Old Age Comes to All

YOUNG people commonly think and act as if they were going to live forever. For that reason, Ecclesiastes 12 paints a picture of old age and introduces it to young people with the warning, “Remember your Creator in the days of your youth.”

Certainly there are many elderly who defy this portrait. Yet in the main, the conditions mentioned are typical. Ecclesiastes warns the young to remember God before earthly life ends. Several images convey the coming of death and mourning: a silver cord is loosened, a bowl is broken, a pitcher is shattered, a wheel ceases to turn (Ecclesiastes 12:6), the “dust” of the body returns to earth (Ecclesiastes 12:7; compare Genesis 3:19; Job 34:15), and the spirit goes to God, presumably for judgment (Ecclesiastes 12:7, 14).

This is the fate of every human being. No matter how young or old we are, every day each of us is a bit closer to death. Given that reality, Ecclesiastes challenges young people to live unto God, for life is empty and meaningless without Him.

Courtesy of Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Commentary
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.