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OLOMON’S theme in this chapter has to do with balance, moderation, stability and sensibility. Under certain circumstances, sensibility and moderation are unfitting. Forget not that Solomon once supervised the slaying of 22,000 cows and 120,000 sheep at the dedication of the Temple (2nd Chronicles 7:5). Sometimes, nothing short of extremism is appropriate.
On the other hand, Solomon observed the journey of people who start out at the top with mirth, power, wealth and success, and he noticed that things never turned out well for those folks. He noted also that people who have things hard in their beginning many times tend to do well in the end. In all of this, he concluded that the middle ground was the safest place to be. In other words, a middleclass man with an average education, average intelligence, average opportunities, average inhibitions and average success is usually better off than either those high above him or those far beneath him. So, Solomon advised, we should be willing to voluntarily choose a route in life that begins with simplicity, sobriety, scrutiny, difficulty and which requires patience (Ecclesiastes 7:2-6). In the end, we are sure to be better off.
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