Backwards Wisdom Is Good for the Heart
Ecclesiastes is not an easy book to read. Its repeated message—“vanity of vanities, all is vanity”—can sound almost depressing. Yet Ecclesiastes is a book of wisdom, and perhaps we could call it wisdom for the wise. Even those who have learned how to live wisely need to be reminded that wisdom does not give us control over life. We may learn to live well, but we cannot control what happens to us.
That is one of the great lessons of Ecclesiastes: life is uncertain, and death is unavoidable.
Ecclesiastes 7 gives us what seems to be a strange kind of wisdom. The Preacher tells us that “the day of death” is better than “the day of birth,” and that it is better to go to the house of mourning than to the house of feasting. He even says that sorrow can be better than laughter and the rebuke of the wise better than the song of fools.
At first, this sounds completely backwards.
We naturally celebrate a birth and grieve a death. We enjoy weddings and would rather avoid funerals. We like people who encourage us, make us laugh, and tell us that everything is going to be fine. So why would Ecclesiastes call us toward mourning, sorrow, and even rebuke?
The answer is not that funerals are better than weddings, or that sadness is better than happiness. There is nothing wrong with celebrating a birth or enjoying a feast. The point is deeper: the house of mourning forces us to think about something that the house of feasting can easily help us forget—the reality and brevity of life.
We all know that we will die, but we often live as though we will not.
We make plans. We work hard. We save money. We raise our children. We build careers and homes. We worry about tomorrow and try to make life secure. There is wisdom in many of these things. But none of them gives us control over our lives.
Death reminds us that our time here is limited.
That is why the wise person keeps death in view. The Preacher says that “the heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.”
The wise person does not refuse joy. Rather, the wise person refuses to live only for the joy of the present moment.
This is also why the Preacher speaks so positively about rebuke. A true friend who is willing to correct us may be more valuable than someone who always makes us laugh. A sad or disappointed face can sometimes do more good for us than constant encouragement, because it makes us stop and consider whether we are living wisely.
There is a kind of happiness that simply makes noise for a moment, like the crackling of thorns under a pot. There is heat and sound, but it does not last. Ecclesiastes calls this vanity.
So what does last?
The answer ultimately takes us beyond Ecclesiastes 7 and toward the gospel.
The women who went to the tomb of Jesus went to a house of mourning. They expected to find a dead body. Instead, they found an empty tomb. The One who had died had risen.
This changes everything.
Death is still real. The brevity of life is still real. We still need the wisdom of Ecclesiastes that teaches us to “lay to heart” the reality of death. But death is no longer the final word for those who belong to Christ.
Jesus says, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” He also calls His disciples to deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow Him. What sounds like backwards wisdom makes sense because there is life beyond death. Those who mourn now will be comforted. Those who lose their lives for Christ will find them.
Without the resurrection, all of this would indeed be vanity. If the dead are not raised, then there would be no lasting reason to mourn, sacrifice, or deny ourselves. As Paul says, “If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”
But Christ has been raised.
That means the Christian does not look at death with either denial or despair. We can look honestly at death because we know that Christ has conquered it.
Our lives are still like a shadow. Our days are still few. We cannot catch our lives or control everything that happens to us. But our hope does not rest in our ability to control life. Our hope rests in the risen Christ.
So perhaps the most important lesson of Ecclesiastes 7 is not simply that we should think more about death. It is that thinking rightly about death should lead us to think rightly about Christ.
It is good to lay to heart that death is the end of all mankind.
But it is better still to lay to heart that Christ alone is the hope of all mankind.
That is the good news hidden within the backwards wisdom of Ecclesiastes: the day of death is not the end for those who belong to Christ. Because He died and rose again, there is life beyond death.
And because Christ lives, we can learn to live wisely today.
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