Fear God And Keep His Commandments Series

A. The Commands to the Students (12:12-13b)

So, first, note the Preacher’s commands to the students. There are three commands to the students.

1. The First Command is to Beware of Wisdom That Is Not from God (12:12)

The first command is to beware of wisdom that is not from God. The Preacher says in Ecclesiastes 12:12a, “My son, beware of anything beyond these. . . .”

The phrase “beyond these” refers to the words and collected sayings that do not come from the one Shepherd. In other words, the Preacher is saying that only teaching that comes from the one Shepherd teaches us how to live a meaningful life.

The Preacher says, “Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh” (12:12b). People write books and people study books; there is almost no end to the production of books. In fact, I read that about 2 million new book titles are produced each year. The vast majority of books are merely entertaining. Some, however, do try to teach people how to live meaningful lives. However, even those books that are written by wonderful Christian authors are not inspired and inerrant. There is only one book that is inspired and inerrant: the Bible.

So, beware of wisdom that is not from God.

2. The Second Command is to Fear God (12:13a)

The second command is to fear God. The Preacher says in verse 13a, “The end of the matter; all has been heard.” In other words, he is saying that his conclusion is that we are to “Fear God.”

Now, what does the word “fear” mean in this context? The Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible states that “the biblical conception of fear embraces a much wider dimension than our common English word, which simply denotes some sort of dread or terror. While this meaning forms an essential part of the scriptural picture, it is by no means the primary significance, especially when the fear of God—an awe-inspiring reverence—is referred to.”

Easton’s Bible Dictionary elaborates on the fear of the Lord by saying that it “is in the Old Testament used as a designation of true piety (Proverbs 1:7; Job 28:28; Psalm 19:9). It is a fear conjoined with love and hope, and is therefore not a slavish dread, but rather filial reverence.”

The Preacher has already urged us to fear God in the earlier parts of his book. For example, we are urged to fear God in:

• 3:14 – “I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him.”

• 5:7 – “For when dreams increase and words grow many, there is vanity; but God is the one you must fear.”

• 7:18 – “It is good that you should take hold of this, and from that withhold not your hand, for the one who fears God shall come out from both of them.”

• 8:12 – “Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and prolongs his life, yet I know that it will be well with those who fear God, because they fear before him.”