Ecclesiastes 7:26 Commentary and Bible Study

The destruction of sin is avoided by seeing evil for what it is. Sin wears a heavy disguise and the majority do not see through it. Some even want to be deceived because they can then enjoy sin’s pleasures undisturbed by conscience. They therefore yield themselves to its soporific influence and shut out the consequences from their thinking. For them, time is running out before the reality of the situation forces itself upon them in the form of God’s judgment.As in the previous verse, Solomon strips away the layers of deceit to expose the rottenness at the core. He knows that this particular sin is the downfall of many, and he too has been waylaid by it, so that having escaped himself, he can speak knowingly of its grievous nature. Having been ensnared by this sin, no escape is possible without the painful realisation of the damage done to the soul. The process of extracting ourselves from it is inevitably accompanied by horror at where we have been.‘I find more bitter than death …’ Is death not bitter enough, that men seek something worse. Every suggestion and every allurement of the unfaithful woman is a lie that covers over some deadly ploy. Every promise is false and every gain is an illusion. Satan has myriad ways of presenting this sin to our minds that seem to open up vistas into new worlds; worlds of tenderness, worlds of sweetness and sensuality, worlds of exclusive shared pleasure, worlds of flattery, of disdain for the opinion of others, experiences in which, allegedly, our true potential is realised, our true worth appreciated. All are lies and the bait remains hidden. The truth is more bitter than death, for death’s bitterness will be intensified by our increased guilt and by the realisation that what appeared to be love was actually trickery, a willingness to see our souls destroyed, the loss of so much for so little. How is it, the adulterer may ask himself, that I so little valued what I already had, and in exchange I was prepared to destroy so much: the destruction of marriage, of children, of reputation, of purity, of peace with God, of our eternal souls? How is it that others saw through these illusions and I did not? Sin makes fools of men.Admittedly the woman has skill and the victim feels flattered by having those skills focused on him. She has done this many times before and knows the effect of smooth talk, of hints and suggestions, of willingness to step into the realm of transgression for his sake. Her very heart is a snare and a net. The Hebrew uses two different words with similar meanings. The first refers to a device used by a hunter to catch his prey; the second to a net with perforated holes to catch fish or animal. The net is disguised, the snare is hidden. One purpose is really in the mind of the hunter but another is presented to the prey. Obviously if the hunter reveals his true intention, his prey will be frightened off, so he works by deceit. And yet the whole point of the unfaithful woman’s approach is to pretend to promise the opposite. What absence of true affection, what lack of true desire for the victim’s good! While she feigns concern for his welfare, in reality she views him as just as disposable means to her own gratification. Her soul is already damned; let his be damned as well.Who will escape her? Not those who are already slaves to sin, who lack the discernment to see where her house leads. Such a one will be seized by her as a wild animal seizes its prey in its teeth and it is then beyond help. Yet mysteriously, the thing that binds her victim to her, the fetters that hold him in place, are the man’s own desires for her. But the one who pleases God will escape.