Redeeming our youth (Ecclesiastes 11:9 - 12:8)

This morning, we’re looking a passage from the book of Ecclesiastes, a book that some of us may be familiar with. But for those who don’t, here’s a crashcourse on Ecclesiastes. It’s a book in a book in a book. So we have the Bible, and inside the Bible is a book of Ecclesiastes, and inside the book of Ecclesiastes is another book written by someone called the Preacher. And today’s passage comes from this part. The Preacher is like a wise old man whose lived a long life full of the pleasures and joys of this world. He’s seen it all. He’s done it all. And this is his conclusion.

Ecclesiastes 12:8 ESV

Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher; all is vanity.

Everything under the sun, he concludes, is vanity. He’s disappointed with everything under the sun. But the secret to understanding the book of Ecclesiastes is in this word ‘vanity.’ In the Hebrew, ‘vanity’ is hebel, which means ‘mist.’ Now, the primary thing about mist is that it’s only temporary. It’s transient. It lasts for a short while before disappearing. And this is the main problem. The meaning of life is like a mist that fades away. It’s like fireworks that take our breath away for a second, and only for a second. And so, depending on your Bible translation, you’re going to see hebel translated as vanity, mist, or meaninglessness.

Now why should we even bother looking at the book of Ecclesiastes? First of all, it’s the Word of God written in the Bible. And secondly, there’s a very real problem that needs fixing, and this passage gives us both the diagnosis and the cure. Our passage today has the Preacher addressing the youths, so this message is for young people.

The diagnosis is that we have a rejoicing problem. And it’s not that we don’t know how to rejoice and celebrate. Let me tell you, young people really know how to party. But the rejoicing problem comes about because of three things: a lack of boundaries, lack of judgement, and lack of hope. And without these three things, all our rejoicing slips back into meaninglessness. The special moments you share, the achievements you accomplish, all the friends you make at school, everything fades away like a mist unless we have these three things. What are they? Boundaries, judgement, and hope. So here’s the sermon in a sentence.

When we rejoice in the Lord, we receive blessings within the boundaries, joy within the judgement, and hope within the hoariness.

Blessings within the boundaries

Ecclesiastes 11:9 ESV

Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes. But know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.

‘Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth.’

What does it mean to rejoice in your youth? What are youths known for? Their ambition, their energy, and their raging hormones. The Preacher tells us to rejoice in that. Rejoice in the fact that you dream big dreams. Rejoice in the fact that your cardio is fit enough and your joints are strong enough to play sports. Rejoice in your curiousity about the opposite gender. These are all good things. But in order for them to remain as good things, they need to keep within their proper boundaries. We need to rejoice in the creation, but even more so in the Creator. That’s why the Preacher talks about God’s judgement. It was a good thing for Adam and Eve to be in the Garden, but the moment they crossed the boundary God had set for them, it became a bad thing. That’s why God had to kick them out.

What are boundaries? Boundaries are anything that marks a border. For example, the boundary of Singapore doesn’t go beyond the causeway checkpoint. But there are also relational boundaries too. For example, you set boundaries with your friends. It is good to have friends, but if those friends start doing things we call red flags, like telling you to do something that makes you uncomfortable, or constantly borrowing money from you, then they’ve crossed their boundary. We also place boundaries around our work. We call it ‘work-life balance.’ And they make sure that our work or our studies don’t take over our lives. To put it simply, boundaries are about learning to say no. Boundaries are about rejoicing in things according to what they deserve, not more, not less.

Boundaries are important because they uphold the proper order of things in our lives. A typical student’s life has various responsibilities. You have your responsibility to your family, your school, your friends, your health, your extra-curricular activities, and your church. And they all good things. It’s a good thing to have your homework done on time. It’s a good thing to win at soccer or basketball. Video games are good things, but when you let good things cross their boundary, it stops being a good thing. It stops being a blessing. Hours and hours spent on games every day robs the blessing and leaves a curse.

The Bible teaches us to set boundaries too.

Proverbs 25:17 ESV

Let your foot be seldom in your neighbor’s house, lest he have his fill of you and hate you.

God had given Abraham the land of Canaan. That was his boundary. But one day there was a famine, and so two of his primary needs came into conflict: his need to obey God, and his hunger. So what did Abraham do? Abraham left the land of Canaan, went into Egypt, and everything went terrible. The goodness of Egypt was a false promise that barely lasted a moment. It was only hebel, vanity, mist. That’s all in Gen. 12:10-20.

It’s as if there were two neighboring countries in his heart. The first country is called ‘Obedience to God’, and the second country is called ‘Obedience to myself’. And what happened was that the second country invaded the first country and took more land for itself. We need to establish and uphold a strong boundary for the things of God, and learn to say no to the things of this world.

Eccl. 3:1-4 “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;”

How about rewriting this for students? Here’s my version.

‘A time to study, and a time to study God’s Word; a time to play, and a time to pray; a time to hangout with friends, and a time to hangout with the Lord.’

There are blessings within the boundaries. We must not let the things of this world invade into the things of God, but firmly surrender all of our heart to the Lord, saying, ‘Lord, this is Your boundary and yours alone.’ And then watch how the Lord blesses you.

Matthew 6:33 ESV

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

When we rejoice in the Lord, we receive blessings within the boundaries.

Joy within the judgement

Ecclesiastes 11:9 ESV

‘Walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes.’

And all who suscribe to Disneyplus said amen. That’s the anthem of the world right now. What’s is it? It’s the anthem of expressive individualism.

It’s the idea that unless you can express your heart’s desires in society, you’re oppressed. You’re living an inauthentic self. You’re not truly living. Therefore you need to rejoice in your desires over anything else. It’s a promise of joy in self-expression. And each generation has a mascot who preaches and embodies this message to the youth.

In my time, it was Lady Gaga who sang, “I’m on the right track, baby, I was born this way.” In more recent times, it is Queen Elsa: “Let it go, let it go, can’t hold it back anymore.” Such songs are sung in the streets, in the schools, in the shower. They are all worship leaders, except it’s about worship of the self rather than of God. But their message is a lie. It’s false because their promise of joy doesn’t last.

Ecclesiastes 2:10–11 ESV

And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil. Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.

The Bible tells us that worldly pleasure only lasts for a while, but true joy endures forever.

That’s why the Preacher said that worldly pleasure is only vanity and a striving after wind. It’s about momentary satisfaction and instant gratification.

Social media and video platforms keep getting quicker and quicker. Tiktok, YouTube shorts and Instagram reels. But that’s not how we get true joy. We mustn’t swing from one pleasure to the next, on and on until all our youth has gone by without finding a joy that lasts.

Here’s how one theologian put it.

‘Drugs, illicit sex, alcohol seem to bring enjoyment. Perhaps in the immediate short-term they genuinely do. But then dark days come and they are of no value. Meaninglessness goes unsolved. God’s judgement comes and you realize that the destructive power of these apparent happiness-makers has followed you beyond this life.’ - Derek Tidball

Ecclesiastes 11:9 ESV

The word for judgement is mispat, but in this verse the Preacher uses the word ba-mispat. That doesn’t just mean ‘judgement’, but ‘into the judgement.’ It’s a specific judgement day that’s already going to happen.

So what’s the solution?

We need to turn God’s judgement into something we can look forward to, and even something we can rejoice in. And this is what we see in the Bible. The Psalmist cries out for God’s judgement because it is salvation for the righteous.

Psalm 96:13 ESV

before the Lord, for he comes, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness, and the peoples in his faithfulness.

Psalm 82:8 ESV

Arise, O God, judge the earth; for you shall inherit all the nations!

Noah was someone who looked forward to the judgement of God. The flood was death for the wicked, but salvation for the righteous.

We can therefore prepare for the judgement by knowing the heart of God. We need to share God’s heart, and learn to see things His way.

Numbers 15:39 ESV

And it shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the Lord, to do them, not to follow after your own heart and your own eyes, which you are inclined to whore after.

The Preacher told us to walk in the ways of our heart, but Moses says not to follow our heart. How can we reconcile this? We can heed the words of St. Augustine:

“Love God and do whatever you please.”

What he’s saying is that when we love God, the desires of our heart change to do what is pleasing to God. That means we will love His commandments. We will love His worship services.

Psalm 37:4 ESV

Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

So the bottom line is this: our rejoicing needs to be redeemed. We musn’t rejoice in what the world tells us to rejoice in, but rejoice in the things of God. When we delight ourselves in the Lord, then the Lord’s judgement becomes something we can look forward to, instead of being a dreadful thing looming over our heads. That’s why we can have joy within the judgement. The judgement of the Lord becomes our joy, and we can yearn for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ without fear. We can echo the words of the Apostle John.

Revelation 22:20 ESV

He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!

When we rejoice in the Lord, we can have joy within the judgement.

Hope within the hoariness

Hoariness is basically another word for ‘old age.’ The Preacher has told us to rejoice in our youth and follow our heart while keeping the judgement of the Lord in mind. And now he tells us to remember our Creator in the days of our youth, before we’re old and grey.

Ecclesiastes 12:1–2 ESV

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”; before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return after the rain,

What’s he saying? The word for ‘evil’ in ‘evil days’ refers to pain. He’s telling us to remember our Creator while we’re young and able-bodied. Why? Because he knows the pain of ageing. I’m not saying this from personal experience. I’m not here to offend anyone. I’m saying this because the Bible says it. He’s saying that there will come a time when we can’t have pleasure in the things we once enjoyed, and so we won’t be excited about life in comparison to the time of our youth. The sun and light and moon and stars darkening, and the clouds returning all describe the general outlook on life. Again, this contrasts with the cheerfulness of youth.

Ecclesiastes 12:3–4 ESV

in the day when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men are bent, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those who look through the windows are dimmed, and the doors on the street are shut—when the sound of the grinding is low, and one rises up at the sound of a bird, and all the daughters of song are brought low—

Now the Preacher’s describing the human body as a house.

The keepers of the house tremble. That’s talking about the trembling hands of old age.

The strong men are bent. This talks about having bent backs.

The grinders cease because they are few. The grinders were used for crushing things. In this case, it’s talking about the loss of teeth. So when your teeth fall out. Remember, they didn’t have dentures back then.

Those who look through the windows are dimmed. This is talking about the dimming of the eyes that comes with old age.

The doors of the street are shut and the sound of the grinding is low. The doors here are in the dual form. The doors are what provides entry and exit from the body, which means it could be the lips, but the Preacher then talks about sounds being low, which tells us it’s referring to the ears.

Ecclesiastes 12:5 ESV

they are afraid also of what is high, and terrors are in the way; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along, and desire fails, because man is going to his eternal home, and the mourners go about the streets—

Now the Preacher’s switched metaphors. The almond tree has white blossoms, representing white hair of old age.

The grasshopper dragging itself along talks about the able-bodied youth who has now grown old and cannot move as well as before.

The Hebrew for the phrase ‘desire fails’ is literally ‘caperberry made useless’. The caperberry was well known for being an aphrodisiac. So the uselessness of the caperberry describes the loss of libido.

Ecclesiastes 12:6 ESV

before the silver cord is snapped, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern,

The meaning of the silver cord and golden bowl represents precious objects. Even precious items and objects will be unimportant in old age.

The pitcher represents the jar that is used to draw water from a well or cistern, and the wheel represents the pulley used to lower the jar and to bring it back up for water. This symbolizes the loss of life.

Ecclesiastes 12:7 ESV

and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.

And finally, the Preacher describes death. And he’s saying that all this awaits us. It sounds dreadful, doesn’t it? But the way this whole paragraph is phrased goes like this. “Remember your Creator before this and that… before this and that… before this and that.” So the key point is to remember the Lord. The opposite of remember is dismember, to cut something off. What the Preacher’s saying is he’s telling us to join ourselves to the Lord and rejoice in Him, so that we can have hope within the hoariness, within old age.

I’d now like to conclude.

Conclusion: Redeeming our youth

To the younger generation in our congregation, we need to learn what it means to rejoice in the Lord and to delight in His ways. We musn’t rejoice over the fleeting things of this world. We must prioritize worship service, even if we’re feeling tired or unmotivated, or we have something else going on. We need to mature quickly and stop letting the things of this world claim more and more territory of your heart. We need to a secure boundary within your heart for the Lord and seek first the kingdom of God. We need to learn what it means to deny ourselves, pick up our cross, and follow Jesus. And we must not delay.

J. C. Ryle, the first Anglican bishop of Liverpool, wrote a pamphlet in the 1800s called ‘Thoughts for Young Men.’ And in it he says this: ‘Do not think that you can live the life of a sinner, and then die the death of a saint. It is a mockery to deal with God and your soul in such a way as that. It is an awful mockery, and you may find to your cost that it cannot be done. Tomorrow is the devil’s day, but today is God’s. Satan does not care how spiritual your intentions are, or how holy your resolutions might be, so long as they are fixed for tomorrow. Do not let the devil mislead you. Answer him, ‘No Satan! It shall be today.’

We must redeem our youth today.

And for those of us who aren’t youths anymore, the Bible talks about the important task of declaring the mighty acts of God to the younger generation.

Psalm 145:4 ESV

One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts.

I came to Zion church when I was 12, and the seniors in this church proclaimed the mighty acts of the Lord to me. That’s how I came to faith. So for the senior generation, please continue to declare the greatness of the Lord to the younger generation. Tell the youths about God’s faithfulness, His mercy, His lovingkindness, His power.

1 Peter 1:8 ESV

Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory,

When we rejoice in the Lord, we receive blessings within the boundaries, joy within the judgement, and hope within the hoariness.

I pray that Zion church will be a church where all generations declare the glory of the Lord to each other. May our rejoicing be redeemed, and may our youth be redeemed, to the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.