The End of Life
The End of Life
An Allegory of Old Age in Ecclesiastes 12:1–7
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Throughout the book of Ecclesiastes, the reality of death is in front of your face. That’s part of the writer’s strategy: to confront you with your mortality and your future in the grave. In the scheme of the book, embracing your mortality is key to living wisely. You can’t control life, you can’t shepherd the wind, you can’t be rich enough or smart enough to defeat death, and your toilsome work will still leave you in the dust.
At first, this bracing confrontation with our mortality can leave us unsettled. But the writer wants his readers to pursue wisdom under the sun, and this pursuit will mean fearing the Lord and obeying him (Eccl. 12:13). We must remember that our days are limited, this world does not offer what can truly satisfy our hearts, and we were made to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.
By thinking about the end of life, we can orient ourselves more wisely in the present. In fact, the writer of Ecclesiastes wants especially the young to heed his words. He speaks to the “young man” in Ecclesiastes 11:9. No doubt there will be many readers of Ecclesiastes who don’t fit into the “young” category anymore. But for the young, there may be many years for them to enjoy walking with God in wisdom and reverence.
In Ecclesiastes 12:1–2, the writer says, “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’; before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return after the rain.”
Just as the opening chapters of Proverbs are the speeches of a father to his son, the writer in Ecclesiastes is aiming his words at younger people so that they will walk wisely with God for many years. He wants to expose folly and emphasize our vulnerability. And he wants to be honest about the challenges of old age.
Because old age comes with more physical challenges, the writer of Ecclesiastes speaks of those years as less pleasurable. His comparison is with the physical vitality and liveliness of youth. Growing old involves the dimming of life—like the sun, moon, and stars growing dark. The imagery (of lessening light and returning clouds) is about physical life nearing its end.
The writer provides an allegory to help us sense what the advance of old age can mean. Those are the years “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” (Eccl. 12:3).
This verse is probably referring to the physical decline of various bodily features. The “keepers of the house” that “tremble” may be the hands that shake. The “strong men” which are “bent” may be the legs. The “grinders” which “cease because they are few” could refer to fewer teeth. And the phrase “those who look through the windows” probably refers to eyesight, which is “dimmed” because of age.
The allegory continues: “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” (Eccl. 12:4).
When you shut a door, sound from the other side is obstructed. So these “doors on the street” that are “shut,” and “the sound of the grinding” which “is low,” probably point to a loss of hearing. Old age can bring sleep changes as well, such as rising up very early in the morning, at the time when you might hear “the sound of a bird” at dawn. Older folks might notice changes in their voice as well—“all the daughters of song are brought low.”
Furthermore, the writer says: “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” (Eccl. 12:5).
As people age, they may find themselves fearful of what didn’t used to bother them. They are now “afraid” of “what is high,” and there are various “terrors” they fear. Like an almond tree that blossoms with a white appearance, the hair of an older person is on the way to looking gray and then white. Though once possessing more energy, they may feel like a “grasshopper” that now “drags itself along.” Their “desire” for various things “fails.” They may crave certain things less, like food or sex or other pleasures.
As bodily decline manifests itself, it takes place “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, and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it” (Eccl. 12:6–7).
The language of snapping and breaking and shattering is about the moment of death. Think about the components he mentions: a cord, bowl, a pitcher, and a wheel at the cistern. These components are all part of gathering water from a well. A wheel turns and a cord draws up the bowl for a pitcher to be filled with water. These components symbolize the sustaining of life.
If the cord is snapped, if the bowl is broken, if the pitcher is shattered, and if the wheel is broken, there can be no retrieval of water. Life is disrupted. This is the picture of death. This is when “the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it” (Eccl. 12:7).
Significantly, the writer of Ecclesiastes provides this allegory about old age and death near the end of the book. In fact, this allegory (in Eccl. 12:1–7) is the last section before the epilogue (12:8–14). The writer wants his readers—especially his young readers—to ponder the vulnerabilities of life and the challenges that await them as they age.
Now is the time to live for God. Now is the time to fear the Lord. Now is the time to walk wisely under the sun. Life will not necessarily get easier as we grow older. However old you are, these are the years to love God with your heart, soul, mind, and strength.
Don’t live for the things that cannot satisfy the human heart. God has made you for himself, for his glory. Let’s embrace our mortality and walk with God for the years he gives us. We don’t know how many years that will be. And we will probably die sooner than we think.