Ecclesiastes 12 Summary - 5 Minute Bible Study
Ecclesiastes 12 Short Summary:
The Preacher encourages young people to remember their Creator while they’re young, before the hard days of old age take their toll. He concludes Ecclesiastes stating that the whole of man is the “fear God and keep His commandments.”
Ecclesiastes 12 Bible Study
ECCLESIASTES CHAPTER SUMMARIES
Ecclesiastes 1 - Solomon declares that life on earth is vanity. Earthly pursuits are largely meaningless. Men are born and men die in the endless cycle of the earth’s spinning. History is forgotten and repeated generation after generation.
Ecclesiastes 2 - Solomon tested the offerings of the world and found them empty. Physical pleasure, wine, laughter, entertainment, accomplishing things, riches, making a name for himself, they were all vanity. Solomon discussed the fate of the wicked vs. the foolish, and lamented the short-term value of hard work.
Ecclesiastes 3 - The cycle of the earth repeats continually, and everything happens at its appointed time according to God’s design. God created mankind with knowledge of eternity, although much of His work is still hidden from them. Injustice is prevalent on the earth, but a time for judgment is approaching.
Ecclesiastes 4 - In Ecclesiastes 4, Solomon expands on his reasons for calling all of life “vanity.” Life is oppressive, and the weak are victims of the powerful. There is vanity in hard work and in laziness. Companionship is preferable to solitude, even high-achieving solitude. Fame and power are fleeting.
Ecclesiastes 5 - Solomon continues his discussion on vanity, bringing up at least 3 areas of life where vanity is observable. Solomon saw vanity in the way some people worshipped, when they offered empty words and promises to God. He goes on to describe the vanity of greed and the vanity of wealth.
Ecclesiastes 6 - Solomon contemplates the vanity of a life of riches, wealth, and honor when the possessor never gets to enjoy them. Solomon warns men that their life’s work could all be meaningless, because nobody knows what will happen to their work after they die.
Ecclesiastes 7 - Solomon concludes that wisdom is a benefit to men living “under the sun.” It can give a man advantages on earth, but that man will also have to come to grips with the reality that all of life is meaningless. Wisdom can be pursued, but it will never be fully grasped.
Ecclesiastes 8 - Ecclesiastes 8 begins by describing a man of wisdom. A wise man obeys his king and knows the inevitability of death. Solomon lamented injustice on the earth, how some men who deserve punishment are blessed and visa-versa. He declared God’s ways to mysterious to find out.
Ecclesiastes 9 - Solomon was frustrated by the seeming randomness of life’s events. It wasn’t clear to him why God allowed similar events to befall the righteous and the wicked. At the end of the chapter, he described the value of wisdom using a story about a poor wise man who saved a small city.
Ecclesiastes 10 - Solomon continues his discussion on the value of wisdom, contrasting it with the destructive power of folly. He councils his readers to avoid the lifestyle of a fool and to embrace the benefits that wisdom can bring to their lives.
Ecclesiastes 11 - Solomon continues his proverbs discussing the principles of generosity and trusting God through the unknown. At the end of the chapter, he encourages young men to enjoy their youth but ultimately declares youth to be just another vanity.
Ecclesiastes 12 - The Preacher encourages young people to remember their Creator while they’re young, before the hard days of old age take their toll. He concludes Ecclesiastes stating that the whole of man is the “fear God and keep His commandments.”
AUTHOR:
Ecclesiastes was almost certainly written by Solomon (Ecc 1:1), the son of David, the 3rd king of the United Kingdom of Israel and Judah.
His palace and the Temple of God were located in Jerusalem.
Solomon became king in approximately 1015 B.C and reigned for 40 years.
OUTLINE:
REMEMBER GOD IN YOUR YOUTHFUL DAYS (12:1-8):
Following up on his discussion of youth at the end of chapter 11, Solomon instructed young people to remember God in their youthful years before the hardships of old age set in on them.
The following section appears to describe the hardships of old age in poetic language.
The sun and the moon and the stars are darkened… those who look through the windows are dimmed (eyesight grows dim).
The keepers of the house tremble (hands and arms start to tremble).
The strong men are bent (legs are bent and weary).
The grinders cease because they are few… the sound of the grinding is low (teeth fall out and chewing is more difficult).
One rises up at the sound of a bird (deep sleep is hard to come by).
The daughters of song are brought low (hearing is muted).
Fear of what is high and terrors in the way (fear of falling and increased threats).
The almond tree blossoms (grey hair appears).
The grasshopper drags itself along (a once quick and agile creature becomes sluggish).
Desire fails (hunger and sexual desire fade).
Solomon advised his readers to remember God while they were young, because it wouldn’t be long before they were back in the dust from which God made them.
“Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher; all is vanity” (12:8).
Solomon does state that the spirit “returns to God,” but he does not elaborate further on life after death.
FEAR GOD AND KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS (12:9-14):
The narrator of Ecclesiastes tells the reader that Solomon (the Preacher) taught knowledge to his people through proverbs.
“The Preacher sought to find words of delight, and uprightly he wrote words of truth” (12:10).
After all of his experimenting trying to find meaning and significance in life, Solomon’s final conclusion in the Book of Ecclesiastes are these famous words…
“The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgement, with every secret thing, whether good or evil” (12:14).
APPLICATION
After testing the world’s offerings, Solomon concluded that humans can find significance, purpose, and meaning only by giving themselves entirely to keeping God’s commands.
The creation contains a diversity of things that we can enjoy, but they won’t give our lives meaning.
If we pursue the things of creation but fail to pursue the Creator, our lives will indeed be a vain pursuit.
Furthermore, the world is full of many things that we don’t understand, and we’ll never be able to understand.
The world is full of many things that we can’t control, and we’ll never come close to grasping their mystery.
The randomness and seeming vanity of the world is only controlled and fully understood by God.
The human mind is incapable of grasping its complexity, and we have the tendency to label what we don’t understand as nonsensical, as vanity.
Our responsibility isn’t to understand, it’s to follow God’s commands as part of His world.
Though life may seem unjust, though daily work may seem inconsequential, though the world may seem like an endless cycle of repetition, we can know that God understands why it all exists and the purpose of it all, and He will account for every detail on His scales of justice when He deems the time appropriate.
