I decided to randomly point (with my finger) to a proverb in Ecclesiastes 10 because chapter 10 is generally agreed to be units of stand alone wisdom listed out and I figured they would all be good to pick from. They are short aphorisms (wisdom literature) dealing with right or wrong choices.
The first thing that strikes you about many of the verses in Ecclesiastes 10 is that they are odd in the dark brooding way that we have come to expect from Ecclesiastes. When I say odd I mean out of the ordinary. They are littered with Hebrew idioms and turns of phrase that are difficult to understand or come across as foreign to modern readers. They are bits of eclectic wisdom that are useful but...seem as though they are viewed from an eccentric point of view. They are Tim Burton-esque (Beetlejuice, Sleepy Hollow). They have a feel that is darker or more pessimistic than many proverbs that you would find elsewhere in the Bible: “fly in ointment”, “dig a pit”, “serpent bites before it is charmed”, “he who splits logs is endangered by them”. The tone turns brighter towards the end but even there I detect a hint of sarcasm such as “money answers everything”. I would have to say that this Chapter is a representative cross-section of Ecclesiastes as a whole: dark in tone, intelligent, useful but inherently odd from my point of view. It is a book that sees the absurdity of life, puzzles over it as if it is a riddle, a riddle with a single and often times subtle and evasive conclusion. God is behind everything in His sovereignty and providence...often times He is hidden from the human eye.
All this being said I feel compelled to pick the most eccentric of the lot. Although it is very useful information and wisdom its contrasting comparison is quite odd. As it was in Ecclesiastes 3 so it is here. These contrasting ideas are antithetical.
So...here it goes.
"Through sloth the roof sinks in, and through indolence the house leaks." Ecclesiastes 10:18
My first thought after reading this was, “---Whaaaa???--- That’s bizarre ---, I don’t get it”. For the life of me I could not understand what verse 18 was talking about. What does sloth and roof sinking have to do with one another. It then dawned on me that this verse has to be taken in context to the previous verses 16 & 17 because this verse is not stand alone or existing here in isolation as I had first thought. As it turns out "groupings of verses" in chapter 10 are isolated wisdom such as v. 16-18 referring to kings/royalty, v.14 & 15 are grouped around the idea of a "fool" which ironically lead into the verses about kings so in a superficial level all the verses from 14-18 contend for the same context: foolish people making foolish decisions as noted in my intro. As for my misunderstanding, this serves as an example of why taking random verses from the Bible out of context is so dangerous. You should always read the surrounding verse or even the entire chapter that a verse resides in to make sure you have a good idea of its context. If you still don't get it, go even wider, read the whole book. Anyway...my finger pointed verse is referring to princes, kings or leaders and carries over to verse 18 (and even resurfaces again in v.20).
In context: Lazy kings or leaders are about as useful as a sagging roof or a roof that leaks. They give the illusion that they are protecting or or keeping you safe but in reality they are about to fall in and allow some of the outside elements inside. This obviously can be interpreted from a spiritual angle also. Slothful spiritual leaders (both mental and physical) can also allow their roofs to sag allowing outside influences into the Church that shouldn't be in it. Additionally, lazy leaders also do nothing to repair rundown conditions of things within their spheres of influence. If let go too long and the deterioration continues the roof will collapse making the abode uninhabitable or unusable. If that abode is a place of worship, that is a nearly unforgivable. Clever.
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