Ecclesiastes 11:7 - Meaning and Application

This is a warning for both old and young people to think about death and get ready for it. After giving many wise lessons on how to live well, the Preacher now comes near the end of his message to teach us how to die well. He reminds us that we all have a final end.

He first speaks to older people, like a father speaking to his children, to wake them up to think about death (Ecclesiastes 11:7, Ecclesiastes 11:8). He begins with a fair admission that life is sweet. The light of the sun is pleasant, and it is good for the eyes to see it. Light was the first thing made when the world was formed, and the eye is one of the first things formed in the body. It is a joy to see the light, and to see the many good things this world offers through it.

Life itself is also like light, as Job says when he speaks of the light of life (Job 3:20, Job 3:23). No one can honestly deny that life is sweet. It is sweet to wicked people, because they treat this life as their whole reward. It is sweet to godly people, because this life is their time of preparation for a better one. It is sweet to everyone by nature. Yet because life is so pleasant, we need to keep a careful guard on ourselves, so we do not love it too much.

Still, even in the midst of a long and happy life, we must remember death. If a person lives many years, let him remember that the days of darkness are coming. We may picture a long summer day, with many years of life and much comfort from God. Some people live many years, escape many dangers, and enjoy many blessings. They may even feel sure that nothing bad will happen to them. But who truly rejoices in all their years? In truth, no one does. We have only short times of joy and many times of sorrow.

Some people seem to enjoy their years more than others. If a good outward life and a cheerful spirit come together, that may help a person rejoice. Even then, the happiest life has its troubles, and the most cheerful heart has its low moments. Sinful people have their dark moods, and even godly people have their holy sorrows. So this picture of a person living many years and rejoicing in them all is only a thought, not a common reality.

After that summer day comes the winter night. So after life comes the days of darkness, meaning the time of lying in the grave. The body lies in darkness there. The eyes do not see, and the sun does not shine. Death is the opposite of the light of life, and the grave is a land of darkness (Job 10:21). These days of darkness will be many, because the time our bodies lie under the ground will be longer than the time we lived above it. Yet they are not endless. They will be counted and finished when this created order comes to its end (Job 14:12). As the longest day ends in night, so the longest night will end in morning.

It is good for us to think often about these days of darkness. That keeps us from pride, from careless self-confidence, and from wild behavior driven by empty joy. Even with a long life and many comforts, we still must remember that these days are surely coming. They will be less frightening if we have thought about them ahead of time.

He then turns to the young, speaking to them like children, to wake them up to think about death too (Ecclesiastes 11:9, Ecclesiastes 11:10). He uses a sharp, ironic form of speech: "Rejoice, young man, in your youth." Some take this as the false advice of an atheist or pleasure-loving person, and Solomon answers it with a strong warning at the end of the verse. But it is even more forceful if we hear it as irony. It is like Elijah speaking to the prophets of Baal, or Micaiah speaking to Ahab, or Christ speaking to his disciples in a searching way.

So the meaning is this: go ahead, young man, live for pleasure if you want. Follow your sports, your amusements, and your desires. Let your heart cheer you with its foolish hopes. Walk in the ways you want to go, and do whatever pleases your appetite. Let your own will be your law. Let your heart follow your eyes, with a wandering heart and a roaming eye. Do what looks good to you, whether it pleases God or not.

Solomon speaks this way to show several things. He shows that this is what the young man wants to do, and what he wants permission to do. He shows that he would rather hear smooth words that agree with his desires than wise warnings that oppose them. He also exposes the foolishness of a life given over to pleasure and sin. If people thought clearly and judged fairly, the very picture of such a life would show how unreasonable it is. The case is already decided by simply describing it. And if people choose such a path, it is right for God to give them up to their own desires and let them follow their own plans (Hosea 4:7).

Then comes the strong check against these pleasures: know for certain that for all these things God will bring you into judgment. Think about that, and then see if you can keep living that kind of life. This is a corrective warning after the earlier irony, pulling back the reins on the young man's sinful desires. If you choose this kind of freedom, it will ruin you forever. You will stand before a God who will not leave sin unpunished.

There is a judgment to come. Every one of us must be brought into judgment, even if we now push that day far away from our minds. And we will answer for all our sinful joy and sensual pleasure on that day.

It is good for everyone, and especially for young people, to know and think about this, so they will not use their youthful desires to store up wrath for the day of wrath, the wrath of the Lamb.

A warning and encouragement follow from all this (Ecclesiastes 11:10). Young people should watch themselves and care well for both their souls and their bodies, their hearts and their flesh. Let them make sure their minds are not lifted up with pride, or stirred by anger, or by any sinful feeling. “Remove sorrow, or anger, from your heart.” The word includes any disorder or turmoil of the mind. Young people are often impatient when they are corrected or restrained. They are quick to be upset by anything that humbles them, and their proud hearts rise against whatever goes against their wishes.

They are so fixed on what pleases the senses that they cannot bear anything unpleasant, and it goes straight to their hearts. Their pride often troubles them and makes them restless. Put that away, along with love for the world, and keep your expectations low when it comes to created things. Then disappointments will not so easily lead to sorrow and anger. Some understand “sorrow” here to mean the worldly joy described in Ecclesiastes 11:9, which ends in bitterness and grief. So young people should stay away from anything that will become a source of regret when they look back on it.

They should also take care that their bodies are not stained by overindulgence, sexual impurity, or any fleshly desires. “Put away evil from the flesh, and do not let the parts of your body become tools for wrongdoing.” The evil of sin will become the evil of punishment. What seems good to the flesh because it pleases its desires will turn out to be harmful. Therefore, keep it far away, as far as possible.

The preacher strengthens this warning for both old and young by pointing to his main lesson, the emptiness of all present things, their uncertainty and lack of lasting value. He reminds older people of this: “All that is coming is vanity” (Ecclesiastes 11:8). Even if a person lives many years and finds joy in all of them, everything that has already happened, and everything still to come, is still empty. No matter what people hope for in their final years, it is all vanity. What is yet to come will not make them any happier than what has already passed. All who come into the world are vanity, altogether so, even in their best condition.

He also reminds young people of the same truth: “Childhood and youth are vanity.” The thoughts and actions of childhood and youth are full of foolishness and sin, and young people need to watch against them and be healed of them. The pleasures and advantages of youth have no certainty, no full satisfaction, and no lasting stay. They are passing away. These flowers will soon fade, and these blossoms will fall. So let them be turned into good fruit, fruit that will remain and bring a good reward.