- He who digs a pit will fall into it,
and a serpent will bite him who breaks through a wall. -
Where in the world have I been?
First, if you pay for this blog, I added some time to your subscription. You’re not paying for me not to post, and I apologize for neglecting my obligation.
Second, this pause has been infertility related. My wife and I had a failed IVF transfer near the end of July. That’s not the best, but I’ve obviously been able to write through them before.
What made this time different?
April – July was difficult. Sure, emotionally, but also in what we went through. A surgery in April, a stim in May, unable to transfer until June, wait four weeks, and lose another child.
That, well that is just a lot. In addition to that, Katie started to have anxiety associated with the medication she was on resulting in physical reactions.
I’m happy to say that being off the medication for a month has had a profound effect on these symptoms as well as counseling.
Dealing with all of this really disrupted our schedules. We needed some time to grieve, heal, and plan our next steps.
That meant our routines took a major hit. To state the obvious, this blog got placed at the bottom of the pile.
I tried to write this post several times in the past and found the words wouldn’t come. Every time I felt a thought coming together, a barrier of weariness would just keep me from completing it.
I’m not asking for forgiveness. I’m apologizing. If you don’t want to hear it, trust me when I say I’m apologizing to myself and God too.
Now, as God would have it, we have a pretty easy verse to deal with today, and I should be able to wrap it up with what remains left in this post.
Thanks for letting me share my heart.
He who digs a pit falls into it. What’s the idea here? If you make a trap, prepare to be the one who suffers from it.
There’s another verse that seems relevant. He who lives by the sword, dies by the sword. Not as poetic to say the man who lives by the pit, dies by the pit.
What’s the lesson? There are punishments in store for the wicked.
Now, what in the world does the second half mean? Who has broken a wall and found a serpent inside it?
Typically, those guys are outside or in crawl spaces. Rats or bugs hang out inside walls, if anything.
Well, for that reality we have only to thank modern building standards and materials. What am I saying? In earlier types of construction, it was possible to find snakes in your wall!
Now, it wasn’t like serpents crawled through the walls and bit people, although I’m sure that happened occasionally.
No, Solomon is essentially referring to someone tearing a wall down and suffering a bite from a snake napping in safety within the structure.
What is the warning? It is one against careless action. You could of course tear down walls with tools that would prevent this type of injury.
Someone who was moving quickly or not being safe? Well, they shouldn’t be too surprised if they get bitten.
We have a warning in this verse regarding violent and careless actions. The former is the evil that we prepare and the other is the evil we don’t prevent.
Does it matter if all is vanity?
Let’s keep reading.
Ecclesiastes 10:8