Ecclesiastes 9:11-18
ECCLESIASTES STUDY DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
What part of Ecclesiastes 9:11-18 caught your attention this week and why?
In Ecclesiastes 9:11-12, The Professor confronts us with our inability to predict or control every outcome in life, particularly calamity and death. How does our inability to predict and control every detail of life humble us? What should that drive us to? What do we often do instead?
The “great king with vast resources and almost guaranteed victory is thwarted by “a poor, wise man” in “a little city with few men.” How does the case study in Ecclesiastes 9:13-16 vividly illustrate Solomon’s point in verses 11-12?
If you were in that little city and calamity was at your door, what might be some of your own natural responses? Why is pausing to listen to the poor, wise man so counterintuitive in that moment?
Where would that little city be had they ignored the wisdom God provided? What does this teach us about pausing to heed the wisdom of God?
How does Solomon’s “little city” trusting the “poor wise man” in defiance of their circumstances and feelings echo throughout the whole storyline of the Bible?
Though wisdom is often overlooked and quickly dismissed and forgotten, what does Solomon conclude three times in Ecclesiastes 9:16-18? Where is true wisdom found (cf. Prov 1:7, 9:10, Job 28:28)?
How is Solomon’s story of the “little city” being “delivered” by the “poor, wise man” a portrait of the gospel of Jesus Christ (cf. 1 Cor 1:21, 29 & 31, Eph 2:8-9)?
How does Solomon’s story also convey the way we are to live and walk every day as followers of Christ (cf. Lk 9:23)?
Trusting in the poor, wise man Jesus will mean conforming to his image and conveying his wisdom. What can we expect as a result (cf. John 15:18, 17:14, and 1 John 3:13)? What hope do we have as we are conformed to his image and convey his message (cf. John 16:33, Is 49:15, Rev 3:5)?
What is one key takeaway from our study in Ecclesiastes 9:11-18 that you will try to remember and apply this week?
