Ecclesiastes 2:14-15

"The wise man's eyes are in his head; but the fool walketh in darkness: and I myself perceived also that one event happeneth to them all. Then said I in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool, so it happeneth even to me; and why was I then more wise? Then I said in my heart, that this also is vanity" (Ecclesiastes 2:14-15).

In the previous Ecclesiastes post we saw that in verse 11 Solomon turns to look back at everything. In verse 12 he turns himself to look back upon his actions. Now he begins to draw conclusions from looking back upon his past and actions.

Solomon knew that the wisdom of a sensible person guides his way of life, but the stupidity of fools misleads them (See Proverbs 14:8). He also knew wisdom is directly in front of an understanding person, but the eyes of a fool are looking around all over the world (See Proverbs 17:24).

The Hebrew word roshe means to shake; the head (as most easily shaken). It would seem that Solomon is saying that a wise man is not easily shaken. The word rendered darkness is kho-shek'. It means, the dark; hence (literally) darkness; figuratively misery, destruction, death, ignorance, sorrow, wickedness: - dark (-ness), night, obscurity. I am pretty sure Solomon was miserable. I believe he knew he was walking toward destruction and death. I believe he knew he walked in wickedness. If he didn't know while he was walking in those paths he certainly knew when he sat to write Ecclesiastes and looked back at the path he took.

Perhaps Solomons was warning us. Do not let your focus be shaken from the Lord or you will die! In the Word of God separation from God is death. Sin separates us from God. No, We don't lose our salvation but we separate ourselves from God by our sins. God's Word says, "Every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death (James 1:14-15).

Do a search of the word fool in Proverbs. You will find it 41 times in 41 verses. What Solomon says about fools in Proverbs all applies to him! Maybe this is why he says here, "As it happeneth to the fool, so it happeneth even to me; and why was I then more wise?". Here is one example of what God has to say about a fool through Solomon in Proverbs. "Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit" (Proverbs 25:5).

We are seeing God's answer to Solomons folly in Ecclesiastes. Solomon was drawen away by his lust which caused is eyes to be shaken from the Lord which caused him to walk into darkness where he was separated from the Lord and died spiritually which brought misery and sorrow. God's answer was to rise up 3 adversaries against Solomon which most likely caused havoc in his kingdom. I imagine Solomon was full of regret at this point, looking back, remembering the wisdom God had given him that he exchanged for the folly of the world. Then he said, "that this also is vanity" or pointless.

It is indeed pointless to allow anything to distract us from the Lord, but, God Is Good! "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9). This promise is only for those who know Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior. If your saved may I ask what foolish decisions have shaken your eyes from the Lord today? May I be so bold as to ask what you might need to bring to God and confess? You don't have to carry that burden anymore. The guilt will be lifted. The darkness will clear.

Death does come for everyone. The wise and fool alike. For the fool who dies without Christ there will be no forgiveness and cleansing. They will be eternally separated from God, the second death. "Death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death" (Revelations 20:14). If you don't know where your going then click below to find out about Jesus. Don't die a fool.

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