The Book of Ecclesiastes 12:1–14

 ¹Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth,

Before the difficult days come,

And the years draw near when you say,

“I have no pleasure in them”:

²While the sun and the light,

The moon and the stars,

Are not darkened,

And the clouds do not return after the rain;

³In the day when the keepers of the house tremble,

And the strong men bow down;

When the grinders cease because they are few,

And those that look through the windows grow dim;

⁴When the doors are shut in the streets,

And the sound of grinding is low;

When one rises up at the sound of a bird,

And all the daughters of music are brought low.

⁵Also they are afraid of height,

And of terrors in the way;

When the almond tree blossoms,

The grasshopper is a burden,

And desire fails.

For man goes to his eternal home,

And the mourners go about the streets.

⁶Remember your Creator before the silver cord is loosed,

Or the golden bowl is broken,

Or the pitcher shattered at the fountain,

Or the wheel broken at the well.

⁷Then the dust will return to the earth as it was,

And the spirit will return to God who gave it.

⁸“Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher,

“All is vanity.”

⁹And moreover, because the Preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yes, he pondered and sought out and set in order many proverbs.

¹⁰The Preacher sought to find acceptable words; and what was written was upright—words of truth. ¹¹The words of the wise are like goads, and the words of scholars are like well-driven nails, given by one Shepherd. ¹²And further, my son, be admonished by these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is wearisome to the flesh. ¹³Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:

Fear God and keep His commandments,

For this is man’s all.

¹⁴For God will bring every work into judgment,

Including every secret thing, Whether good or evil.

Commentary

Vs. 1-5 ¹Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth,

Before the difficult days come,

And the years draw near when you say,

“I have no pleasure in them”:

²While the sun and the light,

The moon and the stars,

Are not darkened,

And the clouds do not return after the rain;

³In the day when the keepers of the house tremble,

And the strong men bow down;

When the grinders cease because they are few,

And those that look through the windows grow dim;

⁴When the doors are shut in the streets,

And the sound of grinding is low;

When one rises up at the sound of a bird,

And all the daughters of music are brought low.

⁵Also they are afraid of height,

And of terrors in the way;

When the almond tree blossoms,

The grasshopper is a burden,

And desire fails.

For man goes to his eternal home,

And the mourners go about the streets.

King Solomon now in his twilight years brings his life’s adventurous pursuit of knowledge and wisdom, of madness and folly to a close. Sadly, it is often that only in our old age do we really see what we should have pursued. How best our lives could’ve been lived, if only we had committed ourselves to God in our youth. For then whatever we did and pursued would’ve been with Him, and not striving against Him. Therefore, remember your Creator in the days of your youth, for if you always put God first and He will direct your paths throughout your life. Because the difficult days will come, the years when you say I have no pleasure in them, when all that once so excited and moved you is now only meaningless to you. Yes, remember the Lord our God our Savior Jesus Christ while heavens celestial lights are still seen by you (Vs. 1-2). Before all household servants pass on, and all the strong men are brought low, before all the workers in streets are few, and those who look out onto the street’s eyes grow dim, before all the doors are shut, and all the once noisy activity there can spoken over by a whisper, before the sound of bird in morning causes you to awake, and before all the daughters of music are brought low (vs. 3-4), before all their fears and terrors overtake them, before the sound of a grasshopper becomes burden. For desire fails; yes, all passion and lusts fail; and then man goes to his eternal home and the mourners go about the streets (vs. 5).

Vs. 6-8 ⁶Remember your Creator before the silver cord is loosed,

Or the golden bowl is broken,

Or the pitcher shattered at the fountain,

Or the wheel broken at the well.

⁷Then the dust will return to the earth as it was,

And the spirit will return to God who gave it.

⁸“Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher,

“All is vanity.”

Yes, remember our Creator; your God above you; before the silver cord is loosed, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the well, and all your “prosperity” ends, and your deep needs begin. For then your body will return to dust from which it came, and your spirit to God who gave it.

Vs. 9 “And moreover, because the Preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yes, he pondered and sought out and set in order many proverbs.”

Here is King Solomons own declaration that he himself was in fact more than just a ruler of the people, but he was also their teacher, which itself is a clear foreshadowing of the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, at the end of his exploration he still retained his God given wisdom, and so he pondered and sought out and set in order many proverbs, which are given to us all in the Book of Proverbs.

Vs. 10-11 ¹⁰The Preacher sought to find acceptable words; and what was written was upright—words of truth. ¹¹The words of the wise are like goads, and the words of scholars are like well-driven nails, given by one Shepherd.

Now these two verses hammer home the fact that the words of truth and wisdom he left us to learn by and grow into God’s people are indeed given us through him by God. A wonderful metaphor is then given us in verse eleven of both the piercing and lasting impact of them, of the holding power of them in everyone’s heart who believes. Now there is only One Shepherd, and He is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (John 10) who has given us His Word in both Testaments.

Vs. 12-14 ¹²And further, my son, be admonished by these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is wearisome to the flesh. ¹³Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:

Fear God and keep His commandments,

For this is man’s all.

¹⁴For God will bring every work into judgment,

Including every secret thing, Whether good or evil.

In concluding King Solomon closes with an admonishment; that study of Word of God and His Wisdom is not the end goal of our discipleship, (thus acquiring educational degrees and titles and positions and such), rather it is to fear God and keep His commandments.

“For God will bring every work into judgment,

Including every secret thing,

Whether good or evil.”

Scripture Quotations

New King James (1982): Thomas Nelson.