1

The Poor Wise Man in

The Little City
(Ecclesiastes 9:13-18)
INTRODUCTION
A. Solomon was the worlds wisest man.
1. When God said, Ask what I shall give
thee, Solomon asked for wisdom (1 Kings
3:5, 7-13).
2. Notice the extent of this special gift (1 Kings
4:29-34).
B. His mission on earth was to experiment and
to learn by experience what man could do to
be happy.
1. Notice Ecclesiastes 2:3.
2. The book of Ecclesiastes is his lab report.
C. Observations which especially impressed him
should impress us. And our text says, It
seemed great unto me (v. 13).
D. Let us read Ecclesiastes 9:13-18.
1. This is a simple story, but it has often been
highly spiritualized.
2. A popular theory is that the little city is
the church, the few men are the apostles,
the great king is the devil, and the poor
wise man, Jesus Christ. There is no evi-
dence to support such.
3. The Jewish Targum says the little city is
the human body, the few men are the
few good affections, the great king is the
evil desires, the poor wise man is some
good affection that prevails over the evil
yet, the man did not understand what the
good affection had done for him and he
claimed to be innocent.
E. Without going far afield in speculative theory
and interpretations, let us get some practical
lessons from the story.
I. THE STORY
A. This situation could often occur.
1. Many little cities have been swallowed
up by great powers.
2. Many battles have been won with wise
strategy instead of brute strength (9:11).
a. If we depend on our strength, we will
often be defeated.
b. An arm of flesh is always weak.
B. Here are examples of actual battles where
Solomons story could apply.
1. It is illustrated in 2 Samuel 20:15-22.
a. Sheba had rebelled against David and
gathered quite a following. (Davids
reign was a prosperous one, yet there
were numerous rebellions against the
establishment.)
b. Joab followed him to Abel (v. 15) and
prepared to take the city.
c. What would the men of the little city do?
A wise woman asked to speak to Joab,
the mighty general who was battering
away at the walls of Abel (vv. 16, 17).
d. She asked Joab a question (vv. 18, 19).
e. Joab told her they only wanted Sheba
not the entire city (v. 21).
f. The woman spread the word. The fugi-
tive was beheaded, and his head was
tossed over the wall to Joab. Joab left (v.
22).
2. Alexander the Great spared the little city
of Lampsacus when he had not intended
to!
a. His old master, Anaximenes, was there
and came out to meet him when the
battle started.
b. Alexander saw him coming and knew
he was going to plead for the city. He
swore he would not grant him anything
that he would ask!
c. How could Anaximenes get Alexander
to spare the little city in his mighty
conquest? He anticipated the decision
of the great general and made this re-
quest, I desire that you will destroy
this city.
An Expository Sermon by W. T. Hamilton
2
d. Alexander had vowed not to grant any
request he might make; he kept his
word!
C. From common experiences of life, Solomon
saw great wisdom.
1. How often do we miss the best lessons
they are too obvious.
2. If Solomon thought this to be great, we
need to consider his observations care-
fully.
II. SOLOMONS OBSERVATIONS FROM THIS
INCIDENT
A. Wisdom is better than strength (9:16).
1. A principle illustration in nature is this: A
beast is stronger than a manbut man is
the master.
2. Among men, the wise often command the
strongin labor and management, etc.
3. Samson acted foolishly in revealing to
Delilah his source of strength (after he had
caught her setting the trap three times)
and his strength failed him. But he used
wisdom later, and . . . (Judges 16:30).
B. Wisdom often comes from sources easily over-
looked (9:15, 16).
1. The meaning of no man remembered him
shows this.
a. When they sought a solution to their
problem of being attacked by a great
force, no man thought about this poor
fellow knowing what to do.
b. I sure wouldnt have picked him! Such
is often the case.
2. Wisdom is often allied with poverty (James
2:5).
3. Wisdom is often found among things the
world considers weak and base (1 Corin-
thians 1:25-29). (Discuss.)
4. Even Jesus met this problem as some re-
jected Him because He did not fit their
idea of a wise man.
a. John 1:46 says, Can any good thing
come out of Nazareth?
b. Luke 4:24 says, A prophet is not with-
out honor . . .
c. John 6:42 says, Is not this Jesus, the son
of Joseph, whose father and mother we
know? How is it then that he saith, I
came down from heaven?
d. The Jews said in John 7:14, 15, How
knoweth this man letters . . . ?
e. Many people said in John 7:40, 41, Shall
Christ come out of Galilee?
C. Wisdom finally wins, even though loudness
may get the immediate attention (9:17).
1. Adult children still play follow the
leader, often to their own destruction.
a. Hitler, Castro, etc., did so.
b. A noisy leader gets attention and fol-
lowers all right, but often disaster fol-
lows (Exodus 23:2).
c. There is sometimes a herd instinct in
people (Matthew 7:13, 14).
2. In the church, some follow the loud ones
into error.
a. It is a healthy day in the brotherhood
when one, two, or a half dozen preach-
ers are not calling all the signals (3 John
9:10).
b. Each Christian should do his own think-
ingon the right basis (Acts 17:11;
2 Timothy 2:15; Acts 20:29, 30).
3. The one who uses wisdom quietly will do
the most good in the long run. Just keep on
plugging away while going the right
direction.
D. Wisdom is better than weapons of war.
1. We have stockpiles of weapons, but wise
negotiations mean we do not use the weap-
ons!
2. Prevention is better than cureand more
powerful!
3. Wisdom in living for Christ is better than
the cure for sin. It prevents the conse-
quences (1 John 2:1, 2).
CONCLUSION
A. We learn from this the virtue of thinking,
of using wisdom, of being able to recognize
truth and being fashioned by it instead of
following the crowd.
B. God chose the foolish things of this world to
demonstrate His wisdom. Will you follow
Gods wisdom instead of mans bluster?
ILLUSTRATIONS
Dedicated to a Cause
Martin Schereschewsky, a paralyzed mis-
3
sionary, typed out the Bible in Mandarin with a
single finger for the Chinese.
Our Need for Others
Mother, dont go away, said a little girl
going to bed. I will be lonesome.
God is with you, dear, said Mother.
Yes, I know, said the child. But I want
somebody with a face.
Copyright, 1983, 2004 by Truth for Today
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Reality to Us
That which is real only becomes real to us as
we give our attention to it. There is a lovely
flower in this room, but unless we stop and
quietly observe it, unless we carefully look at it,
smell and enjoy it, it is not real to us, and we are
unable to gather in its beauty. It only becomes
real to us, it is only realized, when we turn our
attention onto it.
(Clarence Neff in The New Life News)