Some of you know the movie Dead Poets Society. Robin Williams stars as the English teacher, John Keating, at an elite boarding school for boys. In one scene, he gathers students around a display case full of pictures from the past. He has one boy read from a poem by Robert Herrick: “Gather ye rose-buds while ye may, Old Time is still a flying; And this same flower that smiles today, Tomorrow will be dying.”

Mr. Keating then explains a Latin phrase expressing a similar sentiment: Carpe diem, “Seize the day.” “Gather ye rose buds while ye may.” He then asks, “Why does the writer use these lines?” One boy answers, “Because he’s in a hurry.” “No!” Mr. Keating says, “Thank you for playing anyway.” Keating then pauses and says, “Because we’re food for worms, lads…Each and every one of us in this room is going to stop breathing, turn cold, and die.” He then asks them to lean in and listen to those voices from the past: “Seize the day, boys. Make your lives extraordinary.”

In Ecclesiastes 11-12, we could say the Preacher gathers us round like Mr. Keating did those young boys. Especially here, the Preacher brings young people face-to-face with their mortality. Like Mr. Keating, the Preacher uses death not to paralyze with fear but to make our lives count. But unlike Mr. Keating, Ecclesiastes considers these things in light of our Creator. God has portioned you only so many days. How are you spending them? The wise life stays generous, joyful, and Godward till dust—that’s our main idea. Let’s start by reading in verse 1…

¹ Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days. ² Give a portion to seven, or even to eight, for you know not what disaster may happen on earth. ³ If the clouds are full of rain, they empty themselves on the earth, and if a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where the tree falls, there it will lie. ⁴ He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap. ⁵ As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything. ⁶ In the morning sow your seed, and at evening withhold not your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good. ⁷ Light is sweet, and it’s pleasant for the eyes to see the sun. ⁸ So if a person lives many years, let him rejoice in them all; but let him remember that the days of darkness will be many. All that comes is vanity. ⁹ Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes. But know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment. ¹⁰ Remove vexation from your heart, and put away pain from your body, for youth and the dawn of life are vanity. ¹ Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”; ² before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return after the rain, ³ in the day when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men are bent, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those who look through the windows are dimmed, ⁴ and the doors on the street are shut, when the sound of the grinding is low, and one rises up at the sound of a bird, and all the daughters of song are brought low, ⁵ they are afraid also of what is high, and terrors are in the way; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along, and desire fails, because man is going to his eternal home, and the mourners go about the streets, ⁶ before the silver cord is snapped, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern, ⁷ and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. ⁸ Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher; all is vanity.

Our passage has three parts. Verses 1-6 repeat the line “you don’t know;” and that gets repeated to motivate a life busy with generosity. Verses 7-10 then emphasize our duty to enjoy the life God gives. Then 12:1-8 close the main body of Ecclesiastes with poetry about the end of life under the sun.

Wisdom Stays Busy with Generosity

Let’s start with verses 1-6. Notice first the contrast with the foolish rulers that ended chapter 10. Instead of rising early to work hard, the foolish rulers partied in the morning (Eccl 10:16). Their negligence caused the house to collapse (Eccl 10:18). By contrast, the life of wisdom stays busy with generosity.

Something else is the repeated line, “you know not.” We hear it four times. Verse 2, “you know not what disaster may happen on earth.” We can’t predict the future. An economy catches up, and then war breaks out. A new subdivision finishes, but then an earthquake levels buildings. Life under the sun doesn’t come in neat, predictable ways.

We also don’t know the work of God. Verse 5, “As you do not know the way the spirit [meaning “life-breath”] comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.” Ultrasound technology gives us stunning images of children in the womb. But even then, mystery abounds with how exactly God gives life. And if we can’t figure that out, how much less God’s work in everything going on. His point echoes 8:17, “Then I saw all the work of God, that man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun.”

Verses 3-4 anticipated this point. The clouds are full of rain, we observe. But why did they empty themselves there and not here? If the tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where the tree falls, there it will lie. We have no control. Nor do we have explanations for all of it. Some things are just God’s business. But if all you do is sit around and pretend like you can sort it out to guarantee positive outcomes, then you’re never going to reap. That’s the illustration of verse 4—a farmer reluctant to take any risks until he can sort out what only God knows. So, he ends up doing nothing.

Verse 6 then gives the final “you know not”: “you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good.” The context is a farmer sowing seed, but he doesn’t know whether the crop will be successful. Life under the sun often leaves us with no guaranteed outcomes. Now, for many, this becomes an excuse for cynicism, laziness, or inaction: “If I can’t know the future, and I can’t figure out the way God works, and I can’t guarantee success, why bother with anything?”

But that’s not the path of wisdom. Wisdom trusts God with the unknowns and gets busy with generosity. Notice both sets of commands. One set comes in verses 1-2: “Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days.” Some take this to illustrate overseas commerce. Someone invests by sending grain across the sea; and a return eventually comes back. Others have shown that “releasing bread upon the water [was] a metaphor for doing good…one should throw away a good deed, as it were.”[i] You might be surprised by the way it blesses you in return.

Either way, verse 2 clarifies the main point. Whether you busy yourself with industry or good deeds, the goal isn’t to pad your wallet or to make yourself look good. The goal is unrestrained generosity: “Give a portion,”[ii] he says, “to seven, or even to eight, for you know not what disaster may happen on earth.” The number seven signifies fullness. Taking it to eight urges big-hearted giving, openhandedness.

And why live this way? Because you may not get the chance for generosity later. Disaster might strike. Circumstances might leave you in a place where you can’t help later like you could help today. You could be dead tomorrow. You could be like the man in Jesus’ parable of the rich fool—industrious, planting crops, making money, building bigger barns, hording it all for himself, and then suddenly dead. God called him a fool, because he was not rich toward God; he was not generous toward others.

Don’t wait till it’s too late. Give yourself fully to generosity today, while you have opportunity. Steward the days that you’re given to bless others. It’s no accident that “bread” and “portion” appear elsewhere in Ecclesiastes. We’re told to enjoy our bread or portion as gifts from God.[iii] Now we learn that enjoying God’s gifts includes giving them away like he does—freely, regularly, lavishly, abundantly.

The other set of commands comes in verse 6: “In the morning, sow your seed, and at evening withhold not your hand, for you don’t know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good.” Don’t abandon diligence just because you don’t know how something will turn out. I hope this is freeing for some of you. Some of you won’t act till you have perfect knowledge of assured results. But if you wait to figure out what you can never know, you’ll never act. Don’t get paralyzed by what you can’t plan for to the nth degree. Do something productive with the time you have. Try different things. Keep sowing even if you don’t see immediate results.

The wise life makes use of every opportunity to do good. You never know how God might bless it. Is this your life? How are you spending the time God gives you? Not all of us have the same abilities, nor the same health capacities or financial situation. The question isn’t “Are you doing as much as the person sitting next to you?” The question is “What are you doing with the portion God has given you today?” Would you say that you’re busy with generosity? How could you better spend your time to bless others?

The apostles echo this same wisdom. For Christians, Jesus has made us lights in a dark world; and part of our light is this: Ephesians 5:16-17, “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.”

The foolish life doesn’t consider the will of the Lord. Thus, it doesn’t stay busy with the things of the Lord. But the wise life seeks to know God’s will; and then it makes the best use of time in light of his will. What does that include? Working hard, sharing what you have, meeting needs, speaking truth, building up the church, nurturing the family, spreading the gospel, discipling others, resting to do it again tomorrow.

Galatians 6:9-10 is another example: “Let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.” “As we have opportunity” isn’t making the doing of good incidental, as if to say, “As it might fit in with your schedule.” Paul is saying to be strategic with the days you have left. You won’t always have the opportunities that God is giving you now—so make the most of them in doing good to everyone. Think strategically about your time and resources. Quit the endless scrolling, work hard, and find ways to bless others.

I wonder, is there a need that you know of, and you’ve been hesitant to meet it? Perhaps you know of a specific material need of a church member. Or maybe it’s a need like companionship, discipleship, childcare, help with marriage or parenting, a need for encouragement in a time of grief. Maybe there’s need for reconciliation with someone, but you keep putting it off. Or maybe you know of someone’s need to hear the good news of Jesus. Are you hesitant to act because you’re afraid of how it might turn out? Or maybe it’s that you’re just waiting for that perfect moment?

Be careful, the Preacher is saying. If that’s how you’re thinking, you might never act. Wisdom trusts God with the unknowns, and it gets busy with generosity toward others. Like Christ, wisdom says, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me.”

Wisdom Finds Joy in God’s gifts

The wise life also finds joy in God’s gifts. Verse 7 is so good, and one I need to remember in struggles with depression. I can go into hiding and sometimes forget to go outside and see the light God made. The Preacher says, “Light is sweet, and it’s pleasant for the eyes to see the sun.” “So,” verse 8, “if a person lives many years, let him rejoice in them all.” If you see the sun, rejoice. It’s a sign that you have life; God has granted you another day. The light of your life has not yet disappeared.

He repeats himself in verse 9: “Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes.” Don’t hold back, in other words. Enjoy every moment you’re given. Verse 10 gets at the same idea but stated negatively: “Remove vexation from your heart, and put away pain from your body, for youth and the dawn of life are vanity.”

“Vexation” appeared earlier in Ecclesiastes. When we experience the world’s brokenness, it weighs down the heart. To “remove vexation” means don’t let what’s broken blind you to what’s still beautiful. Don’t let your groaning turn into a grumpiness that can’t enjoy God’s gifts. God wants you to enjoy the gifts he gives—just like a good Father wants his child to enjoy the new bike or enjoy the LEGO set or enjoy the ice cream or enjoy a trip to the park or the ballgame.

People sometimes get the impression that Christianity is against the enjoyment of earthly things; and they get that impression because Christians themselves don’t know how to enjoy earthly things. Some live with a quasi-gnostic view of the world: “spiritual things good; earthly things bad.” But God made the world good. He affirmed its goodness by becoming a man. Jesus ate and drank. He enjoyed feasts. He satisfied five thousand with twelve baskets of leftovers. God wants you to enjoy the world he made.

What about the end of verse 9 though? “But know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.” Is he tempering our joy with the threat of judgment? That’s one way to read it; and we could point to other places in Scripture where judgment certainly sobers us to enjoy things the right way. But the Hebrew can also be translated here, “And know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.” So, rather than an adversative qualifier, it becomes a consecutive thought—the idea being, God will judge us for our failure to enjoy his gifts. God wants you to enjoy his gifts that much.

Will Kynes is Assistant Professor of Old Testament at Samford University. He specializes in Old Testament wisdom literature. He wrote a fascinating article showing how this verse alludes to Numbers 15:39, which seems to contradict the Preacher’s words. Moses tells the people, “It shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the LORD, to do them, not to follow after your own heart and your own eyes, which you are inclined to whore after.” But here the Preacher says, “Walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes.” Which is it?

Kynes explains the seeming contradiction in light of the broader narrative about the disobedient spies. Remember, God had commanded Israel to enter the promised land and enjoy its milk and honey. Ten of the spies see what’s good in the land, but then they disobey God by bringing a negative report. They saw God’s gift and chose not to enjoy it. That is the type of following one’s eyes and heart that is rebellious. “The Israelites’ sin was that they did not pursue the joy offered them in the promised land.”[iv]

The Preacher learns from that narrative; and by way of contrast says that if God has given you something good, then allow your heart and eyes to enjoy it. In a way, the Preacher takes on a role more like Joshua and Caleb in the spies narrative.[v] Just like they did, the Preacher is trying to convince you not to miss out on the gifts that God gives. We will give an account before God of all the things he gave us and we didn’t enjoy.[vi] So, don’t receive his gifts half-heartedly. Enjoy them all the way!

The New Testament teaches us the same: “Rejoice with those who rejoice,” Romans 12:15. Paul says that God “richly provides us with all things to enjoy,” 1 Timothy 6:17. In Acts 2:42, the church receives their food “with glad and generous hearts.” 1 Timothy 4:3, “Everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it’s received with thanksgiving.”

Is anything hindering your enjoyment of God’s gifts? Maybe a fear of what others might think of you? Maybe some extra rules that you’ve imposed on yourself or others, but which God hasn’t given in Scripture? Maybe, instead of seeing God as a Father who loves showering his children with good gifts, you’ve viewed God as more of a cosmic killjoy. Beloved, let the wisdom of Ecclesiastes free you from these hindrances. It’s realism about the world as groaning never loses sight of the world as gift; and the wise life recognizes God’s gifts and finds joy in God’s gifts.

Wisdom Remembers the Creator Until Dust

But notice too another motive he includes. Verse 8 says, “Let him rejoice, but let him [also] remember that the days of darkness will be many. All that comes is vanity.” Then again in verse 10: “put away pain from your body, for youth and the dawn of life are vanity.” There’s that word again: vanity, hebel, breath, vapor. Your life is fleeting. Youth is like the dawn—the sun rises but only to set a few hours later. Meaning, the light of your life will fade. That’s not meant to depress you. It’s meant to help you lay hold of what you have today. If you have today, rejoice and make the most of it.

Young people, he’s especially talking to you. He’s calling you not to waste your life, but to give your life wholeheartedly to the Lord. Which is why, in the end, he calls you to “Remember your Creator in the days of your youth.”

That leads us to some poetry in 12:1-8. Verse 1 offers the initial clues. “In the days of your youth” stands in contrast to “before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you’ll say, ‘I have no pleasure in them.’” He’s referring to old age and the hardships one suffers before dying. Verses 2-4 are then read by some as an allegory. The keepers of the house are hands trembling from old age. The strong men, a person’s legs, are bent over. Grinders represent teeth that have gone missing. Those who look through the windows are your eyes growing dim. The almond blossoms depict a person’s hair turning white. The grasshopper drags along like an old, decrepit body.

But another way to read it is like a personal apocalypse. Ecclesiastes is all about life “under the sun.” Thirty-three times he’s mentioned “the sun.” But now that sun turns to darkness. Verse 2 pictures the heavenly lights being darkened and the clouds gathering. Cosmic darkness often appears in ominous prophecies of divine judgment.

The keepers of the house in verse 3 are “guards” who now tremble with fear. Those who are usually strong are now bent over by the imposing threat. The grinders are actual grinders at the mill—the people working them are now few. Others look through the windows, perhaps waiting for daddy to come home, only to have their hopes grow dim when he doesn’t return. Commerce screeches to a halt as doors on the street are shut.

As the sound of the grinding grows quiet, other more frightening sounds get louder. One rises at the sound of a bird—think of black crows landing nearby. The “daughters of song” in verse 4 may continue the bird imagery. It seems that even the birds are afraid of what’s coming on high, and they gather to watch and mourn. The grasshopper drags itself along but not because he looks like an old man, but because he stuffed himself full of almond blossoms—like the locust plagues in Joel.

Whichever way you take it—allegorically or apocalyptically—both end up in the same place at verse 5: “because man is going to his eternal home, and the mourners go about the streets.” You’re now at a funeral procession. You’re watching as the casket passes by. You see a body inside; and I think the point of verse 6 is to illustrate how that vessel-like body once held life but now is emptied. The silver cord in verse 6 once held a golden lamp. But once it snaps, the lamp breaks and loses its light. The pitcher that’s shattered goes with the wheel at the well—it’s a vessel that holds water but now empty.

Same with this vessel-like body in the casket. It once held something precious, but now it’s empty. Verse 7 then recalls the curse of Genesis 3:19, “and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit [or “life-breath”] returns to God who gave it.” What did God say to Adam? “You are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

But here’s where the Preacher gets us. The body inside the casket isn’t that of a neighbor or some distant relative. The funeral he wants you to contemplate is your own. “You remember your Creator in the days of your youth” and then three times “before…before…before” your days come to an end. The curse of death still lies heavy upon us. In life under the sun, we only get so long. God has portioned us a limited number of days; and what you do with these days makes all the difference for eternity…

“For eternity? All the difference for eternity?” someone might object. “Death is the end of life under the sun. There’s nothing else. That comment you made earlier from Mr. Keating about being food for worms—that’s all we’ve got coming. Ecclesiastes is no different from what we’ve heard philosophers of every age talk about: ‘Carpe diem,’ ‘Sieze the day,’ ‘YOLO.’ So, get what you can while you can. That’s all he’s saying.”

You’d have a case, if that’s all there is. But the Preacher has already told us in 11:9 that “God will bring you into judgment.” In fact, the book will end on that note as well in 12:14—“God will bring every deed into judgment.” So, even if he doesn’t explain here what happens in the intermediate state, the Preacher anticipates a final judgment.

God will call his creatures to account. From the New Testament’s perspective, we have even more assurance about that judgment. Why? Because God raised Jesus from the dead. The apostles were witnesses to Jesus’ resurrection; and his resurrection is but the first part of a final resurrection of all. Many will be raised at the end and sentenced to an eternal judgment for their sins. But others will be raised to eternal life, because they found in Jesus the forgiveness of their sins. He died for their sins on the cross.

For those united to Jesus, 1 Corinthians 15:47-58 tells the end of their story. It says, “The first man [Adam] was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man [Jesus] is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.”

“Behold!” Paul tells us, “I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore…be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.”

That’s why you stay busy with generosity. That’s why you find joy in God’s gifts. And that’s why you remember your Creator. God is taking this world to a new creation; and all that you give yourself to for his sake is not in vain. Remembering your Creator doesn’t mean he happens to come to mind on occasion. It means thoughts of your Creator consume your thinking such that you live a comprehensively Godward life.

You remember that God created the world and everything in it. And rather than ignoring God like the world does, you recall how he deserves your thanksgiving every moment. Remembering your Creator means remembering that you’re his creature. He made you an image bearer to reflect his generous rule. He also made you male or female—and remembering him means that you conform your life to his good designs for your sex. He designed food and marriage, plants and animals, the land and sea, companionship and community—remembering your Creator means you consider a thing’s true nature and the end for which God made it, and then you steward those things accordingly. Remembering your Creator is comprehensive.

Remember him in your youth. If you’re older, remember him with the days you have left. Like Mr. Keating, the Preacher has gathered us round and brought us face to face with death. But not to paralyze us. He did it that we might gain a heart of wisdom. He did it that we might spend our days living fully and vibrantly for the Lord. The wise life stays generous, joyful, and Godward till dust. May God give us grace to do so.

________

[i] Choon-Leong Seow, Ecclesiastes, Anchor Bible 18c (New Haven: Yale, 1997), 342.

[ii] The NIV’s “Invest in seven ventures…” is a paraphrase based on their interpretation of v. 1 as overseas commerce (“Ship your grain…” versus “Cast your bread…”). However, a more straightforward translation of the Hebrew is “Give a portion…”

[iii] E.g., see “portion” in Eccl 3:22; 5:18, 19; 9:9, and “bread” in Eccl 9:7.

[iv] Will Kynes, “Follow Your Heart and Do Not Say It Was a Mistake: Qoheleth’s Allusions to Numbers 15 and the Story of the Spies,” in Reading Ecclesiastes Intertextually, eds. Katharine Dell and Will Kynes (London: T&T Clark, 2014), 21.

[v] Kynes, “Follow,” 25-26.

[vi] Kynes, “Follow,” 19.