Ecclesiastes Chapter Five, Many Words

Ecclesiastes 5:6 Do not let your mouth cause your flesh to sin, nor say before the messenger of God that it was an error. Why should God be angry at your excuse [lit. voice] and destroy the work of your hands? [7] For in the multitude of dreams and many words there is also vanity. But fear God.

This entire chapter continues to focus on drawing near to God in His house. Verse 1 elicits the advice that if you draw near, come close to hear rather than offer the sacrifice of fools. Continuing his assault on foolishness, the preacher exhorts his readership to avoid rashness in speech because God is in Heaven, identifying Him as Creator and King of the created order, whereas we are his creatures.

Verse 3 talks about the association of dreams and foolish speech. The fool sacrifices, utters rash things, and appears to be associated with dreamers that believe their dreams convey divine truth. Many people today put much stock in dreams. Philosophers and the modern clergymen that we name psychologists believe dreams can tell us much. Sigmund Freud, one of the high priests of the new religion of psychology put much stock in analyzing dreams better than a century ago. But the preacher speaks of an overworked mind causing a man to dream; implying that in his time (and ours) we put too much stock in dreams.

Next, he warns about vowing, and should a man vow he must pay what he vowed, for God has no pleasure in fools. Once again the preacher speaks much about the fool. HIs lifestyle is one of ignoring history and tradition in favor of his own wisdom. In the United States we have a legion of people obsessed not with what is true, but what they feel is right, regardless of historical or traditional arguments, or common sense, empirical evidence or logic for that matter. The fool is not committed to anything higher than his own personal interests. He makes light of God’s house (verse 1), God’s person (verse 2), and objective truth (verse 3). In our current passage, the preacher condemns dreams, relegating them to vanity, or futility. Why? Because dreams represent not objective truth, but subjective feeling.

The passage begins with a staunch warning that the supplicant ought not to permit his mouth to cause his flesh to sin. This is, once more, in regards to vowing. When the priest comes to collect upon your vow, the preacher warns that telling God’s messenger that you vowed in error won’t deliver you. It is sin to vow and not fulfill the obligation of it. This is followed by the warning that God will be angry with such a man’s excuse, or literally voice. We know he still refers to the fool, whose voice is known by its many words, Ecclesiastes 5:3. In modern lingo, the preacher cautions his readership that we cannot talk our way out of this. If one enters into a legal agreement, one is bound by said agreement. Signing on the dotted line and giving legal authority to progress with whatever contract or agreement had been written up, and then attempting to verbally annul it because you made an error in judgment won’t reverse the procedure. Many have learned this to their hurt. Why then should it be different with God? Especially in regard to a free will vow the penitent made of his own volition? No one compelled such a man to make the vow, and by vowing and not performing it reveals the nature of the vower as a fool.

The preacher likens the multitude of dreams to many words. Much speaking convolutes a matter. Paul called the gospel simplicity, 2 Corinthians 11:3, 4. But to the learned and worldly wise Greeks, the simplicity of the gospel was foolishness, 1 Corinthians 1:23. Simply put, they could not accept the truth of the gospel because it was so simple! It is a stumbling block that many fall over, even today. Many cults have sprung up to answer to the need for complexity, and too many people confuse much speech with profound or superior knowledge. Whether it is the absurdity of Scientology or Mormonism, or the doublespeak war games of Darwinian Evolution, many words do not necessarily translate into truth. It is pretentious, and too often dishonest.

The preacher leaves off his reverie about vowing, many words and foolishness with a three word admonition that cuts to the heart of the matter: But fear God. Above His house and sacrifice and dreams and words and vows, reverence God. This is Elohim, the divine Creator, the self-existing deity. He is always now, whether it be past, present or future. He is all powerful, and called existence into being by the word of His power, Genesis 1:3, Hebrews 1:3. We read, “He is before all things, and in Him all things consist,” Colossians 1:17. Like a sudden streak of lightning illuminating a blackened field, the preacher gives a three word explanation of life’s relevance, both personal and universal. What brings human existence relevance? Recognizing God for who He is, and living one’s life in light of it. By fearing Him, the preacher explains that we must not merely realize there is a God, but that by understanding this, position Him as the nucleus of life’s purpose. If ever there was purpose, it is not in the abundance of a fool’s words, but in God’s creative and sustaining presence.