Ecclesiastes 12:8-14
Ecclesiastes
12:8
Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is
vanity.
After all the examinations of the things in this world,
Solomon can only finalize his findings that this world is nothing but vanity
because for the believer it holds no permanent home and is permeated with sin
making it a hostile environment for the redeemed of God.
Even those who have immense wealth will never live long enough to enjoy
it and one day this world, with all its wealth, will be destroyed and that is
when the rich, unsaved men of this world will howl.
And the kings of the earth, who
have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and
lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning,
(Revelation 18:9)
Ecclesiastes
12:9
And moreover, 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.
Even though in the light of the fact that all the world
is vanity, yet the preacher who had wisdom above all still did not hesitate to
teach the people knowledge. We must
realize that even though the world is futile in light of eternity, we still live
here for a period of years and it would be to our advantage to live those years
in wisdom rather than foolishness.
Solomon gave good heed which means he examined things in depth and gave his
final analysis according to truth and did not skew his findings.
When he found something out, he did not hide it instead he made them
public by means of writing down many parables which instill wisdom in people who
heeded his findings. He wrote three
thousand proverbs.
And he spake three thousand proverbs: and
his songs were a thousand and five.
(1 Kings 4:32) This is a
principle we must learn as Christians.
Whenever we study our Bibles and come to a conclusion on a subject and
that conclusion contradicts what we have been taught, then we are to reject that
teaching and follow what the Bible teaches.
Let me give a quick example.
When I first became a Christian I adopted pre-tribulationalism and one of the
tenets of it was a pre-wrath rapture.
I had started studying the Bible more deeply and found that the Bible
plainly teaches in 6 places in John that the rapture of the Saints is on the
last day simultaneously with resurrection of both the Saints and unbelievers.
So I have totally rejected the false teaching of a pre-trib rapture.
Ecclesiastes
12:10
The preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and
that which was written was upright, even words of truth.
Then the preacher had sought out the proper way to
deliver his findings and what he came up with was acceptable words which were
words of pleasure or pleasant to the hearing.
Then he states that these words were not meant to appease someone but to
deliver the truth as to what he wrote.
He wrote that which was upright which was honorable or righteous and he
made sure that he tells his readers that the words were the truth.
Truth can be delivered either by pleasantry or by rudeness.
Solomon chose pleasantry without compromise.
Ecclesiastes
12:11
The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails
fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one
shepherd.
Then Solomon gives the reality about the words of the
wise which are the words of truth.
They are as goads and a goad is something which is used to spur on an animal by
pricking their thick skin. It is
like a spur used to force a horse to run faster.
Now when they heard this, they
were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the
apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?
(Acts 2:37) In Acts 2:37
we read that when people heard the preaching of Peter, they were pricked in
their heart as if it had been stabbed with the truth and that is what the truth
does. A nail fastened is a nail
which a master craftsman uses to assemble a piece of furniture or even a house
and that nail will hold the furniture or house together strongly by binding two
separate pieces together. This is
what truth does.
And ye shall know the truth, and the
truth shall make you free. (John
8:32) The truth binds us to the
Lord Jesus Christ and while truth binds, it makes us free.
The shepherd in view is the Lord Jesus Christ.
And David my servant shall be king
over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my
judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them.
(Ezekiel 37:24) Just as
air cannot get in between two bound pieces, the truth binds us to him as it
excludes all false teachings and teachers.
The true gospel no matter how it is presented, by pleasantry or rudeness,
is a pricking instrument to the heart of the unsaved.
Ecclesiastes
12:12
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.
Solomon admonishes his son to heed the words of truth and
he is to understand that there are many people out there who have different
opinions and studies and have different understandings.
Many of them publish books and all one has to do is go to a book store
like Barnes and Noble or even Amazon on line and you will see there are
thousands of books on many subjects and the problem is that each author will
come up with their own conclusions meaning there will be massive confusion
within each discipline. Take
Christianity for example, you have pre-trib prophecy books and Amillennial
prophecy books. You have Preterism
and Post-tribulationalism. You have
Calvinism and Arminianism. Then
Solomon states that in much study is weariness of the flesh and when you look at
the contrasting studies in theology, you could literally wear yourself out
physically by reading all the books and studying them, to try and come to your
own conclusion. The problem is that
too many Christians place their beliefs in man’s books rather than the Bible
where they can get all the knowledge and wisdom they need.
Then of course if someone is studying to be a doctor, accountant, lawyer,
or something like that they must read and study books according to their chosen
field which continues on after graduation because they have to stay up to date
on new laws and treatments. So
studying and learning is really a lifelong venture.
Ecclesiastes
12:13
Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God,
and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
After the long journey Solomon took us on, it all boils
down to one major principle. After
coming to the conclusion, the same which he started out with, that all is vanity
and the only thing a person can benefit from in this world is his labor and the
things he can buy with it because the grave is the inevitable destination of all
people. Solomon admonishes his
people to fear God and keep his commandments.
This is done in two ways:
First, the unbeliever fears God so he will not be the recipient of God’s wrath
in the area of taking his material goods or not giving him a good crop.
Then he keeps his commandments so he will not incur the earthly penalties
such as being stoned for adultery or going to jail if they steal something or
executed for committing murder.
Secondly, the true born again believer fears God not as a despot but as a loving
heavenly father who will chastise his children to keep them on the straight and
narrow. They keep the Lord’s
commandments because they love him and want to be obedient to him plus being in
Christ means that he has kept all the righteous demands of God’s holy law and
that was imputed to the true believer as if they had done it themselves.
The whole duty of man is to obey God and keep his commandments from both
vantage points which would make this world a safer and more pleasant place to
live.
Ecclesiastes
12:14
For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every
secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
Every human being on earth shall come into judgment for
their actions. There is no escape
from being accountable for God. All
works, whether they be evil or good shall be brought to light on Judgment Day
and each will give an account for their actions.
Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it,
because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of
what sort it is. (1 Corinthians
3:13) This is not just an Old
Testament teaching but is further detailed in 1 Corinthians 3:13 that “every
man’s work” shall come into judgment and that includes the people on this earth
who have been responsible for starting wars, raping the finances of people,
causing calamities, etc. The super
wealthy think they will get away with these things just as the very poor person
will not get away with stealing something and then using their poverty as an
excuse.
Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not
see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD.
(Jeremiah 23:24)
Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from
the LORD, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who
knoweth us? (Isaiah 29:15)
Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his
sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we
have to do. (Hebrews 4:13)
One of the biggest misconceptions is that when people are involved in secret conspiracies such as Jekyll Island where the illegal Federal Reserve was created is that nothing is secret to the LORD as we read in the three verses above. This is why Solomon states that we should fear God because he will judge us and keep his commandments so we do not get into trouble both on earth and in judgment. The problem with the unbeliever is that there is no fear of God because they are spiritually dead. There is no fear of God before their eyes. (Romans 3:18)