Do Not Allow Your Mouth to Cause Sin - Ecclesiastes 5:6

In the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon said, “Better is it that you should not vow, than that you should vow and not pay”, and in chapter five and verse six of his book Solomon said, “suffer not your mouth to cause your flesh to sin”, where we read,

Suffer not your mouth to cause your flesh to sin; neither say you before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God be angry at your voice, and destroy the work of your hands?

The verse reads, “Suffer not your mouth to cause your flesh to sin; neither say you before the angel, that it was an error:” Solomon began with the words, “suffer not your mouth” or “do not allow and permit your, Solomon’s reader’s, orifice in the face used for eating, drinking and speaking” “to cause your flesh” which means “to make your, Solomon’s readers’, skin and bodies” “to sin” or “to miss the mark, err, go wrong, incur guilt or trespass”; “neither say you” which means “no and not in any way utter, declare and proclaim you, Solomon’s readers” “before the angel” or “in front and in the presence of the envoy and messenger”, “that it was an error” which means “that it, the promise made, existed as a mistake, ignorance or inadvertence”. Solomon instructed his readers not to allow their “mouths” to make their bodies to err and miss the mark, and they were in no way to proclaim in front of a messenger that their promise existed as a mistake.

The verse continues, “wherefore should God be angry at your voice, and destroy the work of your hands?” Solomon added the words, “wherefore should God” or “for what reason should the Supreme Deity Jehovah God” “be angry” which means “exist as filled with wrath that wrinkles the nostrils and nose” “at your voice” or “from what you have uttered, declared and proclaimed”, “and destroy the work” which means “and bind, lay to pledge, spoil and ruin the acts, deeds and business” “of your hands” or “belonging to your, Solomon’s reader’s, physical hands”? Solomon asked why Jehovah God should be provoked to wrath at what his readers declared and would result in Him spoiling and bringing to ruin the acts and deeds of their physical hands.

When we consider the words in this verse, we see how Solomon continued with the idea of making “vows and promises” and taking “oaths”. He instructed his readers not to allow what they say to make their bodies to be in error, and they were not to say to the temple “messenger” that what they promised was just a mistake or spoken inadvertently. Solomon questioned why they should provoke “God” to wrath by what they said because their acts and deeds would be brought to ruin. God wants to have a personal relationship with us through His Son Jesus who died on the cross for our sins and was raised from the dead after three days. When we put our faith and trust in Him, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and guide us into all truth by His Holy Spirit so our “mouths” do not make our bodies “sin” and we do not make promises that are unkept and bring everything we possess to ruin. 

Next time Solomon says, “in the multitude of dreams and many words there are also divers vanities”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".