Ecclesiastes 12:2
before the light of the sun, moon, and stars is darkened, and the clouds return after the rain,
before the sunlight, moon, and stars are darkened
This phrase evokes a vivid image of the diminishing light, symbolizing the decline of life and vitality. In the Hebrew context, the sun, moon, and stars often represent constancy and order in the universe, as seen in Genesis 1:14-18. The darkening of these celestial bodies suggests a disruption of this order, reflecting the inevitable approach of old age and death. The Hebrew word for "darkened" (חשך, chashak) implies a loss of clarity and understanding, which can be seen as a metaphor for the waning of human faculties and the approach of life's end. This imagery serves as a poignant reminder of the transient nature of earthly life, urging believers to seek eternal wisdom and light found in God.

and the clouds return after the rain
In this phrase, the clouds returning after the rain symbolize the recurring troubles and sorrows that accompany the aging process. In the ancient Near Eastern context, rain was often seen as a blessing, bringing life and sustenance. However, the return of clouds after rain suggests a cycle of ongoing challenges and difficulties. The Hebrew word for "clouds" (ענן, anan) can also imply obscurity or confusion, further emphasizing the theme of life's uncertainties. This imagery encourages believers to find solace and hope in God's unchanging nature, as He remains a steadfast refuge amidst life's storms. The cyclical nature of clouds and rain serves as a metaphor for the trials of life, reminding Christians to rely on God's promises and to live with an eternal perspective.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Solomon
Traditionally considered the author of Ecclesiastes, Solomon was the son of King David and known for his wisdom. He reflects on the meaning of life and the inevitability of aging and death.

2. Jerusalem
The setting for much of Solomon's life and reign, Jerusalem is the spiritual and political center of Israel.

3. The Sun, Moon, and Stars
These celestial bodies are used metaphorically to describe the fading of life's vigor and the approach of old age and death.

4. Clouds and Rain
Symbolic of life's trials and the recurring nature of difficulties even after moments of clarity or joy.

5. The Aging Process
The broader context of Ecclesiastes 12 is a poetic description of aging, using vivid imagery to convey the decline of physical and mental faculties.
Teaching Points
The Inevitability of Aging
Recognize that aging is a natural part of life ordained by God. It is important to prepare spiritually for the later stages of life.

The Transience of Earthly Life
Life's temporary nature should encourage us to focus on eternal values and invest in our relationship with God.

The Importance of Spiritual Readiness
As physical strength wanes, spiritual readiness becomes paramount. Cultivate a life of faith and trust in God.

Finding Joy Amidst Trials
Even as challenges return like clouds after rain, find joy and purpose in God's presence and promises.

Reflecting on Life's Purpose
Use the awareness of life's brevity to reflect on your purpose and align your life with God's will.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does the imagery of the sun, moon, and stars being darkened help us understand the process of aging and its impact on our lives?

2. In what ways can we prepare spiritually for the inevitable challenges and changes that come with aging?

3. How do the themes in Ecclesiastes 12:2 relate to the message of Psalm 90 about the brevity of life?

4. What practical steps can we take to ensure that our focus remains on eternal values rather than temporary earthly concerns?

5. How can we find joy and purpose in life despite the recurring "clouds" or challenges we face, as suggested by the imagery in Ecclesiastes 12:2?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Genesis 1
The creation of the sun, moon, and stars as part of God's ordered universe. Ecclesiastes 12:2 uses these elements to symbolize the order and eventual decline of human life.

Psalm 90
A meditation on the brevity of life and the wisdom of numbering our days, which complements the themes of Ecclesiastes 12.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18
Paul speaks of the outer self wasting away while the inner self is renewed, echoing the themes of aging and spiritual focus found in Ecclesiastes.
Sorrow UnspeakableEcclesiastes 12:2
An Old Sermon for Young HearersC. S. Robinson, D. D.Ecclesiastes 12:1-7
Days of YouthHomilistEcclesiastes 12:1-7
Early PietyW. Barrow, LL. D.Ecclesiastes 12:1-7
Human LifeHomilistEcclesiastes 12:1-7
On the Advantages of an Early PietyJ. Tillotson, D. D.Ecclesiastes 12:1-7
Preparation for Old AgeH. W. Beecher.Ecclesiastes 12:1-7
Remember Thy CreatorW. Whale.Ecclesiastes 12:1-7
Remembering GodG. A. Gordon.Ecclesiastes 12:1-7
The Creator RememberedD. J. Burrell, D. D.Ecclesiastes 12:1-7
The Creator RememberedH. M. Booth, D. D.Ecclesiastes 12:1-7
The Creator RememberedMonday Club SermonsEcclesiastes 12:1-7
The Days of Thy YouthJ. P. Chown.Ecclesiastes 12:1-7
The Duty and Advantages of Early PietyJ. Jortin, D. D.Ecclesiastes 12:1-7
The Irreligious YouthS. Martin.Ecclesiastes 12:1-7
The Remembrance of Our CreatorChristian ObserverEcclesiastes 12:1-7
The Warning not to Forget GodR. Newton, D. D.Ecclesiastes 12:1-7
The Young Man's TaskH. Smith.Ecclesiastes 12:1-7
Young Persons Exhorted to Remember Their CreatorSketches of Four Hundred SermonsEcclesiastes 12:1-7
Youthful Piety: Described and InculcatedW. Mudge, B. A.Ecclesiastes 12:1-7
Old Age and DeathD. Thomas Ecclesiastes 12:2-7
People
Solomon
Places
Jerusalem
Topics
Clouds, Dark, Darkened, Grow, Moon, Rain, Return, Returned, Stars, Thick
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Ecclesiastes 12:2

     4251   moon
     4805   clouds

Ecclesiastes 12:1-7

     5004   human race, and sin
     5561   suffering, nature of
     6200   imperfection, influence

Ecclesiastes 12:2-7

     5726   old age, attainment

Library
The Conclusion of the Matter
'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; 2. While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain; 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, 4. And the doors shall be shut in
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Work of Our Sanctification.
How much more easily sanctity appears when regarded from this point of view. If the work of our sanctification presents, apparently, the most insurmountable difficulties, it is because we do not know how to form a just idea of it. In reality sanctity can be reduced to one single practice, fidelity to the duties appointed by God. Now this fidelity is equally within each one's power whether in its active practice, or passive exercise. The active practice of fidelity consists in accomplishing the duties
Jean-Pierre de Caussade—Abandonment to Divine Providence

Circumstances and Consequences
And fears shall be in the way.' (Ecclesiastes xii. 5.) The man who wrote these words was specially emphasizing the importance of settling one's relationships to the great Creator before the coming of days when infirmities increase, and decay of natural powers sets in. The practical outcome of that thought is, that postponement only adds to one's difficulties when the battle really has to be fought. Amongst those difficulties the sacred writer places that natural foreboding, physical shrinking
T. H. Howard—Standards of Life and Service

The Ancestral Home
John Van Nest Talmage was born at Somerville, New Jersey, August 18, 1819 He was the fourth son in a family of seven brothers and five sisters. The roots of the Talmage genealogical tree may be traced back to the year 1630, when Enos and Thomas Talmage, the progenitors of the Talmage family in North America, landed at Charlestown, Massachusetts, and afterwards settled at East Hampton, Long Island. Dr. Lyman Beecher represents the first settlers of East Hampton as "men resolute, enterprising, acquainted
Rev. John Gerardus Fagg—Forty Years in South China

Letter cxxvi. To Marcellinus and Anapsychia.
Marcellinus, a Roman official of high rank, and Anapsychia his wife had written to Jerome from Africa to ask him his opinion on the vexed question of the origin of the soul. Jerome in his reply briefly enumerates the several views that have been held on the subject. For fuller information he refers his questioners to his treatise against Rufinus and also to their bishop Augustin who will, he says, explain the matter to them by word of mouth. Although it hardly appears in this letter Jerome is a decided
St. Jerome—The Principal Works of St. Jerome

Obedience to God the Way to Faith in Christ.
"When Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, He said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God."--Mark xii. 34. The answer of the scribe, which our blessed Lord here commends, was occasioned by Christ's setting before him the two great commandments of the Law. When He had declared the love of God and of man to comprehend our whole duty, the scribe said, "Master, Thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but He: and to love Him with all the heart, and with
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VIII

The Abrogation of the Saybrook Platform
That house cannot stand.--Mark iii, 25. The times change and we change with them.--Proverb. The omission of all persecuting acts from the revision of the laws in 1750 was evidence that the worst features of the great schism were passing, that public opinion as a whole had grown averse to any great severity toward the Separatists as dissenters. But the continuance in the revised statutes of the Saybrook Platform as the legalized constitution of the "Presbyterian, Congregational or Consociated Church,"
M. Louise Greene, Ph. D.—The Development of Religious Liberty in Connecticut

A Treatise of the Fear of God;
SHOWING WHAT IT IS, AND HOW DISTINGUISHED FROM THAT WHICH IS NOT SO. ALSO, WHENCE IT COMES; WHO HAS IT; WHAT ARE THE EFFECTS; AND WHAT THE PRIVILEGES OF THOSE THAT HAVE IT IN THEIR HEARTS. London: Printed for N. Ponder, at the Peacock in the Poultry, over against the Stocks market: 1679. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom," and "a fountain of life"--the foundation on which all wisdom rests, as well as the source from whence it emanates. Upon a principle
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

1 to Pray Does not Imply that Without Prayer God Would not Give us Anything...
1. To pray does not imply that without prayer God would not give us anything or that He would be unaware of our needs, but it has this great advantage, that in the attitude of prayer the soul is best fitted to receive the Giver of blessing as well as those blessings He desires to bestow. Thus it was that the fullness of the Spirit was not poured out upon the Apostles on the first day, but after ten days of special preparation. If a blessing were conferred upon one without a special readiness for
Sadhu Sundar Singh—At The Master's Feet

The Fifth Commandment
Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.' Exod 20: 12. Having done with the first table, I am next to speak of the duties of the second table. The commandments may be likened to Jacob's ladder: the first table respects God, and is the top of the ladder that reaches to heaven; the second respects superiors and inferiors, and is the foot of the ladder that rests on the earth. By the first table, we walk religiously towards God; by
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments

Appendix v. Rabbinic Theology and Literature
1. The Traditional Law. - The brief account given in vol. i. p. 100, of the character and authority claimed for the traditional law may here be supplemented by a chronological arrangement of the Halakhoth in the order of their supposed introduction or promulgation. In the first class, or Halakhoth of Moses from Sinai,' tradition enumerates fifty-five, [6370] which may be thus designated: religio-agrarian, four; [6371] ritual, including questions about clean and unclean,' twenty-three; [6372] concerning
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

A Prayer when one Begins to be Sick.
O most righteous Judge, yet in Jesus Christ my gracious Father! I, wretched sinner, do here return unto thee, though driven with pain and sickness, like the prodigal child with want and hunger. I acknowledge that this sickness and pain comes not by blind chance or fortune, but by thy divine providence and special appointment. It is the stroke of thy heavy hand, which my sins have justly deserved; and the things that I feared are now fallen upon me (Job iii. 25.) Yet do I well perceive that in wrath
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

The Christian Man
Scripture references: Genesis 1:26-28; 2:7; 9:6; Job 33:4; Psalm 100:3; 8:4-9; Ecclesiastes 7:29; Acts 17:26-28; 1 Corinthians 11:7; Ephesians 4:24; Colossians 3:10; 1 Corinthians 15:45; Hebrews 2:6,7; Ephesians 6:10-18; 1 Corinthians 2:9. WHAT IS MAN? What Shall We Think of Man?--Who is he? What is his place on the earth and in the universe? What is his destiny? He is of necessity an object of thought. He is the subject of natural laws, instincts and passions. How far is he free; how far bound?
Henry T. Sell—Studies in the Life of the Christian

The Heavenly Footman; Or, a Description of the Man that Gets to Heaven:
TOGETHER WITH THE WAY HE RUNS IN, THE MARKS HE GOES BY; ALSO, SOME DIRECTIONS HOW TO RUN SO AS TO OBTAIN. 'And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain: escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.'--Genesis 19:17. London: Printed for John Marshall, at the Bible in Gracechurch Street, 1698. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. About forty years ago a gentleman, in whose company I had commenced my
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

Of the Effects of those Prerogatives.
From these prerogatives there will arise to the elect in heaven, five notable effects:-- 1. They shall know God with a perfect knowledge (1 Cor. i. 10), so far as creatures can possibly comprehend the Creator. For there we shall see the Word, the Creator; and in the Word, all creatures that by the Word were created; so that we shall not need to learn (of the things which were made) the knowledge of him by whom all things were made. The most excellent creatures in this life, are but as a dark veil
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

Ecclesiastes
It is not surprising that the book of Ecclesiastes had a struggle to maintain its place in the canon, and it was probably only its reputed Solomonic authorship and the last two verses of the book that permanently secured its position at the synod of Jamnia in 90 A.D. The Jewish scholars of the first century A.D. were struck by the manner in which it contradicted itself: e.g., "I praised the dead more than the living," iv. 2, "A living dog is better than a dead lion," ix. 4; but they were still more
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

Christ the King at his Table. Ss 1:2-5,12,13,17.
Christ the King at his table. SS 1:2-5,12,13,17. Let him embrace my soul, and prove Mine interest in his heav'nly love; The voice that tells me, "Thou art mine," Exceeds the blessings of the vine. On thee th' anointing Spirit came, And spreads the savor of thy name; That oil of gladness and of grace Draws virgin souls to meet thy face. Jesus, allure me by thy charms, My soul shall fly into thine arms! Our wand'ring feet thy favors bring To the fair chambers of the King. [Wonder and pleasure tune
Isaac Watts—The Psalms and Hymns of Isaac Watts

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