Ecclesiastes 12: Fear God, Remember Your Creator

Introduction

How do you keep your bearings in a world that's always changing, where elections, crises, and the passing of time make everything feel uncertain? That's the question that closes out this eighth and final part of our series on Ecclesiastes. The preacher thanks God for this book, one he might not have chosen first, but one he believes he needed. And he hopes you'll find you needed it too.

This last chapter sums everything up. The logic of Ecclesiastes is circular: it announces a topic, wanders off into big philosophical and poetic detours, then comes back around. Here, in at least the third cycle, the message becomes even clearer. The author finally states, plainly, what the book is about. And it comes down to one sentence: fear God and keep his commandments. Without that key, you could read Ecclesiastes as a hopeless text, one without God. Yet it was written by a man of faith, with a very realistic view of the world, and that's exactly why it still speaks to our time.

Two movements in this message. First, the Preacher (Qoheleth), wants you to remember your creator. Then, he wants you to remember wisdom.

Message Outline

1. Remember your creator (Ecclesiastes 12:1-8)

• The text opens with a poem: "Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come, and the years draw near, when you will say, 'I have no pleasure in them'... then the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. 'Vanity of vanities,' says the Preacher; 'All is vanity!'"
• The text gives three reasons to remember your creator: because everything is uncertain, because you're growing older and will die, and because God is sovereign and good.
• Because everything is uncertain. When you're a child, time moves slowly. It's actually a joy of being a parent, getting to relive a bit of that feeling. Everything is still to be discovered, and it takes forever to wait for your next birthday. But with every stage of life, the world shifts. Often, you catch yourself saying the same things your parents used to say: "Wow, this world is changing... how much does that cost now?..." Little phrases that reveal just how much a changing world affects you, more than you realize. As time goes on, time seems to move faster. Ecclesiastes circles back to the phrase that opened the book: "Vanity of vanities." Hevel in Hebrew, that fleeting inconsistency. Everything is temporary, you never know what's coming, it's like chasing smoke, chasing after the wind. But in God's timing, there's a time for everything: a time to love, a time for peace, a time for war. It all still remains under his watchful eye.
• The preacher offers an image: his first visit to Brittany, and its magnificent standing stones (the menhirs. Just rocks. They're inconvenient), the farmer has to steer his tractor around them. But they've been there since before the Celts were evangelized, before the kingdom of France caught up to them, before the French Revolution, before the two World Wars. And they're still there. "Yes, everything changes, everything is fleeting, but God, he's inconvenient too, in that sense. He's like that menhir: he's there, and he'll stay there no matter what happens." The remembrance of God is an anchor for your soul.
• Because you're growing older and will die. Old age is described poetically in the passage, itself an expression of the word hevel. Eyes that grow weak (the almond tree blossoming), hair that turns white, muscles that weaken, desires that fade. Until the silver cord is snapped, the golden bowl is broken, and what is precious returns to the one who made it. Everything leads you toward death. But that's exactly where the poet reminds you where he began, back in chapter 11: "Young man, rejoice in your youth..." Youth is a season of joy because everything is new. And joy is a gift from God, not so you can do whatever you want, but to help you get through this life. The metaphor of the poem is really about a life without joy. A life without joy, where you'd rather put on a "false seriousness," ages your soul. The creator wants to protect you from that.
• Because he is sovereign and good. Go back to Ecclesiastes 11: "Young man, rejoice... walk in the ways of your heart, and in the sight of your eyes. But know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment." The creator wants that joy for you. He walks with you. He will call you into judgment, not necessarily in a negative sense. In Christ, Jesus took that judgment upon himself. "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1). You're still accountable to him, still answerable, but you're no longer condemned. And one of the saddest wastes is that he offered you his joy, and you turned it down for a false seriousness, preferring to let your soul grow old when he wanted to renew you instead.
• God's sovereignty is not a burden. It's not some constraint pushing you through the maze of life like a little lab rat. It's more like a Father who knows what's good, who knows what's false, who wants the beautiful life he created you for. The first question of the Westminster Catechism (17th century) puts it powerfully: "What is the chief end of man?, To glorify God, and to enjoy him forever." God has arranged things so that, in the midst of your whole existence (despite terrible trials and despite all its joys), you can have this pleasant, edifying, loving relationship with him.
• The preacher then reads through 1 John 1:1-4. The apostle John walked with Jesus, touched him, ate with him, saw him transfigured, saw him risen. How do you describe such a Lord? "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we saw, and our hands touched, concerning the Word of life... we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us... that our joy may be fulfilled." Not a small joy: complete joy. That's the goal. And when you realize that this joy is missing in your life, you can pray: "Lord, fill me with the joy that's already part of my inheritance."
• The gospel (Jesus dying for your sins, rising to give you life), is the establishment of his lordship. He is sovereign. All things will be gathered together and submitted to the Father. The gospel, in its full sense, reverses the drift of aging, of hevel, of vanity. That's why you need to lean on it: it produces joy.

2. Remember wisdom (Ecclesiastes 12:9-12)

• "Besides, because the Preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge. Yes, he pondered, sought out, and set in order many proverbs. The Preacher sought to find acceptable words, and that which was written blamelessly, words of truth. The words of the wise are like goads; and like nails well fastened are words from the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd."
• This comment sounds like it was written by an editor: it's no longer the Preacher speaking, but the one who gathered Solomon's writings to pass them on to you. Solomon wrote so much that he founded a school of the wise. He received wisdom as a gift from God unlike anyone else. And Ecclesiastes itself is a gift. Like every gift from God, it was never meant for just one person, but to be shared. This wisdom still blesses you, thousands of years later.
• Michael Eaton comments: this wisdom comes from the sage's reflections, but also from inspiration. It is both the word of God and the word of man. Some wonder what place Ecclesiastes has in the Bible. It has its place. Because this life is inconsistent, and it matters that you remember God inspired Solomon to instruct you, so you'd know how to live within it. Even before you were born, he produced a book to sustain you and encourage you. That's the power of God's word.
• Even though it's not a crowd-pleasing book... Jesus wasn't always popular either. Remember: after feeding the five thousand (John 6), the crowd wanted to make him king by force. The next day, he taught them: "Work... for the food which endures to eternal life... I am the bread of life... Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you don't have life in yourselves." Many left him. So Jesus turned to the Twelve: "You don't also want to go away, do you?" And Peter answered: "Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life." It's with that same severity, that same artistic and poetic voice, that Ecclesiastes speaks to you about life. Perhaps unfamiliar. But these are words of life.
• Wisdom steadies you in this life. Verses 11-12: "The words of the wise are like goads; and like nails well fastened are words from the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd. Furthermore, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh." The word of God sometimes acts like a goad: it disturbs, it stings, but it steers you in the right direction. It's good for the word to unsettle you. It needs to wake you up from your delusions. It's also like a driven stake, like that menhir: it stays put, and thanks to it, you know which way to go.
• One word stands out with particular force: shepherd. "Given from one shepherd." As Zack Eswine puts it: to read Ecclesiastes is to hear the voice of our shepherd. Through the wise man the shepherd inspired for your benefit, you're pointed toward the shepherd himself, your hope and your goal. Jesus, greater than Solomon, speaks to you through him. That's why this book is so packed with wisdom, and why it stays with you. Remember the study on the Sermon on the Mount: the crowds were astonished at his teaching, because no one speaks like him. Solomon opens a door for you. But it's Jesus who paints the complete picture of joy.

3. Conclusion: fear God and keep his commandments (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14)

• "This is the end of the matter. All has been heard. Fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every work into judgment, with every hidden thing, whether it is good, or whether it is evil."
• Fearing God doesn't mean living in dread of a raised stick, ready to strike you at the smallest misstep. It's not a phobia of God. "To fear God is to walk with the person you love most in all the world." And if there's any element of fear in it, it's because you don't want to disappoint him, you don't want to do what displeases him.
• This conclusion echoes another famous passage, Micah 6:8: "He has shown you, O man, what is good. What does the LORD require of you, but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?" It's the same thing. Walking with God.
• Biblical wisdom isn't about vast learning. The wisest person in the Bible isn't the most educated one. The wisest is the one who fears God and puts his commandments into practice. Wisdom, biblically speaking, is behavior, it's what you do, the joy you feel, the way you act.
• And in Christ, you can truly fear God, because the cross is the price of your forgiveness. In Christ, you can keep his commandments, because he fulfilled the law for you and wrote that law on your heart by pouring God's love into you. "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another" (John 13:34). In Christ, you keep these commandments in a way that's possible nowhere else. Judgment moves off your account and onto his, because he's the one who paid for your sins.
• What Ecclesiastes prescribes is only possible in Christ, and in Jesus alone. To close out this beautiful book, Ecclesiastes hands you the secret to living in an inconsistent world, a world that seems to be in permanent election-season chaos, where you never know what's coming next. The secret? Fear God, obey his word. In other words: live in Jesus Christ. It's in him that everything finds its meaning, its joy, its clarity, so that no matter what happens, you'll know how to live. Amen.

Key Takeaways

1. Remember your creator. Everything is uncertain, you're growing older, you will die, but God remains. He's the menhir that doesn't budge while everything around you changes. He's your anchor.
2. Joy is a gift from God worth protecting. Trading joy for a "false seriousness" ages your soul. Your creator wants you to live in joy throughout your whole life.
3. God is sovereign and good. His sovereignty isn't a constraint, it's the sovereignty of a Father who wants the beautiful life for you. The Westminster Catechism sums it up: to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.
4. The words of the wise are a goad and a driven nail. They disturb you to wake you up, and they hold fast to steady you. They come from one shepherd, Jesus, greater than Solomon.
5. To fear God is to walk with the one you love most. It isn't a phobia of God. And that walk is only possible in Christ, who paid the judgment in your place and wrote his law on your heart.

Personal Application

1. Where do you actually drop your anchor today? In your circumstances, your work, your health (all of which change), or in the God who never changes?
2. Can you name one area where you chose "false seriousness" over the joy God wanted for you? What might happen if you asked him: "Lord, fill me with that complete joy"?
3. When you read the Bible, do you really let it disturb you like a goad, or do you skim it just enough to feel comforted without ever being woken up?
4. Walking with God "like the person you love most", what would that actually look like in your week, in your prayer life, your decisions, your conversations?
5. Is there a command of Christ you know you need to put into practice, but keep putting off? What changes if you bring it under the grace of the cross today?

Scripture References

• Ecclesiastes 12 (WEB)
• Ecclesiastes 11:9-10 (WEB)
• 1 John 1:1-4 (WEB)
• John 6:26-69 (WEB)
• John 13:34 (WEB)
• Micah 6:8 (WEB)
• Romans 8:1 (WEB)

FAQ

Why does Ecclesiastes end with "fear God and keep his commandments"?

Because that's the whole point of the book. After showing you that everything is vanity, fleeting, inconsistent, Ecclesiastes hands you the conclusion that gives meaning to everything else: in a world where everything changes, what holds is walking with God and living by his word. Without that key, the book would seem hopeless. With it, it becomes a strikingly realistic guide for your life of faith today.

What does "fear God" mean in Ecclesiastes?

The preacher makes it clear: it isn't fear of a raised stick ready to strike at your slightest misstep. It isn't a phobia of God. To fear God is to walk with the person you love most in all the world. And if there's an element of fear in it, it's because you don't want to disappoint that person, you don't want to do what displeases them. It's a fear rooted in love, not terror.

How do I live with joy when everything around me is uncertain?

By remembering your creator, who doesn't change even as everything else does. By protecting the joy God has given you as a gift, rather than trading it for a "false seriousness" that ages your soul. And by leaning on the gospel: Jesus died and rose again to reverse the drift of hevel, and he gives you his complete joy, not a small joy. Pray: "Lord, fill me with the joy that's already part of my inheritance."