Ecclesiastes Chapter Twelve, Difficult Days

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”: [2] While the sun and the light, the moon and the stars, are not darkened, and the clouds do not return after the rain; [3] In the days when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men bow down; when the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look through the windows grow dim; [4] when the doors are shut in the streets, and the sound of grinding is low; when one rises up at the sound of a bird, and all the daughters of music are brought low. [5] Also they are afraid of height, and of terrors in the way; when the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper is a burden, and desire fails. For man goes to his eternal home, and the mourners go about the streets.

Chapter 12 begins with a volley against aging. Or old age, to be more precise. The passage in question begins with the sagely counsel to remember your Creator while you are still young. The notion here goes beyond mere mental assent that God exists, like we forgot about Him. The preacher’s remembrance is a willing acknowledgement of God’s person and purpose in a believer’s life; He is the cornerstone upon which we build our faith, and from our faith our life’s works spring. 

Of course it must begin with the simplicity of assent, and so we read, “for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him,” Hebrews 11:6. The beginning is vital; we must agree with the witness of nature and the human conscience that there is a Creator. But the verse draws out, stating that this Creator is a rewarder of those that diligently seek Him. We are rewarded with His revelation. We find Him, we meet Him, we are saved by Him, transformed and given new life and fresh purpose. Jesus our Lord said that anyone who heard His words and obeyed was building from God’s infinite supply a building that could not be toppled by any contrivance, Matthew 7:24, 25. God’s presence and wisdom provide for man the building blocks to live life well. That does not mean easily, because we are warned that Christ causes division, and this world is filled with tribulation, and will hate those who belong to Christ. But if we see universal life, and our individual life, as a part of God’s whole, then we can function in daily life with purpose now, with an eye to the eternal, giving structure to what happens in the moment, in light of what will be forever.

Verse 1 becomes cold quickly. We are cautioned that it would behoove us to remember God in our youth, before the difficult days come. The RSV and NASB render “difficult,” as “evil”. And I believe that is a more literal translation from the Hebrew. It is good to submit to the yoke of God in our youth, before old age settles upon us. Jeremiah wrote, “It is good for a man to bear the yoke in his youth,” Lamentations 3:27. The passage goes on, “Let him sit alone and keep silent, because God has laid it on him; let him put his mouth in the dust–there may yet be hope,” Lamentations 3:28, 29. Hebrews informs us that God chastens out of love every son He accepts. We should submit to this chastening so as to be trained by it in our formative years, so correction can breed character.

Of the difficult days, the preacher says there will be years that will draw near (as we age into them) when we find no pleasure living any longer from any external stimuli. Verse 2 begins a descent into what becomes of the body as a person ages. The word “while,” connotes the idea that he is still pleading with his readership to remember God while we are still young and vital, and before we reach the physical state he is about to depict. The sun, moon and stars all portray light, and this may mean either a reference to failing sight, or a lack of zeal for any wonder life emits. Daily life is still amazing in a myriad of ways, but its glow has faded as age and time jade the person involved in its splendor.

The clouds returning after the rain suggest a lingering gloom after a rough spot has been weathered. This could mean that, in old age, one never feels fully “healthy” any longer, even after overcoming illness. Or one’s mindset is always a little dreary as the body fails and worry about many things keeps them from experiencing fully sunny days again. Verse 3’s keepers of the house are our arms; as age robs us of vitality, our robust nature deteriorates. Even the strongest man on earth can’t weightlift old age away. The strong men bowing down refers to our legs buckling as supporting our own weight becomes more difficult than it was when we were young. This could well be why the NKJV translators opted to use the word “difficult” rather than evil. Life just becomes harder.

The grinders ceasing refers to the loss of our teeth, and those who look through the window dimly is a definite reference to onsetting blindness. The doors being shut in the streets symbolizes deafness, as the ears fail and hearing anything, even out in the open, becomes difficult. It may also mean the absence or closure of former opportunity youth presented; the boundless avenues of possibility in life are, as age overtakes us, being closed off one by one. The sound of grinding being low may refer to eating habits altering, since we lack the teeth to properly chew food we formerly enjoyed. Harder food simply becomes harder to eat, and softer foods need less “grinding.” Verse 4’s rising up at the sound of a bird infers being easily startled or disturbed or distracted from our focus; when our mental faculties were once strong and colluded with us, instead of conspiring against us. The daughters of music being brought low is again a reference to deafness, but unlike a door being shut, music is brought low; we can hear it, but not with the same clarity with which we once appreciated it.

Verse 5 speaks of fear of height and terrors (plural) in the way. The idea here is that former things we took for granted, even going on a walk, or down a flight of stairs, become arduous and even dangerous. Our bodies grow frail, our minds a little less keen than they once were, generally speaking of course. Not every senior endures the same degree, but some enjoy what we refer to as, “aging gracefully.” Be that as it may, graceful or otherwise, the body is more delicate, and so danger lurks in formerly safe places. The blossoming almond tree, symbolizing the white hair of old age, yields two more results. The grasshopper (a little thing) has become a burden. Little things are harder now; they are burdening. And desire fails; this is a reference to sexual desire. Our interest in satisfying our sexual cravings ceases, as the preacher puts it. As an aside, a little thoughtful conjecture is implemented here, since the common idiom of the preacher’s time can be a trifle obscure, especially without contemporary works with similar phrasing. But I do believe we have fairly depicted the physical discomforts and rigors the preacher was attempting to convey.

It would seem desire fails in part to the eventual intrusion of death. Old age culminates with death. Old age is life’s winter. If childhood is spring, young adulthood is summer, and middle age is autumn, then our senior years represent winter, when life finally sleeps. The preacher reveals death in two parts. First (and more importantly) man goes to his eternal home. First, that would mean the grave from a purely earthly perspective. But since Ecclesiastes is written from life on earth, then this would be our focus. However, verse 7 of this chapter clearly indicates that there is more to the eternal home than a grave. Man leaves his body and goes to an eternal home. While this momentous event occurs, back on earth mourners (family, friends) go about the streets, attending his funeral, speaking well of him, and committing him to the earth. All that awaits the body is decay, as Job elegantly worded in his lament about his sufferings, Job 17:13-16. But what of the spirit of man, which God gave? The preacher will speak more on man’s purpose by the end of his letter.