Why Do We Crave That Which Cannot Satisfy? Ecclesiastes 12:11-12
11 The words of the sages are like prods,
and the collected sayings are like firmly fixed nails;
they are given by the One Shepherd.
12 Be warned, my son, of anything in addition to them.
There is no end to the making of many books,
and much study is exhausting to the body.
Does the Preacher’s pronouncement in 12:12 “There is no end to the making of books” give you comfort or bring extreme frustration? Do these words sound like a gentle parent who loves you, or a frustrated parent who doesn’t appreciate the same hobbies you do? As you continue to read, reflect on this question and please respond with a “before and after” comment in the comments section. We pray the Holy Spirit may expand your understanding of God’s holy and inspired word.
Ecclesiastes 12:11-12- There is No End to the Making of Many Books
Why is “there is no end to the making of many books”, and why does “much study exhaust the body”? In this final section of Ecclesiastes, the Preacher lifts the curtain and reveals his end goal, which is the true nature of wisdom. I think that many people in the church don't want to hear about wisdom, but instead, they want to be told what to do. We confuse wisdom and law. You see, at the deepest part of human nature is the legalist, and he/she loves the law. This is because they believe that it's their adherence to the law that will save them and guide them in every single circumstance in life. But this is the very point that the Preacher is refuting. He is comparing books' demanding and exhausting nature to the dynamic and liberating nature of true wisdom.
He says wisdom is like a prod, or like firmly fixed nails upon a wall, given by “One Shepherd”. Wisdom is observations or principles, lovingly spoken to His flock to reassure and comfort those He calls His sheep. The reason why the Preacher says to beware of anything beyond wisdom is because the nature of wisdom is not exhaustive, difficult, or burdensome (Matthew 11:28-30). Think about it this way, if we try to come up with a response or the proper way to act in every single, possible, and imaginable situation, or every circumstance and scenario in life, we would have an infinite rulebook to account for all of the possible variations that life brings. When I was younger a very wise man once told me, “Sometimes the greatest wisdom is found in saying nothing at all.” Sometimes empathy and just being there is saying more than words could ever say. That is the reason why the Preacher and wise old sages say this. To paraphrase them, “Don't try to turn wisdom into something it's not. It's a set of principles and guidelines, and if you try to go beyond that, you will be exhausted and be constantly making (rule) books”. We believe the Preacher is comparing the demanding and exhausting nature of making books to the dynamic, liberating nature of true wisdom from God. To illustrate this, maybe the Solomonic Preacher is thinking about the incident in I Kings 3:16-28 where the King exercised his God-given wisdom and judged between the two prostitutes who each claimed that a child belonged to them. There is not a rule book for such a situation because each situation requires the application of wisdom. That's the whole point of that event. Maybe the Preacher assumes our fatigue in nitpicking every possible law scenario leads to disastrous results. Here the Preacher is prophetically anticipating the account in Luke 11:
One of the experts in religious law answered him, “Teacher, when you say these things you insult us too.” But Jesus replied, “Woe to you experts in religious law as well! You load people down with burdens difficult to bear, yet you yourselves refuse to touch the burdens with even one of your fingers! Woe to you! You build the tombs of the prophets whom your ancestors killed. So you testify that you approve of the deeds of your ancestors, because they killed the prophets and you build their tombs! For this reason also, [Jesus], the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute…”
The message of these “prophets and apostles” did not fit into their vast rulebook and instead pointed God’s people to the substance of the Law (Hebrews 10:1). As a response to the message, the legalistic religious leaders killed them. Today in the context of our own culture when we do not conform to their “rules”, one is canceled. The making of these referenced religious rule books in Luke 11 is man-ufactured or man-made laws that add to the Law of God. The apostle Paul adds the weight of his apostolic office to the Preacher’s of Ecclesiastes and Christ’s teaching on adding to God’s law in Colossians 2:16-23:
Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God. If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.
These “hedged” rules which are man-ufactured, are contrasted with the wisdom (Christ) found in the “fear of God '' and in keeping His commandments which is the context of our text in Ecclesiastes 12:11-12. When wisdom walked in the flesh among legalists, the legalists hated wisdom. Ultimately, they killed Christ, the wisdom of God.
Fallen humanity, you and I, do not find favor with God or earn His Grace through the constant man-ufacturing of our own set of rules in addition to or alongside the perfect law of God. Thankfully, the weakness of God is stronger than the strength of man and Christ rose from the dead and ascended to the right hand of God where he reigns in glory forever and ever. Paul captures this perfectly when he says:
For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will thwart the cleverness of the intelligent.” Where is the wise man? Where is the expert in the Mosaic law? Where is the debater of this age? Has God not made the wisdom of the world foolish? For since in the wisdom of God the world by its wisdom did not know God, God was pleased to save those who believed by the foolishness of preaching. For Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks ask for wisdom, but we preach about a crucified Christ, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles. But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. (I Cor. 1:18-25)
How do we continue as Christians in light of Ecclesiastes 12:11-12? The Preacher ends the entire book with “Fear God and keep his commandments because this is the whole duty of Adam (humanity). Wisdom begins with fearing God, (Proverbs 9:10-12), and fearing God begins with obedience to the Law of God and ends with the wisdom of God - Jesus Christ. As sons of God, we live and walk in the light and freedom of the gospel of Christ, for His burden and yoke are easy and lite, Matthew 11:28-30. So dear reader, rest in Christ and trust Him and not in yourself!
