Ecclesiastes 7:29 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

Navigator

Ecclesiastes 7:29

Comments

Where do all this evil and all this vanity, this endless useless effort and wasted labour come from? There must be a cause for all this. Has man always been corrupt, and was he originally made a defective being? If so, then the blame for his present condition lies with his Creator. But Scripture is adamant and Solomon confirms this here: that God made man upright. He was made in the image of God, with a moral nature, a conscience able to discern good from evil. He was the only creature capable of understanding the commandments of God and was expected by the Lord to obey them, being created in a state of obedience. In this summary of the human condition, God is vindicated. The Preacher is absolutely clear that God is without blame as far as man’s state is concerned, because, following his creation, the Lord could pronounce him to be good. There was no sin in man in his original condition; he was in a state of innocence, worshipping God, fellowshipping with him and submitting to all his commandments. Man has not just deviated a little, but having first yielded to temptation, he has gone further and further from the truth, showing an amazing inventiveness for evil. He is addicted to sin and his spirit is restless if he is not searching out some new form of wickedness that brings a fresh experience of sin. Solomon cannot trace all the different paths that human sin has explored, but every one of them is a departure from man’s original uprightness.

Application

If you want to understand man, you must accept the Bible’s explanation for what he is. Only here do we have an adequate explanation for the two opposing forces at work in man. On the one hand he is fallen and from the time of our earliest choices we go astray. On the other hand, we are made in the image of God and have a conscience within us that we cannot entirely eradicate. These two things together make us deeply uncomfortable, and how much distress man’s wounded conscience brings to him! Solomon emphasises the importance of this summary statement. This is something which really encompasses many of his other statements about man. If you want to get to the heart of the matter, this is it: God is without blame; he is not the author of all the wickedness in the world, because when he created man, he made him upright. It is man who is the author of sin and who is responsible for departing from his original uprightness. Each individual is responsible and has gone astray, endorsing Adam’s initial rebellion in his own personal life.

Questions

Outline

Purpose

Introduction

Ecclesiastes 7:29 Commentary and Bible Study