This study will not be your typical Easter message, but I believe that every Sabbath day is a celebration of the resurrection of Christ. The rest that His people have in what He has done is entirely through the work of Christ. It is by the choosing of God that anyone receives eternal life.
Please turn to Ecclesiastes 10. The last time I was here, I spoke on Ecclesiastes 10:15. At that time, someone asked me about Ecclesiastes 10:1. I did a study on this a couple of years ago. This is a very convicting verse. I believe that in theses times, as we are approaching the end so swiftly, many of the studies that we will be doing until the end will involve self-examination, making our calling and election sure and examining ourselves to see if we are in the faith. This is so important. Everything else in this life just fades in its importance when we understand what is going to happen.
For those who have heard this study, maybe you will be able to see something different or maybe I will be able to change some of the verses that we look at today in relation to this. It is our hope and prayer that everyone will be taught or edified by something that we talk about today.
Ecclesiastes 10:1 says:
Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour: so doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour.
This is a similitude. God is telling us that as dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to stink, so does a little foolishness in a person who is in reputation for wisdom and honor.
In Hosea 12:10, we read:
I have also spoken by the prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and used similitudes, by the ministry of the prophets.
A similitude is when you say that something is like something; you liken something to something else. God speaks this way a lot, and this is a verse in the Old Testament that teaches us to compare Scripture with Scripture. Christ spoke in parables. The whole Bible is the words of Christ and He speaks in parables. It all has deeper meaning. When you read a verse that has an outward and obvious meaning, it also applies, in some way, to the Gospel or to God’s relation with man.
Again, Ecclesiastes 10:1 says:
Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour…
What is “the ointment of the apothecary”? It is the “holy anointing oil.”
Turn to Exodus 30 and we will read about this “holy anointing oil.” This is after God has brought the Israelites out of Egypt. He has brought them through the Red Sea. He has drowned the Egyptians in the Red Sea. Then He gave them all of these instructions in the wilderness, all of these ceremonial laws that were shadows of what was done in Christ before the foundation of the world. God had told the Israelites that they were going to be His holy people to corporately represent Him on this earth.
So in Exodus 30:22-33, we read:
Moreover JEHOVAH spake unto Moses, saying, Take thou also unto thee principal spices, of pure myrrh five hundred shekels, and of sweet cinnamon half so much, even two hundred and fifty shekels, and of sweet calamus two hundred and fifty shekels, And of cassia five hundred shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, and of oil olive an hin: And thou shalt make it an oil of holy ointment, an ointment compound after the art of the apothecary: it shall be an holy anointing oil. And thou shalt anoint the tabernacle of the congregation therewith, and the ark of the testimony, And the table and all his vessels, and the candlestick and his vessels, and the altar of incense, And the altar of burnt offering with all his vessels, and the laver and his foot. And thou shalt sanctify them, that they may be most holy: whatsoever toucheth them shall be holy. And thou shalt anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may minister unto me in the priest’s office. And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, This shall be an holy anointing oil unto me throughout your generations. Upon man’s flesh shall it not be poured, neither shall ye make any other like it, after the composition of it: it is holy, and it shall be holy unto you. Whosoever compoundeth any like it, or whosoever putteth any of it upon a stranger, shall even be cut off from his people.
God had them use this “holy anointing oil” to anoint the tabernacle, the ark, the table and all of its vessels, and the candlestick, etc. In other words, they were to sanctify all of these things and to make them holy.
This oil was actually a picture of the Holy Spirit coming upon someone in salvation to show that they are set apart for the service of the Lord. They have been sanctified and made holy. Kings and priests were also anointed with this oil.
Look at Exodus 30:30 again:
And thou shalt anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may minister unto me in the priest’s office.
The priests were only to be direct descendants of Aaron and all of them were to be anointed with this oil.
In Exodus 30:29, it says:
And thou shalt sanctify them, that they may be most holy…
This word “sanctify” here is a verb of the same word in the next phrase: “that they may be most holy.”
Then we read again in verse 30, Exodus 30:30:
And thou shalt anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them…
“Consecrate” is the same word that was translated “sanctify” in verse 29. It just means “to make holy.”
All believers are spoken of as “kings and priests.” In Revelation 1:6, it says:
And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father…
“Unto God” is speaking of the Lord Jesus. Again:
And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
So all of us who are children of God have, as it were, this “holy anointing oil.” We have been sanctified by this “holy anointing oil.”
In 1 Samuel 10:1, we can read about when Samuel anointed Saul to be the first king of Israel:
Then Samuel took a vial of oil, and poured it upon his head, and kissed him, and said, Is it not because JEHOVAH hath anointed thee to be captain over his inheritance?
In 1 Kings 1:39, we can read about Solomon when he was anointed with this oil and made king:
And Zadok the priest took an horn of oil out of the tabernacle, and anointed Solomon. And they blew the trumpet; and all the people said, God save king Solomon.
Or we can read about David in Psalm 89:20:
I have found David my servant; with my holy oil have I anointed him:
Most of us are familiar with Psalm 23, and we read in Psalm 23:5:
…thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
This is a picture of salvation.
We read in Psalm 133:1:
Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!
This could be loosely translated: “the living of brothers even in unity.” This is also speaking of salvation.
Then we read in Psalm 133:2-3, in relation to this “holy anointing oil”:
It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments; As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion…
He is likening this oil to the dew of Hermon upon the mountains of Zion. Zion is another name for Jerusalem where God would dwell, and Jerusalem is a picture or a representation of the Kingdom of God.
Then He says in the end of Psalm 133:3:
…for there JEHOVAH commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.
Life forevermore is eternal life.
So we are looking at this ointment of the apothecary. The apothecary was the Levite who was assigned to do this. Only the apothecaries were allowed to make this oil. Until about one hundred years ago in this country, a pharmacy was called an apothecary because sometimes they mixed different compounds or made medicines. But this was specifically the job of the apothecary. He was the only one who could mix up this stuff, and God was very jealous for it.
He says again in Exodus 30:31-32:
And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, This shall be an holy anointing oil unto me throughout your generations. Upon man’s flesh shall it not be poured, neither shall ye make any other like it, after the composition of it: it is holy, and it shall be holy unto you.
God is showing us here His jealousy for His salvation.
Then we read again in Exodus 30:33:
Whosoever compoundeth any like it, or whosoever putteth any of it upon a stranger, shall even be cut off from his people.
Again, there is a spiritual sense to this, which is God’s jealousy for His salvation that man has no part in. Only the Levites were allowed to make this stuff and it was only to be put on the priests and the kings.
He lists in Exodus 30:23 some of the things that go into this oil:
Take thou also unto thee principal spices…myrrh…cinnamon…calamus…
We know from Psalm 45 that myrrh is associated with Christ and also with His death.
Speaking of Christ, Psalm 45:7 says:
Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
He is speaking of this oil in relation to salvation.
Then in Psalm 45:8, He says:
All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad.
We also read in the book of John about Nicodemus helping to prepare the body of Jesus and that myrrh was one of the things that was applied to His body. It says in John 19:39:
…Nicodemus…brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes…
Back again to Exodus 30:23, we read:
Take thou also unto thee principal spices…myrrh five hundred shekels, and…cinnamon…
In chapter 4 of the Song of Solomon, we also read of cinnamon. Christ is speaking of His love to the Church. In the Song of Solomon 4:9-14, He says:
Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, my spouse; thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes, with one chain of thy neck. How fair is thy love, my sister, my spouse! how much better is thy love than wine! and the smell of thine ointments than all spices! Thy lips, O my spouse, drop as the honeycomb: honey and milk are under thy tongue; and the smell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon. A garden enclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed. Thy plants are an orchard of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits; camphire, with spikenard, Spikenard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices:
All of these things give a beautiful smell. These things are also associated with the church because the church is so closely and integrally associated with Christ.
So we read about calamus in the Song of Solomon and we also read about it in Ezekiel 27. Ezekiel 27 is speaking of the corporate church and all of its riches that it had as a representation of God. In Ezekiel 27:18, we read:
Damascus was thy merchant in the multitude of the wares of thy making, for the multitude of all riches; in the wine of Helbon, and white wool.
Then we read in verse 19, Ezekiel 27:19:
Dan also and Javan going to and fro occupied in thy fairs: bright iron, cassia, and calamus, were in thy market.
We are reading here of the beautiful spices that were among the riches of the corporate church.
God speaks about “the altar of incense” next in Exodus 30, and the things that went into this incense must have given it a beautiful smell. Also, as they cooked the sacrifices, they also gave off a beautiful smell. The Lord speaks of these things as being “a sweet savour unto the LORD” because they all have to do with Christ.
Look at Exodus 29:24-28 where He is speaking of an offering of a ram:
And thou shalt put all in the hands of Aaron, and in the hands of his sons; and shalt wave them for a wave offering before JEHOVAH. And thou shalt receive them of their hands, and burn them upon the altar for a burnt offering, for a sweet savour before JEHOVAH: it is an offering made by fire unto JEHOVAH. And thou shalt take the breast of the ram of Aaron’s consecration, and wave it for a wave offering before JEHOVAH: and it shall be thy part. And thou shalt sanctify the breast of the wave offering, and the shoulder of the heave offering, which is waved, and which is heaved up, of the ram of the consecration, even of that which is for Aaron, and of that which is for his sons: And it shall be Aaron’s and his sons’ by a statute for ever from the children of Israel: for it is an heave offering: and it shall be an heave offering from the children of Israel of the sacrifice of their peace offerings, even their heave offering unto JEHOVAH.
So it speaks of this as being “a sweet savour” to the Lord.
We read of this again in verse 41, Exodus 29:41:
And the other lamb thou shalt offer at even, and shalt do thereto according to the meat offering of the morning, and according to the drink offering thereof, for a sweet savour, an offering made by fire unto JEHOVAH.
It was perfectly pleasing and it was “a sweet savour” to the Lord.
We read in the Epistles of how the true believers are also “a sweet savour” to God as they identify with Christ. We read in Ephesians 5:1-2:
Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.
This is speaking of Christ and how Christ is our example.
Look now at 2 Corinthians 2:14-17, which says:
Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place. For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish: To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things? For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.
So the true believers are also spoken of as being “a sweet savour” to God.
Back in Exodus 30, we read again in Exodus 30:30-31:
And thou shalt anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may minister unto me in the priest’s office. And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, This shall be an holy anointing oil unto me throughout your generations.
This oil is holy to the Lord.
Then He says this about the incense in Exodus 30:38:
Whosoever shall make like unto that, to smell thereto, shall even be cut off from his people.
He did the same thing with the incense as He did with the oil. He commanded them not to make any for themselves that they might enjoy the smell of this incense because this incense had to do with God’s salvation and He was very jealous for it.
Turn to Leviticus 26. There will come a point in time that God is anticipating in Leviticus 26 when this “sweet savour” will be gone. Leviticus 26 is very much like Deuteronomy 28 where He is telling the Israelites how He will bring judgment on them if they turn away from His Word and turn to idols. In Leviticus 26:27-30, we read:
And if ye will not for all this hearken unto me, but walk contrary unto me; Then I will walk contrary unto you also in fury; and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins. And ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters shall ye eat. And I will destroy your high places, and cut down your images, and cast your carcases upon the carcases of your idols, and my soul shall abhor you.
Then we read in verse 31, Leviticus 26:31:
And I will make your cities waste, and bring your sanctuaries unto desolation, and I will not smell the savour of your sweet odours.
In other words, Israel will become odious to the Lord for their apostasy. He makes a similar statement in the book of Amos, which we will not turn to [note: see Amos 7:9]. I think that you probably get the idea.
But back in Ecclesiastes 10:1, He says:
Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour…
“Dead flies” can literally be translated “flies of death.” This word for “flies” is only used one other place in the Bible. It is used in Isaiah in the context of the judgment of God. In this passage in Isaiah, He is actually referring to the Assyrians because He is speaking of bringing judgment on Israel as He anticipates their falling away. In Isaiah 7:17, we read:
JEHOVAH shall bring upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon thy father’s house, days that have not come from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah; even the king of Assyria.
So He is going to bring the Assyrians upon them in judgment, and then He says in Isaiah 7:18:
And it shall come to pass in that day, that JEHOVAH shall hiss for the fly…
This word “fly” is the same word as in Ecclesiastes 10:1. But this word “hiss” does not mean hissing like a snake. It means “to call.” It is really referring to a shepherd’s call. They had some way, a whistle or something like that, in which they would call their own sheep. This is what this word “hiss” means.
It continues:
…JEHOVAH shall hiss [or call] for the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.
He is saying that He is going to bring “the fly” and “the bee” against Israel in judgment. This is the only other place that this word “fly” is used.
So Ecclesiastes 10:1 is in the context of judgment, as we read again:
Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour…
Back then, they probably did not understand the organic decomposition of something. I guess that they possibly thought that dead flies getting into this oil would be like leaving butter out in the sun until it gets rancid and starts to smell, which would then attract flies. So flies would get in this ointment and then they would die, and God is speaking as if the flies caused the ointment to send forth “a stinking savour.”
But what are we looking at here? The end of Ecclesiasts 10:1 says:
…so doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour.
Se we are looking at how someone who is “in reputation for wisdom and honour” but who is engaged in a little bit of foolishness causes the “holy anointing oil,” which should be sending forth a sweet savor, to stink in the nose of the Lord.
We read about this in Isaiah 5 as well. It says in Isaiah 5:1:
Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill:
His “wellbeloved” is the Lord Jesus. His “vineyard” is the house of Israel, which was His corporate representation on this earth that should have been bringing forth fruit:
…My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill:
Then in Isaiah 5:2, He says:
And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.
The translation of this as “wild grapes” is not really a very good translation. It is talking about something that is bringing forth “a stinking savour,” something that is rotting or odious.
The word that is translated as “stinking” in Ecclesiastes 10:1 is the Hebrew word ba’ash, and it is Strong’s #887:
Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour…
In Isaiah 5:2, the word for “wild grapes” is the Hebrew word be’ushiym, which means to be odious or to stink, and it is Strong’s #891:
…and it brought forth wild grapes.
In the definitions of the Strong’s Concordance, it does not relate these two words together. I would think that if someone who knows more about the Hebrew language could search this out deeper, I am sure that there has to be some relationship between these two words. They are very similar in their letters and in their pronunciations.
So the nation of Israel, who was supposed to be God’s representation on this earth and who had this “holy anointing oil” upon them, are now odious in His nostrils.
We read again in Ecclesiastes 10:1:
Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary [the holy anointing oil] to send forth a stinking savour: so doth a little folly…
Folly is also recognized as foolishness. All through the book of Proverbs, we read about the fool, foolishness, and folly. God will double up or use these words in the same verse. They are all different words, and yet they all mean the same thing. Foolishness is sin.
For example, in Proverbs 18:2, we read:
A fool hath no delight in understanding, but that his heart may discover itself.
In other words, that he might make his foolishness known or discovered to everyone. Therefore, as this ointment or this “holy anointing oil” begins to send forth a stinking savor, so does a little foolishness in him who is in reputation for wisdom and honor.
Who is in reputation for wisdom and honor? It is anyone who associates themselves or is in some way associated with Jehovah God of the Bible.
This word for “reputation” in Ecclesiastes 10:1 is often translated as “precious”:
Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour: so doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour.
This is speaking of the preciousness of Christ. For example, we find this same word in Isaiah 28:16 where it speaks of Christ being the cornerstone:
…Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation…
In Proverbs 17:27, it is translated as “excellent”:
He that hath knowledge spareth his words: and a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit.
In Psalm 45:9, it is translated as “honourable”:
Kings’ daughters were among thy honourable women…
It has to do with the excellency of the preciousness of Christ, and so this is speaking of someone who is in reputation or who is associated with the Kingdom of God or the excellency of Christ. He is in reputation for wisdom and honor, and we read in 1 Corinthians 1:24 that Christ is the wisdom of God:
But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.
The book of Proverbs speaks a lot about wisdom. It begins in this manner in Proverbs 1:1. We read in Proverbs 1:1-2:
The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel; To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding;
We are “to know wisdom and instruction,” and we go on in the book of Proverbs to read a lot about wisdom. So a little foolishness in him who is in reputation for wisdom and honor, again, causes this oil to stink in the nostrils of God.
This verse in Ecclesiastes is a very convicting verse because we can apply this to ourselves. As we look at ourselves when we sin, we say, “How can I do this if I am a child of God, if I know that I have eternal life and that God has atoned for my sins in the work of Christ, which means that He suffered eternal death in my place before the foundation of the world?” How can I continue to sin like this? So, again, this is a very convicting verse.
In this time in the history of the world, we have to be really focusing on verses like this. But, again, the corporate body of the nation of Israel, as well as the New Testament church, is in reputation for wisdom and honor.
Look again at Exodus 29. We read in Exodus 29:42-43 where He is speaking of an offering:
This shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before JEHOVAH: where I will meet you, to speak there unto thee. And there I will meet with the children of Israel, and the tabernacle shall be sanctified by my glory.
The tabernacle would be sanctified by His glory. His glory was ascribed, as it were, to the nation of Israel, even though most of them were not saved. In the New Testament church, His glory has been ascribed to that corporate body as well.
We have learned in recent years that both the nation of Israel was a corporate representation of God on this earth and also the New Testament church. Some of the language of the Bible seems to say that the New Testament church started out so glorious, and yet it has become a very sad story and mostly a failure. We read about this in the opening chapters of the book of Revelation where God speaks to seven churches and one of them was already dead and the rest were headed for big trouble.
Again, these are the people who have been in reputation for wisdom and honor. When we see foolishness and a little bit of folly in someone who is associated with the Lord, it gives “great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme,” as the prophet said to David in speaking about his sin with Bathsheba.
Turn to Jeremiah 2. In Jeremiah 2, again God is speaking of Israel and how they have fallen away and turned to idols. In Jeremiah 2:11, He says:
Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my people have changed their glory…
This word for “glory” is also the same word that has been translated as “honour” in Ecclesiastes 10:1:
…so doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour.
Again, Jeremiah 2:11 says:
…but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit.
This is the honor that He is speaking of.
Let us close with 1 Thessalonians 2. I am only bringing this so that we might all examine ourselves and continually watch unto prayer and stay in the Word of God so that God might hold us fast and that we might not fall away and become a stench in His nostrils. We read in 1 Thessalonians 2:10:
Ye are witnesses, and God also, how holily and justly and unblameably we behaved ourselves among you that believe:
Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Paul is speaking to the Thessalonians. He is speaking about their witness to the Thessalonians in how they have behaved in holiness.
Then we read in 1 Thessalonians 2:11-12:
As ye know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you, as a father doth his children, That ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory.
This is the glory or honor that is spoken of here in Ecclesiastes 10:1. The wisdom and honor of Christ is ascribed and imputed in a corporate sense to anyone who takes His name upon themselves and claims to be a child of God.
Again, this is a very convicting verse. We must really examine ourselves, especially in these times.
Shall we pray.