ECCLESIASTES

Chapter 11:1 – 12:8

Introduction

Take another look at the beginning of verse eight in chapter eleven:

Ecclesiastes 11:8 But if a man lives many years And rejoices in them all…

A paraphrase of those words would be, "If a man should live many years, let him rejoice in them all…"

Solomon is looking at the whole scope of life, from youth through mid-life until old age. Whatever stage of life you find yourself at, despite the vanity of life, you should "rejoice."

The question that immediately comes to your mind is, "How?" How do you rejoice in each stage of your life?

Solomon discusses the three stages and he suggests three words – each of which should characterize you in that stage:

1. Verses one through eight of chapter eleven deal with your middle years, your mid-life. The word that should characterize you in your mid-life is in verse six, where he says, "do not withhold your hand." The word we want to focus on is hand. Mid-life is the time to offer the work of your hands to the Lord.
2. Your youth is dealt with in verses nine and ten of chapter eleven. The key word there, repeated three times, is heart. Youth is the time of life to get your heart right with the Lord.
3. Old age is the subject of the first eight verses in chapter twelve. He says in verse five, "for man goes to his eternal home." Home is the word that characterizes you in your old age. You’re going home to be with the Lord.

We’ll organize our thoughts around three points: #1 Rejoicing In Your Mid-Life Comes From Investing Your Hands For Heaven, #2 Rejoicing In Your Youth Comes From Inclining Your Heart Towards Heaven, and #3 Rejoicing In Your Old Age Comes From Inheriting Your Home In Heaven.

#1 Rejoicing In Your Mid-Life Comes From

Investing Your Hands For Heaven

The phrase "mid-life crisis" is well known to us. It is used to describe the depression and despondency you’re supposed to feel when you get to the middle portion of your life and begin to look back and wonder if you’ve made the right choices along the way.

The modern mid-life crisis is an example of what we like to call psychobabble. Mid-life crisis is a pseudo-condition invented to excuse all manner of sinful behavior, as if it were a physical ailment over which you have little or no control. We reject it.

Nevertheless, I recognize that people – even Christians – do seem to struggle in mid-life. These verses should be a great encouragement to you in your middle years. Rather than struggle, you can rejoice – and you will if you invest your hands for heaven.

"Do not withhold your hand," Solomon says in verse six. In other words, work hard and heartily as unto the Lord. Rejoicing comes from "…always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord" (1Corinthians 15:58).

Your labor is not in vain because it will bring you a reward. Jesus promises you,

Since your work will bring you a reward, it can be considered an investment in the kingdom of heaven. Thus – Invest your hands for heaven!

Solomon chooses two illustrations to encourage you to invest your hands for heaven. He compares you to a merchant, then a farmer.

Invest like a merchant:

Ecclesiastes 11:1 Cast your bread upon the waters, For you will find it after many days.

Ecclesiastes 11:2 Give a serving to seven, and also to eight, For you do not know what evil will be on the earth.

"Cast your bread upon the waters" means "send out your grain ships." The merchant would send out his ships, and it would be months or even years before he could expect a return.

It’s an illustration for you of your labor for the Lord. "Cast" requires a total commitment, not withholding anything. "Your bread" represents everything you might have in terms of treasure, talent or time. "You will find it after many days" in the sense of being rewarded by your Lord at His coming. In the mean time, patience is needed. But you can and should rejoice knowing that your reward awaits you.

Verse two could read, "Send cargo on seven or eight ships…" "You don’t know what evil" might befall the ships. Some of the them could and did meet with disaster: They might hit a reef, run into a storm, or be boarded by pirates.

The exhortation here is to be diversified in your investments. In the context of your work for the Lord, it means being flexible and open to be used of Him in new and exciting ways. Don’t just specialize in what you think is "your ministry." Be a servant who does whatever ministry is necessary.

The farmer is the second illustration.

Ecclesiastes 11:3 If the clouds are full of rain, They empty themselves upon the earth; And if a tree falls to the south or the north, In the place where the tree falls, there it shall lie.

Farming is tough work. The farmer depends upon the "clouds" bringing the "rain" at just the right time. His "trees," perhaps representing his crop, are easily damaged and the crop cannot be saved. We see this often here in the Central Valley, as rain and hail hit the blossoms - ruining the crop.

Ecclesiastes 11:4 He who observes the wind will not sow, And he who regards the clouds will not reap.

Conditions aren’t always perfect for planting or for harvesting, but you must do both in order to have a harvest.

Get busy for God is Solomon’s point. Conditions might not be perfect for you – but you can’t harvest unless you sow, so get out and sow!

Ecclesiastes 11:5 As you do not know what is the way of the wind, Or how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child, So you do not know the works of God who makes everything.

This might be an attempt at humor. Are you hesitant to get pregnant because you can’t see the baby growing in the womb? (Remember – this was before sonograms). No, you trust God to "make everything." So should the farmer… And so should you! Invest your hands in heaven’s work and trust God to "make everything."

Ecclesiastes 11:6 In the morning sow your seed, And in the evening do not withhold your hand; For you do not know which will prosper, Either this or that, Or whether both alike will be good.

Get up early "in the morning" and "sow your seed" until "the evening." You can never know how fruitful your work will be, but you should trust in God Who will make all things beautiful in their time.

Ecclesiastes 11:7 Truly the light is sweet, And it is pleasant for the eyes to behold the sun;

This is Solomon’s way of saying you should be thankful for each new day. Every morning you awake and "behold the sun" is a gift from God. Every day holds new opportunities to serve the Lord.

Ecclesiastes 11:8 But if a man lives many years And rejoices in them all, Yet let him remember the days of darkness, For they will be many. All that is coming is vanity.

Rejoice in your middle years because old age and the inevitable "darkness" of death is coming. Death ends your opportunities to invest in heaven.

I don’t know when youth ends and old age begins. But in-between there is to be no mid-life crisis, only mid-life commitment to invest your hands in the kingdom of God by seizing the opportunities each new day presents to you.

#2 Rejoicing In Your Youth Comes From

Inclining Your Heart Towards Heaven

We spend most of our time as Christian parents telling our kids what not to do. Beware of drugs… Beware of alcohol… Beware of smoking… Beware of premarital sex… Then, to these standard evils, we add our own particular negatives regarding things like particular styles of music and fashion.

That is only part of the message. Solomon gives us the other part:

Ecclesiastes 11:9 Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, And let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth; Walk in the ways of your heart, And in the sight of your eyes; But know that for all these God will bring you into judgment.

Youth is a time to be richly enjoyed! In fact, this verse is in the form of a command. You are commanded to "rejoice" in your youth and to "let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth."

The key is the condition of your "heart." The "ways of your heart" refers to your motives; the "sight of your eyes" refers to your choices based on the motives of your heart. These are to be tempered by the understanding that "God will bring you into judgment."

In other words, incline your heart to the Lord! Youth is the time to come to know Jesus as your Savior. His presence in your heart will affect your motives, which will guide your choices. Have fun as a Christian – within the loving boundaries and restrictions that God has placed in your life for your own good.

Ecclesiastes 11:10 Therefore remove sorrow from your heart, And put away evil from your flesh, For childhood and youth are vanity.

You can only "remove sorrow from your heart and put away evil from your flesh" if God gives you a new heart and lives within it by His Holy Spirit. "Childhood and youth are vanity." They are not immune from the troubles and trials of life under the sun.

Youth is the time to bring your kids to Jesus Christ. A new heart, indwelt by the Spirit of God, is the solution to the pressures they face.

#3 Rejoicing In Your Old Age Comes From

Inheriting Your Home In Heaven

"For man goes to his eternal home…" These verses describe the last stage of your life under the sun – old age and death.

Ecclesiastes 12:1 Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, Before the difficult days come, And the years draw near when you say, "I have no pleasure in them":

Solomon has been encouraging young people to come to know the Lord. Now he looks ahead from youth to the end to emphasize just how important it is to establish your spiritual foundation early. Old age is coming – the "years draw near when you [will] say, ‘I have no pleasure in them’" because of the physical and emotional difficulties associated with them.

Commentators are disagreed at exactly what verses two through eight describe:

1. Some say that each phrase is a description of the your mind and body as it deteriorates. For example: in verse three, "when the grinders cease" would refer to losing your teeth; "windows grow dim" would refer to failing eyesight; in verse five "when the almond tree blossoms" would refers to the whitening of your hair; "the grasshopper is a burden" would be a description of dragging yourself along like a grasshopper.
2. Others see these verses as describing a funeral procession as it winds through the city streets. The "keepers of the house" tremble as the body is carried past their dwelling; people shut their "doors" and look somberly through their "windows." "The sound of the grinding is low" as those working at the mill pause in respect for the dead. "For man goes to his eternal home, and the mourners go about the streets."

Probably both interpretations are intended. There’s no reason that Solomon’s words shouldn’t have several levels of meaning. What it all adds up to is: Old age is the time when you look forward to inheriting your home in heaven.

Ecclesiastes 12:6 Remember your Creator before the silver cord is loosed, Or the golden bowl is broken, Or the pitcher shattered at the fountain, Or the wheel broken at the well.

Ecclesiastes 12:7 Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, And the spirit will return to God who gave it.

These are poetic images of your physical life ending. The "silver cord" would be a slender silver chain by which an oil lamp would be hung from the ceiling. In your old age you are like a fallen lamp, a broken bowl, a broken pitcher, the broken wheel at the well…

But, when your physical life under the sun ends, your "spirit will return to God Who gave it." If you are a believer, you will inherit your home in heaven.

Conclusion

Ecclesiastes 12:8 "Vanity of vanities," says the Preacher, "All is vanity."

Solomon constantly reminds you that life is vanity. It has been subjected to disease, disaster, decay and death – all because of mankind’s sin.

But you should not despair! You should not go into a mid-life crisis! Instead, throughout the book he tells you to "rejoice" and to "enjoy" life under the sun by realizing that God makes all things beautiful in their time, that God works all things together for the good.

If you are young, what’s going on in your heart?

If you are in your middle years, what are you doing with your hands?

If you are old, are you ready to go home?

Your heart, your hands, and your home are the keys to your rejoicing.