Tag Archives: Ecclesiastes 1:2

Remember Your Creator

16 Wednesday Nov 2016

Posted by in Ecclesiastes, Thomas Brooks, Uncategorized

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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”;Ecclesiastes 12:1 (ESV)

‘Remember now thy Creator.’
Remember to know him,
remember to love him,
remember to desire him,
remember to delight in him,
remember to depend upon him,
remember to get an interest in him,
remember to live to him, and
remember to walk with him.

‘Remember now thy Creator;’ the Hebrew is Creators, Father, Son, and Spirit. To the making of man, a council was called in heaven, in the first of Genesis, and 26th verse. ‘Remember thy Creators:’

Remember the Father,
so as to know him,
so as to be inwardly acquainted with him.

Remember the Son,
so as to believe in him,
so as to rest upon him,
so as to embrace him, and
so as to make a complete resignation of thyself to him.

Remember the Spirit, so as to hear his voice,
so as to obey his voice,
so as to feel his presence, and
so as to experience his influence, &c.

‘Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth.’
He doth not say in the time of thy youth, but ‘in the days of thy youth,’ to note,
that our life is but as a few days.
It is but as a vapour,
a span,
a flower,
a shadow,
a dream;
and therefore Seneca saith well, that ‘though death be before the old man’s face, yet he may be as near the young man’s back,’ &c.

Man’s life is the shadow of smoke, the dream of a shadow.
One doubteth whether to call it a dying life, or a living death. (Aug. Confess. lib.i.)

Thomas Brooks, The Complete Works of Thomas Brooks, ed. Alexander Balloch Grosart, vol. 1, “Apples of Gold”, chapter 1 (Edinburgh; London; Dublin: James Nichol; James Nisbet and Co.; G. Herbert, 1866), 178–179.

Lecture, Ecclesiastes 12

09 Thursday Jul 2015

Posted by in Ecclesiastes, Lectures

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Ecclesiastes 12 (ESV)

12 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”; 2 before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return after the rain, 3 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, 4 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— 5 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— 6 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, 7 and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. 8 Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher; all is vanity.

9 Besides being wise, the Preacher also taught the people knowledge, weighing and studying and arranging many proverbs with great care. 10 The Preacher sought to find words of delight, and uprightly he wrote words of truth.

11 The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings; they are given by one Shepherd. 12 My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh.

13 The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. 14 For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.

Anne Bradstreet: I Blessed His Name That Gave and Took

12 Wednesday Mar 2014

Posted by in affliction, Anne Bradstreet, Contentment, Faith, Literature, Puritan, Submission, Thankfulness

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Here follows some verse upon the burning of our house, July 10, 1666. Copyed out of a loose paper.

 

In silent night when rest I took,

For sorrow neer[1] I did not look,

I waken’d was with thundering nois[2]

And piteous shrieks of dreadful voice.

That fearful sound of fire and fire

Let no man know is my desire[3].

 

I, starting up, the light did spye

And to my God my heart did cry

To strengthen me in my distress

And not to leave me succourless[4].

Then coming out beheld a space,

The flame consume[5] my dwelling place.

 

And, when I could no longer look,

I blest his Name that gave and took[6],

That layd my good now in the dust[7]:

Yea, so it was, and so ‘twas just.

It was his own: it was not mine;

Far be it that I should repine.

 

He might of all justly bereft[8],

But yet sufficient for us left.[9]

When by the ruins oft I pass,

My sorrowing eyes aside did cast,

And here and there the places spy

Where of I sate[10], and long did lye.

 

Here stood that trunk, and there that chest;

There lay that store I counted best:

My pleasant things in ashes lye,

And them behold no more shall I.

Under thy[11] roof no guest shall sit,

Nor at thy table eat a bit.

 

No pleasant tale shall ‘ere be told,

Nor things recounted done of old.

No candle ‘ere shall shine in thee,

Nor bridgegroom’s voice ere  heard shall be.

In silence ever shall thou lye;

Adieu, adieu; all’s vanity[12].

 

The straight I gin[13] my heart to chide,

And did thy wealth[14] on earth abide?

Didst fix thy hope on mouldring dust,

The arm of flesh[15] didst make thy trust?[16]

Raise up thy thoughts above the skye

That dunghill mists away may flie.

 

Thou hast a house on high erect

Fram’d by that mighty architect[17]

With glory richly furnished,

Stands permanent tho: this be fled.

‘Its purchased and paid for too

By him who hath enough to do.

 

A prise so vast as is unknown,

Yet, by his gift, is made thine own.

Ther’s wealth enough, I need no more;

Farewell my pelf[18], farewell my store.

The world no longer let me love,

My hope and treasure lyes above.

 

 

 

[1] Near

[2] Noise

[3] Let no one think that I would desire such a thing. This point develops through the poem: Bradstreet sees God’s goodness in the loss and sets her hope upon God will bring. However, one should not see some glorying in her sorrow. The loss is real and painful, despite the good end God makes of it.

[4] Without succor, without help or aid.

[5] See at that time beheld the flaming consuming her dwelling place. The present tense is purposeful: I saw, at that time, the flame consume, et cetera.

[6] Upon hearing of the loss of his family and property, Job responds:

Job 1:20–21 (AV)

20 Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped, 21 And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.

 

[7] Job 21:25–26 (AV)

25 And another dieth in the bitterness of his soul, and never eateth with pleasure. 26 They shall lie down alike in the dust, and the worms shall cover them.

 

[8] God could rightly take everything, because all is his.

[9] 1 Timothy 6:6–8 (AV)

6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. 8 And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.

 

[10] Sat

[11] At this point she turns to address the house directly.

[12] Ecclesiastes 1:2 (AV)

2 Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.

 

[13] Begin

[14] Matthew 6:19–24 (AV)

19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. 22 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. 23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! 24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

 

[15] Jeremiah 17:5 (AV)

5 Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.

 

[16] At this point, she begins to reflect upon a common strain in Scripture:

2 Corinthians 4:16–18 (AV)

16 For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. 17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; 18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

 

 

[17] 2 Corinthians 5:1-10:

1 For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: 3 If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. 4 For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. 5 Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. 6 Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: 7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) 8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. 9 Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

 

John 14:1–3 (AV)

1 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many mansions [dwelling places, not the modern usage which means very large house] if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

 

 

[18] Pelf: property, money, riches. The word has a negative connotation: either the property was dishonestly gained, or it is trash and rubbish. 

Ann Bradstreet, “My Soul Rejoice Thou in Thy God”

06 Monday May 2013

Posted by in 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Anne Bradstreet, Hope, Literature, Philippians, Praise, Prayer, Puritan

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My soul rejoice thou in thy God

Boast of him all the day[1],

Walk in his law and kiss his rod[2]

Cleave close to him always.

 

What though thy outward man decay

Thy inward shall wax strong;[3]

Thy body vile it shall be changed[4]

And glorious made ere-long.

 

With angels’ wing thy soul shall mount[5]

To bliss unseen by eye[6]

And drink at unexhausted fount

Of joy unto eternity.[7]

 

Thy tears shall all be dried up

They sorrows all shall fly[8]

Thy sins shall never be summoned up

Nor in memory[9]

 

Then shall I know what thou hast done

For me, unworthy me,

And praise thee shall even as I ought

For wonders that I see.

 

Base world[10], I trample on thy face,

Thy glory I despise[11],

No gain I find in ought below

For God hath made me wise[12].

 

Come Jesus, quickly, blessed Lord[13],

Thy face when shall I see?

O let me count each hour a day

Till I dissolved be.[14]

[1] “My soul shall make her boast in the Lord”  Psalm 34:2.

[2]

Silently to kiss the rod, and the hand that whips with it, is the noblest way of clearing the Lord of all injustice.

 

Thomas Brooks, The Complete Works of Thomas Brooks, Volume 1, ed. Alexander Balloch Grosart (Edinburgh; London; Dublin: James Nichol; James Nisbet and Co.; G. Herbert, 1866), 301. By “kiss the rod”, she means to realized that the affliction comes from God and thus will work good – even though the good will come at the cost of pain.

 

[3]

16 For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. 17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; 18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:16–18 (KJV 1900)

 

[4]

21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. Philippians 3:21 (KJV 1900)

[5] Not that the human being will have angels’ wings, but that angels will carry the human being: “Luke 16:22 (KJV 1900):

22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;

 

[6]

8 Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: 9 Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. 1 Peter 1:8–9 (KJV 1900)

[7]

13 Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost. Romans 15:13 (KJV 1900)

 

      11       Thou wilt shew me the path of life:

                  In thy presence is fulness of joy;

                  At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.

 

 Psalm 16:11 (KJV 1900)

[8]

And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. 2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. 4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. 5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. Revelation 21:1–5 (KJV 1900)

[9]

 

      11       For as the heaven is high above the earth,

                  So great is his mercy toward them that fear him.

            12       As far as the east is from the west,

                  So far hath he removed our transgressions from us.

            13       Like as a father pitieth his children,

                  So the LORD pitieth them that fear him.

            14       For he knoweth our frame;

                  He remembereth that we are dust.

Psalm 103:11–14 (KJV 1900)           

 

[10]

2 Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity. Ecclesiastes 1:2 (KJV 1900)

 

[11]

(5.) The fifth property. That knowledge that accompanies salvation, is a world-despising, a world-crucifying, and a world-contemning knowledge.1 It makes a man have low, poor, mean thoughts of the world; it makes a man slight it, and trample upon it as a thing of no value. That divine light that accompanies salvation, makes a man to look upon the world as mixed, as mutable, as momentary; it makes a man look upon the world as a liar, as a deceiver, as a flatterer, as a murderer, and as a witch that hath bewitched the souls of thousands to their eternal overthrow, by her golden offers and proffers. Divine knowledge put Paul upon trampling upon all the bravery and glory of the world, Philip. 3:4–9. I shall only transcribe the seventh and eighth verses, and leave you to turn to the rest. ‘But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung’ (σκύβαλα, dog’s dung or dog’s meat, coarse and contemptible), ‘that I may win Christ.’2 Divine knowledge raises his heart so high above the world, that he looks upon it with an eye of scorn and disdain, and makes him count it as an excrement, yea, as the very worst of excrements, as dogs’ dung, as dogs’ meat. Of the like import is that of Heb. 10:34, ‘For ye had compassion of me in my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance.’ Divine knowledge will make a man rejoice, when his enemies make a bonfire of his goods. This man hath bills of exchange under God’s own hand, to receive a pound for every penny, a million for every mite, that he loses for him. And this makes him to rejoice, and to trample upon all the glory of this world, as one did upon the philosopher’s crown, Mat. 19:27–30.

 

Thomas Brooks, The Complete Works of Thomas Brooks, Volume 2, ed. Alexander Balloch Grosart (Edinburgh; London; Dublin: James Nichol; James Nisbet and Co.; G. Herbert, 1866), 439.

 

[12]

4 Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more: 5 Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; 6 Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. 7 But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. 8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, 9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: Philippians 3:4–9 (KJV 1900)

 

[13] Even so, come, Lord Jesus. Revelation 22:20. The Aramaic prayer Maranatha found in 1 Corinthians 16:22 go back to the earliest days of the church.

 

His second wish is an Aramaic affirmation. Aramaic was the language of Palestine at this time in which Jesus spoke and preached. It was a cousin to Hebrew, the language of most of the Old Testament. “Maranatha,” Paul says, Come, Oh Lord! (16:22). This worship affirmation must have come from the earliest churches in Judea, for Paul would scarcely use an Aramaic phrase among the Greek speaking Corinthians if it did not have a significant history behind it. Clearly Jewish Christians from the very earliest days considered Jesus Lord, perhaps on the basis of Ps. 110:1: “The LORD said to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.’ ”

 

Kenneth Schenck, 1 & 2 Corinthians: A Commentary for Bible Students (Indianapolis, IN: Wesleyan Publishing House, 2006), 238.

[14] The word “dissolved” is used in by Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:1, “For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” The ESV has the word “destroyed” rather than “dissolved”. We must be careful here not to read back in Bradstreet an annihilation of her existence, but rather a transformation. The desire for this present vain state to be ended and the eternal state (a state without corruption – but a state which is nonetheless physical) to begin is a common theme in the NT and in Christian meditation:

 

6 For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. 7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: 8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. 2 Timothy 4:6–8 (KJV 1900)

 

Hope, Happiness and Attention

29 Sunday Jan 2012

Posted by in 1 Peter, Ecclesiastes, Quotations, Robert Leighton

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Knowing the value of a thing can save a lot of time. How many people have grumbled as they left a disappointing movie? But there are things much worse than a misspent evening.  A young woman would spare herself a great wave of grief, if she knew the shining young man was a cad and not a catch. And there are things worse than a misspent romance. A misspent life cannot be retrieved.

If only someone could quickly provide me an infallible summary of the value of the world:

Vanity of vanity, says the Preacher, vanity of vanity! All is vanity.

Eccl. 1:2

But is there an alternative to every under the sun?

Therefore preparing your mind for action and being sober minded, set your hope upon the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of  Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 1:13

Leighton’s commentary on this verse:

If you would have much of this [hope in the grace to be brought to you are the revelation of Jesus Christ], call off your affections from other things, that they may be capable of much of it [much hope]. The same eye cannot both look up to heaven, and down to earth at the same time; the more your affections are trussed up, and disentangled from the world, the more expedite and active will they be in this hope; the more sober they are, the less will they fill themselves with the coarse delights of earth, the more room will there be in them, and the more they shall be filled with hope. It is great folly in our spiritual warfare, to charge ourselves superfluously. All fullness of one thing hinders the receiving and admittance of any other, especially of things so opposite as these fulnesses are.

Robert Leighton, The Expository Works, with Other Remains, A New Edition. (London: W. Gracie, J. Rennison, Bookseller, 1804), 1:129.

Leighton, Robert. The Expository Works, with Other Remains. A New Edition. Vol. 1. London: W. Gracie, J. Rennison, Bookseller, 1804.

 

Translation Ecclesiasts 1:2

26 Thursday Jan 2012

Posted by in Ecclesiastes

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Ecclesiastes 1:2 (BHS/WIVU)

2          הֲבֵ֤ל הֲבָלִים֙ אָמַ֣ר קֹהֶ֔לֶת הֲבֵ֥ל הֲבָלִ֖ים הַכֹּ֥ל הָֽבֶל׃

Just a vapor! Said Qoheleth. Just a vapor! Everything is vapor.

Comment: Literally, vapor of vapors, said Qoheleth, vapor of vapors, everything is vapor. The Hebrew could also be translated mist or breath.

The translations of  “meaningless” (NIV) or “vanity” (ESV, KJV, NRSV) or “futile/futility” (NET, HCSB) all seek to reduce the image to a point. However, if Solomon intends to make use of the ambiguity of the image (insubstantial, transient, illusory, false, fragile) it is necessary to maintain the original symbol and allow Solomon to exploit the range of the symbol.

I think Solomon may be up to more than just condemning the world. He will speak often of happiness and benefits to be had in this sublunary life. I believe vanity would be the best choice among the common translations. However, vanity may important more force in one direction than Solomon intends.

In private conversation, an OT scholar mentioned that Solomon was seeking shock value. If we think of this as the beginning of a speech, we can imagine the hearer left thinking, What does Solomon mean? How can everything be vapor/mist/breath?

The rest of the speech will answer that question and tell one what to do about it.