Ecclesiastes 11:9 - 12:8
Qohelet Talking to the Young Man
A segment in the Old Testament is known as the Wisdom Literature.
It largely comprises the book of Job, Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. Ecclesiastes
is a Greek translation of Hebrew word - ‘qohelet’,
which means the Teacher.
This book contains ‘experience talk’ of a veteran or an
elder who has gone through a lot in life and penned wisdom in words.
Interestingly, the climax of Ecclesiastes is a section
that addresses to ‘young man’, found in 11:9 – 12:1-8. ‘Young man’ here denotes
youth not children. So in today’s context, they refer to people between 15 to
45 years old.
We shall look into the literary structure of the texts,
because it can help us to interpret the text rightfully and meaningfully.
The preceding text, 11:8 ends with ‘All that comes is
vanity’, and 12:8 ends with, ‘Vanity of vanities, says the Teacher; all is
vanity.’ So the word ‘vanity’ forms an inclusio
(11:8 and 12:8)— a frame for this section of 11:9 to 12:8.
“Vanity” in the context of Ecclesiastes means ‘vapor;
breath; cannot be grasped; impermanent; uncertainty; ridiculous’. The NIV bible
“painfully” translates vanity as ‘meaningless’.
God Will Bring You into Judgment
This section is further divided into two parts. There
are six imperatives in this section and five in the first part:
v9: 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 the sight of your eyes.
But know
that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.
V10: Remove vexation from your heart, and
put away pain from your body, for youth
and the dawn of life a vanity.
Qohelet is saying, ‘O young men, life is short and you will
grow to old age very soon, an age of sorrows, frailty and you will die one day.
This is vanity! So now, rejoice, have fun, enjoy life, be happy, don't worry,
do what your heart and eyes feel good!’
I think our youth today need not be reminded or taught
to enjoy life. ‘To enjoy life’ is not the core intent of Qoheleth. His real core intent is found in the middle of the chiasm
structure, that is, ‘but know that, for all these things God will bring you into
judgment.’
This is consistent with the undertone throughout the
book of Ecclesiastes:
3:17, ‘I said to myself, God will bring into judgment
both the righteous and the wicked, for there will be a time for every activity,
a time to judge every deed.’
At the end of the book, 12:14, the preacher restates
‘For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing,
whether it is good or evil.’
Remember Your Creator While Young
In the second part, there is one imperative which is
also the core of message, found in 12:1,
V1 Remember also your Creator in the days of your
youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say,
‘I have no pleasure in them’.
‘Remember also your Creator in the days of your
youth’. What did the Creator do to you?
Genesis 2:7, ‘Then the Lord God formed a man from the
dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the
man became a living being.’
Man is created by God from the dust. God digs into the
soil and dirtied His hands to create man. Dust is worthless and insignificant
material. So human beings have a humble beginning, but human is not worthless
as dust. It is because God bends down again and breathes breath into the man.
That turns the lifeless human person into a living soul.
Man is God’s precious workmanship, who is able to
share life with God, communes with God, representing God to rule the world as God's
agent, for he has the image of God. So remember, God is our source of life. We
will be ‘vapor’ vanish, dead, if God withdraw this breath of life from us.
The biblical imagery also pictures the humankind as
made of clay by a potter. God is the potter; we are the clay.
Jeremiah 18:6, He said, ‘can I not do with you,
Israel, as this potter does? Like Clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in
my hand, Israel.’
Isaiah 64:8, ‘Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are
the clay; you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.’
But at times ‘clay’ also protests to the potters, ‘Why
you make me like this? I don’t like it. I want to go on my own way!’
Isaiah 45:9, ‘Woe to those who quarrel with their
Maker, those who are nothing but potsherds among the potsherds on the
ground. Does the clay say to the potter,
“what are you making?” Does your work say, “The potter has no hands’?
Romans 9:20-21, ‘But who are you, a human being, to
talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘why did
you make me like this?’ Does not the potter have the right to make out of the
same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common uses?’
O young man, while you are at your young age,
‘remember’ also your Creator who is the potter, and you are the clay! Don’t
wait until you become old, frail and sorrowful; only then starting to ‘remember’
the Lord your creator.
In Hebrew, ‘remember’ is not about memory state of
mind, but it is about ‘acting’ accordingly! When God sees, it means God
provides. When Israel hears, that means Israel obeys!
So ‘remember your creator’, means you have to surrender
your life to God, saying ‘have Thine own way Lord, I am the clay, you are the
potter. You can shape me the way you think best for me. You can bring the best
out of me.’
If we go on ways as pleasing to ourselves, as we have
planned or as conditioned by the society expectation, we can only draw a small
picture of our life, but if we allow God to shape us, we will live to the
fullest potential, drawing a bigger picture of life.
Without God being the center in our lives, we still
can become affluent professionals, yuppies but caught up in the rat-race and
hustling and bustling of life, living a life with emptiness and will fade away
like vapor, and contributes nothing to the Kingdom of God.
Still worse, we could fall into the devil's
temptation, caught up in vices and crimes, and eventually fall into the
judgment of God.
The Lord is our Creator like a potter. He has a great
plan for each individual. He is shaping us to fit in this great plan.
So let God be our vision today, in that we no longer
insist on ‘my vision, my dream, my desire’, but allow God to shape our dreams and
empower us to actualize the dreams, or else our dreams will remain as fantasy; Allow
God to shape our desires, or else our desires are just product of carnal
motives, and eventually lead us to destruction.
Let us surrender ourselves to the sovereign hands of
God, the Potter. For every decision we make, let us first ask, ‘is this
beneficial to the kingdom? Is this doing good to God’s plan? Is this glorifying
God?’
When we put focus on God, difficulties and uncertainties
of life and the setbacks will not be able to sway us from realizing God’s plan in
our lives. We will become ‘alternative yuppies or professionals’, who will take
up our profession as ‘vocation’ or ‘ministry’ that will channel blessings to
the world, to the nation, to the society, to the circle of our influences, to our
families and eventually to our very own self.
Conclusion
Life is short, the youthful years even shorter! When
the Lord calls us back to the heavenly home one day, He will not ask you, ‘how
much money have you earned? How many properties do you own?
But he will ask you, ‘how much have you done for the Kingdom?
How many people are blessed by your ministry?’
O young men! ‘Know that for all these things God will
bring you in judgment.’
‘Remember also your Creator.’
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