We often hear about deathbed conversions and the thief on the cross, and think: “That’s good; they made it!” Well, yes, it is always good to turn to the Lord, whenever that moment occurs. However, has anyone ever thought to ask the Lord about what he thinks of such things? At this point my mind wanders to the book of Malachi, to where the Lord says he loved his people, but they didn’t believe it (Malachi 1:2). He claimed they despised his name (Malachi 1:6), but they wondered how that could be, because they had always served him. Then the Lord told his people they hadn’t, really, served him (Malachi 1:7), but, once more, his own people didn’t believe him. Nevertheless, it is true, because God’s people often consider the Lord’s Table contemptible, in that they offer him the ‘blind’ and the ‘sick’ (Malachi 1:7-8). What does all this mean? Well, if all we offer the Lord is our repentance on our deathbed, we have offered the Lord the blind and the sick. We have kept from him the prime of our lives, because we consider his Table (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8) contemptible (Malachi 1:8).
The Teacher uses the word remember (H2142) to say “remember your Creator” (Ecclesiastes 12:1), but what does he mean? For example, anyone could remember there is a god and believe he is their creator. Pagans believed they were created by the gods, and their myths tell us under what circumstances. Yet, it seems evident this is not what the Teacher has in mind. The same word is used of God, and we know God doesn’t forget. He has no memory loss. We are told that about the time he was to bring Israel out from under Egyptian bondage that he remembered (H2142) his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Exodus 2:24). In other words, he remembered in the sense that he was ready and willing to act upon his covenant with them. Therefore, the Teacher advises the young man to remember the covenant with his Creator, which he bound himself to.
A youth became responsible for his actions before God about the age of 13, when he entered into a covenant relationship with the Lord in what is called his bar mitzvah. Therefore, the youth is advised to remember the covenant he made with the Lord at that early age. He is encouraged to walk with the Lord during the prime of his life, before the evil days come, when he has no real pleasure in his life. In other words, think upon the Lord before you are too old and too weak, physically, to enjoy much of life’s comforts. He went on to describe an aging man, saying it was like the darkening of the light of the sun, moon and stars (Ecclesiastes 12:2; cp. Genesis 27:1; 48:10). The comforts of the aged are brief, signified by the return of the clouds almost immediately after a storm.
Notice how the house is used for the man in Ecclesiastes 12:3 (cp. Job 4:19; 2Corinthians 5:1), where its keepers are one’s arms and hands, and its strong men are one’s legs (Psalm 147:10; Song of Solomon 5:15), and the grinders are one’s teeth, many of which have decayed and were pulled. Moreover, they, “which look out the windows” are they whose eyes have grown dim. Yes, remember your Creator before you are less than half the man you once were in the bright and joyful days of your youth.
The doors or gates of the body are one’s five senses: sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell. All of what one understands and appreciates in this world come through one or more of these gates/doors (Ecclesiastes 12:4). When they begin to shut, as that pertains to the street or the outer world, one can hardly be a participator in many things.
Many of life’s pleasures have now departed, due to one’s inability to appreciate them, as is noted in the sound of the grinding—eating isn’t as enjoyable, because of the loss of many of one’s teeth. Sleep is no longer restful, because of insomnia and the awaking at even the slightest noise (heard or imagined). The joy of singing and listening to the song of others is now greatly depleted (verse-4). One’s prime is long past, and if this is all one offers the Lord, what should he think of such a one who remembers him only at this point in his life? Certainly, such a one wouldn’t be refused by our merciful God, but the point is not will the Lord receive me, but what have I offered him. When have I remembered my Creator? How long have I been willing to walk with him?
When life becomes full of fears of high places or of falling along the way, and when we, like the almond tree whose flowers bloom in the winter, are grey and without fruit; when our knees are bowed, like those of a locust, and are burdensome even to ourselves and sexual desire is long gone; when we are faced with our departure and who might mourn our passing (Ecclesiastes 12:5), is this the time when we’ll remember our Creator?
When the silver cord, one’s spinal column is loosed and our body no longer functions, or when our golden bowl (our head/brain) is broken, or when the pitcher is broken at the fountain (the right ventricle of our heart)—the spring from which our blood travels throughout our bodies, or the wheel is broken at the cistern, meaning our circulation doesn’t make it back to the heart’s left ventricle, and we dry up and return to dust, and our spirit returns to our Creator who gave it (Ecclesiastes 12:6-7), will we then lament our not having offered the Lord the prime of our life by remembering our Creator when we are young?
Vanity of vanities (Ecclesiastes 12:8; cp. 1:2), all is vanity!
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