Dead Flies

Ecclesiastes 10:1 “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.”
If you have never lived in a house in the summer time, with no air conditioning, no screens on the windows, or screen doors; you have missed something in life. I would not say it was a good thing, but something one can learn from.
It was so with me in my childhood days. I would wake up early, not necessarily because of daybreak, but along with daybreak came those pesky little critters/bugs/insects, called flies. Oh, I despised to have a desire to sleep but these pests would crawl around head to toe as one slept in the cool part of the morning, trying to enjoy those last few ZZZ’s.
Many years ago, a friend and I stopped in a nearby town for an early breakfast at an “all night restaurant”.. We talked about which hollow or portion of woods we -would search out and take our stand, waiting for the sunrise and that big buck to come down the trail. (Hope this is not to gross. I am just trying to make a point.) As we talked, placed our order for the breakfast; I had ordered country ham, two eggs, and coffee along with some hash browns, etc., like a surgeon with his knife, doing a delicate surgery, it was the same for me as I cut away the country ham, one bite at a time. It sure was delicious. As I cut away the ham, having a little portion left to enjoy, for some reason, I stuck my fork in the remaining portion and turned it over. What I saw made me very sick; in fact I almost lost all that I had eaten. In the middle of that last little bite of ham was a green fly. I pushed my plate away from me, we got up from the booth not saying a word, left the restaurant and never returned. A dead fly mixed in with the food took away my enjoyment of a good meal.
Solomon said that dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour. In times of old, the apothecary was what we know today as a druggist, one that knows how to read the prescription given one by the physician. He also knows how to mix certain ingredients to make the medicine that will cure ones illness. In Exodus 30:1-38, God speaks unto Moses, instructing him to make a holy ointment after the art of the apothecary, and further stated exactly the mixture of myrrh, cinnamon, calamus, cassia, and oil olive. It was holy anointing oil. The holy anointing oil was to be used for the purpose of anointing the tabernacle of the congregation and certain vessels as named that was in the tabernacle. Verse 29 “And thou shalt sanctify them, that they may holy: whatsoever toucheth them shall be holy.” Moses was to anoint “. . . Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may minister unto me in the priest’s office.” This was so great oil that God said it was to be an holy anointing oil unto him throughout the generations. It was not to be poured upon man’s flesh, nor was any more be made like unto it, after the composition of it: it was holy to God and it was to be holy unto the children of Israel. It was said “Whosoever compoundeth any like it, or whosoever putteth any of it upon a stranger, shall even be cut off from his people.” Remember that this oil was made after the art of the apothecary. God also said to Moses “. . . Take unto thee sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, spices with pure frankincense: of each shall there a like weight: And thou shalt make it a PERFUME, a CONFECTION after the art of the apothecary, tempered together, pure and holy: And thou shalt beat some of it very small, and put of it before the testimony in the tabernacle of the congregation, where I will meet with thee: it shall be unto YOU MOST HOLY. And as for the PERFUME which thou shalt make, ye shall not make unto yourselves according to the composition thereof: it shall be unto thee holy for the LORD. Whosoever shall make like unto that, to smell thereto, shall even be cut off from his people.” Exodus 30:34-38.
When we consider how precious the truth of salvation as it is in Christ Jesus is, it is and should be ever so precious to us all, as a holy perfume and an ointment.
Let us consider that it is given us by the great physician Jesus Christ. God wrote the prescription and. Jesus Christ filled it. The Holy Spirit applies it in our hearts and we are healed. Solomon said that dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour. Dead flies ruin that which has a sweet smell unto the Lord. That which is a sweet smell unto him is that which gives him all honors, and is good for food for the spiritual man.
Let’s consider the Sister of Lazarus, one that was described by the Pharisee as a sinner. This was a woman at one time in her life that was devoted to sin. This woman knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee’s house and brought an alabaster box of ointment. She first washed the feet of Jesus with her tears. Have any of us shed enough tears because of our sins at one specific time to wash the feet of a baby, much more the feet of a man? I doubt anyone has done such in our days, After she had washed the feet of Jesus, she wiped them with her hair and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. It was a precious ointment. (Luke 9)
Dead flies (false doctrines and practices) will cause that which is precious to become a stinking savour. Solomon, in the verse given in the
beginning of this article points out that a little folly will ruin one that is in reputation for wisdom and honour. How many men have you seen which were men of great reputation, known for their wisdom and honour, yet was ruined by some folly, some foolish act, and is brought down to a point that their wisdom no longer exists and their honour has been separated from them? This is a terrible thing for one to have happen to one’s self, Dead flies will make one sick to their stomach, and will ruin a good meal.
Paul warned the Galatian brethren with these words as recorded in chapter 1:6-8 “I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:”

From “The Good News Newsletter” December, 2007

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