Ecclesiastes 10:8-10

Real World Consequences

Text: Ecclesiastes 10:8–10

• Solomon observes ordinary dangers of life: pits, falling stones, serpents, axes, and hard labor.

• In the ancient world, such accidents were often interpreted as direct acts of divine judgment.

• Solomon intentionally gives no explanation for why these events happen—he offers observation, not verdict.

• Some suffering may be God’s judgment; some may result from human foolishness; some may simply reflect life in a fallen world.

• Human beings lack the knowledge and authority to declare God’s reasons behind every event.

• True wisdom cultivates humility before God, resisting the temptation to explain every outcome.

• Verse 10 introduces practical wisdom: a dull axe requires more strength, but sharpening it brings advantage.

• Wisdom does not eliminate danger or guarantee outcomes, but it provides skill, foresight, and advantage.

• Biblical wisdom acts before crisis, prepares carefully, and recognizes limits.

• Ultimately, wisdom points beyond technique to trust in God’s providence.

• Jesus Christ is the full revelation of God’s wisdom; what appeared to be disaster in the cross was God’s plan of salvation.

• Since death is certain and life is uncertain, the wisest course is to rest in Christ, who redeems sinners and secures eternity.

Living Wisely in an Uncertain World

1. Biblical Theme

Wisdom, Providence, and Human Limitation

Ecclesiastes teaches that life “under the sun” is marked by uncertainty. God governs all things, yet human beings cannot fully interpret His purposes. Biblical wisdom holds together humility, preparation, and trust in the Lord.

2. Textual Overview (Ecclesiastes 10:8–10)

• Verses 8–9: Common work-related dangers illustrate the unpredictability of life.

• Verse 10: Wisdom brings advantage through preparation, skill, and foresight.

• The passage refuses simplistic cause-and-effect theology while still affirming responsibility and prudence.

3. Historical and Cultural Context

• Occupational labor (quarrying, woodcutting, wall-breaking) was dangerous in the ancient Near East.

• Accidents were commonly interpreted as divine punishment.

• Solomon challenges this assumption by withholding moral explanation.

• This anticipates later biblical teaching (e.g., Job; John 9:1–3).

4. Theological Insights

• Providence: God governs all events, but His purposes are often hidden (Deut. 29:29).

• Human Limitation: We are not prophets and cannot interpret every event infallibly.

• Wisdom: Not control over outcomes, but faithful obedience amid uncertainty.

• Christ-centered Wisdom: Jesus embodies God’s wisdom (1 Cor. 1:24), trusting the Father even unto death.

5. Practical Application

• Avoid declaring why suffering happens in others’ lives.

• Practice wisdom through preparation, training, and foresight.

• Accept that faithfulness does not guarantee safety or success.

• Lead and work humbly, acknowledging limits and dependence on God.

• Prepare for eternity: the most practical wisdom is repentance and faith in Christ.

6. Westminster Standards Connections

• Westminster Confession of Faith

  • Chapter 3 (God’s Eternal Decree): God ordains all that comes to pass, yet without authoring sin.

  • Chapter 5 (Providence): God uses means and secondary causes while remaining sovereign.

• Westminster Larger Catechism

  • Q. 18–20: The fallen condition explains suffering, danger, and death in human experience.

  • Q. 68: God’s mercy in redemption through Christ amid judgment.

• Westminster Shorter Catechism

  • Q. 1: Humanity’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever—true wisdom aligns life toward this end.

  • Q. 35: Sanctification includes growing in wisdom and obedience.

in your Bibles with me to the book of Ecclesiastes, Ecclesiastes chapter 10. And this morning we'll be looking at just three verses, Ecclesiastes 10 verses 8 through 10. If you're using the New King James provided Bibles in the pews, you're able to find that I think on page 594. Ecclesiastes chapter 10 beginning at verse 8.

Brothers and sisters, this is God's perfect word. He who digs a pit will fall into it, and whoever breaks through a wall will be bitten by a serpent. He who quarries stones may be hurt by them, and he who splits wood may be endangered by it. If the axe is dull, and one does not sharpen the edge, then he must use more strength. But wisdom brings success.

On the reading of God's word there, brothers and sisters, the grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God endures forever.

Let's pray. Father, we thank you for giving us your word. We thank you for inspiring Solomon to write these things down. to assemble the congregation and to give wisdom. Father, we pray that you would help us cognitively to think and learn, but also Lord, to receive by faith and to live. We need the help of your spirit to teach us and to shape us. So Father, we pray that your spirit would be with us in the teaching of your word. And that you would be with me, Lord, pray that you would help me to be true to your word. And where there are things that are not in accordance with it, Lord, I pray that your people would be good Bereans, searching out the scriptures, whether these things are so, that we may be firmly fixed upon the rock. We pray these things in Jesus' name, amen.

A number of years ago, there was a disaster that hit Haiti. And as this disaster rocked the island, a massive earthquake, and then followed up by a series of storms and such, there is some pastor, pastors are known for sometimes having big mouths and brains that should slow down. And this guy went on, got national headlines for saying, this is why this disaster happened in Haiti. and he pronounced a number of reasons of exactly why God had brought judgment on Haiti. And I just remember thinking, I don't know who made him a prophet, but how in the world did this guy know the secret mind of the Lord?

I think that's one of the things that Solomon is getting at with us here in Ecclesiastes chapter 10, verses eight through 10. In this life, Even the wise cannot always distinguish accidents from God's judgments. True wisdom begins with the fear of God and ends with trusting God, who sees and knows the things that we do not. And so I hope to unpack this for us a little bit. As we look at life and Solomon observes some things in life, And unpack for you a little bit of what this means. What do I mean when I'm saying that there are things in life that are difficult to discern whether this was a judgment of God or it was just an occupational accident.

So first look with me again at verses 8 through 9. He who digs a pit will fall into it. And whoever breaks through a wall will be bitten by a serpent. He who quarries stones may be hurt by them. And he who splits word may be endangered by it. Solomon is just observing and thinking about life and he's saying look there's sometimes you dig a pit, sometimes somebody digs a pit, they fall into it, they get hurt. Sometimes somebody's quarrying stones and the stones that they're supposed to be working on end up falling on them and they get hurt. Sometimes people are tearing down walls and removing rocks and all of a sudden a snake bites them. Sometimes somebody's cutting wood, the axe slips and they get hurt. Now we're a little bit removed from this, but in the ancient world, each of those things would have been presupposed almost in all cultures as God judged that person.

You even think about Psalm 9. I thought about maybe requesting we sing this, but in Psalm 9 it talks about that those who have dug a pit for me to fall in would in that pit themselves fall in it. Some of these are things that would naturally happen, right? There's a valid reason for digging a pit. This was an ancient way, especially in the ancient Near East, of how you would catch animals. You dig a pit, you cover it over with some stuff, and then you want to make sure that you don't accidentally fall into that pit. But yet other times people would dig a pit and hope that somebody else would actually, Proverbs talk about this, of somebody else that you don't like trying to trap them in that pit.

And Solomon doesn't give any explanations here. He just says, he who digs a pit will fall into it. Is this an occupational hazard? If you're into catching animals and you don't have the common sense to mark your pit after you camouflaged it, you just fall into it by accident? Or is it you dug the pit for some nefarious reason and you fell into it? Solomon doesn't tell us. Neither does he talk about splitting wood, breaking through a wall. These accidents happen. He doesn't provide any moral explanations. Solomon doesn't provide any divine verdict. He doesn't say, this is why God did it. He just says, this happens.

And even though in the ancient world these things would often have been read like judgments. You think about this when Paul was shipwrecked. He's on this little island in the Mediterranean Sea and he's picking up sticks to throw it into the fire. What happens? A viper jumps out and latches onto him, and all the natives on the island are thinking, this dude's going to die. And they're just waiting for him to gasp his last breath, start bloating up, and die. He doesn't want to. He picks up the snake, shakes it off, throws it into the fire. They thought that he was a murderer or some type of criminal. So the gods must have judged him, and he was going to die. Do you see what I'm saying? This is the ancient way of thinking about these types of accidents.

And Solomon doesn't deny that this is a possibility, but neither does he confirm it. He just leaves that ambiguity. He leaves us with an uncomfortable truth. Some suffering may be God's judgment. Some suffering in our lives may be God's judgment. Some suffering in our lives is because we lacked good common sense. And some accidents may be just simply the risk of living life in a world marked by sin and death. And we often can't tell the difference. Why? Because we don't have perfect insight. We don't have perfect knowledge. We don't have perfect judgment. And so I think one of the things that Solomon is doing here, and bringing up these examples in verses 8 and 9, is bringing us to a place of humility. We don't know what God is doing. Just like we talked before, it's been a few weeks since we've been in Ecclesiastes. We don't often know why God is raising up one king and allowing them to rule. Why God is allowing certain things in human history to happen. We just don't know. And the uncertainty of this passage for the Christian pushes us to a place of humility to say, I don't have to know all of that. We're not given. Interpretive authority over every event that happens in human history, right? We don't get to look at things that happen in our lives or other people's lives and definitively say, God did that because of that reason. I gotta tell you, that's a real shallow flattening of God's sovereignty and providence.

This is one of those things, if you've ever heard about the butterfly effect before, like how one thing happens over here and it changes your entire life and a whole bunch of other people's lives all over there. I am convinced that when God makes things happen in his providence, he has a million different reasons all over the place that are interwoven all throughout his creation and his plan for history that if we try to say it's for this one, this one singular reason that why this one thing happened in your life, You think so small of God.

It's key for us that we are not infallible prophets who can say that God made an event happen because of a certain reason. We just don't see the whole playing field. We are on the field playing, and we could just see what's happening right around us, but we're not standing in the stadium to see everything that's happening around. We're not equipped to be able to make final pronouncements. We're not prophets given that type of insight. And so Solomon doesn't offer us certainty here. He just says what happens. Sometimes you dig a pit and the person who dug it falls into it. And whoever breaks through a wall, sometimes they're gonna get bitten by a serpent. It's not unbelief to say these things just happen. That is belief. That's saying the Lord knows why this happened. And the refusal to explain away everything is itself a willingness to stand humbly before God and say, I don't need to explain everything. I can accept who you are.

But then there's a push here, because there is a type of common sense and cause and effect consequences. Notice verse 10. If the axe is dull, and he just talked about an axe, and he who splits wood may be endangered by it, And he now talks about this axe. If the axe is dull, and one does not sharpen the edge, then he must use more strength. But wisdom brings success. He's painting just a common sense picture here, right? If you're going out to split wood, and you're using a dull axe, You're gonna have to use more muscle to make that work. So what he's saying here is sometimes we don't know why God is doing X, Y, or Z. But that doesn't mean that we don't get to use judgment either. There's still common sense. You may hurt yourself and expend extra energy using a dull ax.

I just think, this came to mind earlier this morning, this apocryphal. I doubt this is a true story, but somebody asked Abraham Lincoln what he would do if he was to cut down a tree. If he had six hours to cut down a tree, he said, I would spend the first four hours sharpening the blade. Because there's a real advantage. Wisdom brings advantage to it. Wisdom is willing to look at a situation and see, what can I control in this situation? What do I do know about this situation? I can't eliminate all the danger. There is an inherent danger, right? If you're going to use a chainsaw, you're accepting a certain amount of danger. If you're going to go move rocks, I hope you... I grew up in Southern California. There were rattlesnakes around. We were taught from a very young age, you don't just go down and pick up a rock. You very well might get bit, and if you're out in the desert, you could die. What do you do? You kick it over with your foot first. You listen for the rattle, and you make sure. Use a little bit of foresight. Use a little bit of wisdom.

Wisdom isn't saying you can eliminate every danger. Wisdom isn't saying that we're going to know exactly why everything happens. Wisdom doesn't guarantee us safety, and wisdom doesn't promise the outcomes. But wisdom does give us advantage. That's what he's saying. If the axe is dull and one does not sharpen the edge, then he must use more strength. But wisdom brings success.

What's implied there? The wise person is going to sharpen the axe. But a sharp axe brings more danger, doesn't it? So you have to use a certain amount of skill. and have a certain amount of experience and implement a certain amount of safety when you're using that tool.

I remember, it was in the summer, we took the boys backpacking. by Dubuque, the Trail Life Boys. And there was a tree that had fallen down, was over the trail. And so we had gone over sharp safety with the boys and talked to them about how to use their hatchets and their axes. But you can imagine when you get a dozen boys who have had these hatchets and these axes and their chains, their little saws and stuff in their bags, just waiting for a reason to use it. And you tell them, boys, we're going to move this fallen down tree. A little bit nerve-wracking for all the dads. Because we knew that there was a certain amount of skill that some of them had not acquired yet. And you could tell the boys who had sharp hatchets and the ones who were just hacking away at it.

Wisdom acts before the moment of crisis. Wisdom looks at the fallen tree, the wood pile that needs chopped, and thinks, what is the best way to approach this? Has foresight. Wisdom sharpens rather than just trying to muscle it through. Wisdom tells us that there's a huge amount to be paid off by a dose of preparation before entering into a project. Wisdom tells us that foresight is often better than just having speed.

I gotta say, a lot of this we might think, like, oh, this is common sense stuff, right? How do you learn this common sense? It's really one of those things, like, every single generation is like, what's happened to common sense? What's wrong with this up-and-coming generation? Don't they know any better? The sad thing is, common sense is often learned by living through the stupidity. or by watching somebody else live through crisis or problems. Or, if we're blessed enough, learning from other people who have gone through it and then taking them seriously, so we don't have to fall into the pits.

Wisdom's not so common because wisdom, common sense isn't so common because we have to live through it or learn it, which means people have to be willing to teach it. And we have to be willing to learn under it. Skill helps us to know how to act. Wisdom has foresight. It has an advantage because it tells us when, why, and whether or not to actually do something.

So I'd like to talk about some wisdom applied How do we live faithfully without guarantees? Solomon's not trying to teach you how to be a lumberjack, although one of my children would love if that was the lesson of this passage. Solomon's not trying to teach you how to be an OSHA-approved quarry worker who always wears your steel-toed boots. That's not his goal here. Solomon's not trying to tell you how to become a professional demolition man knowing how to move stone walls. That's not what his goal is. The Holy Spirit inspired him to write this to us, to form us and make us into wise people. And wisdom comes when we understand that life is uncertain.

When we're at work, whether you're working outside the home or in the home, Whether you're working as a farmer, or a laborer, or a doctor, or whatever work you're doing. Knowing how do you have foresight in the work that you're doing, but also not being surprised when uncertainty pops up. Or let's face it, when accidents happen. Everything's just outside your control. Plans will go awry. Sometimes, sadly, people get hurt. And we can't control all of that.

Wisdom in leadership is not just knowing how to act decisively, but also to be humble. To know that you can't control every outcome of every situation. And if you try to, you'll become a manipulator of people. you'll take out all the oxygen out of the room. That's not saying that there's no place for safety. Well, especially if you're working in certain environments, if you take out all safety protocols, you're not a wise person, you're a fool. But it's having that balance and knowing the skill to apply it.

And in all of life, it's about knowing that our outcomes belong to God. I'm reminded, I don't know why Benjamin Franklin's coming to mind this week, but there's this point in the Continental Congress when these delegates, they were just arguing back and forth constantly, not making any headway. And at one point, Franklin stopped everybody. He's the old statesman in the room, and he stops all these politicians who just keep fighting and talking, and he says, men, we need to stop and pray. This is a guy who most of us think is probably a deist. He's not exactly who I would recommend as the most pious man you follow. And yet what he said was interesting. He said, because unless the Lord build the house, the laborers labor in vain. He quoted Psalm 127. He knew we need to stop because we're not going to have any good outcomes unless the Lord is actually helping us.

So wisdom isn't just a mastery over life, it's a faithfulness, knowing our limitations within it. We may dig a pit thinking we're hunting and doing something well, but we may also fall in it. So you're wise, right? You think about how do I dig the pit best, how do I make sure I mark it, how do I ensure safety, and yet also recognizing you may dig the pit, and you may come back and you may find out that there's somebody else in it rather than an animal. And that's a problem. There's a reason why even in the law, there were laws about if you dug a pit, you had to cover it up to keep it safe.

I want to push us to what I think is just a common sense place to go from here. Because every time we're talking about the wisdom of God, we have to remember that we're reading the Old Testament in light of the New Testament. I don't want to just give you principles for life. I don't think that's faithful shepherding of you. But Jesus Christ is the wisdom of God revealed. And even in Jesus' life, As he had knowledge, he knew what was going on in people's hearts. He knew what the end game was. He knew what was going to happen. All of his disciples looked at him multiple times and thought, you don't know what you're doing. You don't know that the outcome of what you're saying is going to lead to death. And Jesus would regularly say, no, you're, no. I have to go. See, what they thought was an impending disaster, Jesus knew. what's going to lead to salvation for all tribes and tongues and people.

And there's one thing that I need to push you towards this morning. I'm just gonna put this out here common sense, okay? You're gonna die someday. I can't predict where you're going to be in a year from now. I can't tell you if your income is going to go up or if your income is going to go down. I can't tell you what your family life is going to be like. I can't promise you whether or not your jalopy car is going to still be running. I doubt mine will be. We'll have to fix it a few times. I can't promise you any of that in your life, but I can promise you something. Unless the Lord Jesus Christ returns again, somebody is going to be presiding over your funeral.

So how do you live your life today? How do you face eternity? There may come accidents in your life. You may die as you're driving home today. Your car may, the steering linkage might go out and you may end up in a ditch and be on the side of your car. I want to just ask you a common sense question. Are you resting in Jesus Christ today? God has offered to us salvation in his son. The axe may slip. The stone may fall. The serpent may bite. Where will you be when you close your eyes at last time? For it is appointed for every man to die once and after this the judgment.

So what is the most wise thing to do knowing that judgment is at hand? Go to the one who redeems. Go to the one who has purchased your soul, not with silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Jesus Christ. The most wise thing to do when there's uncertainty in life is to go to Christ. Because, see, there's There are consequences for unwise behavior. Sometimes the person who's dug the pit falls into it because they're the one who dug the pit. Sometimes the person who's moving the stone rocks gets bit by the serpent because they were the one moving the rocks. But every single one of us can't look down our nose at them. Because we know that the wages of sin is death, and yet we still choose to play with the snake. And yet we still choose to endanger our souls by engaging in thoughts, words, and deeds that are worthy of God's judgment.

So what is the most wise, common sense thing to do? To have humility. To submit ourselves to the Lord's hand. To say, God, you know how foolish I can be at times. So save me from myself. It's a short sermon today. I don't have a cute conclusion for you. I pray that the Lord will fill us with wisdom. That we may know in this life that wisdom brings success. That we have an advantage in knowing that there is cause and effect, there is consequences for our actions. And yet God is merciful. God is gracious. And that we can trust him. Even when there's accidents. And we can live our lives with skill. Trusting in Christ.

Let's pray. Father, you have given us a passage that is full of common sense. But Lord, we know how often we don't prepare well. We're not as cautious as we should be. And we walk into danger. Both in our work in this life and with our own soul. And so Father, we pray that you would please work in us wisdom. That we would fear you. and that we may have knowledge by knowing the Holy One. Lord, I do pray that you would please help us. Give us your spirit to trust you. Every day that we keep on living is a gift from your hand. You preserve our life. You give us breath. and you have offered us eternal life in your son and done everything necessary for salvation. So Lord, we pray that we would truly be wise, that we would trust in you, embrace your son, and walk in the fear of the Lord. We pray these things in Jesus' name, amen.

• Why is it dangerous to assume we know why God allows specific suffering?

• How does this passage challenge simplistic views of cause and effect?

• In what ways does wisdom provide “advantage” without guaranteeing outcomes?

• How can preparation and humility coexist in Christian living?

• How does Christ redefine what true wisdom looks like?

• What is the wisest response to the certainty of death and judgment?

• Folly: Moral foolishness; living contrary to God’s revealed will.

• Wisdom: God-given skill in living righteously and well; rooted in the fear of the Lord.

• Corruption: Sin’s decaying power in the human heart.

• Fear of the Lord: Reverent worship, awe, obedience, and dependence on God.

• Teachability: A humble openness to correction—opposite of the fool’s pride.

• Sanctification: The Spirit’s ongoing work to make believers more like Christ.

• Abiding in Christ: Remaining in communion with Christ through faith, obedience, and reliance on the Spirit.