Ecc 12

About the author and his aim

Context: After describing man’s own vain efforts to appease God (Ecc 1-2), Ecc 3 pointed the readers to the work of God whereby they may find a handful of tranquility (4:6) through hearing and believing (5:1). For the self-reliant, the gift of being satisfied in God is foolishness (ch 6). But for believers, it is the power of God to persevere in this faith (ch 7) despite sufferings (ch 8), and to become God’s workmanship (ch 9), overcoming evil with good (ch 10) and making wise choices (ch 11). So what is left at the end to say that has not yet been said already? And what about the author? How could Kohelet be so in tune with the gospel that one of his metaphors served to explain the work of God and why even rabbis were clueless about it (11:5; cf Jn 3:8)?

Outline: Eccl 12 consists of 2 parts: vv1-7 are from Kohelet at old age, pleading with the youth to ‘remember their Creator’ before their best time is wasted. By contrast, vv8-13 speak of Kohelet in the third person, warning to not add any other book to Ecclesiastes since it already contains every wise word needed ‘to fear God and keep his commandments’ and to be prepared to give an account of every secret thing when God will bring every deed into judgment.

By starting a new paragraph at v9, some attribute v8 about vanity still to Kohelet, taking as the sum of his message what he already concluded at the start, as if he only went in a circle for nothing, and as if he had not even mentioned God’s work of redemption and that it is by faith alone. However, the conclusion of v8 that “…all is vanity” is not Kohelet’s own final word: Already v8 clearly speaks of him in the third person, indicating that here an editor summarizes only what Kohelet found out by logical reasoning about the vanity of man’s own toil and wisdom as a first essential insight in chapters 1-3. However, the editor then emphasizes that this was not all that Kohelet taught (v9): “Besides being wise, the Preacher also taught the people knowledge”, thus explicitly stating that this book contains two kinds of insights: One from natural revelation that humbles the wise to concede that he cannot save himself by his own works (ch 1-3). Such humbling is essential that man can receive from “one Shepherd” (v11) a supernatural revelation, namely that salvation is the work of God by faith alone, and that this saving faith comes from hearing of God’s work in the place where God dwells among His people (5:1).

In short, the editor evidently recognized that Kohelet not only lamented the vanity of our own works and wisdom, but that the remainder of this book is full of a godly wisdom that can only be received from the one Shepherd as a free gift and that this gift from God is both necessary and sufficient to become one who ‘fears God and keeps his commandments’.

Read Ecclesiastes 12

1) v1: The preceding chapter ended with Kohelet’s plea to the young to ‘remove sorrow from their hearts’ and ‘evil from their bodies’ (11:10). If you were the author and only had space left for one final advice, how would you conclude?

• What are Kohelet’s own final words to ensure that especially young readers will not dismiss his book as a “heap of stones”, or whatever else critiques have called Ecclesiastes? =>
  • Did Kohelet write all of ch12 by himself?
  • If someone else wrote about him in the final verses in the third person, where do you think Kohelet’s own writing ended? (Hint:) Where does the writing in the third person begin? [v8 => For modern translations to start a new paragraph at v9 seems misleading]
• How then did Kohelet himself conclude his book? Did he threaten, or did he plead? How?
  • v1: After Kohelet already warned of a final judgment in 3:17, he now refers to God as the Creator rather than as judge. Why? Hint: What are you reminded of when ‘remembering’ Him as your Creator?
    • Ro 4:17 …the God in whom he [Abraham] believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.
    • Jn 5:24 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.
    • Ps 33:8-9 Let all the earth fear the LORD; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him! For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.
    • What do all of these passages have in common? Hint: Where do all of them locate the source of faith?
• How does ‘remembering God as Creator‘ (v1) draw people to his word to ‘fear him and keep his commandments’ (v13)? Hint: What difference does it make if we believe that a new heart is created by God himself through the power of his word?

2) vv2-7: How does Kohelet implore the young to draw near in time before it is too late?

• Why might one be tempted to postpone to listen?
• To what end does Kohelet employ humor when he describes his own ailments as an old man to those in the prime of their life?
  • Of the organs he is describing, not all are as easy to guess as the “grinders that become few”, v3: How about the doors to the street that are shut ?
  • Besides the physical ailments, how will aging weigh down the soul, v1?

5) v13-14: How did the editor of Ecclesiastes summarize the purpose of this book?

• “Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man“: Why (v14)?
  • Read Ecc 3:17. How did Kohelet himself become convinced that God’s administration of justice in a final judgment is inevitable? [Hint: A time for everything]
  • Is it possible that Kohelet or his editor only predicted judgments in this life? Why not? [Reducing God’s ‘judgment’ to retribution only in the present world would flatly contradict Kohelet’s observation that the wicked often prosper unpunished in this life even though they withhold justice from the oppressed (4:1; 5:8)]
• But was this duty of man to ‘fear God and keep his commandments’ not already made sufficiently known by Moses and the 10 commandments (Ex 20)? Why then write another entire book?
  • What did Ecc 1 say about man’s own ability to keep the commandments (1:15)?

6) Why then did the editor publish this entire book and add: “Let us hear” (some translate “all has been heard”), before he commands “Fear God and…”?

• What in this book is so essential to hear without which no one can fear God and keep his commandments?
• cf Ps 130:1-8 How was such fear of God inspired in the composer of this prophetic song, v4?
• Does fear of God that results from hearing and believing in God’s work through Messiah change the way in which you can keep God’s commandments?

7) Personal and application

• What do you retain from hearing Ecclesiastes as most memorable for helping you to ‘fear God and keep his commandments’?
• What did you find inspiring about Kohelet’s example in ‘shepherding’ hearts?
• How does that differ from how you yourself were raised, or how you raise your children?
• How do you explain to your own children why it is best to turn from our own ‘dead works’ while one is still young and draw near to hear and learn about God’s work before it is too late?