Walk Carefully Before God | Ecclesiastes 5:1-7 | Dr. Randy White

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Enter Worship with Reverence, Not Rashness (Ecclesiastes 5:1)

· The command, “Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God,” is a metaphorical warning to approach worship with deliberate care and spiritual attentiveness (cf. Proverbs 4:26; Psalm 119:59).

· In ancient rabbinical tradition, physical preparation (e.g., emptying one’s pockets, bodily cleanliness, avoiding high places in prayer) reinforced internal reverence.

· The physical layout of the Second Temple—especially its uneven southern steps—embodied this principle, forcing worshipers to slow down and pay attention with each movement toward God’s house.

· The Temple was less than a generation old in Solomon’s day, and expectations for sacred space were still new. His instruction would have carried both immediate and long-term significance for worshipers.

· The “house of God” was not a place for careless entry or rote tradition. The example of Nadab and Abihu (Leviticus 10:1–2) illustrates the danger of irreverence in sacred settings—even priests could die for casual worship.

· To “hear” in Hebrew (שָׁמַע, shamaʿ) includes obedience, not just listening. This is the same word used in Deuteronomy 6:4, “Hear, O Israel,” and 1 Samuel 15:22, “To obey is better than sacrifice.” It implies a readiness to submit rather than perform.

· The “sacrifice of fools” refers to those who offer worship without thought, sincerity, or obedience. It echoes Isaiah 1:11–13 and Malachi 1:10, where God rejects sacrifices not grounded in obedience or respect.

· In the age of grace, while we no longer enter a physical Temple, Paul teaches that the assembly of believers is God’s temple (1 Corinthians 3:16–17). We must ensure that what we do corporately in worship is thoughtful, meaningful, and not empty ritual (cf. Colossians 2:20–23).

Guard Your Words in God's Presence (Ecclesiastes 5:2–3)

· Solomon cautions against rash speech in prayer or worship: “Be not rash with thy mouth... let thy words be few.” Worshipers were to speak thoughtfully, acknowledging that they stood before the Sovereign God (cf. Job 40:4–5; Habakkuk 2:20).

· The command touches both the mouth and the heart: “let not thine heart be hasty.” Rash vows and careless prayers reflect a failure to ponder the seriousness of addressing the Most High.

· The rationale is theological: “God is in heaven, and thou upon earth.” This speaks not to distance but to hierarchy. God reigns from a place of perfect understanding and holiness; man is lowly, finite, and ignorant (Isaiah 55:8–9; Ecclesiastes 3:11).

· Jewish tradition’s use of the kippah (head covering) visually reinforces this separation, reminding the worshiper of God’s superior position.

· The command to let words be “few” specifically applies to worship, not to all conversation. Solomon is not promoting stoicism or introversion but a guarded reverence when addressing the Lord.

· The warning against verbosity finds parallel in Jesus’ teaching: “When ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do” (Matthew 6:7). Pagan prayers relied on word count; biblical prayer relies on sincerity (cf. Luke 18:10–14).

· The phrase “a dream cometh through the multitude of business” refers to disordered thoughts born from mental overexertion and anxiety. These dreams are confusing, unhelpful, and indicative of unrest rather than revelation.

Keep the Vows You Make (Ecclesiastes 5:4–6)

· In Israel’s worship system, vows were voluntary but binding. Numbers 30:2 and Deuteronomy 23:21–23 make clear that God expected payment on any vow once spoken. Solomon urges, “Defer not to pay it.” Delay reveals disrespect. The vow was not a mere aspiration or goal—it was a sacred pledge before the Almighty.

· Jesus echoes this idea in the Sermon on the Mount, urging believers to keep their word simple: “Let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay” (Matthew 5:37). James 5:12 reinforces this.

· The warning, “Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin,” means that what is spoken carelessly can lead to sin with real-world consequences. See Leviticus 5:4–5 for how oaths could incur guilt; Proverbs 10:19 and 13:3 also link speech to spiritual peril.

· The phrase “say not before the angel, it was an error” may refer to either a divine messenger (cf. Isaiah 6:2–3; Psalm 103:20) or to a human priest acting as God’s messenger (Malachi 2:7). Either way, it underscores that vows spoken in God’s house are not easily revoked.

Fear God, Not Empty Religion (Ecclesiastes 5:7)

· Solomon ends with a clear warning: “In the multitude of dreams and many words there are also divers vanities.”

· As in verse 3, “dreams” reflect the fruit of mental chaos, not prophetic insight. These dreams, like wordy prayers, are vapor—momentary, ungrounded, and misleading (cf. Jeremiah 23:25–32).

· “Divers vanities” (הֲבָלִים, hevalim) echoes the book’s opening theme—emptiness, futility, breath-like illusions (Ecclesiastes 1:2). Religious speech and dreams, if not rooted in truth, add to the noise of vanity rather than drawing the soul nearer to God.

· The alternative is clear: “Fear thou God.” This is the thesis of true worship and the book’s final exhortation (Ecclesiastes 12:13).

· The fear of God is foundational to wisdom (Proverbs 1:7; 9:10) and denotes reverence, obedience, and humility—not terror, but awe.