Fear God, And Keep His Commandments

[Ecclesiastes 11:7-12:14]

This passage is FULL of imagery. As I read and studied the passage this week, two particular images really grabbed hold of me: Goads & Nails. 

At the end of the passage, as the book is wrapping up, it reads, “Not only was the Teacher wise, but he also imparted knowledge to the people. He pondered and searched out and set in order many proverbs. The Teacher searched to find just the right words, and what he wrote was upright and true. The words of the wise are like goads, their collected sayings like firmly embedded nails—given by one shepherd.” (Ecclesiastes 12:9–11, NIV). This book is filled with knowledge and wisdom. And it ends by saying this knowledge and wisdom functions like Goads and Nails. Both are pointed, but both have different purposes. 

If you don’t know what a goad is, it basically functions like a cattle prod. If you’ve ever been a farmer, or worked with animals, you know that they often don’t want to go where they need to go. They need to be encouraged to head in the right direction. So, back when this was written, farmers created something called the goad. It was a long stick with a sharp point. They would use this to “encourage” the animal to keep heading in the right direction or to keep doing what it needed to do. 

On the other hand, we have the imagery of a nail. Nails are also sharp but they serve an opposite purpose. A goad is used to move things, but a nail is used to keep things in place. If something is moving—and it shouldn’t be moving—you either use Duck Tape or a nail. Its purpose is to keep things firm, fixed, steadfast. 

It may sound paradoxical for our passage to say this. It says that this book of wisdom—and the other books of wisdom, along with the words of the wise—function to keep us moving and to hold us fast. How does that work? They poke us and provoke us to keep moving in the right direction. They make us uncomfortable when we’ve become too comfortable. They encourage us to keep doing the things we need to keep doing. YET, they also function like nails. They draw hard lines—saying HERE and NOT HERE. They ground us in the world. They provoke us to keep moving, BUT they also PREVENT us from moving too far—from swerving off the opposite side of the road. 

Building on this analogy, I couldn’t help but think about vaccinations—of cows, not peoples (why would you think I was talking about people vaccinations :-). When you vaccinate cattle you need equipment to keep the cattle moving—because they don’t want to keep moving—AND you need equipment to provide boundaries for them so that they keep moving in the right direction. So you have cattle prods and chutes/head-catches. The cattle prods are to keep them moving and the chute/head-catch create boundaries to “hold them firm”—to keep them from moving too far. 

As we come to the end of this book, it’s important to point out that we NEED both of these things in our lives. It’s also important to understand that you CANNOT have these things if you have rejected God. Remember, this book has been written to contrast the life without God to the life with God. If there is no God, there are no “nails”—no boundaries, nothing fixed, everything moves. If there is no “boundary maker”—no “nail pounder”—there are no boundaries/nails. People may try to create their own boundaries—to pound their own nails—but they will keep moving, morphing, changing. Which means, they are NOT truly nails because they are not fixed. You can only have nails if there’s a God. 

Also, if you reject/deny God, you have no goads. Nothing that is truly prodding you along—pushing you in the right direction. Again, if there is no God, there IS NO DIRECTION. There is no purpose. There is no meaning. Meaningless, Meaningless, ALL IS MEANINGLESS!!! So, you end up like a cow out to pasture, wandering around with no purpose, no direction—NOTHING. Again, people try to create their own goads—their own meaning/purpose—but as has been repeatedly pointed out throughout this book, any purpose/meaning we try to create ourselves, crumbles into meaninglessness. You can only have meaning and purpose—true goads/motivation—if there’s a God. 

And, interestingly, this all comes in the context of Enjoying Life. Isn’t it interesting that we need GOADS and NAILS in the pursuit of enjoying life? We actually need to be prodded and pushed to truly enjoy life. We actually need nails/boundaries to help us truly enjoy life. Otherwise—like I already said—we end up aimlessly wandering around like a cow that’s been kicked out to pasture. 

On a certain level, we understand why we need to be goaded into enjoying life. It can be hard. I know full well that many of you—including myself recently—can related to the struggle this passage describes: “Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, “I find no pleasure in them”— before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars grow dark, and the clouds return after the rain; when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men stoop, when the grinders cease because they are few, and those looking through the windows grow dim; when the doors to the street are closed and the sound of grinding fades; when people rise up at the sound of birds, but all their songs grow faint; when people are afraid of heights and of dangers in the streets; when the almond tree blossoms and the grasshopper drags itself along and desire no longer is stirred. Then people go to their eternal home and mourners go about the streets. Remember him—before the silver cord is severed, and the golden bowl is broken; before the pitcher is shattered at the spring, and the wheel broken at the well, and the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. “Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Everything is meaningless!”” (Ecclesiastes 12:1–8, NIV). He talks about years of our life in which we will say, “I find no pleasure in them” OR “I don’t enjoy these years.” He gives us a vivid description of what these years look like. The sun and the moon and the stars grow dark—a picture of our eyesight beginning to dim. The keepers of the house begin to tremble and strong men stoop—our bodies become shaky and bent over. The grinders are few—our teeth fall out. The doors to the street are closed and the sound of grinding fades—our hearing begins to fail us. You awake at the sound of a bird—you have trouble sleeping and wake easily, often early. Then, he says, the day will come when the silver cord is severed, the golden bowl broken, and the dust will return to the dust, and the spirit will return to the God who gave it—death. These are not easy days. Some have said that growing old is not for wimps. That’s true. It’s easy to say, “I find no pleasure in these days.” It’s easy to slowly slip into despair and displeasure and crabbiness and bitterness. 

Yet, the author says, “However many years anyone may live, let them enjoy them all.” (Ecclesiastes 11:8, NIV). Here’s the goad coming from our author. He knows the temptation that is coming to those who grow older—the temptation to give up and quite—to become frustrated and despairing. So, he pulls out the cattle prod and says, “If you live for many days, ENJOY every one of those days.” It may be hard, your body may not be functioning the way you want it to, you may not be able to do the things you’d like to do, BUT you’re still alive, you still have breath, God has still given you this day. So, rejoice in it. Enjoy it. So what if you can’t do the things you’ve always done. You CAN do something and you CAN enjoy that thing. You can still enjoy every single one of your days. 

But he’s also talking to the youngsters. He says one thing in two different ways. He says, “Rejoice, O young man, in your youth…” (Ecclesiastes 11:9, ESV). Then he builds on this and 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”” (Ecclesiastes 12:1, ESV). He says to rejoice in your youth before the day comes when your body falls apart and it’s much harder to rejoice. 

He’s addressing a particular temptation for young people. They don’t tend to rejoice IN their youth. They tend to despise their youth. They don’t like that they can’t do certain things because they are young. They are tempted to always live longing for the future. “I can’t wait until I’m in Middle School.” “I can’t wait until I get my driver’s license.” “I can’t wait until I’m an adult.” “I can’t wait until I’m retired.” They despise their youth, always longing to be older. And the author says, “Knock it off! Why would you want to be older? Your body is going to fall apart and it’s going to be much more difficult to enjoy life. So, enjoy your life NOW.” That’s what he means when he says, “Follow the ways of your heart and whatever your eyes see…” (Ecclesiastes 11:9, NIV). He is NOT telling teenagers to “follow their heart”—that’s foolish wisdom that comes from people who do not believe in God. He’s telling them to enjoy what’s going on RIGHT NOW in front of their face and in their heart. Not always longing for what may come in the future. Rejoice in the fact that you’re still young. 

Yet, here comes the NAIL. He says this twice to make sure we pay attention. To the young he says, “Follow the ways of your heart and whatever your eyes see, but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.” (Ecclesiastes 11:9, NIV). Enjoy your life now—as a youth—but also know that God will judge you for what you do. He ends the entire book saying, “For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.” (Ecclesiastes 12:14, NIV). Enjoy every day of your life—whether you are young or old—but also remember that God will judge everything you do. That’s the Nail—the boundary, the chute. 

Yet, there’s one aspect of this that many people don’t recognize. One of the things that God will judge is whether we’ve enjoyed the life He gave us. Have you ever thought about that? Why is it that we have this tendency when we think of God’s judgement to think of him like a stoic, crabby God? He has repeatedly commanded us to rejoice in Him and enjoy the life He has given us. And there are some people, when they stand before God on judgement day, God will say, “You didn’t have enough fun. Look at all these gifts I gave you. Look at this beautiful creation. Look at this amazing food. Look at the opportunities I put in front of you. And you took it so seriously that you never really enjoyed them. That’s not good!” Some people will actually be judged by God for taking life too seriously, and not living life to the full.  That should be a goad for us to start enjoying the life God has given us. 

And if you want to start doing that, hear the Teacher’s final advice: “Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13, NIV). This is the summary of the entire book. Fear God and Keep His commandments. Contrary to popular opinion, THIS is the key to truly enjoying life and living it to the full.

Some may try to say that you can only enjoy life by “throwing off the shackles of religion” and doing whatever you want. I’ve watched people do this over and over and over again. Guess what? They figure out that their life becomes meaningless. They end up wandering through life like a cow out to pasture—no purpose, no meaning, NO JOY……NOTHING. Yet, when we fear God—living in awesome wonder of who He is and the gifts He’s given us and the work He’s done—and when we keep His commandments—when we live the way He has created us to live in the world—we find a joy that is unspeakable. We can ACTUALLY, TRULY enjoy life. We can actually, truly enjoy every day that God has given us. 

This is why Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10, NIV). Any life we try to live apart from Christ results in death and destruction. Any life we try to live that isn’t about fearing God and keeping his commandments is a life of death and destruction—meaningless without joy. Apart from Christ we would be trapped in our sins and unable to fear God and keep his commandments. Yet, Christ came into the world so that our sins could be forgiven AND so that our lives would be transformed. He cleanses us of our sins and gives us a new life—a new life that can Fear God and keep his commandment—a new life that is FULL. In Christ you can ACTUALLY, TRULY enjoy every day of your life. So, look to Him in faith and trust Him because this is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.