Ecclesiastes 12:1-14
To: Ecclesiastes Main Menu
To: Grace Notes Home
Page
Ecclesiastes 12:1-5
Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days
come not, nor the years draw nigh, when you shall say, I have no pleasure
in them;
While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened,
nor the clouds return after the rain:
In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men
shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those
that look out of the windows be darkened.
And the doors shall be shut in the streets, when the sound of the grinding
is low, and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters
of music shall be brought low;
Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be
in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall
be a burden, and desire shall fail: because man goes to his long home, and
the mourners go about the streets;
The argument Solomon proposes for our dependence upon God and out seeking
of significance in Him rather than in that which is under the sun is a very
personal argument.
Old Age. And it here that we come back to my original intention in this
study which was to head off the mid life crisis men face as they begin to
recognize their limitations and inabilities.
Solomon describes growing older as a natural process. Limitations and inabilities
will creep into our lives. That is normal in the course of life.
To fight it is to be distracted by it. We must take what God gives us today,
appreciate it and enjoy it.
Solomon did not, he frantically searched for significance and in doing so
forgot that man was created to have a relationship with God.
So now he is older and he has exhausted all the means by which man can find
significance under the sun including wisdom, and now he is wiser in knowing
that he should have obeyed God all along.
Ecclesiastes 12:1-8 Solomon's Description of Old Age.
As Solomon returns from his years of reversionism he makes a number of observation.
1. The value of wisdom and wise men, but there is no wisdom
under the sun that can allow man to understand God.
2. The folly of foolishness
3. The man who live peaceably, even the UNBELIEVER will enjoy much of life
(Eccl. 11).
But the UNBELIEVER has to remember that life is short, so chapter 12 is
going to give a eternal solution.
Eccl. 11:8 But if a man live many years, and rejoice in them all; yet let
him remember the days of darkness; for they shall be many. All that cometh
is vanity.
4. So now at Eccl. 12 Solomon is old and he gives a poem about old age.
KEEPERS OF THE HOUSE: The hands
THE STRONG MEN: The legs
THE GRINDERS: The Teeth
THOSE WHO LOOK OUT THE WINDOWS: The eyes
THE DOORS: The ears
SOUND OF GRINDING LOW: Hard of hearing
RISE UP AT THE VOICE OF BIRDS: Rising up early as do the old, not able to
sleep late.
DAUGHTERS OF MUSIC BROUGHT LOW: Hard of hearing
AFRAID OF THAT WHICH IS HIGH: Fear of falling
ALMOND TREE: White blossoms, the white hair
GRASSHOPPER A BURDEN: To weak to carry a burden
DESIRE SHALL FAIL.
LONG HOME: Eternity, there a long time
Ecclesiastes 12:6
[Remember Him] before the silver cord is broken and the golden bowl
is crushed, the pitcher by the well is shattered and the wheel at the cistern
is crushed;
Two Pictures of Death.
1. A Silver Cord holding a Golden Bowl in a light burns. A lamp
in the Ancient world. Some have supposed that this type of land was common
in the opulence of Solomon's palace.
The cord breaks, the bowl is shattered, the light goes out. Death occurs.
2. The second picture is of water being unavailable.
The pitcher which holds the water is shattered, which can even have some
physical parallel in death,
The wheel by which water is drawn is broken. This could refer to the heart
pumping the blood through the body. It no longer works, it is broken, death
occurs.
Solomon draws these pictures for us to motivate us to realize that we might
spend our lifetimes trying to find something that will never be found and
in doing so come to death's door realizing we could have had so much more
if we had only depended upon God.
In the final picture of death Solomon goes back to creation.
Ecclesiastes 12:7
Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will
return to God who gave it.
This is parallel to the creation of man account found in Genesis 2:7 Then
the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils
the breath of life; and man became a living being.
The body returns to the earth from which it was made and the spirit, here
the life of man, returns to God who gave it.
Solomon's commentary on this in light of his reversionism is that this is
empty.
Ecclesiastes 12:8
Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, all is vanity!
To live to die and in between to find no satisfaction in life, to find no
significance or meaning in life because we have held God at a distance is
empty.
This verse also sets up the contrast he now makes as he gives us a specific
conclusion of this matter.
Ecclesiastes 12:9-12 His Credentials.
Prior to giving his final verdict on the matter of significance in life,
Solomon establishes why he can give this conclusion.
Now the entire book shows us why he can say these things by way of experience
but his final appeal is not to experience.
So say experience is the best teacher, it is not.
1. The personal experience of failure can show us what is wrong but is cannot
show us what is right.
2. Experience can show us what doesn't work but it cannot show us what does
work.
3. Experience is limited to that which is under the sun, earth bound.
4. Experience may show one thing as being better but it cannot show us God's
absolute best.
5. Experience is similar to natural revelation, it shows us our inability,
our weakness, our smallness,
6. Experience can show us that there is a God who is far beyond man, the
creator of man, an absolute sovereign. But experience can not lead us to
God's love and God's wisdom.
7. Only the wisdom of God can bring us to the conclusion Solomon is about
to make. Only doctrine and the wisdom that comes from it can allow us to
live as God designed us.
Ecclesiastes 12:9
In addition to being a wise man, the Preacher also taught the people
knowledge; and he pondered, searched out and arranged many proverbs.
Solomon has used this title, the Preacher, one who, as we saw in chapter
one who has a message and calls the assembly together to hear, three times
in this book.
1. As a description of himself as he begins these experiments
in significance
2. In Eccl. 7:27 as one who found that the experiments failed to find significance
3. Now in Eccl. 12 as he sets up his conclusion
It means an assembler, it is passive, so it is a response to truth. The
preacher assembles truth and then assembles the people.
He was a wise man, as we have noted. And he taught the people knowledge.
KNOWLEDGE is the Hebrew word DAR-ATH and can mean more than knowledge, it
can mean perception, skill, and even wisdom.
The issue here is that Solomon taught the people right but did not necessarily
apply these principles of truth to self.
Principle: God honors His word in spite of the vessel into which it is deposited.
He then says he: PONDERED, SEARCHED OUT, and ARRANGED many proverbs.
Three piel perfect verbs:
The first means to weigh on a scales, to find the best truth. This he did.
Then he searched out: Means to search, to seek. Solomon tells us he is not
the end to all wisdom, he went outside of himself to search for this conclusion.
He did not rely upon his own human wisdom.
Then he arranged: Means to make things straight so they can be understood.
THIS COULD BE A GOOD OUTLINE for any teacher who prepares a lesson, weigh
it, do not rely upon your human wisdom or even what you know, research,
and then arrange it so it can easily be understood.
Solomon adds a fourth step.
Ecclesiastes 12:10
The Preacher sought to find delightful words and to write words of truth
correctly.
TWO responsibilities: One is manward, the other Godward.
DELIGHTFUL WORDS: The KJV translates this ACCEPTABLE but that is not the
idea, the words are made acceptable because they are delightful.
Solomon has made some pretty depressing points in this book, but even then
he has always held out hope for his readers.
Even when he had no answers, there was hope in God who controls all things.
Principle: We communicate to persuade men and do so with carefully chosen
words that are delightful so they will be acceptable.
Paul's balance in this: Galatians 1:10 For am I now seeking the favor of
men to persuade men), or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were
still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ.
Persuade...not please
WRITE WORDS OF TRUTH CORRECTLY: He is his responsibility to God. To take
the truth revealed by God and correctly pass it on.
Ecclesiastes 12:11
The words of wise men are like goads, and masters of these collections
are like well-driven nails; they are given by one Shepherd.
Talmud: Goads are movable stakes to keep furrows straight. Nails look at
the secure aspect of doctrine.
So this looks at both the direction in which we go, straight towards our
destiny. And the secure foundation we have, nails that fasten us to the
Word.
THEY ARE GIVEN BY ONE SHEPHERD:
Many times Solomon had heard his father, David, talk of what it was like
to be a shepherd and how the Lord is our Shepherd.
The vessels that used to communicate truth may be many, they may range from
golden bowls to crack pots, but there is one shepherd who gives us truth,
The Lord himself.
Ecclesiastes 12:12
But beyond this, my son, be warned: the writing of many books is endless,
and excessive devotion to books is wearying to the body.
NOTICE THAT THIS IS A WARNING, not a prohibition.
The warning is to the searching for answers in the wrong places.
Isn't it interesting that 3,000 years ago Solomon said the writing of many
books is endless. Today we can multiply that statement many times over.
Some books are good, helpful, but only if they lead the reader back to God
and His Word.
EXCESSIVE DEVOTION TO BOOKS: Devotion is LA-HAD, used only here in the OT
from a rare root meaning to worship study.
This is not a mere love of reading, it is a devotion to or worship of reading
and study.
It is used with a Hiphil Infinitive to show that this is a result of thinking
that all answers to all questions can be found in what man writes.
Solomon states that this type of misplaced devotion can make you very tired.
Remember Eccl. 1:18 Because in much wisdom there is much grief, and increasing
knowledge results in increasing pain.
THE REASON: Apart from what is revealed by God you will never get the answers
you are seeking.
Ecclesiastes 12:13,14
The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments,
because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment,
everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.
The word HEAR is SHAW-MAH and can mean to hear as in the reading of a judicial
verdict and hence to obey the verdict.
It is a Qal Imperfect indicating that this is something we continue to do
over and over again.
The word CONCLUSION means the END OF A MATTER. Nothing more needs to be
said than this.
Then he gives two mandates and two motives.
Principle: Mandates are kept because we are motivated to do them.
Fear God: Including this reference, there are four times Solomon states
in Ecclesiastes that we should fear God.
Eccl. 3:14 I know that everything God does will remain forever; there is
nothing to add to it and there is nothing to take from it, for God has so
worked that men should fear Him.
Fear God because He alone is eternal and what He does will remain for ever.
This looks at His attribute of eternal life and immutability.
Eccl. 5:7 For in many dreams and in many words there is emptiness. Rather,
fear God.
We are to fear God because even our dreams (thoughts) and our words come
up empty when compared to His eternal truth. This looks at His attribute
of Truth and Veracity.
Eccl. 8:12 Although a sinner does evil a hundred times and may lengthen
his life, still I know that it will be well for those who fear God, who
fear Him openly.
And then we are to fear God because it will be better for us than when we
reject Him and sin. This looks at His attributes of +R and Justice.
So now, he states plainly, FEAR GOD.
FEAR is the Qal Imperative of YAW-RAY. While this word can refer to an emotional
terror, when the object is God it looks at one who has an awe, reverence,
and respect for an all powerful and all knowing God.
The God-fearer, as described in the OT is one who has a devotion to God
and a willingness to obey God.
A more specific activity of the God fearer is found in the Psalms.
Psalm 22:23-24 You who fear the Lord, praise Him; All you descendants of
Jacob, glorify Him, And stand in awe of Him, all you descendants of Israel.
For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; Neither
has He hidden His face from him; But when he cried to Him for help, He heard.
From Thee comes my praise in the great assembly; I shall pay my vows before
those who fear Him.
The ones who fear the Lord are parallel to the Sons of Jacob, descendant
of Israel and then that is equated to the great assembly in verse 25.
These parallels suggest that one activity of the God fearer is to worship
God and that this is a debt, a vow we owe to God and is to be repaid out
of our free will choice to serve and worship Him.
All the intricacies of this word YAW-RAY indicate that this is the positive
advancing believer who fears God but more importantly from that fear stands
in awe of Him and worships Him.
Then Solomon adds: And keep his commandments.
This phase is found over 60 times in the Bible. It urges the believer to
keep God's law, to obey Him.
Even in John 15:10 If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love;
just as I have kept My Father's commandments, and abide in His love.
This was the responsibility of the humanity of Christ and is our responsibility
also.
We can only keep God's commandments if we know His commandment.
Implied in this and the statements Solomon made in v 9-12, is the mandate
to stick with the Word of God.
Know it and obey it, learn it, think it, and apply it.
TWO MOTIVATIONS FOR THIS.
1. It is a universal principle: For this applies to every person.
Even the UNBELIEVER is urged to do this and come to the point of faith in
God and His Son Jesus Christ.
For every believer the mandate is the same. Whether a Jew living in Solomon's
day, a disciple who followed the Lord during the incarnation, or you and
me here today...the conclusion is the same.
Whether a man of wealth and wisdom, or a poor man of humble means...the
conclusion is the same.
There is no exclusion nor exception, we all are to fear God and obey His
Word.
2. The second motive reminds us that God is in control:
For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether
it is good or evil.
The word SHALL BRING is a Hiphil Imperfect which argues against the idea
of a final judgment in heaven. Solomon never has in view a final review
of good and evil.
Rather he looks at right here on earth in time.
Every work is examined by God. Many of the things in which Solomon sought
happiness are wonderful things and may be something you have in life. Many
children, money, building great buildings, a great reputation, but are they
the source of you happiness...if they are they will fail.
The results of what we do are in God's hands.
The HIDDEN THINGS are things like the things Solomon did to seek meaning
and significance in life.
In time, in time, God will bring them to light. They will not be hidden.
Its value will be clearly seen, whether good or evil.
So Solomon ends this account, this search, this experiment in significance
by recognizing something all us must recognize...The only way to live life
to the fullest, is to live our lives unto God and His Word.
QUESTIONS ANSWERED IN ECCLESIASTES.
Why does my life seem so pointless?
Where am I to find my significance in life?
How can I fit into God's plan?
How can I find meaning in the midst of struggle?
How I can be real when I worship God?
What is the real value of wealth and money?
Why do I have both adversity and prosperity in my life?
What are when to do when our vision is not 20/20?
How can I find joy in a world of death?
How should I approach my work and my job?
How can I get the most out of life?
What does God want me to do? Enjoy Life and Fear Him and keep His commandments
.
There is no charge for Grace Notes Materials. You can help further
this work by your prayer and by sending a contribution to:
Grace Notes
1705 Aggie Lane
Austin, Texas 78757
wdoud@bga.com
Grace Notes Web site: http://www.realtime.net/~wdoud/
Anonymous FTP site: ftp://ftp.bga.com/vendors/wdoud/
Grace Notes is a ministry of Village
Missions International.
|