What is the meaning of Ecclesiastes 7:7? Surely Solomon opens with a word that nails down an unshakable fact. There is no “maybe” about what follows. • Isaiah 5:20 warns of calling evil good and good evil—certainty that moral cause and effect still operates. • Galatians 6:7 reminds, “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked. For whatever a man sows, he will reap.” With this single adverb the reader is placed on notice: the results of the next two actions are inevitable. extortion Extortion is the abuse of power to squeeze unfair gain from others. • Proverbs 22:22–23 condemns robbing the poor because the Lord will plead their case. • Micah 2:1–2 shows how plotting oppression invites divine judgment. • James 5:4 pictures withheld wages crying out to God. When Scripture speaks of extortion, the offense is never victimless; it is a direct assault on God-given dignity. turns a wise man into a fool A person may have hard-won insight, yet the moment he chooses oppression he forfeits that wisdom. • Proverbs 10:23 says “committing wickedness is like sport to a fool.” Extortion trivializes sin in the mind of the once-wise. • 1 Timothy 6:9 warns that the desire for wealth plunges men into ruin and destruction. • Numbers 22:32 records Balaam’s madness for reward—proof that greed melts judgment. Solomon’s point: character, not IQ, is the real measure of wisdom. Sin detonates wisdom from the inside. and a bribe A bribe looks subtler than extortion, yet Scripture treats it with equal gravity. • Exodus 23:8: “Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the righteous.” • Proverbs 17:23 exposes the “wicked man who receives a covert bribe.” • Deuteronomy 16:19 links bribes to perverted justice. Unlike extortion, bribery may feel consensual, but it silently rewires loyalty. corrupts the heart What begins as an external transaction becomes an internal infection. • Proverbs 4:23 commands, “Guard your heart with all diligence, for from it flow springs of life.” Bribery poisons that source. • Psalm 101:3: “I will set no worthless thing before my eyes.” The heart steers the whole life; corruption at the core pollutes every thought. • Acts 8:18-21 shows Simon’s heart “not right before God” when he tried to buy spiritual power. The heart, once warped, bends values, relationships, and worship toward self-interest. summary Ecclesiastes 7:7 insists on an unbreakable moral chain: extortion and bribery drag even the wise into folly and rot the very center of one’s being. What may look like a shortcut to gain is actually a fast track to self-destruction. God’s Word sets a protective fence—reject oppressive power plays and covert payouts, embrace integrity, and keep the heart clean so wisdom can flourish. |
    |