Mrs. Rick Jackson
Tonight I decided to do something a bit
different – we’re going to park in the Book of Ecclesiastes for our study of
the letter “Y.” Turn with me to Ecclesiastes
chapter 11, and we’re going to study the last two verses of that chapter
and all of chapter 12.
It’s hard to believe that
this it’s already November, the month of Thanksgiving, isn’t it? I found in my studies that the Book of
Ecclesiastes would always be read by the Jews at their annual Feast of
Tabernacles, their joyful autumn festival of harvest. And it’s fitting because
Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 2:24, “There is nothing better for a man,
than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good
in his labor. This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God.”
So, as we study tonight, let’s remember that it is also a time of thanksgiving!
However, our letter is not “T,” but, rather, “Y”, so I would like us to focus
on a different topic, and that is YOUTH! We will never be younger than we are right now, right? I really
think the last two verses of chapter 11 more appropriately go along with the
beginning of Chapter 12, so this is where we’ll begin.
I.
Rejoice in Youth
Here is
an admonition from the wise man, Solomon, telling people to make the most of
their youth. Be happy, enjoy, but
do so in a way that pleases God who will one day require an accounting of your
actions. For young people, this
is the time when there are great moments of opportunity opened to them, but it
is also a time when they should be reminded to make wise choices. Youth
is the time to seize opportunities and to follow our desires. But … (and
there’s always a “but,” isn’t there?) remember that ultimately there must be an
accounting. 2 Corinthians 5:10 says, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every
one may receive the things done
in his body, according to that
he hath done, whether it be
good or bad.” Celebrate
your youth as the gift of God, but
remember He has not given you these gifts to squander foolishly. There will be
a day of accounting, so do all with a consciousness that at a future point you
are to stand before the sovereign Judge of the universe.
10 Therefore
remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh: for childhood
and youth are vanity.
(1) “Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word,
in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.” [1Timothy 4:12], and, (2) “Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” [2 Timothy 2:22]
CHAPTER 12
1 Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not,
nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;
Solomon urges young people to remember that the God who will judge them is not
only the far-off Creator of heaven and earth but also “thy Creator!” He has formed each “spirit of man within him” [Zechariah 12:1], just as with the first
man, when He “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a
living soul” [Genesis 2:7]. God is
our Creator and is therefore our rightful Lord. We must pay Him the honor and
duty we owe Him as our Creator.
II.
Picture the Future
In the next several verses, Solomon gives us
a beautiful, poetic, imaginative, allegorical picture of old age—the opposite
of youth.
2 While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars,
be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain:
Here we have the fading of mental powers as
one grows older; the mind, its powers of reasoning, of memory, and of
imagination, begins to fade like the dying rays of a setting sun. This verse describes the failing of memory
and of the imagination, like the stars that fade at the approaching dawn. Old
age is like a storm that gathers and obscures the light and the heavenly
bodies, so that there is not much warmth or brightness.
3 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,
Here the word pictures are a little easier to
discern:
“keepers” are the arms and hands – in old age
they tremble so severely that they can no longer move swiftly to the defense of
the body
“strong men shall bow” are the legs which
fail; the knees are weak; shoulders stoop
“the grinders cease,” needs no interpretation
for those who have lost many of their teeth “those that look out of the windows
be darkened” clearly refers to the failing eyesight
2
Corinthians 5:4 – “For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being
burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality
might be swallowed up of life.”
4 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;
Now the picture is not quite as clear:
“the doors shall be shut in the street, when the
sound of the grinding is low” – your hearing starts to fail – deafness cuts the
elderly person off from the sounds of the city (grinding of grain was heard
daily about the Oriental home but is scarcely discernible to the old man)
“he shall rise up at the voice of the bird” means
you wake up with the birds early each morning, and wish you could sleep longer
– no sound sleep any more, every little thing disturbs them!
“all the daughters of music shall be brought
low” refers to the increasing deafness of old age; the voice gets thin, and it
gets harder to carry a tune; it starts to quiver and weaken.
5 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 goeth
to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets:
J. Vernon McGee believed the first part of
this verse was getting to the psychological effects of aging. Old people worry
and wonder about things never thought about before. Old people are terrified of
heights (broken bones, vertigo, etc.,) and are afraid of falling or stumbling
just while walking down the street.
“fears shall be in the way,” could be a fear
of stumbling or bumping into obstacles, or even of being defenseless against
robbers or strangers. Terrors increase as they go out. Older people tend to
stay in.
“the almond tree shall flourish” is a clear
reference to the hair, which turns white with old age. Like the white blossoms
of the almond tree, one begins to take on a very different look as age advances
– an external sign of internal physical decay; the white signifies the time of
the end.
“the grasshopper shall be a burden” someone
said the noise itself becomes bothersome, but Rick was saying in our devotions
a couple of weeks ago that perhaps it refers to the idea of just being
difficult to bend to pick up an annoying insect! McGee: Many little things become a burden: strength fails,
endurance fails, patience fails!
Finally, “desire fails.” Appetite is gone.
Romance is gone. You lose your sexual desire.
“because man goeth to his long home” – that
long home is eternity. Death is here and people will mourn.
6 Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be
broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the
cistern.
Now comes the picture of death:
“the silver cord be loosed” – the spinal cord
is broken
“the golden bowl is broken” – the cranium,
the skull is fractured
“the pitcher is broken at the fountain” – a
reference to the heart or probably the lungs failing
“the wheel broken at the cistern” – the circulation
of the blood failing and/or heart attack
7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and
the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
Too often, the world likes to quote the first
half of this verse and say that there is no more to life after death, but they
ignore the truth that human existence goes on beyond death. Here it is -- “The
spirit shall return unto God who gave it.” The grave is not the end! There is
life, there is existence, beyond death! What an accurate and vivid description
this is of the ending of life!
Psalm 49:15—“But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave: for he shall
receive me. Selah.”
2
Corinthians 5:8 – “We are confident, I
say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present
with the Lord.”
8 Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is
vanity.
The greatest futility is a life that has not found a reason for living. What a waste, to live and never discover why you are here! What a waste, to die without learning the secret of true existence! That is the Preacher’s ultimate conclusion.
When as a
child, I laughed and wept,
Time crept;
When as a youth, I dreamed and talked,
Time
walked;
When I
became a full grown man,
Time ran;
When older
still I daily grew,
Time flew;
Soon I
shall find in traveling on,
Time gone.
------
Author Unknown
The Psalmist writes: “So teach us
to number our days, that we may apply our
hearts unto wisdom.” (Psalm
90:12)
III.
Consider the Word
9 And moreover, because the preacher was wise, he still
taught the people knowledge; yea, he gave good heed, and sought out, and
set in order many proverbs.
In spite of the vanity that is common to man, the Preacher has held to wisdom and admonishes all men to do the same. Solomon is committed to the teaching of knowledge. Men
must
hear the Word of the Lord. He is committed to sharing God’s truth. “And the LORD gave Solomon wisdom, as
he promised him…[1 Kings 5:12a]
10 The preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and that
which was written was upright, even words of truth.
Solomon sought to be careful in
his teaching, so he used “acceptable words.” He always used words of truth. Proverbs 8:6-9, “Hear; for I will speak of excellent
things; and the opening of my lips shall
be right things….For
my mouth shall speak truth; and wickedness is an abomination to my lips….All the words of my mouth are in righteousness; there
is nothing froward or perverse in them….They are
all plain to him that understandeth, and right to them that find knowledge.”
11 The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails
fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one
shepherd.
Here, Solomon is using shepherds tools and
tells us that his words are “divinely inspired” from “one shepherd!”
2 Timothy
3:16 – “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for
reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:”
Notice how he describes the Scripture: it is
like a “goad.” It prods and pokes you; you cannot get it out of your mind. It
makes you go where you would not ordinarily go. It works by prodding you along,
making you pay attention and pursue the truth. Then, he says the Scripture is “as
nails fastened” or, like stakes – the purpose of the stake, or fixed nail, is
to provide a secure place to which a person may anchor himself during the
stormy days of his life “under the sun.” The “masters of assemblies” are the
schools of wise men. So the Scriptures are anchored by these wise men, who
teach. 2 Peter 1:20,21 – “Knowing this first, that no prophecy
of the scripture is of any private interpretation….For the prophecy came not in old
time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”
All of these collected sayings, be they goad
or stake, are given by the one Shepherd of Israel who through His words is both
anchor and goad to the people whom He loves.
12 And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making
many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the
flesh.
Here is a warning, “be admonished,” not to go beyond what God has written in His Word. One could even say that there are many books that are not worth our time reading, but there is One BOOK that all should read. Don’t permit man’s books to rob you of God’s wisdom. Don’t test God’s truth by the “many books” written by men; test men’s books by the truth of God’s Word! See what the Psalmist says about the Word of God just in Psalm 119—28, 50, 97, 105 – “My soul melteth for heaviness: strengthen thou me according unto thy word…This is my comfort in my affliction: for thy word hath quickened me…O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day…. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”
IV.
Live for God
13 Let
us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his
commandments: for this is the whole [duty] of man.
The
person who fears the Lord will pay attention to His Word and obey it. Oswald Chambers said, “The remarkable thing
about fearing God is that, when you fear God, you fear nothing else; whereas,
if you do not fear God, you fear everything else.” Isaiah 8:13 puts it this way, “Sanctify the LORD of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let
him be your dread.” Matthew 10:28
– “And fear not them
which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him
which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” A dedicated
believer will spend time daily in
Scripture, getting to know the Father better and discovering His will. Solomon continues this thought in the Book of
Proverbs [1:7]—“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and
instruction.”
14 For
God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it
be good, or whether it be evil.
No one can hide from God. Everything will
come out in the open at last. Because of that, Solomon exhorts us to fear God.
Life without God is dull, empty, vain. Life WITH God is full and
satisfying. If you were to read it in
its entirety, over and over again in the book of Ecclesiastes, injustice is
what the observer sees “under the sun.” God’s answer is that every event of all
time is weighed on the scales of His justice and holiness. Luke 12:2 – “For
there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall
not be known.” If you know Jesus Christ as your Savior, then your sins
have already been judged on the cross, and, “There is therefore now no condemnation to
them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the
Spirit.” [Romans 8:1] But if
you die having never trusted Christ, you will face judgment at His throne and
be lost forever, “And I saw a
great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the
heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them….And I saw the dead, small and great,
stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which
is the book of life: and the
dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according
to their works.” [Revelation
20:11,12]
From young
to old to living for God and studying His Word, Solomon has shown us that we
should “Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy
youth!”
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