The old saint of God lays comfortably dying – in his own bed at home. Around him are gathered his three children and seven grand-children. Everyone knows that he will not be long in this life. The sliver cord will soon be loosed and the golden bowl shows signs of cracking open. “He goeth to his long home, and (soon) the mourners (will) go about the streets.” He has just enough air in his old lungs for one more plea. He says, “Children, if there is one special thing that I can leave with you it is this: Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Repent before God and take up thy cross to follow Him in obedience and faith. Set your affection on things above not on things on the earth. For what is your life? It is even as a vapor that appeareth for a little time and then vanisheth away.”
In a sense, Solomon, too, has come to the end of his life – or at least to the end of this book. He may not have the opportunity to ever counsel his children again. He says, “This is the conclusion of the whole matter…. this is the whole duty of man.”
Don’t these words come to us as a kind of surprise, considering all that has preceded it? Not many of the books of the Bible reach conclusions like this. So I suppose Ecclesiastes is comparable to the Book of Revelation or to Job in this sort of way. But Revelation is different; it makes sense, beginning with a revelation of Christ today, then proceeding into the Tribulation, before concluding with the glories of eternity. In Revelation there is a continual crescendo before coming to a climax; it’s not just an ending. Job is a bit more like Ecclesiastes, beginning with visions of vanity, producing questions and debate. But then at the end of the book we see the purpose of it all, but it is a kind of surprise. And yet God’s actions are vindicated and Job is blessed. Ecclesiastes is filled with questions and confusion, while still teaching important lessons. But then Solomon reminds us of the nearness of death, before saying, “This is the conclusion of the whole matter…. this is the whole duty of man.”
This is an exhortation to us all.
Some people interpret the words “the whole duty of man” to mean, this is the duty of all men – all mankind. “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.” This statement should not only summarize the entirety of OUR lives, it should belong to entire lives of ALL of God’s creation.
But there are more of these last words, and more of these conclusions, in the Bible. For example, when Joshua was coming to the end of his life, he addressed the entire nation of Israel. His words were the same as Solomon’s – but different. “Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD. And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve.. but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” Joshua said, “Israel, put away your idols, and fear the Lord, serving him in sincerity and truth.” I think it is interesting that in PAUL’S praise of the Thessalonian saints, some of these same things arise, along with a couple more. He says, everyone knows “how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.”
In addition to these, and perhaps a few others including Moses, to which we will return shortly, perhaps a statement from the Lord Jesus is more important than them all. In Mark 12 we read, “And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.”
When Christ Jesus says that “there is none other commandment greater than these” is He saying that this supercedes, corrects or builds upon what Solomon is saying? Someone might suggest that this is like comparing apples to oranges. Is that so? Solomon and Joshua tell us to “fear God” and keep his commandments, while Christ tells us what are the greatest of God’s commandments, while saying nothing about fear. It boils down to the question, what is it to fear God? The answer is not as obvious as one might think.
Did the Son of God fear God the Father?
Please turn to Isaiah 11. This is one of those Old Testament scriptures which speaks about the Millennial kingdom. Verse 6 – “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid….” Verse 7 – “The earth shall be full of the knowledge fo the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” This chapter declares that the Lord will recover the remnant of his people Israel. And who will establish this future kingdom? Of course it will be the Messiah – Christ Jesus. Verse 1 – “And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse (the father of David), and a Branch shall grow out of his roots.” Revelation 22:16 tells us who this person is – “I Jesus … am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.” What else about Jesus does Isaiah reveal? Verse 2 – “And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD.” Again I ask the question – does or did Jesus Christ fear God? Yes, he did. But was He AFRAID of His Father? Was He in TERROR of Him? No, He was not.
When the words “fear of the Lord” are studied throughout the Word of God, particularly in the Old Testament we find that they are used as a synonym for the religion of the saint of God – our relationship to Jehovah. Exodus 20, as you know, is the chapter of the Ten Commandments – a document which should strike fear into the hearts of all men – especially open, blatant sinners. But listen to verse 20 – “And Moses said unto the people, Fear not, for God is come to prove you.” Just as Paul told Timothy, “God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” Moses told the nation that fearfulness, terror before God is not necessary. But to finish the verse.“Fear not, for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.” Moses told Israel to fear God, but NOT to fear him. Isn’t that contradictory? And yes, to answer your next question the word “fear” is essentially the same at both ends of the verse.
Listen to the counsel of David in Psalm 34 and see if you detect fearfulness or terror. “O fear the LORD, ye his saints; for there is no want to them that fear him.” Doesn’t David imply that there are blessings in the fear of the Lord? Some may say that there are blessings in terror, but I’m not one of those people. Terror is never a good thing.
In the common style of Hebrew poetry Psalm 33:8 describes the nature of this “fear of the Lord.” “Let all the earth fear the Lord: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.” “All the earth” and “all the inhabitants” are obviously parallel, as are “fear the Lord” and “stand in awe of him.” I won’t say that this verse applies to the lost man in the same way that it does to the saint…. But the exhortation to “fear the Lord” essentially means “hold your God in reverential awe.” This lays at the core of our Christian relationship to God.
Adding scripture to scripture, this definition becomes more evident. Deuteronomy 10:12 seems to be one of the verses from which Christ took his counsel to the Scribe who was trying to trick Him. “And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul.” Why didn’t the Lord Jesus tell that unbeliever to “fear the Lord?” Was it because the definition of that fear wouldn’t have been applicable to him while still in his sins? Deuteronomy 6:13 – “Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name.” The Lord blessed Israel with redemption from Egypt, “That all the people of the earth might know the hand of the LORD, that it is mighty: that ye might fear the LORD your God for ever.” Did the Lord save Israel – or save us – i order that we learn to be afraid of Him; or to serve in terror?
“The fear of the Lord” is synonymous with the worship and service of Jehovah. It is something which only a regenerated person can do. “The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.” Psalm 22:23 – “Ye that fear the LORD, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel.” “My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation: I will pay my vows before them that fear him.” “The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant.” “The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” This is just a smattering of the scriptures which suggest that “the fear of the Lord” refers to a proper worship and service of Jehovah.
But what about Solomon’s second statement – “keep his commandments.”
This is provides the direction so that you won’t misunderstand me. I am not an Antinomian – I am not advocating a rejection of God’s law. I am not a Libertarian in the sense that I am at liberty to do whatever I choose, no matter what God says. I condemn the flippant throng of modern “Christians” in their irreverent imitation of God’s worship. We are still obligated to kick off our shoes when we approach God’s burning bush. We should still show respect for the house of His worship and the Bible, the Word of God. But Christians don’t have to live in terror of either the law or the Lawgiver.
This second part of Solomon’s conclusion is the fruit or effect of the first. Because we worship the Lord in awe and humility… Because we acknowledge His absolute holiness and our own depravity….. We need God’s commandments as guides for our day-to-day lives. The only person who needs to be in terror of God is the sinner. And, yes, even Christians sin, so there should be a fearfulness of His frown – but not of His wrath. The Bema Judgment – the Judgment Seat of Christ – will not be a pleasant place for most Christians. But the saint’s condemnation is gone and thus so should be our debilitating fear.
And this brings us to the final verse in the book.
“God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be bad.” As you know there will be several different eschatological judgments. The most dreadful, terrifying will be the judgment of the lost. “And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”
The people in judgment at this future time should be very, very afraid – in fact they should be in terror. And those who are among us today, whose future includes this judgment, should also be terrified. If Solomon was speaking to you, he would tell you to repent before God and plead for His mercy. And Paul would add, “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,” trusting Him for deliverance.
But for the Christian, those whose sins are under the blood of Christ, judgment will be different. And I believe that Solomon refers to that judgment, because he uses some of the same terms. “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” – II Corinthians 5. I Corinthians 3 – “Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.”
Solomon is giving the Christian sound advice. Make sure that a proper relationship to the Lord is the center of your being – your life. Be sure that you pattern your life after the principles of the Word of God, including His commandments. Because “we shall all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.” It is guaranteed. Are you living in preparation for that day?