Explore the Bible: What is life about?

• The Explore the Bible lesson for August 29 focuses on Ecclesiastes 12:1-14.

I remembered in grade school our math textbooks were special. They didn’t just have the lessons; they had the answers for all the odd problems in the back of the book. This was a helpful tool, just to make sure you were on the right path with regards to the assignment. This week, we come to the end—the epilogue, if you will—for Qohelet. Just like the answers in the back of the math book, it doesn’t solve every part of life for us; rather, we can check ourselves against this chapter to see that we are on the godly path.

The poem in our chapter gives beautiful and complex allegory to the natural aging process. Several scholars note this including Robert Alter in his translation and commentary along with John Goldingay in Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, & Song of Songs for Everyone. The picture is bleak. The storm clouds have come and stayed. We know natural decay comes for all; therefore, it is vital that life be lived well each day. We must remember to honor God while we have faculty to do so—for the days of trouble, failing body and mind, will approach (v. 1). In Texas, we have often seen the storms roll in as the clouds of the “blue norther” or the thunderstorms come in off the Gulf of Mexico. But once the storm front has passed, the clouds leave. The skies clear and return to blue. For both Alter and Goldingay, the picture of clouds after rain implies this is one final storm that will not just blow over.

The picture of trembling can cause us to think of failing limbs and shaking hands. We often like to say, “age is only a number.” But our life on this earth is tied directly to our bodies as they approach their expiration date. The author catalogues the decaying of the body as we age. The translation of “grinders” in the Hebrew is very close to the word for “teeth,” specifically “molars.”  “The doors are closed” and “the windows grow dim” show the loss of vision. The process continues, “It’s when you wake up with the birds because you can’t sleep, but you can’t properly hear girls singing. It’s when you’re afraid of heights and the danger of going out. It’s when your hair grows white like almond blossoms, and you shuffle along like a grasshopper and your desires fail. All these experiences indicate you’re on your way to your eternal home in the grave… the mourners are already gathering….” (Goldingay, p. 218-219) Before all these things happen—and we all know they will happen—we are to go back to the beginning. Remember God. Fear the Lord and follow his commands. God is the giver of all life, and it is to him we will return when our bodies return to dust.

Qohelet has already declared and demonstrated a wisdom far beyond anyone of his time, or any time for that matter. Our final poem ends just the way the book began. Ecclesiastes 12:8 is the same as 1:2: “Hebel, hebel… Everything is hebel.”  We are “vapor” or “breath.” And as Goldingay concludes, he declares that Qohelet hasn’t really made any progress in his pursuit of wisdom and understanding in life. “Everything is as empty in the end as it was at the beginning.”

Enjoy the blessings of the day

This doesn’t mean that life is empty. Actually, Qohelet calls us to the contrary. We are to enjoy the everyday delights God bestows on us: food, drink and relationships. Goldingay challenges to look at the teachings of Qohelet in light of the Bible as a whole. Look at what God does in and through Israel, and how he redeems all humankind through the Messiah, Jesus Christ, and how the church is launched through the matchless work of the Holy Spirit. “The reason the Bible has authority is that is alone can tell us this story. Churchman [Qohelet] submits himself and us to a thought experiment. What happens when you leave out this story and confine yourself to what you can discover empirically? ‘Everything is empty’ is the answer.” (Goldingay, p. 221)

The words of Qohelet are challenging. They are “goads” in life that direct and instruct us in the right path. He gives us one final answer to check how we are living life: “Fear God and keep his commandments.” God is the judge. He is the one to whom we are to seek to honor and worship, acknowledging our dependence on him in all matters.

Davey Gibson is associate pastor of education and discipleship at Sugar Land Baptist Church in Sugar Land, Texas.