Fear God

One disadvantage the writer of Ecclesiastes has as he seeks to understand the meaning of life is that he lived in a day when God had not yet fully revealed what happens after death. God’s revelation throughout the Bible is progressive. The godly in Genesis did not know all there was to know about life and death. God slowly revealed more down through the centuries, and it remained for the coming of Christ to bring “life and immortality to light.” The writer is pessimistic because he thinks “one fate comes to all, to the righteous and the wicked” (9:2), but in the New Testament we learn that the fate of the two is very different. The writer thinks that “the dead know nothing” (9:5), while the New Testament reveals that at death the soul goes to heaven or hell.

The concluding chapter is a plea for young people to come to God now. This is followed by a vivid description of old age, when “the grinders cease” (we lose our teeth), “the windows are dim” (our eyesight diminishes) etc. Death is then described in terms of “the silver cord” being “snapped.”

The conclusion: “Fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man” (12:13). The reason given: God will judge every deed and all that we cannot see. This book shows how empty is life without God, how meaningful with Him.