{"id":28346,"date":"2023-10-24T22:00:02","date_gmt":"2023-10-25T05:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/ecclesiastes-11_7-10-copy\/"},"modified":"2023-09-19T14:46:35","modified_gmt":"2023-09-19T21:46:35","slug":"ecclesiastes-12_1-8","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/ecclesiastes-12_1-8\/","title":{"rendered":"Enjoy and Honor God While You\u2019re Young"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ecclesiastes 12:1-8\u00a0\u00a0(CLICK HERE FOR BIBLE VERSES)<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Ecclesiastes 12:1-8.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Ecclesiastes 12:1-2 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n1\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Remember 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”–
\n2\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars grow dark, and the clouds return after the rain;<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 1-2:\u00a0 This seven verse poem begins and ends with the same phrase: \u201cRemember your Creator\u201d. We\u2019ll look at what that phrase means in verse 6.\u00a0 Sandwiched in between each time this phrase occurs, Qohelet uses vivid imagery to describe the onslaught of old age and death.\u00a0 First, he describes old age and death as \u201cthe days of trouble\u201d, as years when it is harder to enjoy life (v1).\u00a0 Then he describes old age and death like a gathering storm (v2).\u00a0 As one pastor observes, it\u2019s like Qohelet is using apocalyptic imagery to describe the end of the world, except in this case it is the end of one aging person\u2019s world.<\/p>\n

Ecclesiastes 12:3 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n3\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0when 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;<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 3:\u00a0 To paraphrase, when the hands tremble, when the legs (or perhaps shoulders?) stoop, when the molars fall out and the eyes grow weak\u2026<\/p>\n

Ecclesiastes 12:4 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n4\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0when the doors to the street are closed and the sound of grinding fades; when men rise up at the sound of birds, but all their songs grow faint;<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 4:\u00a0 \u2026when the ears don\u2019t work as they should\u2026<\/p>\n

Ecclesiastes 12:5a (NIV)<\/strong>
\n5\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0when men are afraid of heights and of dangers in the streets;\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 5a:\u00a0 …when we become more timid, tentative and fragile\u2026
\nEcclesiastes 12:5b (NIV)<\/strong>
\n5<\/sup>\u2026when the almond tree blossoms and the grasshopper drags himself along and desire no longer is stirred\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 5b:\u00a0 \u2026when the hair turns white and when sexual desire declines\u2026<\/p>\n

Ecclesiastes 12:5c (NIV)<\/strong>
\n5<\/sup>\u2026Then man goes to his eternal home and mourners go about the streets.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 5c:\u00a0 \u2026after all this physical deterioration, that\u2019s when the person in their old age transitions into eternity and others mourn their loss.<\/p>\n

Ecclesiastes 12:6-7 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n6\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Remember him–before the silver cord is severed, or the golden bowl is broken; before the pitcher is shattered at the spring, or the wheel broken at the well,
\n7\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0and the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 6-7:\u00a0 The \u201csilver cord\u201d, the \u201cgolden bowl\u201d, the pitcher at the spring and the wheel at the well \u2013 all of these are metaphors for youthfulness.\u00a0 Qohelet says to remember the Creator before one\u2019s youthfulness is completely gone.<\/p>\n

What does it mean to \u201cremember your Creator\u201d (v1, 5, 6)?\u00a0 I like how Pastor Eugene Peterson\u2019s\u00a0The Message<\/em>\u00a0paraphrase puts it: to remember your Creator means to honour and enjoy Him.\u00a0 It means to live life in light of your Creator, with a reverent and trusting awareness of who He is.<\/p>\n

Ecclesiastes 12:8 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n8\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Everything is meaningless!”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 8:\u00a0 Qohelet\u2019s final words at the end of Ecclesiastes echo his first words at the beginning.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0 Cherish your youth and your health while you still have them.\u00a0 Honour and enjoy God too.<\/p>\n

Father, I pray that I would cherish the youth and health You have given me, while also remembering You.\u00a0 Thank You that You are the God who satisfies our desires with good things so that our youth is renewed like the eagle\u2019s (Psalm 103).\u00a0 Thank You that You can renew our youth.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2021 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Ecclesiastes 12:1-8.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Ecclesiastes 12:1-2 (NIV)
\n1\u00a0\u00a0Remember 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”–
\n2\u00a0\u00a0before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars grow dark, and the clouds return after the rain;
\n\u00a0
\nOn verses 1-2:\u00a0 This seven verse poem begins and ends with the same phrase: \u201cRemember your Creator\u201d. We\u2019ll look at what that phrase means in verse 6.\u00a0 Sandwiched in between each time this phrase occurs, Qohelet uses vivid imagery to describe the onslaught of old age and death.\u00a0 First, he describes old age and death as \u201cthe days of trouble\u201d, as years when it is harder to enjoy life (v1).\u00a0 Then he describes old age and death like a gathering storm (v2).\u00a0 As one pastor observes, it\u2019s like Qohelet is using apocalyptic imagery to describe the end of the world, except in this case it is the end of one aging person\u2019s world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28348,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28346","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28346","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28346"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28346\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28349,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28346\/revisions\/28349"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28348"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}