Before the1 difficult days come,
And the years draw near bwhen you say,
“I have no pleasure in them”:
The moon and the stars,
Are not darkened,
And the clouds do not return after the rain;
And the strong men bow down;
When the grinders cease because they are few,
And those that look through the windows grow dim;
And the sound of grinding is low;
When one rises up at the sound of a bird,
And all athe daughters of music are brought low.
And of terrors in the way;
When the almond tree blossoms,
The grasshopper is a burden,
And desire fails.
For man goes to ahis eternal home,
And bthe mourners go about the streets.
Or the golden bowl is broken,
Or the pitcher shattered at the fountain,
Or the wheel broken at the well.
| << Ecclesiastes 12:2 | Ecclesiastes 12:4 >> |
Articles, Bible studies, and sermons that contain Ecclesiastes 12:3:
Ecclesiastes 12:3-5
In an overall sense, even though it says directly, "Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth," what he is really saying is, "Get started now! Do not wait! Do not delay! Live life the right way because as you get older, your capacity to enjoy diminishes."
These are very interesting metaphors. The "keepers of the house" in verse 3 are a person's arms. You work with your hands and arms and they keep the house. They begin to tremble—he is talking about the progression of old age.
"The strong men bow down"—the knees, the legs, they begin to get weary; they begin to bow from the weight of the body on top of them.
"When the grinders cease"—that is the person's teeth because they are few. They are falling out. "And those that look through the windows"—that is the eyes, because the eye is growing dim.
"When the doors are shut"—this means when the person tends to stay inside because they just feel more comfortable being closed up in the house. They feel safe. They do not worry that they are going to have a heart attack out on the street, so they just sort of become reclusive in old age in their house.
"And the sound of grinding is low"—he is talking about the work cycles. He is using the grinding of grain. Apparently, when they did that in those days, the whole community ground the grain together. There would be one mill and everybody would come there and everybody in the community would have a lot of fun. They would be laughing and enjoying the friendship, companionship, and fellowship with people at the mill. But as a person gets old, he does not have the strength to go to the mill and enjoy the pleasures of that work.
"When the almond tree blossoms"—apparently, when the almond tree blossoms, it turns white. Solomon is talking about the hair first getting gray, and then finally turning white.
"And the grasshopper is a burden"—this is an interesting picture. Everybody ought to know how light a grasshopper is, but he is saying even the lightest thing becomes a burden to an old person because they are losing their strength.
"For man goes to his eternal home"—the grave—"And the mourners go about the streets." Solomon is showing over these verses, beginning in verse 1, that death is seen as the climax of a process that began with birth and the strength of youth, until finally the person dies.
Sermons
Mutability and Our Christlike Response
Ecclesiastes Resumed (Part Forty): Ecclesiastes 12:1-14
The Purposes of Aging
Strategies for Escaping Babylon (Part Four)
The W's and H's of Meditation (Part Four)
| << Ecclesiastes 12:2 | Ecclesiastes 12:4 >> |
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