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PGA Chaplain Bible StudiesWeekly Study No 23 - 3 / 09/ 2009 Ecclesiastes Ch 7:23-29 “All this I tested by wisdom and I said, I am determined to be wise- but this was beyond me. Whatever wisdom may be, it is far off and most profound-who can discover it? So I turned my mind to understand, to investigate and to search out wisdom and the scheme of things and to understand the stupidity of wickedness and the madness of folly. I find more bitter than death the woman who is a snare, whose heart is a trap and whose hands are chains. The man who pleases God will escape her, but the sinner she will ensnare. Look, says the teacher, this is what I have discovered: Adding one thing to another to discover the scheme of things-while I was searching but not finding-I found one upright man among a thousand, but not one upright woman among them all. This only have I found: God made mankind upright, but men have gone in search of many schemes.”(Ecclesiastes Chapter 7: verses 7 to 23-29 NIV) Blame it on the woman!Men generally seem to be more competitive than women. Men have that extra motive to aspire to great things. Males seem to drive cars faster, get into fights easier and take greater risks. In a recent study they discovered that the teenage boy brain operates and is differently wired to females. Our author is in search for wisdom in our reading above, but as he confesses it is beyond him. How frustrating that is for all us males who seek to conquer the world. However hard we try, there is still much to learn, and we tend to learn more from our mistakes than new discoveries. Yet there is once species that the male has utterly failed to appreciate or understand and that is the female. This frustration comes out in his reflection on women in general and the adulterous woman in particular in our reading this week. The adulterous woman is a snare for many men. We have just had one resignation in NSW state politics because of an affair. Our author likens the woman’s charm to that of a snare, a trap and chains. Is there anything more beautiful in life than the female God created as our companion? There is most likely not a male living today that has not been captivated by her beauty and charm in some way, but following through to committing adultery leads often to an emptiness, guilt and costly repercussions. Our author shows a bias towards men, there may be one upright man among a thousand, but not one woman among the same number. This kind of judgement to me reflects though more on the weakness of men rather than women. There are many reflections in Ecclesiastes that are not meant to be taken as truth and this is one of them. Men have a tendency to take out their frustrations on women. Where is the accountability for his actions? Why lay all the blame on the adulterous woman and not the man who also sins. While we can acknowledge that women have a certain weakness in some areas, so do men. This reading reminds me of the story in Genesis where Adam blamed Eve for giving him the fruit to eat and Eve blamed the serpent. It helps in life to take my share of the blame and accept responsibility for my actions, but as a male I find that hard. Prayer. Wise and wonderful God, help me to accept responsibility for my actions. Amen.
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