Ecclesiastes 2:14 The wise man's eyes are in his head; but the fool walks in darkness: and I myself perceived also that one event happens to them all. I. To understand this proverb, notice, first, THE CONTRASTS WHICH IT SUGGESTS. One of these is expressed in the context; the other is to be readily and clearly inferred. 1. First, there is a contrast between persons. We have before us the believer in God and the unbeliever, the child of light and the child of darkness, the converted and the unconverted, the spiritual and the natural. Whatever may be their relative state of knowledge or ignorance, of wealth or poverty, in the sense of the Bible of truth, and in the judgment of the God of truth, the one is wise and the other a fool. 2. Secondly, there is a contrast implied: "The wise man's eyes are in his head, but the fool walketh in darkness." And why is his path in darkness? Because, unlike the wise man, his eyes are not in his head; if they had been there, he would have walked in light, surely, safely. But they are in his heart, and so he walks foolishly, erringly, darkly. The eye in the head — the wise man's eye, sees under the direction of reason, and faith, and of right understanding. The eye in the heart — the fool's eye, sees under the direction of the affections, the disposition and the feelings. And so, while the one man walks in light, the other man walks in darkness. II. But now let me more pointedly and practically set out THE MEANING OF THIS VERSE. Let us take by itself each part of this proverb and consider it. 1. First, then, it is implied that the fool's eyes are in his heart. He sees all things through the medium of his own wishes and inclinations; his reason and conscience do not control, but they are possessed by his inclinations. (1) Hence I believe, because the eye of many is in the heart, the scepticism which obtains in our day, especially the scepticism which obtains in the minds of young men. No man, I believe, ever became an infidel against his will. Inclination, not evidence, has been deficient to the man. The evil heart of unbelief is at the root of scepticism. (2) Hence I believe the prejudice with which many professed Christians turn away from the doctrines of evangelical religion. They do not question their reality, but they just dislike their practical consequences. (3) A fool's eyes are in his heart, because his bondage is to things present and temporal, and he is indifferent to thinks unseen and eternal. The Bible, though not a fable, is as another book to him, and nothing more. Truth, if not a fiction, is not a fact. Earth is a loved present, possessed; heaven is a forgotten, distant future. 2. But "the wise man's eyes are in his head." The light of a holy knowledge shines upon them, and in this light the eye of reason and of faith, the eye, not of blind inclination, but of Christian consciousness and confidence, sees light. (1) Hence a Christian man feels the right and the responsibility of private judgment on the truth and the service of God. The authority of Christ is supreme authority unto him. He will allow no interference with it; he will allow no usurper to take its place. (2) Hence the Christian man prays for the light of Divine teaching, The possession of truth has taught him the possibility and the peril of error. He would be found never trusting in man, but he would always pray — "That which I know not, Lord, teach Thou me!"(3) Hence the impression which he receives of the things around him and before him. The rule of duty, read by the eyes in his head, is just this — his Father's will. The measure of goodness, admired by the eye in his head, is just this — his Saviour's image. (4) Lastly, when our eyes are in our head, under the government of an enlightened reason and a Christian faith, they will always be doing a holy and a godly service to our souls — never an injurious one. They will not, then, wander lustfully where they should not even steal a glance; they will be turned away from all vanities. Looking ever, will they be found, unto Jesus; ever, will they be found, setting the Lord before them; single will they ever be, full of light, turning the whole body into light also. (J. Eyre, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: The wise man's eyes are in his head; but the fool walketh in darkness: and I myself perceived also that one event happeneth to them all. |
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