WWUTT 1749 Remember Your Creator In Your Youth (Ecclesiastes 12:1-4)

Well, the preacher has spent all of this time over the course of Ecclesiastes, pondering over what he has learned, and now he's coming to the end of his life, and also the end of his thoughts, when we understand the text.

This is when we understand the text, studying God's word to reach all the riches of full assurance in Christ. Thank you for subscribing, and if this has ministered to you, please let others know about our program.

Here once again is Pastor Gabe Hughes.

Ecclesiastes as the Preacher’s Final Reflection

Thank you, Becky, and greetings, everyone. We bring our study to the book of Ecclesiastes to a close, well, at least between this week and next week. It'll take us two weeks to get there. As we're into our final chapter of Ecclesiastes, chapter 12, open your Bible and join with me there, and I will be reading from the Legacy Standard Version, all 14 verses.

This is the word of the Lord, through the voice of the preacher, writing in the book of Ecclesiastes. Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days happen, and the years draw near in which you will say, I have no delight in them.

Before the sun and the light, the moon and the stars are darkened, and clouds return after the rain. In the day that the watchmen of the house tremble, and valiant men bend down, the grinding ones stand idle because they are few, and those who look through windows grow dark.

And the doors on the street are shut, as the sound of the grinding mill is low, and one will arise at the sound of the bird, and all the daughters of song will sing softly. Furthermore, men are afraid of a high place, and of terrors on the road.

The almond tree blooms, the grasshopper drags itself along, and the caperberry is ineffective, for man goes to his eternal home, but the mourners go about in the street. Remember him before the silver cord is snapped and the golden bowl is crushed, the pitcher by the spring is broken, and the wheel at the cistern is crushed.

Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it. Vanity of vanities, says the preacher, all is vanity. In addition to being a wise man, the preacher also taught the people knowledge, and he pondered, searched out, and arranged many proverbs.

The preacher sought to find delightful words, and words of truth, written uprightly. The words of wise men are like goads, and masters of these collections are like well-driven nails, they are given by one shepherd.

But in addition to this, my son, be warned, the making of many books is endless, and much devotion to books is wearying to the flesh. The end of the matter, all that has been heard. Fear God, and keep His commandments, because this is the end of the matter for all mankind.

For God will bring every work to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil. So we have here in this last chapter, it's broken up into two parts. The ponderings of the preacher come to a conclusion at verse 8, and then there's almost this kind of appendix, or this editor's note, you might say, at the finish of Ecclesiastes verses 9 through 14.

If Solomon is the writer here, from chapter 1 through chapter 12, his words end at verse 8, and then we have this narrator's note, or this appendix, in verses 9 through 14. And it's there where it is stated matter-of-factly exactly what we're supposed to take away from this book.

We are to understand that the purpose, our meaning and purpose in everything is to fear God and keep His commandments. The preacher's words end with vanity of vanities. All is vanity. Everything is meaningless.

It is futile. Whether you have great riches and power and authority, or whether you have madness and folly, no matter what, no matter what you are after, no matter how you live your life, if you live for the things that are in this world, it's all meaningless.

The only purpose that we have is to do all things for God and His glory. The preacher has said that on various occasions over the course of this letter, although most of it is kind of a mourning over the fact that the world has fallen and there is not meaning and purpose inherent in anything that we do, unless we do it to the glory of God.

So that point is brought home and stated plainly in that final portion, those last six verses of Ecclesiastes. After all that has been heard, here's the main takeaway. Fear God and keep His commandments.

This is the end of the matter for all mankind. It's what we're all to do. And when God brings all things into judgment, as said in verse 14, it's going to be whether or not they did all things to the glory of God.

Did you fear God and keep His commands? Then great is your reward. Did you not fear God and did you not keep His commands? Then Jesus will say, Matthew 7, depart from me, you workers of iniquity. I never knew you.

But I'm really jumping ahead to next week's lesson. We need to focus on the first half of this chapter. So let's come back to it at the very beginning, Ecclesiastes 12, starting in verse one. Remember also your creator in the days of your youth.

Now you almost have to pretend here that the chapter division isn't there because this is coming right off of the way we finished chapter 11 last week. Let me start in those last two verses. So this is Ecclesiastes 11, 9 and 10.

Be glad, young man, during your childhood and let your heart be merry during the days of young manhood. So we're seeing a succession here, childhood to manhood. And walk in the ways of your heart and in the sights of your eyes, yet know that God will bring you to judgment for all these things.

So in other words, be careful little eyes where you look, right? You should delight in the things that God sets before you, but doing so in a way that is honoring to the Lord, obeying his commands again, as we're going to have here at the end of chapter 12 and know that God is going to judge everything, even our own thoughts.

We cannot hide from God. We must do all things to the glory of his name. So the preacher goes on, verse 10, remove vexation from your heart and put away evil from your flesh because childhood and the prime of life.

There we have it again. Childhood to manhood, childhood and the prime of life are vanity. So the youth and vitality that you enjoy when you are young are also meaningless if not done to the glory of God.

Now, if you'll remember back to last week, I mentioned that here in chapter 11, the preacher is pondering over all of these things that he has learned, and it's almost as if he wishes he could pass it on to his younger self.

Now, of course, the preacher is not just musing to himself. I've used that phrase over the course of this study. You know, he's pondering and he's writing these things down for the purpose of passing these things on to other people for, as it is said in that little appendix there.

The preacher taught the people knowledge, and he pondered, searched out and arranged many proverbs. That's in verse nine. So indeed, this was for the purpose for passing it on to other people. But as we have a very poetic nature that's being used in Ecclesiastes, a lot of symbolism, a lot of metaphor, then this speaking to a young man in chapter 11 is not someone in particular, nor is it even his own son.

You have a reference to a son in chapter 12, but that's not Solomon. So the so it's not the preacher passing this on to his biological child, a father to his son, so to speak, but speaking as though he would be passing this on to his younger self.

So that's the way chapter 11 ends. When we begin chapter 12, it's still that same thought. Remember also, so as though to pass on to his younger self. And then these things written down that other young men and mothers and fathers even might learn these things.

Remember also your creator in the days of your youth before the evil days happen and the years drawn near in which you will say, I have no delight in them. So we're coming to the conclusion of the preacher's ponderings.

We're also coming to the conclusion of his life. So he's thinking about everything that he has learned over the course of his life and how he would pass this on, how he wishes he could have instructed his younger self in this.

But since he cannot, how he would pass this on to another generation. So remember also your creator in the days of your youth. It's easier to seek Christ. I'm kind of jumping ahead a little bit because, of course, we don't know the name of Christ here in this Old Testament period.

A thousand years before Christ. But let's give it application for us as we would understand it. It's easier for us to seek Christ when we're young. And find him in these days than when we get older and times get hard and then try to find meaning and purpose in these things and how God is moving in them.

So we store up the knowledge of God when we're younger, when it's easier for us, when our minds are sharper and our bodies are willing and able as the body deteriorates. It also seems to take away something from the spirit, the willingness of the spirit and by spirit, I mean the soul.

Right. You understand what I'm saying? So as the body gets weaker, as it gets old, as it gets harder to carry yourself, as you're more tired and more weary, that even seems to affect your desire. Like the want to.

That's what my dad used to call it. You got to have the want to. When he would tell me to go mow the grass, you got to have the want to, Gabe, get out there and just do it instead of dragging my feet and complaining like I often did.

But as you get older, that want to becomes less and less. You don't want to because your body doesn't want to get up. And so your spirit doesn't even have that motivation either. You know, you've heard the statement, as Jesus said to Peter, the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.

Well, as the flesh gets weaker and weaker, the spirit is less willing. And so the preacher says here, remember your creator in the days when especially your spirit is willing in the days of your youth before the evil days happen, because as times get harder, it's going to be more and more difficult for you to find Christ in the midst of these things.

Of course, we need to know that we need Christ all the time, but seek him now and store these things up in your heart. Read the promises of God that we have in his word, the Bible. Store these things up, shape your mind to them, that you may have the mind of Christ, because as your body gets older and your mind starts to go, it's a lot more difficult to understand this and fix your mind to it.

Of course, the Holy Spirit has the power to overcome even the frailties of our body. Absolutely. And as it says in Romans chapter eight, when we don't even know what to pray for, the Holy Spirit intercedes for us with groanings that are too deep for words.

But don't get to a place where you wish you had done more to read God's word and understand it and store up those promises for the days, especially when you need them, when you need to be reminded of the fact that Jesus died on a cross for our sins, that he rose again from the dead and whoever believes in him will not perish, but will have everlasting life, that even though our bodies are breaking down, we have the promise of an eternal kingdom where our lowly bodies will be raised to be like his glorious body by the power that enables him to subject all things to himself.

That's in Philippians chapter three. In first John, chapter three, verse two, we will see him as he is because we will be made to be like him. These are promises we need to be storing up now, especially for the days that we need them.

And we need them now. Of course, you know, I hear me saying that we do need those promises now, but we're especially going to need to rely on those promises when times get tough. So while things are good, remember your creator in the days of your youth.

There's there's also a call for humility here because in your youth, you can feel like you're on top of the world. You've got everything out in front of you. You're invincible and nothing will stop you, but you're a created thing.

You have been made, you have a creator, you are not in control of your destiny. He is, especially as we get to that statement coming up a little bit later on, that the body goes back to the dirt from which it was formed and the soul goes back to the one who gave it.

So remember your creator. You don't make yourself. He made you be in submission to God. Do all things to the glory of his name. Remember your creator in the days of your in the days of your youth before the evil days happen and the years drawn near in which you will say, I have no delight in them.

You don't want those years to overtake you by surprise and you fall into despair and you lose sight of God. My parents have a poem, a framed poem. They've had this poem their whole lives. Well, my whole life, not their whole lives, my whole life.

As long as I've known my mom and dad, I've seen this poem in a frame. I don't have it memorized, but the gist of it is. Let me get home before dark. Lord, take me home. Before the days in which I live overtake me and I fall into despair and I lose sight of you.

Let me get home before dark. It is the Lord who sustains us. The scripture says that to us over and over again. In Jude 24, now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of his glory, blameless with great joy, it is the Lord who has saved us.

It is the Lord who keeps us saved. So seek the Lord and ask that he would uphold you even in those days in which we find no delight. The preacher goes on in verse two to say before the sun and the light, the moon and the stars are darkened and clouds return after the rain.

Now, these are metaphorical here. We're not really talking about the sun and the moon actually going out. Now, it could be in reference to this man's death. It could be the preacher talking about the lights go out and he dies.

Yep. But remember, he's contrasting the vitality of his youth with the weariness of his old age. And so the sun and the light, the moon and the stars are darkened. It could be in reference to his countenance.

There are references to the fact that the face shines like the sun, like the references in the Psalms. Lord, make your face to shine upon us. Or more practically, in Proverbs 15, 13, a glad heart makes a face look good.

But when the heart is pained, the spirit is broken. And in chapter 16, verse 15, in the light of a king's face is life and his favor is like a cloud with the late rain. And so we have this statement in Ecclesiastes 12 to remember your creator in the days of your youth before the days come that you have no delight in before the sun and the light, the moon and the stars are darkened.

So his zeal for life, it's dimming now in the at the end of Deuteronomy before Moses died, it says that Moses lived to the age of 120 and his eye never dimmed and his vigor never abated. So Moses always had that desire to please God, to do his will for the 40 years of his ministry from age 80 when God spoke to him through the burning bush to age 120 when he died.

For those 40 years, he always had a will and a desire for the Lord. Now, that was certainly from God. That was not from Moses body. That was not from his own ability or desire to do those things, but because the Lord was with him.

But that's basically the practical application that the preacher is giving here to youth. Seek these things when you were young, because they're a lot harder to find when you get older. When your zeal for life begins to dim, the clouds return after the rain.

Now, that reference clouds returning after the rain is just talking about things continuing in the cycle that they always do. This is never going to get better. When you get older, your body's deteriorating.

You can't make it better again. Everybody is going to die because all things in this world are subject to decay because of sin. We have that that mourning again over the fact that this is a fallen world and there's no meaning or purpose inherent in anything.

Meaning and purpose is only in God. It's only when we do all things to the glory of his of his name. And so that's what the preacher is calling upon the remembrance of. Know your creator. Be humble to him.

Seek him always so, you know, you have the confidence, the assurance that he is with you even when the dark days come. In the day that the watchmen of the house tremble, that's verse three and valiant men bend down.

So these guys that used to be upright and sturdy and strong warriors, now they're hunched over. Age has come upon them, they were not strong enough, they were not able to fight back the age which comes upon us all.

So these guys that used to have sharp eyes and wisdom, the watchmen of the house, now they tremble because there's an enemy coming upon them that they can't stop. Valiant men bend down because age is coming upon them, the grinding ones stand idle because they are few.

What are the grinding ones? That's teeth, they stand idle because they are few. This person's aging and their teeth are falling out. And those who look through the windows grow dark. What's the reference to the windows?

That's the eyes. And a person's vision is fading because, you know, the eye changes shape, that's the reason why your vision goes blurry and you need glasses, it's because your eye changed shape. You can correct it by trying to, you know, through the miracle of science, adjust the lens on your eye.

But it's not going to stop the fact that you're getting older and the light in your eyes is going out. The windows are growing dark. Verse four, and the doors on the street are shut as the sound of the grinding mill is low.

Now, we had a reference to grinders earlier. Does this still mean the same thing? Sort of. So this reference to the doors on the street are shut. It's talking about how we're closed for business. Those things which this man used to occupy himself with, he can't do anymore.

All the work that he had invested in his life, he can't work. His body's too old. He can't do it. And the sound of the grinding mill is low is things are shutting down. The mind is shutting down. And also so so going back to the reference to the grinders.

Also, it means he's not eating anymore. He's so old that he's not eating. Have you ever seen this happen with somebody who's dying of old age? They just stop eating. I've seen this happen many times. I've had a spouse tell me a spouse who is is watching their spouse get older and die.

And I'll check up on him every once in a while. How so and so doing? How's your husband doing? How's your wife doing? And they'll tell me, well, he or she is not eating anymore. And that's kind of that indication.

I know that it's about time. It's about time to go. So things are shutting down. The grinding of the mill is low, eating less and less. The body is letting go. And one will arise at the sound of the bird.

What does that mean? Arising at the sound of the bird. When do we arise at the sound of the bird? When the rooster crows. Now, we often think of the rooster crowing at dawn, but in the Bible, the rooster crows before dawn, right?

It's like in our movies and TV shows. We have the rooster crowing when the sun comes up. But it's really before dawn that that happens. So this is just indicating we're getting closer and closer to the end.

And the the daughters of song will sing softly. It's harder to hear their song because the ears are fading. And we have as we continue on, those songs will be turned into mourning because it will be mourning over the life of the person who has died.

Now, we're going to pick up here next week. So we're going to start in verse five and then finish out Ecclesiastes, but understand the direction of where this is going. That was the same way that I started pointing out that the whole point of this is to understand our meaning and purpose, fear God and keep his commandments.

Devote ourselves to Christ in these days so that when we get older, our understanding of the forgiveness of our sins, the promises that we have of life forevermore with him, assurance of our salvation.

All of these things have been secured within us in those dark days because we stored up the promises of God in our hearts, have a mind that is conformed to Christ. And when Christ, who is our life, appears, we also will appear with him in glory.

Amen.

Closing Encouragement to Store Up God’s Promises

This has been When We Understand the Text of Pastor Gabriel Hughes. For all of our podcasts, episodes, videos, books, and more, visit our website at www .utt .com. If you'd like to submit a question to this broadcast or just send us a comment, email whenweunderstandthetext at gmail .com and let your friends know about our ministry.

Join us again tomorrow as we grow together in the study of God's word when we understand the text.