Ecclesiastes 12:6 – 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.

 

Thought:  Solomon has been focusing on the deterioration of the body during old age.  At the end of the cycle of life is death.  Life is the link between us and all others who are alive.  If that silver cord is broken, if that golden bowl is broken, if the pitcher is broken, or if the wheel is broken, life no longer continues.  Death ensues.  All the functions of the body come to a halt.  Animation ceases.  The only thing left upon the earth is a clay shell.  This appointment is for all men.

 

Psalm 89:48

 

Commentary:

 

A.     Solomon has been focusing upon the aging process up to this point.

 

B.      Life is the link between us and all others who are alive.  If that link is broken, death comes.

 

C.     Solomon describes death with four descriptions:

1.       The silver cord be loosed (a light falls from a hanging chain)

2.       The golden bowl be broken (a bowl made of pottery that is rendered useless)

3.       The pitcher be broken at the fountain (a piece of pottery that can’t hold water)

4.       The wheel broken at the cistern (the wheel allowed the lowering and raising of a bucket)

 

D.     All of these pictures reveal the end, the termination of something.  They are symbolic of that which happens to man at death.

1.       The lifeline is loosed, and he falls to the ground.

2.       He is rendered idle and useless.

 

E.      THOUGHT:  When we break a cup or plate, we should be reminded of death.  When we have to replace an old part that quits working with a new part, we should be reminded of death.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ecclesiastes 12:7 – Then shall the dust return unto the earth as it was:  and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

 

Thought:  Death is often described as a separation.  It is the separation of the body from the spirit.  One entity, the body, returns to its original composition, dust of the earth.  The other entity returns to the one who gave it, God.  The body represents the physical aspect of this world.  The spirit involves the spiritual things.  Which is the most important part of man?  The most important part is the spirit, the element that returns to God.  Dear reader, give time to your spirit.  It is what lives on after death.

 

Job 34:14-15

 

Commentary:

 

A.     James tells us that the body without the spirit is dead (Jam. 2:26)

 

For as the body without the spirit is dead…

 

1.       The body remains on the earth.  In the course of time, it returns to earth as dust.

2.       The spirit, on the other hand, returns to the one who gave it, that is, God (See Zech. 12:1).

3.       Job 34:14-15

 

If he set his heart upon man, if he gather unto himself his spirit and his breath; all flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn again unto dust.

 

B.      One of the best pictures we have of this involves the death of Jesus.

1.       Jesus told the penitent thief that he would be with Him in paradise that very day (Luke 23:43).

2.       Just before Jesus died, He commended His spirit into the hands of God (Luke 23:46).

3.       Jesus’ body hung on the cross after He died.

a.  It was pierced by the spear of a Roman soldier.

b.  It was craved by a man named Joseph.

c.  It was released to Joseph by Pontius Pilate.

d.  It was wrapped and placed in Joseph’s tomb by Joseph and Nicodemus.

e.  It was enclosed with a large stone on the door of the cave and sealed by the Roman

     authorities.

 

C.     All who die experience this same separation of the body from the spirit.

1.       The body is still present.

2.       We know that the life, that which animates the body, is no longer there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ecclesiastes 12:8 – Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher, all is vanity.

 

Thought:  Man is born, grows and matures, grows old, and faces that event called death.  If this is all there is for man, then life is vanity.  If man is just a material being, living for himself, then life is vanity.  All of his labor under the sun does not account for much.  Surely, there is more.  Surely, we do not just live, grow old, and die.  Surely, life has a purpose.  Doesn’t life have a purpose?  Or, is life just vanity?

 

I Corinthians 15:19

 

Commentary: 

 

A.     Man applies himself diligently to live when he is young.

Then, he grows old and faces hardship and adversity.

Eventually, he dies.

 

B.      If this is all there is for man, then life can be described with the words:  “Vanity of vanities…all is vanity.”

1.       Does a man’s life really account for much?

a.  He impacts a very small portion of the world while he lives.

b.  Very few individuals make a huge contribution to their fellow man by means of

      discoveries and innovations.

c.  Even those who do contribute a lot to life are quickly forgotten by the living.

      1)  Friedrich Miescher the first to discover DNA in 1869.

      2)  Aristarchus of Samos suggested that the earth revolved around the sun.  He was an

     ancient Greek astronomer.  He lived about 230 B.C.

                        3) William Gilbert is known as “the father of electricity.”  He lived in the last 1500s and

           early 1600s.

2.       Some will live and die without God in their lives.

a.  The atheist:  when he dies, what purpose has his life served?

b.  The wealthy:  when he dies, what good has the accumulation of wealth been?

c.  The laborer:  when he dies, how has he benefited from all the hours of his labor?

 

C.     Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could get individuals to understand the vanity of life without God?