Conclusion (Ecclesiastes 12:9-14).
Having given his final verdict on his musings the writer changes into the third person. This was in order to stress the solemnity of what he was saying. Moving into the third person in this way occurs regularly in Scripture, and there is no reason for seeing it as indicating the work of another writer. It stresses that this is his solemn conclusion.
‘And further, because the Preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge. Yes, he pondered and sought out and set in order many proverbs. The Preacher sought to find out acceptable words (literally ‘words of delight') and that which was written uprightly, even words of truth.'
These words were written as an epilogue in the third person in order to give authentification to the book. Having reached his ultimate conclusion the Preacher now reverts to his normal position as teacher and speaker at the court assembly of the wise. As God had made him wise he felt that he had a wider duty and so he also taught ‘knowledge' to the people, setting before them many proverbs.
He states his research methods. He ‘pondered and sought out and set in order' many proverbs. Thus he did not just look to his own ideas. He read books written by wise men, no doubt from far and wide. He pondered them and selected out sayings and proverbs, and then set them in order. He produced many wisdom sayings, of the kind which we already seen in the book, to help man through this vain and short life. He sought words which would delight, and yet were upright words, words of truth. So his view of life did not prevent him from seeking to guide men through it. Even though a king he prided himself rather on being ‘a wise man'. To him that was what was most important to him
‘The words of the wise are as goads and as nails well driven home, they are those of the leaders of groups, which are given from one shepherd.'
He saw the words of the wise as goads to spur people on and as nails driven home which would help them to establish in their own minds what is true. Suitable proverbs stick in people's minds and thus give them guidance in the future. The goad was a long handled pointed instrument used to urge on the oxen when ploughing. Nails driven home help to keep things firmly fixed. And that was the aim of the Preacher.
The writer had gathered his material from fellow wise men and leaders of wisdom groups, but the one Shepherd is God Who is to be seen as the source of all wisdom.
‘And furthermore, my son, be admonished. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness to the flesh.'
He finally cautions against leaping into becoming an author. Preparation for a worthwhile book requires sweat and toil and hardship, and there are so many books that the book may easily become lost among the many and never be read. Thus it is best to approach such things cautiously.
‘This is the end of the matter. All has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole of what man is about.'
Now he stresses that he has come to his final conclusion. He has said all that he wishes to say. Now he hopes that in the light of the hope he has offered to his readers, they may be a godly men. They must fear God (as he has continually stressed - Ecclesiastes 3:14; Ecclesiastes 5:7; Ecclesiastes 7:18; Ecclesiastes 8:12-13), waiting before Him in reverence and awe, and living before Him in obedience to His covenant commands. For this is the whole of what man is about.
This fear (loving reverence) of God is a central theme in the book (Ecclesiastes 3:14; Ecclesiastes 5:7; Ecclesiastes 7:18; Ecclesiastes 8:12-13), a fear that he has sought to inculcate in his readers. This fear of God was also central in the giving of the covenant, deliberately enhanced when God, the great King, declared to His people from the fiery mount that He was their God and their Deliverer, and that they should respond to His Lordship and deliverance by fulfilling His commandments (Exodus 19-20). And it is this that has constantly lain beneath the Preacher's advice to the godly. For this fear of God is to be revealed in worship, reverence and awe (Ecclesiastes 5:1-2) and in living constantly before God (Ecclesiastes 5:18-20; compare Ecclesiastes 2:24; Ecclesiastes 3:12-14; Ecclesiastes 3:22; Ecclesiastes 8:15).
It should be noted that these are not two commands but one. This does not present two alternatives as though we could fear God and not keep His commandments, or keep His commandments but not fear God. Both are required. The keeping of the commandments is seen as a response to the fear of God. It is indicating a personal and real daily relationship with Him. And it is what man is all about. Note the assumption that God's commandments were known. The book was not written in a vacuum.
‘For God will bring every work into judgment, with every hidden thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil.'
In the light of what has been said earlier in the book this cannot refer simply to retribution in this life. He has clearly stated that that is precisely what does not happen. Even though God is active in the world (Ecclesiastes 3:14-15) and will judge the righteous and the wicked (Ecclesiastes 3:17), he knows that oppression continues apace (Ecclesiastes 4:2; Ecclesiastes 5:8-9), so much so that it were better not to have been born (Ecclesiastes 4:3). That is not genuine retribution. The judgment is not carried out on earth (Ecclesiastes 3:16; Ecclesiastes 7:15; Ecclesiastes 8:10; Ecclesiastes 8:14; Ecclesiastes 9:1-3). The righteous are not rewarded and the wicked punished. Indeed this was something that had almost caused him to despair.
So these final words must be seen in the light of the fact that man's essential life returns to God in His everlastingness. There all will in some way be righted. Every work will be brought into judgment. Every hidden thing will accounted for. Finally God will fulfil His warning and reveal His justice, although no further detail is given. It is simply left to be pondered on. That is why in the end the covenant life, the life lived in response to God, is the only life. Only those who are genuinely responsive to the covenant will be pleasing to God. Those who simply offer sacrifices as a duty, the ‘sacrifice of fools' (Ecclesiastes 5:1), and those who refuse to obey His revealed will in His commandments, rejecting Him as King, will be judged and condemned.
We may wonder why this does not lead on to a more positive view of the afterlife. The answer may lie in the mythology that was round about, which had to be avoided. The Egyptians had their own views on life beyond the grave, as did the Mesopotamian world, imagining worlds of gods and men, of shadows and unreality. Israel avoided these ideas like the plague. Thus they concentrated on God's goodness in this life, and when they at times considered the future beyond death it was simply described in terms of being with God. That was seen to be the situation of Enoch and Elijah, it was expressed in the words of the Psalmists (Psalms 16:10-11; Psalms 17:15; Psalms 23:6; etc). It was all that needed to be said.
Final Note.
Perhaps we may conclude with a brief resume of what conclusions the Preacher has come to.
· He has established the vainness of men's attempts to make sense of life. Life has been seen to have no permanent meaning. All has proved to be a puff of wind, to be ‘vanity'.
· He has recognised that men cannot ‘find out God' but must be content to accept His concern for them, to reverently fear Him, and to live in trust before Him, enjoying what He gives them, something which will result for them in joyfulness.
· He has acknowledged that all men's attempts to ‘pierce the veil' between this world and the next will be in vain, because God is beyond our understanding. They must walk by faith not by sight.
· By his teaching he has demonstrated his belief that men are open to receiving wisdom.
· But he has also established that there must be a judgment to come when all will be put right, and when all will have to give account to God. His moral sense has recognised that justice must finally be served, and that that requires a moral governor of the Universe Who will call all men to account.
· And he has established that God has put the sense of everlastingness in men's hearts, and that man's spirit will return to the God Who gave it.
· Thus his final conclusion is that men must fear God and keep His commandments in the confidence that their future is in His hands.