What Solomon says next, in Ecc 7:15-18
What Solomon says next, in Ecc 7:15-18,
What Solomon says next, in Ecc 7:15-18, has provoked much thought among New Testament Christians, yet it is in effect taught throughout scripture (CP Ecc 7:15-18 with Pr 3:7; 25:16; Ro 12:3, 16).
God's children are not to become self-righteous or overly wise in their own eyes, nor become puffed up with presumptuous self-sufficiency that will cause them to forfeit their salvation. It is only by fearing God and walking in the way He has prescribed, that one can be saved (CP Ecc 7:18 with 12:13; Ro 11:20-22).
In Ecc 7:20 Solomon states the truth of Ro 3:10-18 and 23 (CP Ecc 7:20 with Ro 3:10-18, 23). Ecc 7:21-22 teaches that because all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, no one should give heed to what someone else says about them - they too have said things about others that needed forgiveness (CP V 21-22 with Jas 3:2, 6-12).
In Ecc 7:23-29 Solomon teaches that sinners cannot find wisdom because they are ensnared by wickedness. Only those who please God by their faith and obedience receive God's wisdom and escape a life of sin (CP V 23-29).
The woman whose heart is snares and nets, and her hands as bands in V 26, is the personification of the seduction of immorality and wickedness (CP V 26 with Pr 2:10-22; 5:1-14; 6:24-29; 7:1-27).