Ecclesiastes 12:1

3. Remember God in your youth. Ecclesiastes 12:1

TEXT 12:1

1

Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near when you will say, I have no delight in them;

THOUGHT QUESTIONS 12:1

404.

At what time in life should one remember God?

405.

What are the evil days? (Cf. Ecclesiastes 11:8)

406.

Young people are to enjoy and find delight in life. Is this same delight available all through life? Discuss.

PARAPHRASE 12:1

The evil days are coming! When they do come you will be unable to enjoy or find delight in them. My advice is to remember God the Creator while you are a young man and not wait until the joy of living is past,

COMMENT 12:1

Ecclesiastes 12:1 Young people are to have fun, but they are also to keep in mind who made them and why they were made. Since it is God who is the Creator, He has the right to speak through His servant and admonish toward wise behavior. Thus, not only should one remember God, he should allow God to influence all of life. Since God made man, He knows what will bring man happiness. The term Creator is definitely a reference to God as it is the participle form of the same word translated in Genesis 1:1 which speaks of God's creative work. It is also a plural form which suggests to many a reference to the work of the Godhead.

Since youth and strength are both marked by vanitythat is they are very fleetingit is foolish to waste them. There is not a better time to follow God than in one's youth! The open grave invites all men too soon, even as the Psalmist said, My days are like a lengthened shadow; and I wither away like grass (Psalms 102:11). Now, however, life is vigorous, the accent is on youth, the joys are sweet, the time to be alive is now. Soon the joys which are now within the reach of youth will slip away. Man always moves into the period of decline. One has wisely expressed the experience of growing old as his last days sloped gently toward the grave.

The evil days are obviously a reference to the following graphic pictures presented by the Preacher of the final, crippling stages of old age. Previously The days of darkness (Ecclesiastes 11:8), referred to the grave, but this is not the meaning here. I have no delight means that such closing years of life have lost the pleasure of youth and the prime of life. One does not find pleasure in the loss of strength, eyesight, and hearing; or does he look forward to the time when he no longer can walk or properly chew his food.

FACT QUESTIONS 12:1

546.

What is the significance of speaking of God as Creator?

547.

Explain what is meant by the evil days.