Ecclesiastes 12:1-8--The Twilight of Life

Ecclesiastes 12:1-8
​Christian Standard Bible

The Twilight of Life
12 So remember your Creator in the days of your youth:

Before the days of adversity come,
and the years approach when you will say,
“I have no delight in them”;
2 before the sun and the light are darkened,
and the moon and the stars,
and the clouds return after the rain;
3 on the day when the guardians of the house tremble,
and the strong men stoop,
the women who grind grain cease because they are few,
and the ones who watch through the windows see dimly,
4 the doors at the street are shut
while the sound of the mill fades;
when one rises at the sound of a bird,
and all the daughters of song grow faint.
5 Also, they are afraid of heights and dangers on the road;
the almond tree blossoms,
the grasshopper loses its spring,
and the caper berry has no effect;
for the mere mortal is headed to his eternal home,
and mourners will walk around in the street;
6 before the silver cord is snapped,
and the gold bowl is broken,
and the jar is shattered at the spring,
and the wheel is broken into the well;
7 and the dust returns to the earth as it once was,
and the spirit returns to God who gave it.

​8 “Absolute futility,” says the Teacher. “Everything is futile.”

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Solomon is wrapping up, and he switches from an "under the sun" perspective to giving the wisdom to his sun that the earlier that you fear God and obey Him in life, the better life will be for you.  Don't have an "under the sun" perspective, but the perspective that the LORD created everything and is in charge of everything in heaven, on earth, and under the earth.  Otherwise, you will live a long, meaningless life.  There will be no long-lasting pleasure or joy--no satisfaction will be found in anything.

Solomon poetically describes the aging process and the additional pains and troubles that come from being older--like sleeping when you want to be awake and being awake when you want to sleep.  You don't see well, don't hear well, and you are unsteady and afraid of falling.  Your hair grows grey, and your teeth fall out.  You constantly live with the reality of being one heartbeat away from death, though you aren't exactly sure what will take you.

Even if you find the LORD at this point in your life, how will you live for Him?  What can you do with that knowledge at this point?  You will have wasted your entire life on meaningless pursuits only to find that the LORD was the answer all along and He has been waiting for you from the very beginning.   The sooner you submit to His authority, the sooner you find what life is really all about, and the sooner you will find joy and peace in this life and the life to come.  Otherwise, you will have nothing to say at the end of life other than "Utterly meaningless" to summarize your life.

We'll come back next time and talk about Solomon's final thoughts and conclusions after this thought experiment and that will wrap up our study of this book.