Daily Devotions
Ecclesiastes
"The dust will return to the earth as it was"
Text: Ecclesiastes 12:7
THE REALITY OF DEATH
Solomon comes to the end of his attempt to describe old age. At the end of life is the sombre reality of Death!
“Then the dust will return to the earth as it was,
And the spirit will return to God who gave it.
‘Vanity of vanities,’ says the Preacher,
‘All is vanity.'”
Ecclesiastes 12:7-8
1. “Then the dust will return to the earth as it was”
a) Solomon’s choice of words is astute.
b) He described man simply as “the dust”.
c) He must have remembered the famous and solemn words of God.
“In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread
Till you return to the ground,
For out of it you were taken;
For dust you are,
And to dust you shall return.”
Genesis 3:19
d) Man was simply “dust”.
e) At death, man (“the dust”) will return to the earth as it was.
g) The mortal body, no matter how “glorious” it may be is only “dust”!
2. “And the spirit will return to God who gave it”
a) There is another part of man called “the spirit”.
b) It will return to God who gave that spirit, the breath of life.
c) How would the spirit account for its existence on earth to God?
i) Can the spirit speak of “faithfulness”?
ii) Can it testify of “fruitfulness”?
3. “‘Vanity of vanities,’ says the Preacher, ‘All is vanity.'”
a) Solomon began his book calling himself “the Preacher” (Ecclesiastes 1:1).
b) He draws his book to a close and once again called himself by the same term.
c) If he called himself “King” he would not be faulted.
d) But all that he had achieved meant very little when one comes to the end of life.
e) He contented himself to use this title, “Preacher”.
f) He had something to preach about.
g) He summed it up humbly.
“‘Vanity of vanities,’ says the Preacher,
‘All is vanity.'”
Ecclesiastes 12:8
h) Man in all his glory returns to mere “dust”!