Ecclesiastes 2:12-17 The Vanity of Wisdom and Folly (August 24, 2025 PM, Dr. Michael Grasso)

"""How the wise dies just like the fool!”

In this sobering passage, Solomon considers whether wisdom—so highly prized by the world—can provide lasting meaning in life. He concedes that wisdom is better than folly, just as light is better than darkness. Yet both the wise and the foolish face the same end: death. Both are forgotten in time. So what lasting advantage is there to even the best-ordered life lived “under the sun”?

This message explores Solomon’s reflections on the futility of human wisdom when divorced from the fear of the Lord. Drawing connections with Genesis 3 and the effects of the Fall, we see that all human striving—whether in pleasure or prudence—is subject to the curse of vanity.

But there is a wisdom that transcends this world: the wisdom that begins with the fear of God and finds its fulfillment in Christ. He is the Wisdom of God, the One who gives eternal life to all who trust in Him.

Sermon Text: Ecclesiastes 2:12–17

Theme: Worldly wisdom cannot escape the vanity of death.

Key Verse: “What happens to the fool will happen to me also. Why then have I been so very wise?” (Ecclesiastes 2:15)

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