Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;
While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain:
In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out of the windows be darkened,
And the doors shall be shut in the streets, when the sound of the grinding is low, and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of musick shall be brought low;
Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail: because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets:
Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern.
Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
Ecclesiastes 12:1-7
According to rabbinic tradition, Ecclesiastes was written by Solomon in his old age. Throughout the book, ‘the preacher’, as King Solomon refers to himself, confesses the toilsome folly which had marked his life. Yet this most wise (and often foolish) mortal man leaves his most solemn appeal in the book's final chapter, which was likely written shortly before his death. Seeking to spare others from the ‘vexation of spirit’ that lay heavy on his time-worn heart, the repentant king appeals to the youth of all ages. Looking back from the winter of his own life – from ‘the evil days’ when ‘the clouds return after the rain’ – the preacher appeals to the young: ‘Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth’ (Ecclesiastes 12:1-2).
Oh that all youth would heed this imperative; what peace would mark their days! But alas, in the springtime of life, ‘while the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened’, the sons of men forget their Creator in pursuit of pleasures and vanities (12:2). Having made such things the grand object of life, the trend of the careless young man is to carry the same blighted value system into maturity. Arriving at his latter end, however, he finds that the pleasure and excess he has lived for are no longer within his grasp, and he laments his days, saying, ‘I have no pleasure in them’ (12:1).
The Evil Days
Harnessing the power of metaphor, the master poet catalogues with sublime beauty the grim realities of bodily decay that render the latter days of man, ‘evil’. The first marker of ‘the evil days’ is noted by Solomon in verse 3: ‘when the keepers of the house shall tremble’. In those days, ‘the keepers of the house’ – the strong and stable arms that once provided for the frivolous youth – ‘shall tremble’ in weakness. And not only that, but ‘the strong men’ – the strong legs which once carried him to and fro – ‘shall bow themselves’ under his own bodyweight. Moreover, ‘the grinders’ of the dainty meats that he once chewed shall ‘cease because they are few’, having rotted and fallen out. And ‘all the daughters of musick shall be brought low’, for his dull hearing barely distinguishes the sweet sound of women singing.
In place of careless frolicking and dauntless adventure, he has become ‘afraid of that which ishigh’, such as a steep incline or a flight of stairs. He is reluctant even to step outside because ‘fears shall be in the way’. The noisy youngsters or mangey dogs roaming the streets are such a worry to him that his ‘doors shall be shut in the streets’. Fraught with dread over small matters, even ‘the grasshopper shall be a burden’ to the once strong soul.
Where once was thick dark hair, ‘the almond tree shall flourish’, for his hair now resembles the bright white blooms of the Prunus genus. And most mournful of all, ‘desire shall fail’. The pleasures he once lived for exclusively no longer satisfy his failing flesh. He discerns that the path before him is the one which ‘goeth to his long home’. Indeed, the portals of death through which he peers may quickly be entered by the failure of one or many organs of his body, and this, Solomon proceeds to detail with resplendent imagery:
Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern. Ecclesiastes 12:6
‘Or ever the silver cord be loosed’
The delicate nerves of the spinal cord – termed in medicine, ‘white and grey matter’ – sound remarkably similar to Solomon’s ‘silver cord’. Statistically, death rates in the elderly from cervical spine fractures are consistently high. One aged man who entered death’s portals via a loosened silver cord was priest Eli, who ‘fell from off the seat backward by the side of the gate, and his neck brake, and he died’ (1 Samuel 4:18).
‘or the golden bowl be broken’
What a fitting depiction of the precious capital of the body – the head with its brain and skull – is the term ‘the golden bowl’! Like the neck, the weakening skulls of the elderly may be broken by a fall. The precious contents of the golden bowl – the brain – also suffers decay through age-related diseases like dementia.
‘or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern’
A fountain, which spurts out water, and a wheel, such as was used for pumping water in the days of Solomon, are both fitting poetic allusions to the heart. Heart attacks and cardiovascular disease are a leading cause of death in the elderly, and also in the young since 2020. The pitcher and cistern of Solomon’s metaphor may therefore be a reference to the vessels which transport the life blood pumped by the heart.
The End of the Matter
After listing some common means by which death is occasioned in the elderly, Solomon describes the utter dissolution of the once carefree stripling: ‘Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it’ (12:7). The body breaks down into various trace elements, while the life force that invigorated the dust returns to the great Source of all in the heavens.
These solemn words spring not from any morbid fascination. Says old Solomon: ‘by these, my son, be admonished’ (12:12). Truly, the preacher’s words are a calling from the Spirit of God for all to awaken to their terminal condition. For the sad reality is that a lifetime of pleasure hardens the heart, and banishes thought of the hereafter. With the arm of faith so weakened by sin, turning to God at the bitter end of one’s life is not an easy task. And so the wise old king directs his appeal to those who are yet in ‘the days of thy youth’. ‘Remember now thy Creator’, he says, ‘while the evil days come not’.
While it is most advantageous – for oneself, one’s community, and the work of the gospel – to accept and follow the Lord from the days of one’s youth, the entreaty of the Almighty King, as well as that of Solomon, is not limited by age. We are assured that ‘the Lord’s hand is not shortened’ – He can save even those who have forgotten Him in their youth. ‘Neither [is] His ear heavy’ – He will hear the prayers of all who turn to Him in faith (Isaiah 59:1).
Although the evils of old age and death attend even those who remember their Creator, they do not overwhelm such, for indeed, ‘the righteous hath hope in his death’ (Proverbs 14:32). In spite of their weakening frame, the Christian retains the joy and purpose he had in his youth. ‘They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing’ (Psalm 92:14).
In stark contrast to the obscurity of much of his writing, the final words of the old preacher are divested of simile and metaphor. They are so pointed and plain that no word of comment is necessary:
Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil. Ecclesiastes 12:13-14
Christopher Sparks