Articles
“Going Beyond What is Written”
The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings; they are given by one Shepherd. My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh.
Ecclesiastes 12:11-12
In Ecclesiastes, the Preacher teaches us about “life under the sun.” All of its pursuits are “vanity” (1:2), dead ends that disappoint and don’t deliver. Before the conclusion of his investigation of the meaning of life, which is to “fear God and keep his commandments” (12:13-14), he tells us why we ought to listen to its message.
First, the pithy sayings in the book have the power to spur us into action “like goads.” His wisdom lends us valuable perspective and saves us from wasting our lives on vain endeavors. “Like nails firmly fixed,” these sayings are both dependable and memorable. We can rely on them, indeed build our lives upon them (see Mt. 7:24-27), because of their source: “they are given by one Shepherd,” the guiding God of Israel (Gen. 49:24; Psa. 23:1; 80:1).
Second, the Preacher takes on a paternal tone to warn us against “anything beyond these” wise sayings. Instead of following his instruction, we may be tempted to continue our research. This is vanity and folly because he has already given us a comprehensive account of “life under the sun.” He has left nothing out. There are no other avenues to pursue or doors to open. Still, there are some who, in their discontent, go beyond God’s word to their own hurt (1 Cor. 4:6; Deut. 4:2; 12:32; Rev. 22:18-19).
Research can quickly turn into an addiction, especially in our postmodern world where we fall in love with questions, even embracing gray areas. To some people, a concrete answer would spoil everything. There will always be mystery in this broken world, but we can fall into the trap of trying to prove what cannot be proven: “[God] has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.” (Ecc. 3:11; See also 3:14, 22; 7:14). While God has revealed what we need to know (2 Tim. 3:16-17), he has left some “secret things” (Deut. 29:29) out of our reach, perhaps to impress upon us our contingent, dependent and finite nature.
There will always be books trying to explain the key to life’s secrets and while these may attract us with their novelty, in light of the Preacher’s words of wisdom, they are a never-ending “weariness.”
It has become acceptable, even virtuous to be searching for truth. But to claim to have actually found truth is deemed arrogant. C. S. Lewis captures this attitude in a conversation between the White Spirit and a lifelong seeker in The Great Divorce:
“I can promise you… no scope for your talents: only forgiveness for having perverted them. No atmosphere of inquiry, for I will bring you to the land not of questions but of answers, and you shall see the face of God.”
“Ah, but we must all interpret those beautiful words in our way! For me there is no such thing as a final answer. The free wind of inquiry must always continue to blow through the mind, must it not?”
“Listen!” said the White Spirit. “Once you were a child. Once you knew what inquiry was for. There was a time when you asked questions because you wanted answers, and were glad when you had found them. Become that child again: even now.”
“Ah, but when I became a man I put away childish things.”
Paul warns Timothy of those in Ephesus who are “always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.” (2 Tim. 3:7) Let us be content with what God has revealed, build our lives upon the truth we learn and never go beyond what is written.
Every word of God proves true;
he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.
Do not add to his words,
lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar.
(Proverbs 30:5-6)
