Eternity isn’t a someday topic; it shapes how we handle youth, aging, and the last breath we take. We open Ecclesiastes 12 and let Solomon’s poetic realism guide us through trembling hands, dimming eyes, careful steps, and the startling truth that death is not sleep but awakening. Along the way, we name the cultural story that says you’re an accident without accountability and confront it with the better story: you are created, known, and carried by God from the womb to gray hair.
We start with the call to remember your Creator in the days of youth. That simple act of remembrance protects against drift, nihilism, and the brittle chase of meaning in achievement or appetite. Then we face the realities of aging with clear eyes and strong comfort: Scripture captures the losses we feel—fading strength, quieter songs, slower recovery—without mocking them, and sets them inside Isaiah’s promise that God bears and carries His people into their later years. Finally, we walk through Solomon’s images of death’s suddenness—the snapped cord, the broken bowl, the stopped wheel—and talk plainly about what follows: dust returns to dust, and the spirit returns to God.
You’ll hear why these truths are not morbid but freeing: purpose clarifies, courage grows, and ordinary days matter. For believers, the hope is specific and solid—absent from the body, at home with the Lord—and for seekers, the door of grace stands open now. If life is a vapor, wisdom is to live with heaven in mind and holiness in hand, trusting that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
If this message helped you think, hope, or pray differently, share it with a friend, subscribe for more Bible teaching, and leave a review to help others find the show.
Stephen's latest book, The Disciples Prayer, is available now. https://www.wisdomonline.org/store/view/the-disciples-prayer-hardback
Episode Transcript
Old age is arriving with diverse problems, but can I
just add that old age is alsoarriving with divine promises?
Like this one from Isaiah theprophet.
God says this, you have beencarried by me from birth.
Even to your old age, I will bethe same.
(00:30):
Even to your great years, I willcarry you.
I have done it, I will bear you,and I will carry you, and I will
save you.
SPEAKER_00 (00:59):
But don't turn this off if you're young, because he
has a message for you as well.
All of us are moving towarddeath.
And life seems awfully short.
But God wants us to live wiselyno matter how much time we have
left.
Death isn't final.
Death is actually an awakeningfor the believer.
(01:20):
In light of that fact, we shouldlive well and live with eternity
in mind.
We're gonna explore this todayhere on Wisdom for the Heart.
Stephen Davy has a message foryou called Before the Final
Awakening.
SPEAKER_02 (01:39):
Let's turn to the last chapter as Solomon begins
to write his closing comments.
And for the sake of ourexposition, I've divided his
inspired comments into athreefold warning.
We'll cover eight verses todayand the remaining in our next
session.
The first warning is especiallyfor young people.
He sort of carries it over fromchapter 11, if you were with us.
(02:01):
Here it is.
Remember your creator so thatyou don't become misguided in
your youth.
Remember your creator so thatyou don't become misguided in
your youth.
I'm reading from Ecclesiasteschapter 12 and verse 1.
Remember also your creator inthe days of your youth, before
(02:24):
the evil days come and the yearsdraw near, of which you will
say, I have no pleasure in them.
Now again, Solomon, as he's beendoing throughout his private
journal, sort of dips his quillinto the ink of realism.
He's going to lay out the truthfor us today.
And the truth is, the older youget, the more difficult life
(02:48):
becomes.
Those clouds just kind of comein, and we'll describe a little
bit further what he means.
You have added responsibilities,you have added challenges, you
have aches and pains andconstraints and bills and
limitations.
I mean, there's a lot of there'sa lot about getting old that
(03:09):
takes courage.
And again, not one amen fromthis audience either, lest we be
identified as the elderly.
One author I've enjoyed readingmust have been writing his
commentary around Christmastime.
And he had evidently seen onetoo many department store Santa
Claus.
And he wrote with humor that itoccurred to him that life comes
(03:32):
in four stages.
In the first stage, you believethere is a Santa Claus.
In the second stage, you don'tbelieve there is a Santa Claus.
In the third stage, you realizethat you are Santa Claus.
And in the fourth stage, youstart looking like Santa Claus.
And a young person would say,that'll never happen to me, I'll
(03:54):
never look like you, oldgeezers.
Well, thank you very much.
It's gonna happen, but youthhave the world in front of them.
And by the way, Solomon isn'tnecessarily emphasizing that
here anyway.
He's not stressing to the youth.
Remember the fact that you'regonna get old.
No, what does he say?
(04:15):
Remember your creator.
It will never be easy for you toremember your creator in a world
that suppresses the truth ofhim, that doesn't wanna hear his
word, that doesn't want to hearabout him, that comes up with
all sorts of theories of originsto do away with him, that
(04:36):
persistently refuses to give himhonor and thanks for having
created all that he did, Romanschapter 1, verse 21.
I mean, think about the factthat the Apostle Paul said
mankind will suppress the truthof creation, and he wrote that
1900 years ago.
There's no wonder.
I mean, if the knowledge of acreator is foundational in the
(04:59):
life of a young person is justbeginning, no wonder the enemy
of God would want to pummel ouryouth with the propaganda of
evolution.
There is no creator.
You have no creator.
The universe is a result ofrandom chance.
You're just a highly skilledanimal.
(05:22):
Your life is the result of genemutations, probably seeded by
aliens.
There's no creator.
Your life then is unaccountable.
Do what the animals do.
Your life is all up to whateveryou want to make of it, which is
(05:44):
the worst advice possible.
You see, the last thing Satanand the world system would ever
want you or anyone to hear isthe words of God the Son.
Without me, you can do nothing,which is of lasting value.
Remember your creator so thatyou don't become misguided in
(06:07):
your youth.
Here's another warning.
Remember your creator so thatyou don't become miserable in
your old age.
Lay the foundation so that now,as an old man, Solomon is a
realist, he's repented, he'scome back to God, he realizes
that with age comes a boatloadof difficulties and challenges
(06:29):
and limitations.
In fact, what he's gonna do nowfor the next several verses,
it's actually one sentence inthe Hebrew language.
One sentence.
He's going to poeticallydescribe what it means to get
old.
He's gonna dip his quill backin, the ink of realism, and he's
gonna describe it.
(06:50):
Go to verse 2.
He writes, before the sun andthe light and the moon and the
stars are darkened, and theclouds return after the rain.
In other words, remember yourcreator before the lights start
to go out.
In this context, it seems toindicate perhaps a sad
countenance, some believe, thatcan overcome an old person.
It's just sort of the cloudscome in.
(07:12):
The clouds move in.
Enough of life bears down.
There's a struggle.
The idea of the sun, the light,the reflecting stars, scholars
believe is a reference toclarity.
You know, that light bulb thatto us, even to this day,
represents the mind, well, itstarts to dim.
(07:33):
And with that, of course, comesthe muddling of the mind and the
memory.
The memory is fading.
One author wrote with some humorabout the loss of memory.
He said, you know, about thetime your complexion finally
clears up, your memory begins togo.
(07:54):
That's so good.
Maybe you're there right now,but you can't remember if you
are or or not.
Just stay with me.
I recently read one of theauthors I was researching, told
this story about some35-year-old college friends.
They'd been in college tomaintain a friendship.
They decided to reunite every 15years to just stay in touch.
(08:16):
They all lived in the same town.
And for their first reunion,when they met in one of their
homes, they decided to go eat atthe glowing embers restaurant
because it was convenientlylocated, and they all agreed.
Fifteen years later, at the ageof 50, they met and discussed
where to go eat.
They decided to go to theglowing embers restaurant
because they liked the menu, andthey all agreed.
(08:38):
Fifteen years later, at 65 yearsof age, they met and discussed
where to go eat.
They decided on the glowingembers restaurant because it was
quiet and relaxing.
They all agreed.
Fifteen years later, at the agesof 80, they met and discussed
where to go eat, and theydecided to eat at the glowing
embers restaurant because they'dnever eaten there before.
(09:01):
And they all agreed.
Solomon writes that old age canbe metaphorically described
here.
Look at verse 3.
In the day when the keepers ofthe house tremble.
And the strong men are bent.
The keepers of the house, areference to the hands that now
(09:22):
shake and tremble.
The hands and arms that used todefend the house are beginning
to bend and tremble.
He writes further in verse 3 allthe grinders cease because they
are few.
Grinders are your teeth, ofcourse.
Even with the best of dentalcare, your original teeth are
now few and far between.
(09:44):
You've come a long way from yourchildhood where you used to get
so excited about losing a tooth.
In fact, you used to get moneyunder your pillow because of
that, and now you're payingdearly yourself.
He writes here about lookingthrough dimmed windows.
This reference poetically to ablurred vision.
(10:05):
You just can't see clearlyanymore, right?
I can remember at the age of 40stepping into the pulpit and
introducing myself in a brandnew way because I had to bring
for the first time with me apair of glasses.
And I told the congregation thatnow having turned 40, I was in
need.
And I told them then, and it'sso it's funny to me now, but I
(10:29):
remember I I just couldn't Icouldn't read as well as I used
to be able to read.
I I knew there was a problem,had to be a problem.
And uh, you know, I'm 39 and ahalf, almost 40, and so I went
to the optometrist, the doctor,and he told me, Stephen, you
don't have a problem, you'rejust getting old.
So I changed doctors.
(10:51):
I got a pair of glasses, andthen you have that moment
perhaps when the doctor says youneed bifocals, trifocals.
Solomon writes again withrealism, though poetically in
verse 4, and the doors on thestreet are shut when the sound
of the grinding is low, morethan likely a reference to
(11:12):
hearing problems.
The ears pictured as doors areshutting, as if they were gates
to a city, and the sounds ofthat loud grinding mill, that
lumberman, that's just a lowhum.
Not clearly heard.
(11:34):
Here's another description ofold age, verse 4 of the latter
part, and one rises up at thesound of a bird.
When the daughters of song, hewrites, are brought low.
Daughters, perhaps a referenceto all of those things that work
together to allow you to singfrom vocal chords to lungs to
(11:58):
diaphragm.
All that used to work togetherto allow you to sing, and now it
just kind of quivers and quakes,and you can't get a strong
enough breath to hold that note.
You don't sing then as loudly asyou used to, you probably
shouldn't sing as loudly as youused to.
And I'm I don't like it.
(12:22):
You know, there's a there's a Ican hear myself.
Do you hear yourself?
You used to be able to hold thatnote, and now you're just kind
of all over it as you hang on toit.
That's what he's talking abouthere.
All that conspired to allow youto sing begins to conspire
against you.
(12:42):
Verse 5 They are afraid of whatis high, and terrors are in the
way.
Bones are brittle.
Old age heals slower.
The fear of breaking somethingis now much more important to
Garden.
So you're gonna avoid theheights.
You're afraid of what is high.
(13:03):
You're not gonna climb a tallladder.
You shouldn't.
You're gonna be careful at a setof stairs going up or down.
You're gonna watch out forcurbs, right?
For us in this generation, it'dbe driving it at night.
Terrors are in the way.
It's just more and moredifficult.
Getting old, as I said, takescourage.
(13:28):
Verse 5 the almond treeblossoms.
The almond tree blossoms in latewinter.
Begins with a reddish color andthen it turns white.
It's a clear, beautiful, poeticreference to that auburn hair
turning gray in the winter oflife.
He writes, the grasshopper heredrags itself along.
(13:51):
It loses that youthful abilityto hop.
Somewhere along the line, yourealize, you know, I don't
really jump anymore.
It's as if we have a burden onour backs.
He refers here to the loss ofdesire.
So Solomon here is colorfullyand realistically describing the
(14:13):
winding down of the body.
So remember your creator all theway back there in the days of
your youth.
In other words, start buildingthat foundation of truth and
trust in him because he wantsyou to enjoy not only your
youth, but all your years as youbuild on that foundation of
(14:36):
truth and trust in his creativeplan for your life.
But how life changes.
Old age is arriving with diverseproblems.
But can I just add before we goany further that old age is also
arriving with divine promises?
(14:59):
Like this one from Isaiah theprophet.
God is speaking to the nationIsrael, but he delivers the same
truth to every believer.
God says this, you have beencarried by me from birth, and
have been carried from the womb.
Even to your old age, I will bethe same.
(15:20):
Don't you like that?
Even to your graying years, Iwill carry you.
I have done it, I will bear you,and I will carry you and I will
save you.
Man, that's a great promise.
Just as we sang earlier, oh Godof the ages, let me hide myself
(15:41):
in you.
With that surrender comesfulfillment and peace and
security and joy.
No matter where you are, in youryears.
God is in control.
Make the most out of your youthand make the most out of your
old age.
The way you do that is toremember your creator.
(16:04):
Don't forget your creator.
And God's word tells you yourcreator isn't going to forget
you.
Solomon now shifts to the finalscenes of life.
I want to get a couple otherverses here under our belt.
He describes a funeralprocession in the last part of
verse 5.
He says, Man is going to hiseternal home, and the mourners
(16:25):
go about the streets.
Mourners were professionals,that was an occupation.
This tells us the funeral'staking place.
They're out in the streets.
They're lamenting the death ofthe individual he's been
describing.
And now what Solomon does isprovide some poetic descriptions
of that final moment, thatsudden moment.
(16:46):
Even though, you know, it's justbeen kind of creeping along, it
happens suddenly.
He says in verse 6, before,remember your creator, is the
context, before the silver cordis snapped, or the golden bowl
is broken.
Here the golden bowl is a lamphanging from the ceiling by a
(17:10):
silver chain.
The chain suddenly breaks, andthe light of life is broken.
By the way, Solomon isdescribing a rather expensive
lamp, perhaps to hint that deathis no respecter of persons.
Doesn't matter, you got a littlelight bulb or a golden lamp,
(17:31):
it's coming.
Notice further the waterpitcher, it's filled with water,
but it's shattered at thefountain, the wheel that pulls
up the water breaks.
Water in the Old Testament is apicture of life.
You're full of life, butsuddenly your heart stops
pumping, the wheel stopsworking, and suddenly the
(17:52):
pitcher of life is shattered,and death suddenly arrives.
And what happens at death?
Well, now no more metaphors, bythe way, no more poetry, just
the raw truth.
Verse 7.
And the dust returns to theearth as it was, and the spirit
(18:16):
returns to God who gave it, whocreated it.
God told Adam and Eve as they'rebeing exiled from the garden,
having sinned against him, hefulfilled for them that promise
as they begin to die, and hetells them eventually, you are
dust, and to dust you shallreturn.
(18:42):
Genesis 3 19.
Solomon underscores the factthat that isn't the end.
When that picture is shattered,when the heart stops pumping,
there is an immediate separationof body and spirit.
Temporal, eternal, material, andthat immaterial part of you,
(19:07):
which is the real you, you'vejust been carried around by this
temporal thing called a body.
And the spirit wings its way toGod.
That's for believers, 2Corinthians chapter 5.
For those who are unbelievers,Luke 16 tells us the Spirit
immediately goes to a place oftorment where the unbeliever
(19:29):
will await that final judgmentcall before the great white
throne of God.
So Solomon essentially issuesanother warning here.
A way of review.
Remember your creator so thatyou don't become miserable in
your old age.
And now this remember yourcreator so that you aren't
(19:51):
mistaken at your death.
Life is fleeting.
It's just a breath.
James chapter 4, verse 14 says.
Life appears for a little while,but it's just a vapor.
SPEAKER_01 (20:04):
It vanishes away.
SPEAKER_02 (20:07):
Solomon is saying the same thing, summarizing the
brevity of our lives no matterhow long we've lived, verse 8
says, Vanity of vanities, saysthe preacher, all is vanity.
Does that sound familiar?
That's how he began the journal.
Chapter 1 and verse 2, samewords, vanity of vanity, says
the preacher, all is vanity.
(20:29):
Vanity can can refer tofleeting, it can refer to
futility, it can refer tofrustration.
Depending on the context, it canrefer to brevity.
That's his idea here.
It's just a breath, it's just avapor.
No matter how long you live,eventually you're confronted
(20:50):
with the reality that life isfleeting away.
What's the answer?
Solomon is warning us that lifeis short, it's just a breath or
two between you and death.
So remember, your creator.
(21:10):
That's the answer.
He gave us life to you so thatyour life would have meaning.
He came to earth so you could goto heaven.
He gives your life purpose andmeaning to honor him, to
introduce others to him, toserve him and others to rejoice
in all of his good gifts, toenjoy the day as he brings it,
(21:31):
and to await that coming daywhen you see him face to face,
when your spirit travels upwardand onward and into the presence
of your creator God.
Can you imagine that moment?
Can you imagine?
And I think of it often, thattransition.
(21:53):
Those few seconds when yourspirit arrives as a believer in
heaven, from mortal toimmortality, as it were, 1
Corinthians 15.
But that moment when it dawns onyou where you are.
(22:54):
But can you imagine the momentfor the unbeliever?
There really was judgment.
There really was sin.
There really was accountability.
The gospel I heard was true.
The conscience that made me feelguilty was warning me.
(23:15):
The truth of creation that Irejected, it wasn't random
accidents.
It was divinely created.
There really is a creator.
Solomon issues the warning.
Let me put it in thisterminology.
Death is not some finalslumbering.
Death is not some finalsleeping.
(23:38):
Death is the final awakening.
Awakening.
I have been at the bedside ofindividuals who've taken that
last breath.
And have heard testimonies ofthose who've been with others.
(24:00):
But I have seen with my own eyesthe most remarkable thing that
occurs again and again.
They're lying there, their eyesclosed, unconscious.
The machines are pumping away,and suddenly their eyes open.
SPEAKER_01 (24:20):
And they're gone.
Their eyes open.
And they're gone.
What do they see?
SPEAKER_02 (24:33):
Remembering your creator, my friends, means you
won't be misguided in youryouth.
Walk with him.
Start now.
Remembering your creator meansyou won't become miserable in
your old age as you trust him.
(24:56):
As he carries you along.
Remembering your creator meansyou won't be mistaken at your
death.
Believe in him.
And to the unbeliever, the Biblepromises call upon the name of
the Lord, and you shall besaved.
And that's all that will matterin that day.
(25:19):
To the believer, the Bible saysin 1 Corinthians 15, your labor
is not in vain.
Guess what?
Your life isn't meaningless, itisn't vanity.
It's God's assignment.
And what you do is you glorifyhim in the mundane and in the
wonderful moments.
It is not in vain in the Lord.
(25:42):
So here's what you do beforethat final awakening.
Remember your creator becauseone day everyone will stand
before him, some to judgment.
I pray for you, it will be foreverlasting joy.
SPEAKER_00 (26:12):
Live this day and all the rest of your days, being
mindful of your Creator God, andlive with heaven in mind.
Thanks for joining us today,here on Wisdom for the Heart.
As we close today, I want totake a moment to give you a
glimpse of what God is doingthrough this ministry and how
(26:33):
you're a part of it.
You hear Stephen teaching God'sword each day, but what you may
not realize is just how far thatteaching is reaching.
Our ministry is called WisdomInternational for a reason.
From the very beginning, ourmission has been to take the
truth of God's word not onlyacross the street, but across
(26:58):
the world.
And by God's grace, that'shappening in more ways than ever
before today.
Wisdom International has Bibleteaching resources in twelve
languages in audio, video, andprint.
So people can access God's truthin the format and language that
(27:19):
best serves them.
From English, Arabic, Swahili,and Hindi, to Spanish,
Portuguese, and Mandarin, toprinted resources in Telugu,
Kurundi, Italian, and French,God's word is going forth every
day into churches, villages,schools, and homes.
(27:40):
Sometimes even in regions wherebiblical teaching is scarce, but
hunger for truth is strong.
Every new translation, everybroadcast, every printed lesson,
all of it is made possible bythe faithful support of people
like you.
So thank you for supportingWisdom International.
(28:00):
Join us next time for theconclusion to this series
through Ecclesiastes.
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