Ecclesiastes 12:9-14
FEAR GOD AND KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS - "Besides being wise, the Preacher also taught the people knowledge, weighing and studying and arranging many proverbs with great care. The Preacher sought to find words of delight, and uprightly he wrote words of truth. The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings; they are given by one Shepherd. My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh. The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil" (Ecclesiastes 12:9-14).
After 12 chapters distinguishing wisdom from foolishness and providing extensive perspective and insight regarding the vanity of life, Solomon concludes the book of Ecclesiastes with an emphatic closing statement to fear God and keep His commandments.
While not theologically difficult to wrap our minds around, our flesh is bent on resisting these 2 commands, for it speaks to the heart's struggle to embrace righteousness while resisting temptation.
With surgical precision Solomon pinpoints what hinders us most from enjoying peace and tranquility this side of heaven, which is our unwillingness to submit to God. Because if we cannot submit to any authority other than our flesh, we will never understand what it means to fear who God is because He is almighty, or obey His Word because He is holy and righteous.
We must understand plainly that "the fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction" (Proverbs 1:7), but what does that look like? Why is fear a prerequisite of knowledge and what difference does it make to those who reject He is Lord over all?
Fear of the Lord is best understood through reverence (the highest degree of respect and esteem), yet many bristle and balk at the notion that God's wrath is real. Even in the church, many devout brothers and sisters in Christ struggle conveying to unbelievers the impending judgment awaiting those who reject the cross of Christ for salvation.
It is not difficult to understand why. Scripture verses which highlight God's wrath invoke judgment, and we typically shy away from truly believing God will punish and excommunicate any human being who rejects Christ and lives for himself. That is why love is the predominant focus of those both outside and within the church walls, portraying God as a giant teddy bear incapable of forsaking or casting anyone into Hell for eternity.
This is a great misunderstanding of who God is though, and we are wise to grasp that God's character is entwined within a threefold cord of His Word (Scripture), His love (grace and mercy), and His sovereignty (supreme power and authority). Therefore, as Christians we can rest assured and reconcile the validity of our inerrant doctrine of absolute truth by affirming the following Scripture passages as equally and simultaneously true:
WRATH/JUDGMENT - "And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire" (Revelation 20:15).
LOVE/GRACE - "The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed" (2 Peter 3:9-10).
WRATH/JUDGMENT - "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth" (Romans 1:18).
LOVE/GRACE - "For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:6-8).
The great pastor/preacher Charles Spurgeon offers sobering perspective into the current state of our culture as it relates to this issue. Albeit he wrote these words over 200 years ago, he could not be more accurate in assessing today's culture.
“Because this is a wicked age, it will not accept the idea of a real hell; and because it is hypocritical, it will speak of hell, but only with fictitious punishment. This doctrine is so prevalent as to make even the ministers of the gospel flinch from their duty in declaring the day of wrath. How few there are who will solemnly tell us of the judgment to come. They preach of God’s love and mercy, as they ought to do, and as God has commanded them; but what good is it to preach mercy unless they preach also the doom of the wicked? And how shall we hope to carry out the primary purpose of preaching unless we warn men that if they ‘Don’t repent of their sin, God will sharpen His sword in judgment?’ I fear that in too many places the doctrine of future punishment is rejected, and laughed at as a fantasy and a fire-breathing monster of our imagination; but the day will come when it shall be known to be a reality.”
The gospel of Jesus Christ is not meant to provide only warm, fuzzy feelings displayed against a backdrop of rainbows and unicorns. No, it is intended to stop a man dead in his tracks and grip his heart to the point where he comes face to face with the enormity of eternity and his subsequent place within it.
That is why Jesus said, "I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled! I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished! Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law" (Luke 12:49-53).
The cross of Christ demands we examine our hearts and determine where our allegiance lies when the day of judgment comes, which inevitably may cause us to step away from those we love who are headed for eternal, spiritual destruction so we are not led astray.
However, the Lord reminds us, "Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you" (Matthew 5:11-12).
While submission is the wisest response to a healthy and reverent fear of the Lord, obedience to God's Word is the applicable response for living wisely.
In other words, we follow Christ spiritually and do what He says practically. That is the outpouring of love we communicate to those around us—not devoid of the spiritual reality of judgment and accountability, but because of it.
"Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night" (Psalm 1:1-2).
As time progresses, it is becoming increasingly difficult for Christ-followers to talk about the Bible, let alone obey its teachings. Political correctness has increased the sensitivity level of our culture to the extent where Christians are stereotyped as judgmental and narrow-minded, and our message of salvation as foolishness.
Despite His creation on full display, man still rejects God's sovereignty. Therefore, it should be no surprise to us that "He (God) has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and turn, and I (Jesus) would heal them" (John 12:40). For today's generation is no different than 2,000 years ago, where Jesus Himself faced the same type of scrutiny and unbelief despite insurmountable evidence to the contrary.
"The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him. And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, 'Why does this generation seek a sign? Truly, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation'" (Mark 8:11-12).
Bottom-line, love was the reason God sent Jesus to live among men and die a sinner's death, and it is love that appeased the wrath of God intended for us—yet so many willingly choose to reject the Lord. Why?
Truthfully, many misunderstand the Bible's intent to reveal God's will for our lives. For the Bible brings freedom, not bondage, to those who trust in its absolute truth. But with freedom comes conviction, and many reject being held accountable for their thoughts and actions.
"For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account" (Hebrews 4:12-13).
Jesus offers us the personal decision to follow Him or the ways of the world, and we must reconcile to whom we will pledge our allegiance as a bond-servant to.
What we (as those who trust in Jesus) can be assured of is this promise: "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed" (John 8:31b-32,34-36).
Therefore, the end of the matter is set before us: Fear God and keep His commandments or suffer the consequences of our own personal volition.
"I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the LORD your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them" (Deuteronomy 30:19-20).
