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1Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, "I have no pleasure in them"; 2before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return after the rain, 3in the day when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men are bent, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those who look through the windows are dimmed, 4and the doors on the street are shut—when the sound of the grinding is low, and one rises up at the sound of a bird, and all the daughters of song are brought low— 5they are afraid also of what is high, and terrors are in the way; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along, and desire fails, because man is going to his eternal home, and the mourners go about the streets— 6before the silver cord is snapped, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern, 7and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. 8Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher; all is vanity.
This is the book's counterpart to another poem positioned at the very beginning of Qoheleth's work (1:2-11). These most lyrical passages brace Ecclesiastes with the theme of circularity, and the refrain-like saying, "vanity of vanities,…, all is vanity," provides the outer frame. In 12:1-8, circularity is expressed most eminently in "dust returning to the earth" (12:7).
12:1 brings the whole work to its conclusion in one sweep: "Remember your Creator." This exhortation is modified by three temporal clauses: "Remember your Creator…before the days of trouble come (12:1b)…before the sun and light…are darkened (12:2)…before the silver cord is snapped…. (12:6). "Days of trouble" and the dying of the sunlight convey powerful notions of advancing age and the creeping deterioration that goes with it. 12:2-5 expand on the idea with a flurry of ominous images portending the inevitable collapse.
The author has never seen Merryl Lynch TV commercials and, consequently, has no illusions about old age. It is a time when darkness settles, activities cease, and a time of ever growing fear and trepidation. The blossoming almond tree (perhaps a little puzzling) appears to be a figure of speech for white hair—another sign of old age. The closing years of life are like a persistently overcast day (12:2), with clouds returning after the rain, a metaphor depicting the absence of any prospect of recovery. The old person is moving slowly and grotesquely (cf. 12:5, "grasshopper dragging itself along") to his final destination.
The silver cord and the golden bowl (12:6), as well as the pitcher over the well, show life in its fragility. Gold and silver also imply beauty and preciousness, but they eventually break after years of usage. When the pitcher breaks, the precious water of life stays in the well. We cannot draw it out anymore. This is the end.
We would like to think that we have all the time in the world for spiritual things, and so we keep pushing them away from us. "Today there is no time for God, and tomorrow I will live the way I want to. But one fine sunny day, I will make it up to God, I will read the Bible, I will pray hard, I will be a good person, and God and I will have peace with each other. Somehow it will be ok." Such is the sentiment of most people who have not yet succumbed to the troublesome grip of old age. But we do not have this luxury, because we live on borrowed time. The stress in our poem falls on remembering God while you can, for just as the opportunity for enjoyment will pass, so will the time for remembering God.
Remembering God translates into worship, and this in turn implies two main ideas: dependence and obedience. Dependence is another word for trust. Just as we have not made ourselves, we are unable to preserve life, especially spiritual life. In all things we must look to God's hands to provide. But we often act as though there is no God. Cornelius VanTil likened the situation to a little child sitting on its grandfather's lap. The child slaps the grandfather with its clumsy hand, but it can only do so while sitting on his lap. Those who rebel against God still breathe his air, drink his water, they stand on God's own property, and they live because he sustains them. Life is a divine gift. And so is your life. There are no guarantees—there is only today, and this is God's gift.
The idea of obedience derives from that of dependence. If I must look to him for everything, I will obey him with my whole being. Or else, I will continue to fight a fight that cannot be won. Which option have you chosen for yourself?
The author of these devotionals, the Rev. Martin Emmrich, is an ordained OPC minister (Westminster OPC, Corvallis, Oregon) as well as the author of Pneumatological Concepts in the Epistle to the Hebrews, a book on the teaching of Hebrews on the Holy Spirit. We are happy to make these devotionals on Ecclesiastes and other passages of Scripture available to you.
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