Ecclesiastes 12:1-14

The Teacher searches for
the purpose of our lives

Book of Ecclesiastes

Hilda Bright and Kitty Pride

Chapter 12

Young people should remember who made them – Ecclesiastes 12:1-8

v1 Remember who created you.

Remember him while you are still young.

Think about him before troubles come to you.

The years will come when you will say,

‘I do not enjoy my days now.’

v2 The light from the sun will become dark for you.

And the moon and the stars will become dark.

And the rain clouds will return after it rains.

v3 Those who guard the house will shake.

And the strong men will bend.

You will be like a mill with very few stones.

The stones do not move much in a mill like that.

Those who look through the windows will not be able to see clearly.

v4 The doors into the street will never be open.

And the sound of the stones that are making corn into flour will seem very quiet.

The birds’ song early in the morning will disturb you.

Then you will get up too early.

But it will be hard for you to hear music.

v5 You will be afraid to climb up to a high place.

And you will expect to meet dangerous things in the street.

There will be flowers on the *almond tree.

And you will drag yourself along like an old *grasshopper.

And you will not have the desires that you had years ago.

That is because we each will go to our permanent home after death.

And people will weep as they walk along the streets.

They will weep because people have died.

v6 So remember who created you. Do it before the silver chain breaks suddenly.

The gold basin may suffer great damage.

The jug may break into pieces when you are getting water.

And the wheel at the well may break.

v7 So our bodies become old.

They return like dust to the ground that they came from.

And our *spirits return to God who gave them.

v8 ‘It has no purpose! Nothing has a purpose!’ says the Teacher.

‘Nothing that I have seen has any purpose.’

Verse 1 In Chapter 11:9 we read that a young man should remember God. It says this: ‘Do not forget that God is your judge.’ While a man is still young, he should think about God. God created him. So God has the right to demand things. And he demands that young people should obey him all their lives. This poem gives many examples that show old age. When we are old, many things may be more difficult. We may have more problems as we become old. We may not remember God because of those problems. Then we will be sorry that we cannot enjoy ourselves. These words can mean also that there is no more time for pleasure.

Verse 2 ‘Light’ is a way to describe ‘joy’. The sun, moon and stars shine with great or less powerful lights. And these lights refer to every kind of joy, both great and small. ‘Become dark’ refers to old age. Then we cannot enjoy all these things. Rain clouds continue to bring one storm after another. This means that troubles follow one another. This happens when we are old. There are physical problems and mental problems. And friends may die. Changes have to happen.

Verses 3-5 probably mean more than they actually say. They may mean something like this:

Your arms will shake and your legs will become weak. And you will be unable to guard your house. You will be like a mill without stones, because your teeth will fall out. And then you will not be able to eat properly. Your eyes will be like dirty windows, so that you will not be able to see clearly. You will not be strong enough to open the doors into the street. And it will be difficult for you to hear anything. You will not hear the stones that are making corn into flour. The birds’ song early in the morning will disturb you. Then you will get up too early. But it will be hard for you to hear music. You will be afraid to climb up to a high place. And you will expect to meet dangerous things in the street. Your hair will turn white like the flowers that are on the *almond tree. And you will drag yourself along like an old *grasshopper. You will not have any desires because you are too old.

Verse 3 Young people can protect a house from danger. Psalms 147:10 speaks about men’s legs as a sign of strength. Young people have strong legs and strong arms. But as a person becomes old, their arms and legs become weak.

A mill needs special big stones to make flour from corn. The Teacher thinks that people’s teeth are like those stones. Old people’s teeth often fall out. So they will find it difficult to eat.

Also, when people become old, their eyes cannot see as clearly.

Verse 4 Old people cannot open doors easily. So they cannot go very far. So they cannot join in with everything. And old people may become deaf. Then they cannot hear the ordinary sounds from outside their house or their room.

When birds begin to sing early in the morning, old people cannot sleep. So they get up early. But they cannot appreciate music. One example is old Barzillai. He refused King David’s invitation to go to Jerusalem. He said that he could not hear men and women. He could not hear them sing (2 Samuel 19:33-35).

Verse 5 It is an effort for old people to climb hills or to climb steps to high places. Their legs are stiff. And they are afraid that they will fall. They are afraid that people might push against them.

The grasshopper is an insect that jumps. It is usually very active. But it may be cold or it may have an injury. Then it drags itself along. This may describe the slow, stiff way that an old person walks. Another translation is ‘the *grasshopper insect becomes a heavy load’. This would mean that old people cannot carry even light things. And an old person loses interest in many things. That person may start to think that even his great desires have become unimportant.

All people die. They go to a permanent place. And the people who weep for them may be their family and friends. Or they may be the people who have a special job. The dead person’s family paid people to weep at a funeral. ‘They walk along the streets.’ Perhaps this means that these people are looking for a job. They are waiting for an opportunity to do their work at a funeral.

Verses 6-7 These words make us think about the end of things. They refer to death. Silver and gold are precious metals. So our lives are precious. A basin or anything may hang from a silver chain. But it will suffer great damage if the chain breaks suddenly. Someone may make a jar out of wet material from the ground. They use heat to make it hard. But this kind of jar can break into many pieces. If the jar hits against something, it may break. If someone drops it, it will break. A person’s life is also weak, and it ends quickly. People pull up water in a bucket from a well. A wheel with a thick string round it helps them. But if the wheel breaks, the bucket may fall into the well. Then nobody would be able to get water. The water here refers to our life. So this idea is a way to describe the end of our life.

‘Dust’ and ‘ground’ emphasise people’s physical origin. (See Genesis 2:7.) Also we read this: ‘God remembers that we are only dust.’ (See Psalms 103:14.) The person’s *spirit or breath will return to God who gave it. (‘*Spirit’ and ‘breath’ are the same word in the *Hebrew language.) When their *spirit leaves people, their physical body begins to return to dust. The Teacher compares these two things. ‘Return like dust to the ground’ and ‘return to God’. He means that the person will continue to exist.

Verse 8 ‘Nothing has a purpose!’ was the Teacher’s cry in Ecclesiastes 1:2. It reminds us that a life without God has no purpose. People have problems in their lives. This can be difficult to understand. But this poem reminds us that God controls everything. He created everything. So people can avoid despair if they think about God.

The editor’s remarks – Ecclesiastes 12:9-14

v9 Because the Teacher was wise, he continued to teach the people. He taught to them what he knew. And he tested ideas. He studied many wise words and he arranged them very carefully. v10 The Teacher tried hard to choose the right words to explain things. But always he told the truth.

v11 The words that wise men say are like a farmer’s sharp sticks. And wise men’s words are like nails that fix wood together. We are like sheep. And it is only God who really looks after us. He has given all these wise words to people. v12 My son, let me warn you to stay away from other kinds of words.

People will continue to write books.

And you will become very tired,

if you use all your time to study books.

v13 You have heard everything now. Here is the final thing that I want to say.

Be afraid to make God angry and obey his orders.

That is what everyone should do.

v14 God will be the judge of everything that people do.

He will be the judge of everything that they hide.

And he will say whether it is good or bad.

These final remarks are in two parts:

1) Verses 9-11 praise the Teacher’s work.

2) Verses 12-14 are the final message from the Teacher.

An editor may have written these verses. They refer to what the writer is trying to teach us in the whole book.

1) Verses 9-10 The Teacher was like Moses (Deuteronomy 6:1) and like Ezra (Ezra 7:10), and like other great leaders. They all wanted to teach God’s laws to people. Before the Teacher wrote his message, he studied. He made every effort to understand other people’s wise words. And he chose the best way to explain his ideas. He wanted people to read them. People should read his ideas with pleasure. They should think that the ideas were attractive. What he wrote was honest and true.

Verse 11 Farmers used sharp sticks to make their animals move. And then the animals went in the right direction. In the same way, the Teacher’s words should encourage people to act. He wants them to act in the right way. He collected these wise words so that they would remain in people’s minds. He wanted people to remember the words for a long time. The words should be like nails that remain firm in wood. The person who looks after sheep is called the ‘shepherd’. The Teacher is probably referring to God. King David wrote about God who was his Shepherd (Psalms 23:1). And he called God the ‘Shepherd of the *Israelites’ (Psalms 80:1). So the Teacher’s words have authority because God gave these words to him. And the Teacher made every effort to write down the words in the best way.

2) Verses 12-14 The Teacher warns his son about words that are in books. He is referring to many other books that were not helpful. So people who read books need to be cautious. They must be careful about what they read. Also the Teacher warns people not to study too much. Your study is not helpful if you become weak in your body.

The Teacher says that he has come to the end of his message. So he reminds his readers about two important facts. They must be afraid to make God angry. People should realise that God is great. And they should realise that God hates *sin. Then they will be wise and they will want to obey God. ‘People who are afraid to make God angry are starting to be wise’ (Psalms 111:10). Everyone should obey God. And the Teacher warns people that God is the judge of everyone. God knows our secret thoughts. God knows everything that we do. Psalms 90:8 says that God’s ‘light’ will show all bad things. It will show everything that is in darkness. God, our judge, sees both the good things and the bad things that people do. And he will make a judgement about each person. In the *New Testament, Paul says that God knows the reasons for everyone’s actions (1 Corinthians 4:5). If God cares so much about us, then our life does have a purpose. Jesus said that even the smallest detail matters. Everything that happens on the earth matters to God. He knows about everything, even a tiny bird’s death (Luke 12:6-7). Many questions about our lives do not seem to have an answer. But God is in control. He wants us to trust him. He wants us to enjoy our life. At the same time, we should not forget that God is our judge.

almond ~ a kind of nut.
grasshopper ~ a small insect.
spirit ~ part of a person that we cannot see and that remains alive after death; sometimes it may refer just to a person’s or to an animal’s breath.
spirit ~ part of a person that we cannot see and that remains alive after death; sometimes it may refer just to a person’s or to an animal’s breath.
Hebrew ~ the language that the Israelites spoke.
Israelite ~ a person that belonged to the nation called Israel.
Israel ~ the nation that God chose to be his special people or their country.
Israelite ~ a person that belonged to the nation called Israel.
Israel ~ the nation that God chose to be his special people or their country.
sin ~ to do wrong things that are against God’s law; a wrong or wicked action.'New Testament ~ the part of the Bible that is about Jesus and the first Christians.