Ecclesiastes 10:10 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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Ecclesiastes 10:10

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The beauty of these illustrations is that something so simple, so familiar, so every-day, can teach lessons so profound. Think of an artisan, says Solomon, who is using an axe to cut down trees, split logs, or maybe to shape a piece of wood for some purpose. He is proceeding in a very unsatisfactory way because for some reason he is unable to sharpen the edge of his axe. Perhaps he has forgotten his sharpening stone or does not know how to use it, or else, as seems more likely in this case, he does not see the need and thinks that he can make up for its bluntness by using extra force. He is obviously quite inept; he lacks skill or he lacks sense, and this leads to all kinds of problems. His work is slow and awkward, and not very pretty. He will use a blunt axe to smash his way through the wood, and will get exhausted and blistered in the process. He is likely to make nothing like as neat a job of it as if he had a sharp instrument. He has more confidence than sense, and says, ‘I can do this’, but the result is awful. Then there is a second point: wisdom is what he really lacks, which when it comes to using an axe means that he lacks skill. You hack away at a piece of wood, but if you don’t know about the knots in the wood, you will make the job far harder than it should be.

Application

This illustrates the building of a life with no spiritual understanding. It is a picture of self-confidence. We don’t look for training in the greatest of issues – how to live life. You hack your way through life and abandon God’s blueprint, and you will just about survive to the end. Because this person lacks spiritual wisdom in the way they approach life, they try to make up for it by substituting purely natural gifts: will power and determination, human learning, earthly wisdom. Life’s challenges must be met somehow and, if men and women will not lean on the Lord, then unless they give up completely, they must find their own solutions. They must invent their own system of right and wrong having rejected God, and this is very much harder for them. How can they create a consistent morality when it is centred solely around man and his values? They must be their own guides through life, having rejected the Lord as their shepherd, and since they cannot see clearly the dangers that lie ahead, they risk sudden destruction. They have rejected the revelation of God which alone makes sense of this universe, so they must create their own worldview based on limited human understanding. The obvious thing for the artisan to do is to sharpen his axe, and the obvious thing for us to do is to turn to God and seek his favour in repentance and faith. But this the unbeliever is not willing to do, and so his life becomes a battle to get through life on his own. We will not pray to God or go to him for relief from our guilt.

By contrast the man who has wisdom is fully equipped for life. Wisdom is profitable; has an advantage to it and the advantage is that it brings success. Can men make a success of life, when it is so unpredictable, so full of sorrow and misery? Is there a policy for life that can overcome life’s obstacles and avoid its dangers? Yes. We need to put away that false self-confidence that we can get through life without God and realise our own limitations. We need to come to God and ask him to show us that wisdom which is in Christ in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

Some churchmen have disregarded the Bible. They go to their own brains for ideas, a prime example of a blunt axe. This is not only foolish but arrogant. Such a person says, ‘I can tell you all about God, what his purposes are.’ ‘How?’ ‘I can think it up for myself.’ No, all of us are equally hopeless about finding out about God. How do we go about living life? We need to come to God for teaching.

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Ecclesiastes 10:10 Commentary and Bible Study