Ecclesiastes 5:6 Commentary and Bible Study

This is still about the genuineness of our approach to God and avoiding making insincere commitments to God. Don’t commit yourself to something you don’t know how to do. Don’t say more than you can find within your own heart to do. Read your own heart, and if you find that you fall short in commitment, then go to God in prayer and ask for help, because you must keep moving forward and cannot turn back. Rash vows end up allowing the tongue to cause the flesh to sin when the flesh fails to carry out what the mouth has promised. We have lied, for we promised what we knew we were unwilling to deliver. Who is the angel or messenger? The picture could be of a vow made to a king and now he has sent his messenger to ask us to make good on our vow. We didn’t really mean what we said earlier; it was just something that we said on the spur of the moment, and we are sorry because it was not meant to be taken so seriously. Could the king just forget what we said? The word ‘mistake’ means ‘inadvertence’ and the speaker is pretending he never meant to give any such assurance in the first place. Of course, this is a lie. When we gave our word, we intended it to be taken seriously because we wanted something, but that was then and this is now. Yes, but who are we dealing with, a God who is as fickle as we are? No, we are dealing with the God who cannot lie, who cannot go back on his word, and expects the same of his creatures. God is angry at our empty words, angry enough to destroy us and our works. Ultimately it is Christ to whom all judgment has been entrusted by the Father.