 1 John 2:2
"The Lord is not slack concerning his
promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to
us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that
all should come to repentance." 2 Peter 3:9
Solomon related
how a poor wise man saved the little city ... an unknown
insignificant place ... having a bunch of "nobodies" in it!
Yet, for some
reason, the little wise man thought it was worth saving!
Jesus did too!
I am so glad I
can preach to "every one" the Gospel Story!
Back to our
verses:
"There
was
a little city, and
few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and
besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it: now there was
found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the
city."
Exactly what kind
of city was it?
A "little" (in
Hebrew = "qatan") city!
In our Bibles the
word is not only translated "little," but also "small" and
"young" and "least!"
Look at that!
The poor wise man
was willing to deliver the smallest and least and
even the youngest in that little place!
This reminds me
again of Jesus.
He found the
paralyzed man by the Pool that day in John chapter five! He was
the least important man there likely! But Jesus saved him!
He did so for a
woman taken in adultery, a leper, a common beggar, another woman
with many husbands ... and no telling how many more!
I'm so glad Jesus
God's Son (the True Wise Man of all time) came and died for
sinners, providing salvation and deliverance for them!
Deliverance from a vicious attacking enemy called Satan!
I hope you see
today what I am trying to say:
"There
was
a little city, and
few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and
besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it: now there was
found in it a poor wise
man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city."
Amen!
What "meat" is
found in those two words alone ... "little city!"
I hope to "chew"
and "meditate" on this throughout the day, Lord willing!
Will you join me?
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 4 (WRITTEN
AND POSTED WEDNESDAY MORNING, AUGUST 24, 2005, FROM CULLMAN,
ALABAMA):
Solomon told a story in Ecclesiastes
9 about a little city that was attacked by a great king!
"There
was
a little city, and few men within it; and
there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built
great bulwarks against it." Ecclesiastes 9:14
I have for some
time felt that the "little city" here pictures the world of lost
men and women. By the way, in comparison to the size of the
universe God created, we do live in a little place, a very
little place!
And the "great
king" who attacks such a little town?
That's the devil!
But quickly ...
in verse 15 ... Solomon adds another element to the account! A
deliverer has come! Someone to rescue the city from the grip of
this vicious "great king!"
That "deliverer"
is Jesus!
"Now there was found in it a poor wise
man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city."
Ecclesiastes 9:15
For today let me
try to answer one question.
WHY would I think
that the "great king" is a type of the devil?
By using my
Bible!
The expression
"great king" occurs there 11 times!
Four of those
times, including the first two in order, the expression refers
to the ungodly Assyrian King Sennacherib, who is certainly evil
personified! Read 2 Kings 18:19 and 2 Kings 18:28 then Isaiah
36:4 and Isaiah 36:13. You will see what I mean! For example:
"Then Rabshakeh stood and cried with a
loud voice in the Jews' language, and spake, saying, Hear the
word of the great king, the king of Assyria
(Sennacherib): Thus saith the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive
you: for he shall not be able to deliver you out of his hand:
Neither let Hezekiah
make you trust in the LORD, saying, The LORD will surely deliver
us, and this city shall not be delivered into the hand of
the king of Assyria."
Did you notice
the words I capitalized?
The "great king"
says, "Do not trust in the Lord either!"
That's certainly
being a picture of Satan!
Listen again to
this Assyrian speak against God: "Hath
any of the gods of the nations delivered at all his land out of
the hand of the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of
Hamath, and of Arpad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim,
Hena, and Ivah? have they delivered Samaria out of mine hand?
Who are they among all the gods of the countries, that
have delivered their country out of mine hand, that the LORD
should deliver Jerusalem out of mine hand?" 2 Kings
18:33-35
"Has any other
god delivered his people?"
"Your God is no
different" ... says this wicked one!
That's a voice
like that of anti-Christ himself!
Yes, the "great
king" personified the devil ... for sure!
... Now, let's
get back to our Ecclesiastes Text.
We were all
inhabitants of that little city!
And Satan sought
to destroy each of us too!
He told us NOT to
trust in the Lord!
He mocks the
eternal God of Heaven and earth.
But, thank God,
the devil does NOT have the last word!
The Deliverer
came, Jesus!
And brought
victory and liberty to the little city that was once doomed for
sure!
This is the
Gospel Story in miniature form!
It is a literal
historical event ... but one with many deeper truths embedded
within its words!
Aren't YOU glad
the Deliverer came to where we live? I sure am!
Listen to Paul
describe Jesus in Colossians 1:13 ... "Who
hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath
translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son."
Yes, He is The
Deliverer!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 5 ... THURSDAY,
AUGUST 25, 2005:
Let's go back to those words "great king" for
a while.
That "string" is used in the Bible exactly 11
times.
Four of those times it has reference to
wicked men, all of whom are types of the devil.
Once it refers to a King of Israel.
Plus it occurs here in our Ecclesiastes Text.
Then the remaining five times it speaks of
the Great God of Heaven!
Basically speaking, in the Bible the "great
king" is either a claim made by the devil, for himself ... OR
... a Title of the True and Almighty God Who deserves all our
worship and praise!
When that "great king" attacked this little
city ... he was certainly trying to occupy it and control the
lives of each inhabitant!
Isn't that exactly what the devil wants to
do?
BUT, thank the Lord, a poor wise man in the
village had other ideas! He, through wisdom, delivered the
place!
Just as the devil wanted to take the whole
world to hell ... but Jesus thwarted his plans by going to
Calvary!
However, I have a question today.
WHY would the devil want such a small and
seemingly insignificant city anyway?
It likely had little wealth.
Its people were not especially numerous.
No mention is made of a strategic location or
of any particular assets!
WHY?
Maybe the attack was begun partly just
because the poor wise man lived there in the first place!
I'm sure one reason the devil hates planet
earth so much is that this is the place where the darling Son of
God came to die for sinners!
Satan hates the Bible ... because it is God's
Book!
He hates the Church ... because it is God's
Body!
He hates the Preacher ... because He is God's
Man!
He hates the Jews ... because they are the
people through whom God brought the Saviour, the Lord Jesus
Christ!
He hates America ... because we were
originally a godly Christian nation (a long time ago now)!
He hates the Holy Land ... because that's
where Jesus walked and preached and died and was resurrected!
And if you are saved ... he hates you ...
because God the Holy Spirit indwells your very being!
But this devil is one "great king" who lost
the battle!
Thank God for the "poor wise man!"
As a symbol of Jesus that term should be
written Poor Wise Man!
The God-Man!
Here's why Jesus came ...
"that through death he might destroy him
that had the power of death, that is, the devil."
Hebrews 2:14
By the way, Jesus called the devil a "prince"
three times! (John 12:31 and John 14:30 and John 16:11)
And a "prince" is going to be a "king" in time. A "great
king" was defeated in Ecclesiastes 9:13-18.
Praise the Lord!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 6 ... FRIDAY,
AUGUST 26, 2005:
The "great king" is up to something!
He is attacking another little city!
He is a picture of the devil!
"There was a
little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king
against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against
it." Ecclesiastes 9:14
He did three things to hurt this city!
He "came against it!"
The verb in Hebrew ("bo") means (125 times in
the King James Bible) "to enter!" Just to enter!
The devil entered the city!
This possibly implies that before he even
attacked, he already had a "spy" within the walls of that little
place!
Wolves in the pasture!
False prophets among the children of God!
Tares among the wheat!
That's one of the devil's tactics all right!
Jude says ... "for there are certain men
crept in unawares!" The verb "crept in unawares" is in
Greek "paraeisduno" which means "to sneak down and enter a place
getting beside the people there!"
Watch for the devil's inflitration!
The second thing the kind did was to
"besiege" the city! The verb (in Hebrew = "sabab") means
to surround or to encircle something! The devil had
compassed them about! He was in front of them ... and
behind them ... and on either side too!
That sounds dangerous!
But, wait a minute Christian friend!
Psalm 32:7 (and a lot of other places too)
declares to us: "Thou (Lord) art
my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble;
thou shalt compass me
about ("sabab") with songs of deliverance. Selah." The
Lord has us surrounded too!
The Lord is ahead of us ... leading us!
He is behind us ... protecting us! The
King James word is "rereward!" (Say it as rear ward!
My Protection from behind!) "For ye
shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight: for the LORD will
go before you; and the God of Israel will be your
rereward." Isaiah 52:12
He is beside us ... on both the right and the
left hands! "The LORD is thy
keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand."
Psalm 121:5
He is above us!
"Our Father, Which art in Heaven ...!" Matthew 6:9
And He is even beneath us!
"The eternal God is thy refuge, and
underneath are the everlasting arms: and he shall thrust
out the enemy from before thee; and shall say, Destroy them."
Deuteronomy 33:27
Glory!
Then, thirdly, the devil tried to
"build great bulwarks" against the
little city!
The noun "bulwarks" in Hebrew is "matzsod"
and means "snares" or "nets" or "holds!" Literally the
word bulwark comes into English meaning "a tree trunk!" It was
anything the enemy could find to prop up against a city's walls
to enable attacking soldiers to shoot at them better or enter
the place to burn it!
The "great king" wanted to minimize the
effects of the city walls!
Christian, hear me today.
You had best be building some walls against
sin and against the world and the devil!
Big walls!
Tall walls!
Walls of separation!
And such walls sure are under attack today!
Lord, give us more wall builders, I pray!
Our verse again:
"There was a little city, and few men within it; and
there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built
great bulwarks against it." Ecclesiastes 9:14
Watch the devil ... that "great king" of this
wicked earth!
He want to come into your life!
He wants to surround you as a "roaring lion
seeking whom he may destroy!"
And he want to tear down your walls of
separation!
As Paul said, "We are not ignorant of his
devices!" (The whole verse: "Lest Satan should get
an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices." 2nd
Corinthians 2:11)
Be careful!
Be vigilant ... which just means "be
awake!
This picture of the devil (the "great king"
here in Ecclesiastes 9) ... did NOT get his way! He was
defeated!
By a "poor wise man!"
Who is he?
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 7 ... SATURDAY,
AUGUST 27, 2005:
The fifteenth verse introduces us to the
"key" person in this Text, the poor wise man!
"Now there was found in
it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet
no man remembered that same poor man." Ecclesiastes
9:15
I have suggested (and tried to Biblically
prove) that the "poor wise man" could be a Type of the Lord
Jesus Christ.
Notice that he was "found" in the city?
How did he get there?
It is strange that his father's name is not
given ... a common Old Testament practice.
Was he a "native" or a "foreigner?"
He was just "found" there!
I suggest to you that's how Jesus came to
earth also ... came to deliver mankind from the power of the
devil!
"Matzsa" ("found") means to encounter or to
meet or to befall!
What if I told you "God sent forth His Son"
to die for our sins ... rescuing us from the clutches of the
"great king" Satan? (Galatians 4:4)
He did!
The first use of "matzsa" in the Bible is in
reference to a bride for Adam! Genesis 2:20 tells us:
"And Adam gave names to all cattle,
and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but
for Adam there was not
found an help meet for him."
But God did "find" Adam a wife!
And Jesus was sent to this earth ... to
procure a Bride, the Blood-washed New Testament Church!
The expression "wise man" is found in the
Bible 26 times, but never in this exact context. Jesus is
the Wise Man in a way none other has ever been!
He IS Wisdom!
Also notice that our "poor wise man" here
DELIVERED the whole city where he lived!
This verb (in Hebrew = "malat") means to save
or to preserve!
I would say Jesus saved us!
Saved us from Hell!
"Malat" is a Piel verb here, too! It is
intensive in scope and action! The wise man REALLY SAVED
or VIGOROUSLY RESCUED his subjects!
Jesus completely saves too!
The first Bible use of our verb (Genesis
19:17) speaks of Lot being rescued from the coming fires and
destruction of Sodom!
Have YOU been rescued, my friend?
Tomorrow, Lord willing, let's find out HOW He
rescued us!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 8:
In Solomon's little-known account of
the "poor wise man," the man who delivered his city from an
attacking enemy king, the word "wisdom" appears!
"Now there was found in it (the city) a
poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city."
Ecclesiastes 9:15
There's no doubt
in my mind that this "poor wise man" could be a Type of Christ
Jesus our Saviour!
Jesus, Who was
rich, yet became POOR for our sakes! 2nd Corinthians 8:9
Jesus, Who is
WISE beyond all measure, omniscient!
Jesus, Who is The
God/MAN!
Jesus, Who
delivers and redeems and saves from sin!
But ... today
notice with me HOW He delivered the city!
"By His wisdom!"
HOW does Christ
save sinners?
"By grace through
faith?"
Yes, but go
deeper!
"By the Gift of
God?"
Yes, but think
location, geography!
By means of His
Shed Blood at the Old Rugged Cross on Golgotha's Hill!
YES!
Jesus delivers
sinners via Calvary!
Wait a minute,
Preacher Bagwell!
Are you saying
that the Cross is the Wisdom of God?
YES!
Listen to Paul.
"But we preach Christ
crucified, unto
the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; but
unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ
(crucified) the power of God, and the
wisdom of God."
1st Corinthians 1:23-24
The CROSS is the
Father's WISE way of saving sinners and getting them to Heaven!
Oh, yes, the
world calls all that talk of a "cross" foolishness!
"For
the preaching of the cross is to them that perish
foolishness."
1st Corinthians 1:18
But to us
Believers, It is The
Wisdom of God and The Power of God and the Love Of God
... all bound into one glorious and miraculous Event!
The CROSS is one
of God's great eternal displays of His Glory! A Glory which
contains Wisdom!
The "poor wise
man" did not save his city by using swords or angels or armies!
Neither did Jesus save us by swords like Peter's ... or angels
like those twelve legions who stood nearby that Day ... or by
armies like all the hosts of Heaven!
The "poor wise
man" saved his city by his wisdom!
So did Jesus!
And That Calvary
Wisdom is so very powerful!
"As many as received Him, to them gave He
power to become the sons of God, even to them that
believe on His Name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the
will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."
John 1:12-13
Thank God today
for His great Wisdom!
A loving Wisdom
that has designed such a Plan of Salvation!
By which he saved
our souls!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 9:
In Ecclesiastes 9, a poor wise man delivered
a whole city! He rescued it from a wicked attacking king!
Yet we are immediately told: "Yet no man
remembered that same poor man." Ecclesiastes 9:15c
After all he did, soon no one even remembered him!
The verb "remembered" (in Hebrew = "zakar") not only means "to
call to mind" ... but also "to think about" or even "to meditate
upon!"
Further lexicon
investigation reveals some more shades of meaning for "zakar:"
to mention or declare, to recite, to proclaim, to commemorate
and to confess!
What a list!
Now that poor
wise man is probably a Type of God's only begotten Son, The Lord
Jesus Christ! He alone is The Real "Wise Man" Who became Poor
for our sakes!
And He (Jesus)
also delivered many a city from the enemy!
He has "spoiled"
the devil and the grave and hell and even death itself ... by
means of His shed Blood on the old rugged Cross of Calvary!
YET virtually no
one remembers Jesus either!
He has been
forgotten ... or perhaps even ignored ... by the very world He
came to save!
The first time "zakar"
is used in Scripture, in the very form we have in our Text here,
the "chief butler" who had been released from an Egyptian prison
did NOT remember Joseph! Incidentally, that's a Joseph who was
also a poor wise man! See Genesis 40:23!
Christian friend,
listen to me today.
If the world is
going to forget Jesus, we should remember Him!
And, just listing
the dictionary definitions we found for "zakar," we should also
think about Him!
And meditate
upon Him!
And declare
Him!
And proclaim
Him!
And
commemorate Him!
And confess
to Him!
Yes!
If the world is
going to put Him down ... I want to lift Him up!
If the world is
going to curse Him ... I want to bless Him!
If the world is
going to hate Him ... I want to love Him!
Could I hear some
one say "AMEN" please?
When I first real
Solomon's short account of the poor wise man who had been
forgotten for his life-saving effort, I thought "how sad!"
But now that I
see Jesus as The Real Poor Wise Man ... I think "how true!"
The world,
especially including our nation it seems, is forgetting Him
deliberately!
Or is it called
"rejecting" Him when one does so with prejudice and forethought?
Today ... think
about HIM!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 10 ... MONDAY,
AUGUST 29, 2005:
The "poor wise man" had delivered a whole
city!
Yet he was not honored for having done so!
In fact, Solomon says:
"Yet no man remembered that same poor
man." Ecclesiastes 9:15c
While we discussed the verb "remembered" in
our last lesson, I just saw something else here.
When we are told that the city folks did not
remember the man and his great successful effort ... he is just
called "that same poor man!"
He is NOT called the poor WISE man!
Do you see that?
The adjective "wise" is missing!
The Bible is important of course because of
what it says!
Yet it is also important for what it does NOT
say, what it sometimes omits!
The world may have forgotten this poor
(wise) man and his act of deliverance ... because they never
really saw what His wisdom involved!
They were ignorant (willfully blind Paul
says) of that Wisdom of God!
And certainly one of the reasons our land
today does NOT remember Jesus and His death on Calvary is just
that too!
We do not realize the vast depth of Wisdom He
possessed!
I believe He is ALL-WISE! Or to
Latinize the term, Jesus is omniscient!
Once a sinner is truly convicted by the Holy
Spirit of God, dealing with his or her old filthy sins, that
unbeliever will begin to see the true Wisdom of God!
It is hard to forget a truly (even though
poor) WISE Man!
But instead of acknowledging Jesus' perfect
divine Wisdom, man today has invented his own!
We have Doctors of Wisdom (exactly what PhD
represents, a doctor who loves and knows wisdom) who are often
godless and immoral!
We have centers of learning (schools of
wisdom they say) that are some of the most stupid places on
earth! I am speaking of the largely reprobate University
systems of our nation, atheistic to the core!
We have men and women who go about "calling
themselves wise" ... but inwardly (and obviously) they are
raving fools! That's exactly what Romans 1:22 declares of
them: "Professing themselves to be
wise, they became fools."
I am beginning to wonder if maybe there are
not two kinds of wisdom in existence!
Hear James now: "This
wisdom (man's) descendeth not from above, but is earthly,
sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is,
there is confusion and every evil work.
But the wisdom that is from above (God's) is first pure,
then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of
mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without
hypocrisy." Here in James 3:15-17 the inspired
Preacher has contrasted two types of wisdom, the earthly kind
and the heavenly kind!
If one's "definition" of wisdom is wrong ...
the so-called wisdom one attains will be wrong too!
Lord, show us how very WISE Jesus really is!
And, as if He answers immediately, I remember
Colossians 2:3. There Paul is speaking about our lovely
Lord Jesus Christ. "In Whom are hid
all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."
Amen!
The wiser you realize Jesus to be ... the
less likely you will "forget" Him!
It's like Peter asked our Lord one day:
"Lord, to whom shall we go? thou
hast the words of eternal life."
Good question!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 11 ... LATE (DUE
TO HURRICANE) TUESDAY, AUGUST 30, 2005:
The next verse we are to consider is
Ecclesiastes 9:16. Let's listen to King Solomon.
"Then said I, Wisdom is better than
strength: nevertheless the poor man's wisdom is despised,
and his words are not heard."
Wisdom (God's Wisdom is meant here) is better
than strength!
We just must examine that noun
"strength."
In Hebrew it is spelled "geburah" and means
valor or might! It's verbal background means "to rise or
to raise up." It in the Old Testament is often used of
rising up against God! For example, see Job 15:25 ---
"For he (the wicked man) stretcheth out
his hand against God, and
strengtheneth himself
against the Almighty."
We are being told today in our little verse
that Wisdom, God's Wisdom, is far superior to man's rebellion!
And man's knowledge anymore (at least in
America) seems to be venting him against Almighty God again and
again!
"Wisdom is better than
strength!"
The little word "better" (in Hebrew = "tob")
is an adjective that carries "degrees" of intensity. God's
Wisdom is good, better and best ... when it comes to anything
man has to offer!
Man takes his knowledge, calls it wisdom ...
and then uses it to attack the Lord!
On the Cross 2,000 years ago, Jesus
frustrated man's wisdom and knowledge ... exhibiting God's Love
in an amazing way!
Dying as a convicted Criminal (although
having done nothing wrong ... never sinning once), Jesus brought
about Salvation for old lost sinners!
That's the power of His Shed Blood!
And Wisdom such as That ... is BETTER than
man's strength any day!
Read this: "For
it is written, I (the Lord) will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.
Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where
is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the
wisdom of this world? For after that in the wisdom of God
the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the
foolishness of preaching to save them that believe."
1 Corinthians 1:19-21
Yes, Solomon, Wisdom IS better than man's
knowledge ... or man's rebellious strength!
Much better!
And when it comes to strength ...THE STRENGTH
THAT MAN SO BADLY WANTS TO CLAIM AND CONTROL, it really belongs
to God anyhow! Watch what I mean.
"Thine, O Lord, is the greatness,
and the power,
and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that
is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine
is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above
all." (1st Chronicles 29:11) That capitalized
word POWER is our Hebrew term "geburah." Man always has wanted
what is rightfully God's!
Lord, make us wise ... in Thee!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 12 ...
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31, 2005:
Notice what happens to the poor man's wisdom,
wisdom that delivered a whole city!
It was "despised!"
"Then said I, Wisdom
is better than strength: nevertheless the poor man's wisdom
is despised,
and his words are not heard." Ecclesiastes 9:16
That Hebrew participle is spelled "bazah."
It means "to accord little worth to something!"
In the King James Bible it is found 43 times
and is translated as follows: despise (36 times), contemptible
(3 times), contemned (1 time), disdained (1 time), vile person
(1 time) and scorn (1 time)!
It's not a pretty word!
Yet this is what the poor wise man gets ...
even after rescuing a city from sure death!
But here is the interesting thing. This
word ("bazah") is used of the coming Messiah in Psalm 22 and
again in Isaiah 53! These are two of the Bible's major Old
Testament chapters on Jesus the Christ!
Psalm 22:6, where Jesus prophetically says:
"But I am a worm, and no man; a
reproach of men, and
despised of the people."
And look at Isaiah 53:3, where the word is
used twice! "He is
despised and
rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief:
and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was
despised, and we
esteemed him not."
The "linkage" is unmistakable!
This ties the poor wise man of Ecclesiastes 9
to the Messiah of Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53! At least it
grammatically does!
Jesus was despised ... so that we can enjoy
eternal love!
What a Saviour!
The world may despise Him ... but we can
honor and adore Him!
Do so at Church tonight!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 13:
King Solomon, in Ecclesiastes
9:13-18, discusses a poor wise man who delivered his city from
an evil attacking king.
But after that
heroic deed, the man's other wise advice was not heeded at all!
Here's how
Scripture reports it: "The poor man's
wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard."
Ecclesiastes 9:16
The implication
is that our wise man here kept talking. He continued to share
wisdom and life-saving counsel ... but the folks of that town
just didn't listen!
In my mind I
began to compare that wise man to The Wise Man,
to Jesus Christ our Lord!
Jesus, Who is
also a Deliverer!
Our Lord, even
after the Cross where He defeated that old "king" the devil, has
continued to speak through His precious Word!
But how do most
folks respond?
They "do not
hear!"
Don't
misunderstand me now.
There is plenty
of preaching in America yet today!
But ... people
are deliberately not hearing it!
There are plenty
of Bibles! And they are not heard or heeded either!
There surely have
been plenty of God-sent warnings too ... none of which have been
noticed as well!
But we should not
be surprised!
Amos, the Old
Testament Minor Prophet, told us this was going to happen.
Listen to him
preach.
"Behold, the days come, saith the Lord
GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of
bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the
LORD." Amos 8:11
A famine of
HEARING the Words of the Lord!
And God sent it
too!
Why?
It's part of the
"automatic" judgment God has built into sin!
Sin makes one
deaf to the Word of God!
Sin causes one to
turn his ears away from Truth!
Sin even gives a
person "heavy ears!"
Backsliders and
sinners want their ears "scratched" by ear-tickling false
prophets! And there are plenty of them to do that in our land!
They do NOT want
to hear the undiluted Word of God!
They've become
deaf to it!
That's exactly
where millions are living today!
Well ... the day
may come when America changes her mind!
But it just may
be that when post-modern man finally (if ever) turns to the
Lord, Amos 8:12 may take effect. There God continues:
"And they shall wander from sea to sea,
and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro
to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it."
Wow!
It's true.
The poor wise
man's words were just not heard!
Christians ...
let us all spend some extra time today in the Word
of God!
Be thankful you
have such a desire!
And if you don't
... frankly it ought to scare you half to death!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 14 ... THURSDAY
AFTERNOON, SEPTEMBER 1, 2005:
As soon as Solomon told us that the wise
man's words "were not heard," he
did an "about-face" and gave us a situation in which those same
words could be heard!
Let me show you what I mean:
"Nevertheless the poor man's wisdom is
despised, and his
words are not heard." That's verse 16 of
Ecclesiastes 9. Then verse 17 immediately says:
"The words of wise men are heard in quiet!"
There exists a condition in which words, even
"non-entertaining" words, even non "you're wonderful" words,
even serious and wise words can be heard!
What's that Preacher?
"In quiet!" says
Holy Spirit in Ecclesiastes.
"In quiet!"
We just MUST examine that word!
In Hebrew "nachath" ("quiet") means "rest!"
The interesting thing is that this word is
only used a few times in the whole Bible!
"Nahath," as a name, appears in Scripture
five times!
Men whose name means "rest!"
But one of my resources tells me that "nahath"
is derived from "nechath" and means "to descend, to depose or to
put down!" (It has the idea of "rest" in this sense: a
putting of oneself down for the night, for example.)
These wise words are heard in an atmosphere
of one "being lowered, being put down, being humbled, being
reduced in size!"
Goodness!
Is that not a picture of conviction?
Of the Holy Spirit's showing us how little we
really are?
Of lining us up by the straight and righteous
Word of God, letting us know how far short we fall, how much of
a "nothing" we really are?
I sure remember when He did that to me!
Glorious day!
You can't get saved ... until you get lost!
You can't spiritually see ... until you
realize you're blind!
You can't really live (be born-again) ...
until you know you're dead!
Then ... in that QUIET ... for the first time
in your whole life you Christian HEARD the Voice of Wisdom!
And He said "Come unto Me!"
Glory to God!
The other Bible uses of the word "nachath"
suggest the same thing. I'll give you one example.
"For thus saith the
Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and
rest shall
ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your
strength: and ye would not." Isaiah 30:15
Wow!
Such "rest," such "quiet," such "nachath" ...
is essential to be saved!
And the Spirit of God produces exactly that
when a sinner is born into the family of God!
Hallelujah!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 15 ...
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2005:
The verse we're
studying says: "The words of wise men
are heard in quiet more than the cry of him that ruleth
among fools." Ecclesiastes 9:17
Really this is an
amazing statement!
It actually
contrasts two atmospheres!
One is that of
quietness ... the other of noise, loud noise!
That's what the
noun "cry" means. In Hebrew it is spelled "za-aq" and is only
used 18 times in the whole Bible!
It accents crying
in its sense of being a clamorous sound! Very disturbing! And
it can even indicate a panic-ridden plea of distress!
"A shriek," says
Strong's Concordance.
It also adds that
the word is derived from a root word that implies "calling an
assembly!" To convene publicly! To gather together!
What a word
picture this verse is painting!
If an individual
can ever get into the spirit of real godly "quietness" ... he or
she can then hear the voice of wisdom ... even above the wicked
roar of a foolish world!
A man can
actually love the quiet of wisdom ... more than the assemblies
of ungodliness!
Would you have
ever thought it?
Is it possible
for someone to choose Church attendance (say a Revival Meeting
for example) where the quiet Spirit of God is dispensing real
wisdom ... rather than a crowded theatre where some filthy
(God's Name in vain, immorality, alcohol and all the rest) movie
is being shown?
YES!
In fact, that's
the ONLY way one will ever hear real wisdom. Let me punctuate
that last line a bit differently.
In quietness ...
generated by the convicting Power of the Holy Spirit of God ...
one will hear Real Wisdom!
Get it?
Real Wisdom ...
That's Jesus!
That is exactly
what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 1:30 where he's talking about
our Lord! "Christ Jesus, who of God is
made unto us wisdom!" Or six verses earlier where he
declares: "Christ the power of God, and
the wisdom of God!"
Amen!
Oh, by the way,
the word "fool" in our text ... " "The
words of wise men are heard in quiet more than the cry of
him that ruleth among fools" ... indicates a person who
is proud and vain ... then stupid spiritually! In other words,
a rebellious sinner!
That's the
classic Bible definition of today's so-called entertainment
world I believe! The ones who are vying for the attention of
people everywhere! Trying to keep them from hearing the words of
Wisdom!
Notice too that
it seems to be the leaders of the fools' brigade that
here particularly draw the attention of God! Those who "ruleth"
(in Hebrew = "mashal") are the ones with power, dominion or
governorship (supervisiors, "stars") over the other fools!
That verb "mashal"
is the word that gives us the King James noun "proverbs" in
Proverbs 1:1 and 1:6! The wicked have their proverbs too!
Proverbs of filth and degradation!
Yes, there is
wisdom from above ... and wisdom from this sin-filled world
too! That would be wisdom from "below," I guess.
Enter James:
"But if ye have
bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not
against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is
earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is,
there is confusion and every evil work.
But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable,
gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits,
without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of
righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace."
James 3:14-18
Again I say,
"Amen!"
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 16 ...
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2005:
And now to the
last verse in our paragraph.
"Wisdom is better than weapons of war: but
one sinner destroyeth much good." Ecclesiastes 9:18
Solomon says that
"Wisdom is
better than weapons of war"
because he has just told the story of a poor WISE man who
delivered a city from armed conflict!
In his case at
hand, wisdom was indeed better than war!
But the word for
"war" is captivating!
Only 9 times in
the whole Old Testament (King James Version) is it used for
warfare or battle. It is the common Hebrew word meaning "to
approach" someone ... for whatever purpose!
It's consonants "QRB"
also comprise the Hebrew word for being "in the midst of" or
"among" something!
So the word's
history goes like this. First ... to approach! Next ... to be
"in the midst!" Lastly ... to war or fight!
That whole
process sounds a bit deceptive to me!
Someone coming
... wanting to "join" with me ... but ultimately causing war!
But true Wisdom
senses all that ... and prepares me handle it in a godly manner!
... And the word
"weapons" ("kaliy") just means the instruments needed for
warfare! Its utensils or vessels.
Here's something
interesting. The word "kaliy" is translated "armour" ten times
in our Bibles too!
So ... real godly
Wisdom supercedes the weapons or armour of war!
It grants its
owner discernment to tell if an approaching person is friend or
foe! (Here to help or hurt?)
It also is more
valuable than the very tools of warfare!
At least it was
in our Ecclesiastes 9:13-18 incident!
I believe it
always is!
And, do remember,
the True Poor Wise Man (Jesus) conquered the devil (the great
kind who was attacking) on Calvary (where true Wisdom was most
displayed), delivering a whole city (really, a whole world) by
His Shed Blood!
Wow!
That Wisdom IS
better than all the carnal weapons of sin and the devil!
In closing, I just did a
whole Bible search for the "string" of words "wisdom is better!"
My computer gave me 3
references! And Solomon wrote each!
Proverbs 8:11 ---
"For
wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be
desired are not to be compared to it."
Ecclesiastes 9:16
--- "Then said I,
Wisdom is better than
strength: nevertheless the poor man's wisdom is despised,
and his words are not heard."
Ecclesiastes 9:18 ---
"Wisdom is
better than weapons of war: but one sinner destroyeth much good."
This "trinity" of verses
relates the superiority of wisdom to wealth (rubies), to work (strength)
and to war (weapons)!
How precious is real
Wisdom!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
LESSON 17 ...
MONDAY (LABOR DAY), SEPTEMBER 5, 2005:
Our Text
paragraph ends with these words:
"But one sinner destroyeth much good." Ecclesiastes
9:18b
We have
carefully been told about all the GOOD the poor wise man brought
to the city ... yet the inverse is true as well, a wicked man
sows evil!
It was a man,
Adam, who sinned and wickedly plunged us all into a dark sea of
filth and iniquity!
Therefore it
was a Man (the God/Man Jesus) Who came to earth, lived sinlessly
and died vicariously that mankind might be saved!
The Bible
Doctrine of imputation might be suggested here in type and
symbol! Romans 5:19 summarizes Paul's inspired thinking on
the matter: "For as by one man's
disobedience (Adam) many were made sinners, so by the obedience
of one (Jesus) shall many be made righteous." Wow!
Sin actually
"snowballs" in effect!
ONE sinner ...
destroys MUCH good in our Text verse.
Think of the
damage a loose tongue or a bitter heart can do ... in just a
little while too!
Maybe Solomon
also has in mind the Bible concept of "corporate sin!"
One man, Achan, sinned ... but 36 Israelites died that day in a
rare Jewish military defeat!
One man,
Absalom, sinned in rebellion, but a whole nation was plunged
into civil way!
Also here,
where one man sins, we could have a parallel to something
else Solomon said in his most famous Song:
"Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that
spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes."
Song Of Solomon 2:15
And the
sequence of our verse ... "Wisdom is
better than weapons of war: but one sinner destroyeth much good"
... implies that if one rejects wisdom, his natural course will
be to slowly drift down into sin and degradation!
Just as one
arsonist may do untold harm and damage ... so can one sinner!
And if Wisdom
is also a Type of the Holy Spirit (as it is here an Emblem of
Jesus) can it be "quenched?" Or maybe I should say
"grieved." Can foolishness and immorality (both implied in
the word "sinner") hinder or halt the wise work of God? Matthew
13:58 tells us of Jesus at Nazareth: "And
He did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief."
That's
amazing!
An old
expression, "one rotten apple will ruin the whole barrel," might
also aptly illustrate our verse here.
Could our
paragraph here foreshadow the Wise Man of God (Jesus) with the
wicked man of sin (anti-christ)? If it has any prophetic
inclinations at all, I would say this thought must be included!
And some say the
insinuation of the Hebrew text here is identical to that of James
2:10 --- "For whosoever shall keep the
whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all."
Now that's destroying much good!
Sin can
diminish and wither and impoverish much good!
That verb
"destroy" (in Hebrew = "abad") in the King James Bible is
rendered "escape" once ... and "flee" once! This sinful man
wants nothing to do with godly wisdom! He even resents it
and will run away from it!
And the noun
"sinner" (in Hebrew, a participle "chata,"
the one sinning) pictures
one who "misses God's mark!" One who does not realize the
potential God had for him! He lives an unfulfilled life!
God is very,
very generous in His Grace! So much so that He desires to
produce MUCH GOOD in the lives of all His children!
And do
remember that the noun good, when an adjective, can be expressed
in degrees: good, better and best! Knowing God and
fellowshipping with Him was good from the beginning!
But it's even better now! And the real old-timers
tell me it's best at the last!
So, while one
sinner can destroy (a Piel verb incidentally, indicating
vigorous and dramatic action) much good ... so can a godly man
"turn many to righteousness!" Daniel
12:3
In that we
must rest content.
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
CONCLUSION:
This little
historical event to which Solomon has turned our hearts is a
beautiful picture, I think, of salvation!
The Poor Wise
Man is a Type of Jesus!
The little
city a symbol of the world for which Jesus died!
The great king
who came to kill ... satan himself!
And this last
sinner ... surely symbolizes those who oppose the Gospel Message
and Ministry of the dear Lord Jesus Christ!
I trust you
have enjoyed these 17 Lessons. Now put them all together
and share it with someone soon!
You will be
exalting the Lord Who died for you!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
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