Study 6 – Ecclesiastes by Neville Clark 2016

Study 6 – Ecclesiastes by Neville Clark 2016

http://www.livoniatapes.com/…/Neville%20Clark%20-%20Ecclesi…

Reading: Ecclesiastes Ch 12

The quest concluded
We do come this evening as you have just heard to the conclusion of the whole matter. You remember that Solomon, in pursuit of his quest for the greatest good, that he might find that elusive commodity that he thought might be, perhaps, he thought available in some place in this life that would give him ultimate satisfaction. As he told us in Ch 1, he planned this experiment to be deep and wide ranging. And so, he pursued the quest by personal experience, by doing things in this life. He pursued the quest by general observation, by watching things in life in general. He pursued it by mature reflection, by marshalling all the experiences of life together, distilling from them conclusions on wisdom and answers which makes this book the masterful exposition that it is o the meaning of life. And you remember our structure. An introduction, a conclusion and three phases of this great experiment; what Solomon did, what Solomon saw, what Solomon thought. Personal Experience, general observation, mature reflection. And you will remember as far as the section on mature reflection is concerned, we broke that down further and it looked something like this. That Solomon begins to identify all the pearls of instruction from his life as he puts together all the experiences, all the information he has collected, not having yet found the answers that he was looking for, but nevertheless finding many helpful pieces of information along the way, and concludes that wisdom is the greatest thing. Digresses on the ultimate position of God that God, in fact has all wisdom, and man doesn’t. That man is in a very weak position inasmuch as he will die. He’s only got a limited journey in order to make the wisest decisions. But in that lifetime that he has to him, there are certain things that he ought to do and certain things that he ought not to do, and therefore, he, as we found in our last study, explains that wisdom rather than folly, as lived in life is the best course amidst an uncertain life.

The verdict of the last phase of the experiment
Well, here we are now down at the very last and concluding verses, Chs 11 and 12, and you will see as we explained earlier, that Ch 11 and 12 are really a verdict on, he wraps the thing up, it is a verdict on the last phase of the experiment, the mature reflection phase. It is not really a new section at all, it deals with the very same stuff as he has already been dealing with since Ch 7. And so much so, that you can look at it and see very clearly that the last couple of chapters pull together three great threads now, which he as begun to explain, well you can see, we’ve got a section on wisdom, a digression on God, a digression on man, and a continuation of the section on wisdom. So really, there are three major sections, one on Wisdom, one of the position of God, one on the position of man, and you can see that. And those three threads now are pulled together in the last couple of chapters of the book of Ecclesiastes.

Wisdom amidst uncertainty
And so Ch 11:1-6 Wisdom amidst uncertainty, based on the fact that life is uncertain, which is the major conclusion of the first section you can see there in blue. Wisdom before Judgment, based on the fact, that judgment is coming as you can see there in red. And finally, wisdom in youth, based on the fact that we all die as you can see there in green. So you see, three great threads he now pulls together to conclude this phase of the experiment and set himself up for the final conclusion which is only of course short, the last seven verses, Vv 8-14 is the conclusion of the entire book where he gives his final verdict on the whole situation having pulled the major threads together in these couple of chapters, Chs 11 and 12.

Well then lets look at it, Ch 11:1, “Cast thy bread upon the waters for thou shall find it after many days.” Now bread, he speaks about here, bread, well this of course is a reference to conventional bread, a grain. And the farmer would cast his seed,d good seed, forth, depriving his family of food in order that he might gain back even more in the subsequent year’s harvest. And the reference here to casting bread, or grain as it is, upon the waters appears to relate to the sowing of seed in Egypt, in fact, in the overflowing waters of the Nile river. And what would happen is when the waters would recede they would deposit very nutrient rich soil down on top of the seed and the seed would therefore germinate quickly and grow well, and there would be a good harvest, if the Nile flooded as it usually did. So what’s the point of the verse? Well, or course, it is an exhortation to commit your resources in faith. It costs you something to sow seed, you could eat the seed, you could make bread out of it. So you would take some food off the table in order to put back even more in the following year. An exhortation, therefore, to commit your resources in faith and wait for the blessing of God. In fact you know, the world ‘cast’ here, “cast thy bread upon the waters,’ means to send forth like a ship, and you know, Solomon did just that, because in 1 Kgs 10;22 it tells us he built ships and he sent them forth to Tarshish that they might return to him after many days. These ships, of course, sailed from the southern port of Israel, from the port of Eilat, and once every three years, and at the end of three years, they brought back gold, silver, ivory, apes, peacocks, all sorts of exotic things, returned to him, as we say, after many days. So Solomon was well-blessed in his venture, casting forth, as it were in faith.

The sacrifice of today for the gain of tomorrow
But you know, any venture, any venture like this always has some risks associated with it, and of course, we mean by that, risks of failure, which is why the godly man sows in faith. And for the farmer with limited resources, the sacrifice of this venture might be considerable, it might not just be a meal’s worth of food he takes off the table, it might be a good proportion of his previous year’s harvest that he is now going to put back into the ground, and so Psa 126:6 says, “He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.” You can imagine the farmer going forth weeping, bearing precious seed. It cost him a lot, and if the venture didn’t succeed, it would cost him dearly. So, an exhortation, therefore, to enterprise, to initiative, to faith. You know, the Truth, think about the Truth, the Truth is all about the sacrifice of today for the gain of tomorrow, isn’t it? It costs you something in this life to be in the Truth. It might cost you your career, it might cost you a lot of money, it might cost you a lot of time, it might cost you friends, that in a worldly sense, you would have. It is about the sacrifice of today for the gain of tomorrow. There is a cost, but the reward, the harvest, is enormous. That, of course, is the fundamental basis of a life of faith. But, you know, in a general sense, this is also a principle which applies at the very human level because a generous spirit will also cast its bread widely and be blessed for it. People who are generous, cast their bread widely, and are blessed for it. Prov 11:24 says, “There is that scattereth and yet increases, and there is that witholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty.” You see, there is a certain blessing of God in being a generous person. “The liberal soul shall be made fat,” the Proverb continues, “and he that watereth shall be watered also himself.” If they do it to be generous, then their generosity is well placed, particularly in the Truth because you never know, you never know when you might need it in return. Which of course is what Solomon addresses in the very next verse. Look at verse 2. “Give a portion to seven and also to eight, for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth. Now a portion for seven and a portion for eight, this a technical term in the Bible, you will read of three transgressions and of four. He says here, seven and of eight, it is called an ascending alliteration and it simply means give enough and more than enough, that’s his point, be generous. Enough and more than enough, freely, liberally, as many as you are able. Prudently, don’t be frivolous with what you have, but be generous. Why? Well the verse says, “because thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth.” Life is uncertain, you never know, and some day you may be in need yourself. And if you are, you would want people to be generous to you. So you might sow in faith, and things for example, if you are a farmer, may not work out the way you expected, they you would need generosity. So he says, ‘Be careful,” but you know, the remarkable point about this verse.

Generosity vs covetousness
The reason Solomon gives here for being generous is the very reason a covetous man would use for not being generous. He says “Give liberally because thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth.” The covetous man would say, Ahh, keep some in reserve,’ because thou knowest not what shall be upon the earth,” you see. The very opposite philosophy, the very very opposite philosophy. The very argument the wise man uses for liberality, the covetous man uses against it. Not that you simply share your blessings in the hope of receiving something back. Look what Scripture says, these are the words of the Lord, these are the words of Paul. Luke 6, “If ye do good to them who do good to you, what thank have you,” I mean, there is nothing spiritual about that. Even natural man rewards his friends. “If you lend to them of whom you hope to receive, what thanks have ye for sinners also lend to sinners and receive as much again.” But Paul says, “This I say, he which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly, and he which soweth bountifully, shall reap also bountifully, every man accordingly, as he purposes in his heart, so let him give, not grudgingly or of necessity, for God loveth a cheerful giver.” So there’s the principle, you see, here’s the principle, don’t give, hoping to receive but give willingly, you may never receive, God willing, you’ll never need to. But if the day comes, and you have been a generous brother or sister, you can bet that it will come back to you.

Well, in V 3, he now gives two examples of the kind of evil that could come upon the earth. You know, V 2, you don’t know what evil shall be upon the earth, so be generous, V 3, “If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth, and if the tree falls toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falleth, there shall it be. And the meaning is pretty obvious here, isn’t it? When black clouds begin to….well, in the country I come from, black clouds begin to build up in the sky, it means rain is coming, I’v noticed it doesn’t quite mean that over here, but bear with my picture. When black clouds build up, it means rain is coming. When the wind blows, the tree will fall, it will fall, this way, this way, this way, this way, and it will fall. Where it falls, it falls, there is nothing you can do about it. Of course, you could subsequently come and move the tree from where it has fallen, but the point is, you didn’t know it was going to fall, but when it began, there was nothing you could do about it. No point in trying to get in the way of the tree, it is going to come crashing down, hundreds of tons and it is going to land wherever it lands, and there is nothing to do to stop that. Such are the uncertainties of life when they begin, they happen, they just come upon you. You may have said, well one day the tree’s going to fall, well, yes, one day you will die, one day this or that, you don’t know the day. All of a sudden the wind comes and the tree lurches and it comes down, and whichever way it lands. The point is, the uncertainties of life are like that. Expect them, deal with them when they happen, but don’t be paralysed by them. There’s nothing predictable, you have to get on and live. Expect the unexpected, but live anyway.

In season and out of season
V 4, “He therefore,” he says, “He that observeth the wind shall not sow. What if you said, ‘Oh, that tree, that big gum tree, you know how gum trees are, what if one of the branches lets go, it is going to happen one day. Better not go outside, one day a branch is going to fall off. Ir might take five years, it’s a long time to stay inside. He that observeth the wind shall not sow, he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap. If you wait for the perfect moment to sow or to reap, then nothing will ever get done. What’s more, you never know, things might never get better than they are today. It’s a bit like buying a house, I’ve just bought a house recently, it is a bit like this, because think of it like this. You go out there and you look for a house. Is the real estate market going up or down? Ohh there’s a recession, it is going to go down. Ah but the people, the millionaires out there, theyare selling their houses and they are buying cheaper houses, so the house price range where you are, is it going up or down. Ahh, you can’t tell, what’s it going to do? Well, you’ve just found the perfect house, should you buy it or shouldn’t you? If you wait, you might find a better one. If you wait long enough, you’ll get a bargain. Well what do you do? You wait. The house sells. How long do you wait, three months, six months. You might never find a better house, and all the while, your family is in rented accommodation, there’s one room and you are sleeping on top of each other, its terrible. What should you have done? You see, “He that observeth the wind..” you’ve got to make a decision, you’ve got to make a prayerful decision, and you’ve got to act. Life goes on, you see, you do have to do something, the lesson is obvious, be cautious, but don’t be over-cautious. Make your decision prayerfully, then cast your bread. It is true in life, it is true in the truth, think about the Truth. What’s the best way to preach? What is the best way to spend your money advertising for your preaching? Is it better to use this newspaper or that newspaper? How much information shall we gather? How many surveys shall we take to find out? You know, you might be running a public lecture campaign around a certain current event. If you leave it too long to find out when is the best way to do it, how is the best way, how much money should we spend, all of a sudden, that current event is ancient history, it is not even current any more, and you’ve missed your chance, you see. What does the Apostle say, 2 Tim 4:2, “Preach the word in season and out of season.” Preach the word when it is most appropriate and when it is most inappropriate, but get out there and do something you see. Don’t worry about whether the season is right or not, because you just don’t know what tomorrow brings, and you just don’t know what God do.

For thou knowest not the way of the spirit
V 5, “As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child, even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all. Now the farmer, he knows how to sow seed, he knows that when he plants grain in the ground, up it comes, these little green shoots, he knows that, it is a very predictable thing. What he doesn’t know is how the seed grows. He doesn’t actually know how the corn of wheat rots in the ground and sprouts up a whole bush, he just doesn’t know that, nobody knows that today. You know, they say they know, but they don’t really know, look how intricate and complex that is. But he simply sows in faith, trusting that God will provide. He doesn’t really know the process. But the farmer, Psa 139:14, “We are fearfully and wonderfully made, made in secret, curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.” We don’t know any more about how grain grows and how humans are made. We really don’t know very much about that. We just don’t understand the works of God.

You come back a page to Ch 8:17, remember this?You talk about how much do we know about what tomorrow brings, and therefore what should we do today based on our view of the future. Look at the end of this verse, Ch 8;17, “I beheld all the work of God that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun but though a man labour to seek it out, yet he shall not find it. Yea, further, though a wise man think to know it, yet shall he not be able to find it.” You just don’t know what tomorrow is going to bring, you don’t know what God can do, you just don’t know wht God has in mind. Get working. Do it prayerfully, do it carefully, but don’t be paralysed into inactivity by your lack of knowledge of the future.

Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he reap
But even though the farmer doesn’t know how seed grows, he does know one thing, every seed yields according to its kind. If you plant wheat, you get wheat. If you plant corn, you get corn, however it happens, whatever you plant springs up and grows according to its kind, Gal 6:7. “Be not deceived, God is not mocked, for whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap. He that soweth to his flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption. He that soweth to the spirit shall of the spirit reap life everlasting,” he says. We don’t understand the methods of God, brothers and sisters, but we do understand the results. And one of those results is that if you sow wheat, you get wheat. And if you sow to the flesh, you reap of the flesh, so when you sow, do it actively, don’t be paralysed by your lack of knowledge of the future, but be circumspect, because whatever you sow, it will return to you, after many days.

And he concludes this little section here, “In the morning, therefore, sow thy seed, and in the evening, withhold not thy hand, for thou knoweth not, whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good. Despite the fact that there are uncertainties in life and we don’t know what tomorrow brings, the more opportunities you take, the more likely one of them is to succeed. So whether it be in the ventures of life, or in simple generosity, be diligent, be active, show a largeness of heart, he says, and have an enterprising disposition. Because he says, at the end of V 6, you just don’t know, there is so much you don’t know, “thou knowest not whether shall prosper.” That is to say, ‘you don’t know which one will turn out, either this one, or that one, or maybe they both work,’ whatever it is you put your hand to, you just don’t know, do you? It has told us in verse 2 that we should be generous because we don’t know what evil shall befall us, it tells us in V 6 here, that we should be generous, and enterprising because, maybe, everything will work. It is not likely, but it happens, from time to time, you just don’t know. But even more than that, here’s Rotherhams of V 6, “In the morning, sow thy seed, and until evening, do no withhold thy hand,” that is, you should sow seed all day long, all day, every day, morning and evening. Well, that proves immediately that this verse is nor really about sowing seed, is it? It is not really talking about farming at all, you just don’t sow seed all day, every day, it doesn’t happen in farming. Therefore, this is an exhortation to consistency and diligent activity, in whichever field you choose, but particularly the Truth. Hos 10 and V 12, “Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy, break up your fallow ground for it is time to seek Yahweh till he come and rain righteousness upon you.”

The real agriculture of life
There’s the real sowing, there’s the real agriculture of life, isn’t it? The sowing of righteousness it says, that righteousness might return to us after many days, in the form I dare say of immortality. And that is the principle of Ecclesiastes 11, be generous, be active, be enterprising, take opportunity, do so in faith, because you don’t know what God might have in store, you don’t know how he might bless you, and you don’t know what tomorrow might bring. And that, V 6, is the end of the first section, as you see it here. That’s the wisest course of action in an uncertain life, if you don’t know what the future brings, then try everything and work hard and be diligent and enterprising particularly in the Truth and be generous. Uncertainty of the future is no excuse to withhold more than your share. There’s the conclusion of uncertainty in life, you see?

Wisdom before Judgment
V 7, the next section, We are going to talk about wisdom before judgment, what’s the best thing to do. “Truly,” verse 7 “the light is sweet and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun.” Now light, in this context, light stands for a lot of things in scripture, you know. Christ is the light of the world, God dwells in light unapproachable, a very different application. Light in this verse stands for all the goodness of natural life. Here’s an example, Job 30:26, “When I looked for good, evil came unto me. When I waited for light, there came darkness. So in this context we believe light stands for things that are good, and how do I know. Well, look at V 8. “But if a man live many days and rejoice in them all, yet let him remember the days of darkness, for they shall be many, all that cometh is vanity. So as light was a symbol of life and of good in V 7, darkness is a symbol of death in V 8, you see. So light means many things, darkness might mean many things in this context, it is life and death. Here’s one for you Psa 143:3. “My enemy has persecuted my soul, he has made me to dwell in darkness, as those that have been long dead. Darkness is a symbol of death. That’s why, by the way, that’s why Jesus said, in Jn 9:4 “I must work the works of him while it is day, because the night cometh when no man can work.” Death was going to come upon him. So while we are alive, we are living in the light, we take opportunity. “Rejoice,” he says, therefore, particularly if, V 7, “you behold the sun,” particularly if you understand more about life than just the next meal, rather than, as it were, merely living “under the sun.” If you can see life with all its blessings and with its limitations, if you don’t expect more from life than it can offer, then you will live in hope of the life to come, and maximise your satisfaction of this life, because darkness is coming, V 9, that’s what he says.

Rejoice in thy youth while the evil days come not
“Rejoice therefore,” he says, “rejoice O young an in thy youth, let thy heart cheer thee, in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart and the sight of thine eyes, but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment.” Youth, you know, is a time for gladness, isn’t it? It is time for eagerness while the world is still a place do discover. That’s the blessing of youth, but life will soon pass and with it will come a decline in physical and mental powers and so he says, “Let your heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth.” This is the optimism and the vitality of youth. Everything will be all right, there’s always another chance at success, there’s always another option, because you’re young and life is before you. “Walk,” he says, however, “walk in the was of your heart,” that means ‘enjoy yourself,’ within the orbit of godliness, of course, but enjoy yourself. Now I say within the orbit of Godliness. It must be that that’s what Solomon means, because if Solomon is simply saying here, ‘Enjoy yourself, go and do whatever you like whether it be good or bad,’ well then, you know, what we are reading, brothers and sisters and young people, is a verse that says, ‘Go on walk in the ways of thy heart, do any wicked thing that you like in the sight of your eyes and walk into judgment,’ which is completely cynical, completely sarcastic. And you don’t read anything like that anywhere else in the book of Ecclesiastes.

God shall judge the righteous and the wicked
So when he says in V 9, “Walk in the ways of thy heart,” it must be that he is speaking about doing so before God, not as a license to do wickedness. And when Solomon concludes this section on wisdom and life, he does so by explaining that one thing is very certain, and that is judgement is to come at the end of V 9. He makes the same point, you know, back in Ch 3:17 that “God shall judge the righteous and the wicked, There is a time for every purpose and for every work,” and as unfathomable as the times are in Ecclesiastes Ch 3, one time is absolutely certain, and look, you know, we are concluding here with this point about judgement to come, look how definite he makes this point, about the uncertainty of life, but the certainty of judgment. I mean look at this, V 2, “Give a portion to seven and to eight, for thou knowest not what evil shall come.” V 5, “As thou knowest not, what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones grow in the womb of her that is with child, even though thou knowest not the works of God.” V 6, “In the morning sow thy seed and in the evening withhold not thy hand for thou knowest not what shall prosper.” Knowest not, knowest not, knowest not, knowest not, life’s uncertain. “Rejoice young man, let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, walk in the ways of thy heart and in the sight of thine eyes, but know thou that judgment is coming.” You see, there is an awful lot of uncertain things in life, but some things are absolutely certain and judgment to come is one of them. Very, very pointed, you see, throughout this chapter about the things you don’t know, yet the things you do, extremely pointed. And so, V 10, “And therefore,” he says, “remove sorrow from thy heart and put away evil from thy flesh, for childhood and youth are vanity.” “Remove sorrow,” he says, V 10, how? Well, by rejoicing, young man, in V 9. “Put away evil from thy heart” V 10, why? “Because judgment is coming,” V9. So don’t be overly caught up in the exuberance of youth. Rejoice in youth, explorer the world in youth, be young in youth, but you know, there is a time to be born and a time to die. A time to weep and a time to laugh. There is a time to be young, there is a time to grow up, don’t live as a young person all your life. When you are young, be a young person, when you are not young, stop being a young person. If you fight the times, there are consequences, remember, there is an appropriate time to be young, there is an appropriate time to grow up. So he says, rejoice when you are young and be a cheerful and a joyful youth, be active, be enterprising, bear the yoke, but understand that judgment is coming, and therefore, when you get a bit serious and a bit more mature and realise the implications of these things, put away youthfulness as well. Put away evil of course, because judgment is coming, when you get a bit older, put away youthfulness as well, and start making some more serious, and consolidated decisions in life, and begin to be a little more stable than often young people are. And that concludes the end of Ch 11 and you can see the second section here. Wisdom amidst uncertainty and you’ve seen all the things that thou knowest not in the first half a dozen verses of Ch 11. Wisdom before judgment, you know, well as you say “sentence against an evil work isn’t executed quickly, but judgment will nevertheless come,” he’s concluded it back at the end of Ch 11 here, in the back end. Judgment is coming, so there is a certain form of conduct, therefore, that a wise man will embark on if he is aware that judgment is to come.

Life is short
Now, he says, commenting on the fact that life is short, and life won’t last forever, and youthfulness won’t last for ever, I mean, it won’t be every day that you can nick and scrape yourself within an inch of death, and go to bed that night and wake up next morning and everything is healed. That doesn’t last for the whole of your life like that. And so the time will come when you get older, and the powers of comprehension and cognition do decline, and the physical powers decline, so he says, you know, what therefore should you do in youth? Be careful about what you do in youth because judgment is coming. Be careful about what you do in youth in Ch 12 because youth doesn’t last forever, and nor does life, and you’ve only got 70 years to get it right. Remember now thy creator in the days of thy youth while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh when thou shalt say I have not pleasure in them, and that’s the point. Despite the vitality of youth, life just doesn’t go on forever, and the times will come when it is more difficult to rejoice when life doesn’t hold the pleasure that it once used to. And whilst the threat of judgment, in the previous chapter, might be a negative incentive to life godly, Solomon recognised that something very positive must take its place, and he says, When you are young remember your creator, be thankful for what has been done in your life. Be thankful that you know the Truth.

Rejoice in the hope of salvation.
Let your heart cheer you in the blessings of God. Walk in the ways of the Truth, it is good for a man, a young man, to bear the yoke, and V 2, Whilst the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain. And here we have got the analogy of light and darkness again, and we understand in Ch 11:7-8, light and dark, are life and death. So here we are Ch 12:1, he talks about youth. Ch 12:7, the dust returns to the earth, he talks about death. And in Vv 2-6 of Ecc 12 he talks about the transition from youth to the grave, the decline of age, in Ecc Ch 12:2-6. And what you have described in these verses is a remarkable picture, old age described by the darkening of the sky in V 2. And in Vv 3-6, old age described as the decline of a great house. Now picture this, here is the house. This is a great house, grand sprawling house, two-storied house, an old mansion you might say, rooms upstairs, rooms downstairs in this house. So a great staircase I suppose, running up the outside wall of this house from the bottom to the top. Servants coming and going, men bearing burdens as they hump the provisions of the house into the storage rooms behind the kitchen. Women grinding corn in the kitchen of this house, running back and forth to the well for water to prepare the next meal. Servants available to guard the estate from dangers without, there is always predators. Eager faces at the windows, the doors flung open to receive guests, the entrance way bathed in light as people walk in and greet each other in the hallways. There’s music, there is great feasting, there’s animated discussion in this house late into the night.

Old age comes
There comes a day, when the family grows up and it leaves home, when there isn’t work for the servants to do, so they leave. When the master of the house himself retires just with a few loyal servants to stay with him in the house. The old homestead begins to decline. It tells us in Ecc 2:4 that “Solomon made great works, he builded houses” it says, “planted vineyards.” It may be that over the course of his reign of 40 years that he saw this happen even to some of the houses that he had built early in his reign. This is the conclusion of Solomon’s own younger years, you see, Solomon is an old man as he writes these words, we believe. V 3 tells us, “In the day, when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out of the windows be darkened.” The keepers, you see, these are the guards, these are the footmen, those who maintain the security of the estate, they are old and frail now. Those that are left. “And the strong men,” these were the butlers, these were the burden-bearers, and they are now hunched over, “The grinders,” they are ceasing, these are the women in the kitchen, no more work for them, it is only the old man himself and a few loyal servants with him there. “Those that look out at the windows,” there is nobody there, you see, the family’s gone. No more bright expectant faces at the upstairs windows as the guests arrive in the courtyard, it doesn’t happen today. V 4 “And the doors shall be shut in the street, when the sound of the grinding is low, and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of music shall be brought low.” The old entrance way is very dark and very quiet these days. “The sound of the grinding is low,” he says, the old man is still alive, some grinding still needs to be done in the back kitchen, but not what it was before. The kitchen’s are dark and dusty now. “He shall rise up at the voice of the bird,” the old man, he gets up early, he’s always got up early, Once upon a time he could sleep in when he was young, can’t do that any more. The birds wake him and he can’t get back to sleep. “The daughters of music shall be brought low.” The birds, even the birds now make more noise than the house, nobody plays music in the house any more, it’s a silent house. “Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way and the almond tree shall flourish and the grasshopper shall be a burden and desire shall fail, because man goeth to his long home, and mourners go about the streeets.” “He shall be afraid of that which is high,” no more, you see, does the old man go upstairs to the bedrooms, he doesn’t want to go upstairs any more. “Fears shall be in the way.” Doesn’t want to go outside any more, doesn’t know what’s outside, not comfortable. “The almond tree shall flourish,” this was the little sapling that they planted when the house was young. Now it is so big it occupies the whole front lawn, it is far too big for the front of the house, it is overgrown, you can hardly see the house through it. “The grasshopper shall be a burden.” The RSV says, “the grasshopper drags itself along.” The day is cooling down it tells us in V 2, the clouds are returning after rain. The grasshopper, he used to be the picture of activity, but even he has slowed down in the cold. “And there are mourners in the streets.” The old house is shut up preparing to host it’s last, and most final gathering, you see, the funeral of the master, and he’s going to leave the house and go to a different house, you see. In V 3 we read of the great house, at the end of V 5 we read of another house, it is called his “long home.” The old man is going to leave one house and go to another house, V 7, “Or ever the silver cord be loosed or the golden bowl be broken or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern.” “The silver cord,” “The golden bowl,” what were they, they in fact refer to the golden ornamental lamp suspended by a silver chain in the entrance hallway of the house, one of the few things in the house now, in fact that remains untarnished by age, because, gold, is still glistening like it always did, gold being gold. Very common, you know, to find them in eastern homes. In 1 Kgs 11:36, Rehoboam was told, that he would be given the tribe of Judah so that David would “have a lamp always in Jerusalem.” This lamp, you see, in the entrance hallway of the house, symbolised the life of the house. And the lamp burns, until one day, the day comes when the silver chain holding the lamp up, the silver chain breaks and the lamp comes crashing down from the ceiling and hits the floor, the oil spills, the lamp goes out, and the hallway of the house is dark. “And the pitcher, broken at the fountain.” The pitcher of course was the earthenware jug used to collect water from the well, and accidentally has been broken on the flagstones of the well, it lies there in shards and even worse than that, the wheel broken at the cistern, this is the wheel of the well used to hoist up the bucket from down below, and it is rusted. The axel is rusted and the machinery of the well has now disintegrated, and fallen into the well. “The wheel is broken at the cistern,” the wheel has fallen into the cistern, you see, you can no longer even lower and raise the bucket into the well. The very source of water now for the old house has been cut off. And not only the house, but even the basic machinery of the house is now crumbling into disrepair, and the once great homestead, is falling down, ready to perish.

The spirit returns to God
And so V 7 says, “Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was and the spirit shall return to God who gave it.” And there’s the clue, because a house, doesn’t have a spirit that returns to God. So as we read these words and we have read them, brothers and sisters and young people, of the decline of this great house, we are not really talking about a house at all are we? We began with the light of youth in Ch 11:7, by Ch 12:2, the clouds are beginning to come over, and the light was beginning to recede in the day you see. The windows in v 3 became dark as age took over and now v6 the lamp itself has broken and fallen to the floor and the light has completely gone out, and the spirit v7 has returned to God. You see this is not the story of the house, this is the story of the old man. And the sun has become darkened, you see, in his twilight years, and the clouds are returning as his ailments, perhaps the asthma he had in youth is now coming back in old age. Perhaps the bone that he broke in his arm when he was young and he fell out of the tree, now gives him a lot of pain, it never used to, but it did when it happened, and now it is again. “And the keepers are trembling,” as his once powerful arms are beginning to shake. “And the strong men bow,” as the legs that that once held him, no longer hold him like they used to. “And the grinders cease,” as his teeth fall out. “And the windows are darkened,” as his sight fails. “And the doors are shut,” he doesn’t talk very much like he used to. “And the sound of the grinding is low,” because he doesn’t want to eat now, like he used to. “ He rises with the birds,” what else could he do? He can’t sleep. “The daughters of music are low” because he can’t hear the music, even if there was music in the upstairs bedrooms, he couldn’t hear it, he can’t hear, he’s lost the ability to hear high-pitched sound, he can’t hear the girls when they talk. He’s afraid of heights. There are fears in the way. “The almond tree flourishes,” this great mop of hair that he once had is now white right across the top of his head. “The grasshopper is a burden,” he has a lack of energy. “Desire shall fail,” this is the caper berry as you will read in that verse, loss of taste, not only loss of appetite, he can’t taste, spices, they have no effect on him. “And there are mourners in the street,” of course, because death is near. “The silver cord, the golden bowl, the pitcher, the wheel,: between the various commentators there is disagreement about what they mean, but they all appear to be talking about the internal machinery of the body. These are the vital organs of the human body, they disintegrate. If it is not one thing it is going to be another, the old man will die and return the spirit to God who gave it to him in V7. And live, you see, is very, very short, then shall the dust return to the earth as it was, and the spirit shall return to God who gave it, very sobering verse, you know, “so remember thy creator in the days of thy youth, because life is so very, very fragile, life is a gift and what is a gift for, but to remember the giver.

The crooked shall be made straight
Without that, what is life? Nothing more than a breath, v8 “Vanity of vanities saith the preacher, all is vanity.” “And moreover,” v9 “because the preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge, yea, he gave good heed and sought out and set in order many proverbs.” And you know, we’ve got to the end of our conclusion on wisdom in youth, you can see why he says,”be wise” about how you spend your young years, it won’t always be like it was. He says, having told you that, the concluding verses now from v8, “The preacher was wise, he still teaches the people knowledge, he gave good heed and sought out and set in order many proverbs,” and this is most interesting, this is most interesting. Come with me to Ch 1, you know we discovered a problem, all the way back in Ch 1, and we answered it when we met it. In Ch 1v15, remember the problem, “that which is crooked cannot be made straight, and that which is wanting cannot be numbered.” So Solomon says, ‘Life’s not fair, there are bumps in the road, there is nothing you can do about it, it has been made like that.’ How do we know it has been made like that? Well it tells us in Ch 7v13, come across there. So Ch 1v15 said, “The crooked can’t be made straight.” Ch7v13, “Consider the work of God, for who can make that straight which he hath made crooked.” So now we know why the crooked can’t be made straight, because God has made it crooked deliberately. And you will remember we made the point, many studies ago now, in Isaiah 40v4, in the kingdom age, “the crooked shall be made straight.” There’s the remedy, not in this life, but in the life to come. And you come back to Ecc 12, look what he has done, look what he has done in Ecc 12 by the end of the book. I will read you v9 again. “And, moreover, because the preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge yea he gave good heed and sought out and made straight many proverbs.” You see what he says, Solomon couldn’t straighten out the irregularities of life, but he could straighten out how to understand them. Look, I can’t give you ultimate satisfaction, what I can do is put things in order for you. I can’t straighten out the irregularities of life, but I can straighten out how to understand them. And the words “set in order,” are the same Hebrew word “made straight, made straight,” as you read it in the book of Ecclesiastes. That’s the purpose, you see, of the book of Ecclesiastes. To answer, not to resolve, but to answer irregularities of life, and to teach you the best course to chart through those obstacles.

The preacher sought out acceptable words
V10, “The preacher sought to find out acceptable words and that which was written was upright even words of truth, acceptable words,” margin is right, “words of delight, inspiring words, illuminating words,”whatever he wrote, he wrote the truth, you see, but he did it in a very attractive and a very, very memorable way. “The words of the wise are as goads, as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd,” now there needs to be a bit of help with this verse, here is the NIV, “The words of the wise are as goads, their collected sayings are like firmly embedded nails given by one shepherd.” So the only problem with this verse is the phrase, “masters of assemblies,” it ought to be ‘collected sayings.’ So the words of the wise of whom Solomon was one, that is one of a group of scholars in Israel called “the wise,” their words “are as goads,” sharp instruments used as cattle prods. They are like “nails fastened.” A nail back in ancient times was essentially a hook in a wall, but what they used to do, when they built a house is that they would take a little sapling tree, and they would pull it out of the ground and they would wash the dirt off the roots, and they would plaster it into the wall when the made the wall. What that meant is that you could swing on it. Once the plaster dried, the roots of the tree held the tree into the wall and it became a peg in the wall that you could hang an awful lot upon, often the whole weight of your body. Well, the words of the wise are as goads, they prod you in the right direction. They are like nails fastened, you can hang your life on these words, you see, they are ‘collected sayings,’ given from one shepherd. And the one shepherd, of course here, is God himself. They are all consistent throughout, there is one message here. It is the divine message, it is the consistent message. Here you are, one shepherd, Psa 23. “Yahweh is my shepherd.” Psa 95:7, “We are the people of his pasture, the flock of his hand,” there is only one shepherd. V12, “And further, by these my son, be admonished, of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh.” And you will remember in our earlier studies we explained that the “many books,” that we believe he refers to here is the ‘self-help books’ of philosophy where people try and understand and grapple with the meaning of life. Every culture has done it for thousands of years. “There is no end of all those book,”he says. “Listen to me my son,” he says, “be admonished,” don’t read them, you will exhaust yourself reading them, here’s the answer, right here. This is the definitive answer, on the meaning of life. I have heard this verse used to say we shouldn’t study the Bible. I haven’t any time to spend on that nonsense, I will give you one verse, here we are, Prov 10v21, “The lips of the righteous feed many but fools die for want of wisdom.” There you are, put that in your margin.

The conclusion of the whole matter
So he turns to his conclusion, v13, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter, Fear God, keep his commandments for this is the whole man.” This is the fulfilled man, this is the satisfied man, this is what will give you ultimate fulfilment in this mortal life, in the service of God. Why? Well “we were created with eternity in our hearts,” the reason for that was so that we could understand eternal principles. The only way, therefore, to satisfy the eternal yearning we have is to fill it with eternal principles. That will end the matter, you see. Nothing else will satisfy you like fearing God and keeping his commandments. And finally, v14, and don’t overlook v14. Often I think we read Ecclesiastes, we finish in v13 and we leave it there, look what v14 says, “God shall bring every work into judgment with every secret thing whether it be good or whether it be evil. What’s the point of that verse? This is the point, that of all the inexplicable things which happen in this life, that you go to the grave wrestling with and wondering about, they will be resolved. This verse is the final reconciliation. God will answer every question in the final analysis, and when you look back on the other side of the grave, at the three-score and ten you lived here, you will know the reason that everything happened. Don’t try and reconcile everything in this life, wait for the answers that will come after judgment. Everything. “Every work will be brought into judgment,” he says, “and every secret thing.” The books are opened and every answer is revealed. There is the final reconciliation of all the imponderabilities, and of all the unanswered questions, and all the unfair things that happen in this life, and there’s the conclusion of the matter.

God will bring every word into judgment
And you think of Solomon, brothers and sisters, writing these words. “God will bring every word into judgment.” A man who lived a life of extraordinary work, many of which were evil, many of which were evil, and all of which will be judged. But a man who, at the end of his life, has drawn the conclusions we have just read of, and you are left with the obvious question. What about Solomon? Will he be in the kingdom or not? You might say, ‘Well it is obvious,’ If he wrote Ecclesiastes and if God has chosen to include Ecclesiastes in canonised Scripture, God wouldn’t put the words of an infidel in Scripture, he must be in the kingdom. Ah yes. Why isn’t he in Hebrews 11? I mean, you wouldn’t say Samson was in the kingdom except for the fact that he’s in Hebrews 11. Hebrews 11 is a far more compelling argument to say Samson’s in the kingdom than Ecclesiastes is to say that Solomon’s in the kingdom. For example, I might say, ‘Yes, Solomon wrote Ecclesiastes in the last days of his life but 1 Kgs 11 says that “when Solomon was old he served false Gods.” What if he wrote Ecclesiastes and then went and served idols?’ Ah, I think the jury’s still out on that. Well, now let’s give us some evidence. No 1, there is no biblical record that Solomon repented, in fact, quite the opposite, as I have just mentioned, 1Kgs 11, the king’s record closes the life of Solomon with apostasy and Idolatry. His shrines were not destroyed until Josiah’s day, he never unpicked all the evil he had done, he never destroyed the shrines that he had built, perhaps indicating that he used them up until the day of his death. Point No 2, When Solomon was told that he was going to forfeit the kingdom, what did he do? Sought to kill Jeroboam. What did Jeroboam do? Fled to Egypt. When did Jeroboam leave Egypt? After he heard that Solomon was dead, providing perhaps further evidence that if he had come back early, Solomon might have killed him. What kind of man was Solomon? Point No 3, God raised up enemies against Solomon. You know that at the end of v11, Hadad the Edomite, Resin King of Syria, of whom it is says in 1 Kgs 11v25 that Resin, King of Syria was an adversary of Israel all the days of Solomon, there you’ve got it again. Finally, there is no Jewish tradition that suggests any form of repentance by Solomon, and it is suggested that this is very strong evidence, given the Jewish penchant for honouring their famous biblical ancestors, Solomon is legendary in Jewish literature as he is in many other literatures of the world; the Jews don’t have anything to suggest that Solomon ever repented. So you might say that a the evidence is pretty compelling, and you can make and argument about Ecclesiastes, from the fact that Solomon wrote this when he was old, but exactly what age, we just don’t know. I agree he wrote it when he was old, but in which or did these things happen? And if this is all we had, I’ve got you worried now, haven’t I?

Is there a happy ending?
You want to hear a happy ending. If this is all we had from the life of Solomon, I think, honestly, I think, I’m not the judge of all the earth, but I’d be sending the pendulum to the left. Because if this is all we’ve got, Ecclesiastes and the four pieces of evidence I’ve said, and if all you can give me is ‘Why would God canonise a wicked man’s writings,’ if that is all we’ve got, I don’t know, I don’t think things look too good. But you know, there is one other piece of evidence, and I think it is a very, very compelling…in fact I think it is the most compelling piece of evidence of all, and that is the evidence of the book of Ecclesiastes, not just the fact that it exists, but the sub-text of the book of Ecclesiastes. Because, you see, in this book, I believe, is contained a remarkable conclusion, not just a conclusion of v13 and v14 here, not just the burning question of human life, but the burning question of Solomon’s life as well. You come with me to Deut Ch 17, look at this, now this is a chapter you know, and it is a chapter relevant to the book of Ecclesiastes. Deut Ch 17v15, these are the prohibitions of a king. “Thou shalt in any wise set him a king over thee whom Yahweh thy God shall choose, one from among thy brethren shalt thou set as king over thee, that thou mightiest not set a stranger over thee which is not thy brother. And when the man becomes king, whoever it is, he shall not multiply horses to himself nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he shall multiply horses, forasmuch as Yahweh said to you, you shall henceforth return no more that way. Neither shall he multiply wives to himself that his heart turn not away, neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold, and it shall be when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites.” All right, there they are, the prohibitions of Deut Ch 17, don’t multiply horses to yourself, don’t multiply wives to yourself, don’t multiply money to yourself. Well, what did Solomon do? Well it tells us in 2 Chron 9 that they brought unto Solomon horses out of Egypt, he had 4,000 stalls for chariots and 12,000 horsemen whom he bestowed in the chariot cities. Broken, broke Deut 17. What about the women? Well, 1 Kgs 11 says, that “King Solomon loved many strange women,” and he had 700 wives, princesses, and 300 concubines, and his wives turned away his heart. He broke it, and you will notice at the end of v17 “Don’t multiply wives, that thy heart turn not away,” and he did it, and it did turn his heart away – he broke it, 700 wives? He flagrantly broke Deut 17. And what about the money, at the end of v17, 2 Chron 1, “And the king made silver and gold at Jerusalem as plenteous as stones, and they brought silver and gold a rate year by year,” there was more money at Jerusalem than he could count. He did not even know how wealthy he was. And he wrote this out. Every prohibition of Deut 17, flagrantly broken by Solomon. Not just broken, but destroyed by Solomon. Look what he does, look what what the record says that he did to the law of Deut 17, a law which he wrote out for himself in order that he might obey it. So we come back to our question, where does he sit? Before I answer that, you might say to me, Why would he do it? How could someone as wise as Solomon, having written this out, having any number of spiritual men in his kingdom, how could he possibly do to Deut 17 what you can read here that he has already done? Do you know what I think the answer is to that? The Quest. He’s on a quest, Solomon’s on a quest, you see. He knew what he was doing, he knew the commandments, but the quest is all important, and this quest is going to benefit disciples for the rest of history, and so, in a perverse way, in a peculiar way, Solomon felt he was above the law, that the quest made him above the law, and that for some reason, these commandments didn’t apply to him. That happens, you know, that happens to Solomon, and all the wisdom counted for nothing when it came to a moral interpretation relating to him, because the quest, was greater than the law. That’s how Solomon saw it. It is no excuse, I am not saying that it is an excuse, I think that’s the reason, and because he sinned badly and wickedly and consciously, in fact he lost control of the quest. The quest controlled him, and in order to try and satisfy himself he kept going to the next level, and on and on and on, and all of a sudden the quest was consuming him, he lost control, virtually left the Truth, broke every commandment wantonly and egregiously. Then now back to our question, What was Solomon’s state of mind by the end of his life? Well here is the answer in Ecclesiastes. “I had great possessions, of great and small cattle above all that were in Jerusalem before me,“ this is his weapons, you know, this is what Solomon did with his weapons. And then he says, “Ah but as I thought about it there was a little city and there came a great king against this city, and there was in the city a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city and I said, Ah wisdom is better than strength, wisdom is better than weapons of war.” And he concludes in Ch 7, “Wisdom strengtheth the wise more than ten mighty men in a city.” What’s the use of the weapons? ‘I should never have done that, I should never have done what I did with the weapons, with the horses from Egypt, I should never have, I’m sorry I did that, I repent of everything I did, of accumulating weapons.’ “I provided for myself male and female singers and the pleasures of men, many concubines,” he says, and later in life he thought about that, he says, “I find more bitter than death, the woman whose heart is snares and nets and her hands as bands. One man among a thousand have I found, but a woman among all those I have not found.” ‘I’m sorry, my God,’ he says, ‘I should never have done that. “Live joyfully with the wife of thy youth whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, which God has given thee under the sun, for that is thy portion in this life, and in thy labour which thou takest under the sun.” You see what he says, you see what Ecclesiastes is, brothers and sisters and young people.

The confession of Solomon
This is the confession of Solomon. I do believe he wrote this at the end of his life, at the very end of his life, after he had done what he had done with the strange women of 1 Kgs 11, and he accumulated those women and the quest controlled Solomon, and he got older, perhaps desire failed. He saw clearly and said, ‘What have I done? What have I done? And he writes…you know, you never really find out much in the kings record about what Solomon is thinking, you read a number of times things about what he said, but if you think about David, David’s sin with Bathsheba, Nathan comes in “thou art the man,” David bursts into tears, he writes Psalms about his contrition, and those Psalms were published and sung in the Temple. What did Solomon do to repent, he’s very much a far more private person than David, you see. Solomon would never ever do what….he is far more controlled, far more diplomatic, a far softer-spoken man, I believe. A far more measured man, a considered man, he would never write what David wrote, but woven throughout the book of Ecclesiastes, is Solomon’s confession. He would never write a Psalm, but he’s written it here. What about the money? I gathered me silver and gold, the peculiar treasures of kings and of the provinces, there was money everywhere in Solomon’s kingdom, ‘And I have thought about that,’ he says ‘he that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver.’ Did he know anything about that? Of course he did. “Nor he that loveth abundance with increase. This is also vanity. When goods increase they are increased that eat them, and what good is there to the owners thereof save the beholding of them with their eyes.” He thought about what money had meant to him, what money had done to him and he says, ‘This will never end,’ and he repents. “Wisdom is a defence, money is a defence, but the excellency of knowledge is that wisdom gives life and money doesn’t.” ‘I am sorry I stacked up silver and gold,’ he says, this, you see is Solomon’s great confession. Now am I right? That sounds good, is it right? Deut 17v19, look at this. “And it shall be with him,” this king, “and he shall read therein all the days of his life and that he may learn to fear Yahweh his God, and keep all the words of this law in these statutes to do them,” and what was the conclusion of Ecclesiastes? “Fear God, keep his commandments, for this is the complete man.” “Fear Yahweh, keep all the words of this law,”you see? That’s where Ecclesiastes ends in Deut 17, he’s concluded the same thing, but I believe, woven throughout is the reason he…he tried it, he failed, and he repents in his older years, when everything comes clear to Solomon. A remarkable thing, you see, isn’t this why he wrote the book of Ecclesiastes, brothers and sisters. In the final analysis he didn’t tell us anything that Moses hadn’t told us 500 years earlier, but look what he has done in the meantime, and look at that confession. The conclusion of the book of Ecclesiastes is and absolute endorsement of Deut 17. It was written by a king who broke every prohibition of this chapter, but repented of it. There’s the conclusion of life, brothers and sisters, in Ecclesiastes. There’s the conclusion of Ecclesiastes, there’s the conclusion of Solomon we believe and we pray, may it be that these things too are our conclusion.

Transcription by Fay Berry 2017.