It’s possible to save an entire city and still be ignored.
At the conclusion of Ecclesiastes 9, the Preacher tells an interesting story about a poor, wise man who saves a city—but is tragically forgotten. Nobody remembers him.
He draws our attention to a series of contrasts. There is a small city with only a few men in it. Then comes a great king with a large and powerful army. On paper, the city is doomed. How could they possibly stand against such overwhelming strength?
Then the focus shifts. In contrast to this great king, we meet a second man—a poor, wise man. Naturally, we would overlook him. What could he possibly do?
Surprisingly, he is the one who saves the city. The lesson is clear: wisdom is better than might (Eccl. 9:16). The strong king did not overthrow the city because there was a wise man within its walls.
Yet the story turns sad. The poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words go unheard. Even though he delivered the city, he was soon forgotten. His actions—and the values that shaped them—were quickly eclipsed by the chorus of folly.
Ecclesiastes gives us, in miniature, a pattern that reaches its fullness in Christ. This forgotten rescuer becomes a faint but fitting picture of our Lord Jesus. He too was poor—he said himself that “foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head” (Matt. 8:20). And he was supremely wise—crowds flocked to hear his teaching.
Strength may impress us, but true wisdom rescues fools like us.
The onslaught of folly came against him as well. The ruler of this world, with loud confidence and a great army, assaulted him to destroy him by death. But Christ defeated him and delivered his people.
And yet, just like the poor man in Ecclesiastes 9, many have forgotten him. Many have despised his words and chosen instead the folly of the world.
But in mercy, God has brought news of his triumph to our ears.
- We have heard how he beat back the enemy’s onslaught.
- How he outwitted him by laying down his life.
- How he overpowered him by rising from the dead.
- How he rescued and set free those who seemed doomed.
We have not only heard this, we’ve come to believe it.
This is the gospel. The good news of Christ. It’s not a parable or a proverb. It is true. It is the story of how wisdom defeated folly once and for all. And it is a story we enter through faith in Christ.
What’s remarkable is that the way in is by admitting that we are not wise at all. We are fools. We’ve marched to the wrong cadence and served the wrong god. True wisdom exposes this and invites us to be rescued.
And yet there is room for more fools who want to be delivered from their folly by this poor, wise man named Jesus.
Never forget the poor wise man who saved a doomed city
Have you trusted him? Will you trust him?
Strength fails, kings fall, and folly shouts loudly, but Christ, the wisdom of God, saves all who come to him.
If you do trust him, join with other Christians in following him and together. We do this by learning how to live and what to value.
After all, this is what Christians do. We read, study, learn, and obey the Scriptures. This is the path of wisdom. God trains us in this so that, together with his people, we follow Christ—resisting folly (even in small doses) and pursuing the wisdom of his word.
This pleases and honors him. And it is good for us.
The forgotten wise man of Ecclesiastes 9 points us to the one wise man we must never forget. What a wise and gracious plan.
