Ecclesiastes 12:1 "Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, `I have no pleasure in them;'"

When you set into your older years, it seem that the quality of life becomes a little more difficult than in your youth. There were far more activities that you could take part in, and as the old body ages, the things of your youth kind of slip away in your abilities. It is saying here, while you have your youth, thank the creator for your abilities that you can do in the young flesh body.

This also can apply in the spiritual sense, for in the course of time, everything must come to an end.

Ecclesiastes 12:2 "While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain:"

While the sun shines and you walk under the sun in the flesh, there is a light in everyone's life. There is also a darkness coming to this flesh body that walks and enjoys the light of the sun. The end of the day, for the dark gathering clouds, means the end of the day from the flesh; and the end of the dispensation [the dark gathering of the clouds]. The prophet Joel discusses this day in Joel 2:1

Joel 2:1 "Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in My holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand;"

Remember the dark clouds gathering back in Ecclesiastes 12:2.

Joel 2:2 "A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations."

This is speaking of the locust army of Kenites and fallen angels that God will allow to come upon His people. This is talking about the deception of the Antichrist, and his one world religious system. That is why the warning has to be sounded. When that day comes for the coming of the Lord, at the seventh and final trump, it will also be the end of the flesh body, and this flesh age.

Joel 2:3 "A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them."

Friend, no flesh shall escape this burning flame of deception the Satan the Antichrist will bring on the earth, and you will be sealed by this day, or take by it in deception. The desolate wilderness, is for the lack of truth of God's Word, for the lies of the Antichrist and the traditions of the people will convince even Christians that Satan is the true Messiah. That is the desolate wilderness, and it is starting to happen even today. The seal of God in the forehead of God's elect will take place prior to the coming of Antichrist, for upon his arrival, it will be to late. The sting of the scorpion will have taken place, and you will have accepted Satan's mark.

Ecclesiastes 12:3 "In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out of the windows be darkened,"

In the day when the people living in the house grow old, then those that were strong, will be bowed over a little bit. The grinders are your teeth, and they cease because most of them will probable be missing, and worn down a bit. In old age the main activity becomes the looking out the windows to see what the neighbors are doing. Then the eyes won't be able to see very well, as the windows, or eye lids become darkened over the eyes. This is describing the flesh body in old age.

Ecclesiastes 12:4 "And the doors shall be shut in the streets, when the sound of the grinding is low, and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of music shall be brought low;"

The "doors" are the lips of your mouth, and they will be shut in the streets. When the teeth are gone, you just prefer to keep the mouth shut and the gums hidden. This old boy or girl just can't hear those birds singing any more, or the sound of those little girls singing as before. "Shall rise up at the voice of the bird" means that in old age sleep is hard to come by. Remember this old age to the flesh body is exactly as it was three thousand years ago in king Solomon's day, there is nothing new under the sun. Learn from the past mistakes of other people while you are young, and the flesh life will be made a lot easier.

Ecclesiastes 12:5 "Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail: (because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets:)"

In old age you get a little feeble when you get in high places, and you become afraid that you will trip and fall. The "almond tree" is the gray hair that will come in masses, and even the weight of the grasshopper would be a burden to you. All your personal desires or your senses shall fail, and the food just doesn't taste the same. It is time to cut out the salt, and go light on the heavy stakes.

The long home, in the Hebrew, "long" is 5769, and from the prime root # 5956 in the Strong's Hebrew dictionary. "Properly concealed the vanishing point, generally time out of mind, past or future, particularly the eternity." This is saying that once the flesh goes into this condition, it is going to stay there for an eternity. basically, it is talking about the grave. Once the body enters the grave, that is it for this old flesh body, the only future for the dead flesh is decay.

When the flesh body is laid into the grave, yes the mourners go about the streets with a heavy hear for the loss of their loved one. At that time they even hired mourners to beat there breast, and carry the message of the loss into the streets. However for Christians, that is what we look forward to, to be absent from this flesh body, and to be present with the Lord.

Ecclesiastes 12:6 "Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern."

The "cistern" is the clay flesh body that our soul lives in. The cistern is built to hold the water or life that is within the flesh body, but once that bowl is broken the water or life leaks out of it, just as water leaks out of this flesh body. The "silver cord" is what holds your soul and the spirit together with the flesh body. We can call it the process of thought, which is the intellect of the mind, or soul. When one is brain dead, there is no electrical impulse within the brain, and mankind is considered dead, even though the physical body may still be pumping blood. Life support systems are generally discontinued in most cases.

When that silver cord parts, and the heavenly Father allows it to happen, and this flesh body becomes biologically dead, the very inner man departs for this physical body, and returns to the Father. This decaying body will never be used again, ever. For the soul has entered into its new incorruptible body.

Ecclesiastes 12:7 "Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God Who gave it."

Then when? After the silver cord breaks, the mind is brain dead, and the body loses its life. Then shall the body "dust" return to the earth as it was, before it was formed into food, and entered your mouth as food to make your flesh body healthy.

The spirit is the intellect of the soul, that gives the soul its identity. This is not complicated. When the body dies, and goes to the grave, the physical body will never have a use again, for the soul has returned to the Father, to God who created it in the first place. Because this is a promise of God, it should be what all Christians look forward to all the days of their lives. That is the day that we will be with the Father and Jesus Christ is heaven, not at some distant time in the future.

When man gets to the point of not being able to understand this promise that at death the soul goes immediately to be with the Father, then he form his religious man made ideas, and sidesteps what God's Word teaches. Friend, it takes only a short time for the body to decay, and there is no body there to resurrect. The body returns to the dirt that it is made of, and the soul departs from that body never to return to it.

God creates the flesh body for your soul to occupy, and He places your spirit within your soul. That is what gives your soul its identity. Then just as God gave it for a brief time, He will take your soul back to Himself, when the flesh body stops having life.

Ecclesiastes 12:8 "Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vamity."

This is a conclusion of the entire book, as far as the flesh is concerned. It returns back to the form and elements that it is made of.

Ecclesiastes 12:9 "And moreover, because the preacher was wise, he still taught the People knowledge; yea, he gave good heed, and sought out, and set in order many proverbs."

The good preachers taught good proverbs, or teaching and knowledge from the Word of God to where the words came to life for the listener. That is what wisdom is, to take something complicated, and make it understandable.

Ecclesiastes 12:10 "The Preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and that which was written was upright, even words of truth."

In other words, the only authority for the preacher, the acceptable words wer the truths within God's holy Scriptures. God is the only good and Upright. Don't study man's traditions, but stay with God's word, chapter by chapter, and verse by verse. That is how a preacher is to preach. Friend why reach your time on so called critics, and short cuts, instead of going to the original source.

Ecclesiastes 12:11 "The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd."

A goad is a stick with a sharp point on the end that you can punch people with. Keep this verse in order in your thoughts. There is only one Shepherd, and Jesus Christ is that Shepherd. That Shepherd is the living Word. Those words that are Christ's should be a goad to the wise, for they are what the wise person is led by in his life. We are to fasten all our attention to the wisdom of God's Word.

Ecclesiastes 12:12 "And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh."

By these, by the Word of God we are to be admonished, and directed in our ways. The writing of books are endless, however there is only one book that should be our focus, and that is the Bible. Most of the other book is nothing but nonsense. We are to stay with the Shepherd.

Ecclesiastes 12:13 "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man."

To fear God, is to revere God, to love and worship Him. The only duty you have to God or man is to keep God's commandments, and conduct your life in the manner laid out in the Word of God. When you take in all of God's Word, there just isn't time enough for many other books.

Ecclesiastes 12:14 "For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil."

Every thing that you do in this flesh body is recorded in God's books in heaven, and thank God that we have repentance. When we love the Lord, and do wrong, we bring it to the Lord in private, and repent to the Father in Jesus name, and He has promised that by the blood of Jesus Christ, all our sins would be forgiven. That is why it is important to understand the freedom that you have in Christ. Though your preacher, or family would like to keep your sins before your eyes, God says that when you have repented, put it out of your life, and forget it. He has.

Your good works are important, and that is the only thing that you can take with you into eternity. Each of your works that are done for the Lord are already recorded where it matters, in heaven. That is what the garment that you will wear in the eternity is made of your works. So it is time to get working for the Lord. Your good works buy you rewards in the eternity, and they will always stay with you.