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Ecclesiastes, part 31, The Time to Remember

Ecclesiastes 12:1-4 says,

¹ Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil [ra’ah, “evil, distressful, burdensome”] days come and the years draw near when you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”; ² before the sun and the light, the moon and the stars are darkened, and clouds return after the rain; ³ in the day that the watchmen of the house tremble, and mighty men stoop, the grinding ones stand idle because they are few, and those who look through windows grow dim; ⁴ and the doors on the street are shut as the sound of the grinding mill is low, and one will arise at the sound of the bird, and all the daughters of song will sing softly.

This is a continuation of Ecclesiastes 11, where the Preacher urges men to enjoy their youth in a wise manner. The overall theme is: Do not squander your early years when you are in your prime. Along with rejoicing and enjoyment is the admonition to “remember also your Creator.” This is not merely about memory but about acknowledgement and recognition of God, His wisdom, and His ordered way of life as expressed in His word.

The Evil Days

The “evil days” is from ra’ah once again (as in Eccl. 11:10). In this context, it refers to old age, when one feels the increasing effects of mortality. Koheleth’s description of old age begins with changes in what you want to do—the time “when you will say, ‘I have no pleasure in them’.”

In verses 2-4 the description is largely metaphorical. Eyes grow dim; “the sun and the light, the moon and the stars are darkened.” Earlier, in Eccl. 11:7, Koheleth praised the pleasantness of the light. Now he shows what happens when light fades. There is permanent overcast. One barely recovers from one health issue before the next one comes. “Clouds return after the rain” suggests that recovery no longer fully comes; one trouble follows another.

It is like writing a novel that opens with, “It was a dark and dreary day.” That sets the tone, telling the reader that the book is not a comedy.

The Collapse of the Household

The images in verse 3 describe the body. Watchmen tremble — shaking hands or limbs. Strong men stoop — weakened legs, bent posture. Grinders are few — loss of teeth. Those who look through windows grow dim — failing eyesight. The body is pictured as a once-functioning house now failing in its basic operations.

Comparing the body to one’s house is a well-known Hebrew metaphor, used also by the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:2,

² For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven.

Paul echoes Koheleth here, showing how we “groan” in these mortal bodies. We long for “a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (2 Corinthians 5:1), “so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life” (2 Corinthians 5:4). Old age forces one to consider his mortality and to take steps to ensure that he is qualified to receive the immortal house that God has been keeping for him in heaven.

Withdrawal from the World

In Ecclesiastes 12:4 the Preacher observes that old age makes many physical activities impossible to do. “The doors on the street are shut.” An elderly man must withdraw from such activities and, as a shut-in, remain a mere spectator watching those who are young enjoy life.

“The sound of the grinding mill is low.” It becomes harder to eat when teeth are few.

Elderly people tend to “arise at the sound of the bird.” Koheleth probably was thinking of roosters, who believer it is their calling and duty to arouse men from a dead sleep. They are God’s earthly trumpets, reminding us of the resurrection “at the last trumpet” (1 Corinthians 15:52).

We read about a conversation between Jesus and Peter in Matthew 26:32-34,

³² [Jesus:] “But after I have been raised, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.” ³³ But Peter said to Him, “Even though all may fall away because of You, I will never fall away.” ³⁴ Jesus said to him, “Truly I say to you that this very night before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.”

Peter did indeed “fall away” by denying that He even knew Jesus. Matthew 26:74, 75 says,

⁷⁴ Then he [Peter] began to curse and swear, “I do not know the man!” And immediately the rooster crowed. ⁷⁵ And Peter remembered the word which Jesus had said, “Before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.

A Latin term for a watchman’s trumpet call was gallicinium, which literally meant cock-crow. In the ancient Roman and Jewish night-watch system, the “cock-crow” was a familiar time marker for the last night watch (from 3-6 a.m.) and was sometimes signaled by trumpet or other official calls. Hence, it appears that Peter denied Jesus the third time at 3:00 a.m. when the gallicinium signaled the start of the final watch of the night.

This was a wake-up call to Peter. And it worked.

Finally, Koheleth says, “all the daughters of song will sing softly.” This could refer either to a loss of hearing or having a weaker voice.

Koheleth’s wisdom is pastoral. The Creator is to be remembered not only when strength is gone, but while strength can still be offered back to Him. It is better to learn the wisdom of God and to serve Him while one still has the strength of youth.

Ecclesiastes 12:5 says,

⁵ Furthermore, men are afraid of a high place and of terrors on the road; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags himself along, and the caperberry is ineffective. For man goes to his eternal home while mourners go about in the street.

The imagery of fear of heights suggests loss of balance, while “terrors on the road” indicate a fear of falling or of being unable to complete a journey. “Almond tree blossoms” are white flowers symbolizing white hair. “The grasshopper drags himself along” pictures an old man, once lively, but now with greatly decreased energy. “The caperberry is ineffective” refers to the loss of appetite, desire, vitality. It suggests also a loss of sexual desire or impotence.

In the ancient Mediterranean world, the caperberry was known as a digestive stimulant, an appetite-enhancer, and (in traditional medicine) a mild aphrodisiac. In Eccl. 12:5 its failure signals the final ebbing of physical vitality. Hence, when even the caperberry no longer works, the end is near. Koheleth shows aging as the unraveling of pleasures once taken for granted.

The verse ends with “man goes to his eternal home” (NASB). In the KJV it reads, “man goeth to his long home.” The Hebrew word is olam, “hidden, unknown, indefinite, age-abiding.” Koheleth was not referring to an eternal home in heaven but to the grave itself, as we see in the next verses.

The Breaking Point

Ecclesiastes 12:6-8 says,

⁶ Remember Him before the silver cord is broken and the golden bowl is crushed, the pitcher by the well is shattered and the wheel at the cistern is crushed; ⁷ then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it. ⁸ “vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher, “all is vanity.”

Here Koheleth gives us a string of metaphors about death itself. He piles image upon image to convey finality. Each object once carried life but now cannot be repaired. “The silver cord” is the essential link between the spirit and the body, without which the body is dead. So we read in James 2:26,

²⁶ For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.

“The golden bowl” probably refers to the life of a noble or rich man. Though it is a costly vessel, it is now destroyed. The broken pitcher at the spring is abandoned because it is useless in carrying water. “The wheel at the cistern,” which was used to bring water to the surface has failed.

The repeated “before” ties this verse back to 12:1—remember before this moment arrives. Once these things break, the opportunities end.