Verse of the Day

Saturday, December 10, 2016

Worship service holiday schedule changes at Wayside Gospel Chapel

Notice of Service Schedule during the Holidays

There will be no Sunday morning gathering at Wayside Gospel Chapel on Sunday, 25 December 2016, or Sunday 1 January 2017. 

A special Incarnation Day service is scheduled for Saturday, 24 December 2016 beginning at 4:00 PM.

For more information contact Pastor Jeffery at waysidegospelchapel at gmail dot com.

Wednesday, November 23, 2016

The Course of the History of the True Church of Jesus Christ: An Introduction and Overview, Session Eleven

Notice: Session Eleven of The Course of the History of the True Church of Jesus Christ is scheduled for WED 14 DEC 2016.

The Course of the History 
of the True Church of Jesus Christ:
An Introduction and Overview

Session Eleven: “Augustine: the Doctor of Grace, From Confessions to The City of God,” 
Part 3, The Anti-Pelagian Writings (continued)

Date and Time: Wednesday 14 DEC 2016 at 7:00 P.M.

Venue: Faith Baptist Fellowship Church
1397 Easton Turnpike, Lake Ariel, PA 18436
Web site: http://faithbaptistfellowshipch.com/

Speaker: John T. "Jack" Jeffery, 
Pastor, Wayside Gospel Chapel
Greentown, PA

Sunday, November 20, 2016

Worship service at Wayside Gospel Chapel cancelled due to power outage

Notice of Service Cancellation

The Sunday morning Worship service at Wayside Gospel Chapel scheduled for this morning, 20 NOV 2016, has been cancelled due to a power outage in the neighborhood reported as of 4:30 this morning. If power is restored in time to get the building heated for the service it will be posted here.

Tuesday, October 25, 2016

The Course of the History of the True Church of Jesus Christ: An Introduction and Overview, Session Ten postponed again

Notice: Session ten of The Course of the History of the True Church of Jesus Christ scheduled for this Wednesday, October 26th, has been postponed again due to schedule conflicts. It is now tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, November 9, 2016.

The Course of the History 
of the True Church of Jesus Christ:
An Introduction and Overview


Session Ten: “Augustine: the Doctor of Grace, From Confessions to The City of God,” Part 2, The Confessions (continued), and Part 3, The Anti-Pelagian Writings

Date and Time: Wednesday, November 9, 2016 at 7:00 P.M.
(postponed from October 26, 2016 due to schedule conflicts)

Venue: Faith Baptist Fellowship Church, 1397 Easton Turnpike, Lake Ariel, PA 18436; web site at http://faithbaptistfellowshipch.com/.

Speaker: John T. "Jack" Jeffery, Pastor, Wayside Gospel Chapel, Greentown, PA

Thursday, October 13, 2016

Announcement: no worship service at Wayside Gospel Chapel Sunday October 23, 2016

Announcement:

There will be no worship service at
Wayside Gospel Chapel
on Sunday, October 23, 2016.

We are gathering with Faith Baptist Fellowship Church in Lake Ariel at 10 am on that day for a joint missionary service with Dean Bertsch of Reaching and Teaching Ministries. Those seeking a local church to gather with for worship and fellowship on this date are encouraged to meet with us there!

Faith Baptist Fellowship Church is currently holding its Sunday morning services at the Evergreen Elementary Center, 739 Easton Turnpike, Lake Ariel, Pennsylvania 18436. This is 3/10 of a mile south of the Route 191 and 196 split just south of Lake Ariel. There is a very visible sign for the Evergreen Elementary Center on the side of the highway where their driveway begins. 

Worship services at Wayside Gospel Chapel will resume, Deo volente, on Sunday, October 30, 2016.

Faith Baptist Fellowship Church service times:
Sunday School at 9 am
Sunday Morning Worship at 10 am

Faith Baptist Fellowship Church web site:
http://faithbaptistfellowshipch.com/

Wayside Gospel Chapel email address:
waysidegospelchapel at gmail dot com


Tuesday, October 11, 2016

The Course of the History of the True Church of Jesus Christ: An Introduction and Overview, Session Ten postponed

Notice: Session ten of The Course of the History of the True Church of Jesus Christ scheduled for this Wednesday, October 12th, has been postponed due to a business meeting at Faith Baptist Fellowship Church. It is now tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, October 26, 2016.

The Course of the History 
of the True Church of Jesus Christ:
An Introduction and Overview


Session Ten: “Augustine: the Doctor of Grace, From Confessions to The City of God,” Part 2, The Confessions (continued), and Part 3, The Anti-Pelagian Writings

Date and Time: Wednesday, October 26, 2016 at 7:00 P.M.
(postponed from October 12, 2016 due to fellowship dinner)

Venue: Faith Baptist Fellowship Church, 1397 Easton Turnpike, Lake Ariel, PA 18436; web site at http://faithbaptistfellowshipch.com/.

Speaker: John T. "Jack" Jeffery, Pastor, Wayside Gospel Chapel, Greentown, PA

Saturday, October 1, 2016

The Course of the History of the True Church of Jesus Christ: An Introduction and Overview, Session Ten

Notice: Session Ten of The Course of the History of the True Church of Jesus Christ is scheduled for WED 12 OCT 2016.

The Course of the History 
of the True Church of Jesus Christ:
An Introduction and Overview

Session Ten: “Augustine: the Doctor of Grace, From Confessions to The City of God,” 
Part 2, The Confessions (continued), 
and Part 3, The Anti-Pelagian Writings

Date and Time: Wednesday 1 OCT 2016 at 7:00 P.M.

Venue: Faith Baptist Fellowship Church
1397 Easton Turnpike, Lake Ariel, PA 18436
Web site: http://faithbaptistfellowshipch.com/

Speaker: John T. "Jack" Jeffery, 
Pastor, Wayside Gospel Chapel
Greentown, PA

Monday, September 26, 2016

Pastor's Sermon Notes: Ecclesiastes (series), #41 - Someday the Silver Cord Will Break (Ecclesiastes 12:2-7)

Series: Ecclesiastes
Sermon #41: Someday the Silver Cord Will Break
Ecclesiastes 12:2-7


[Audio file from Internet Archive at https://archive.org/details/Ecclesiastes122-7.]

2 While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain: 3 In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out of the windows be darkened, 4 And the doors shall be shut in the streets, when the sound of the grinding is low, and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of musick shall be brought low; 5 Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail: because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets: 6 Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern. 7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

Introduction:

What woman’s voice was the first to be heard publicly in the Senate?

“While teaching at the institution she met Presidents Yan Buren and Tyler, Hon. Henry Clay, Governor Wm. H. Seward, General Winfield Scott, and other distinguished characters of American history. Concerning Mr. Clay, she gives the following: "When Mr. Clay came to the institution during his last visit to New York, I was selected to welcome him with a poem. Six months before he had lost a son at the battle of Monterey, and I had sent him some verses. In my address I carefully avoided any allusion to them, in order not to wound him. When I had finished he drew my arm in his, and, addressing the audience, said through his tears: 'This is not the first poem for which I am indebted to this lady. Six months ago she sent me some lines on the death of my dear son.' Both of us were overcome for a few moments. Soon, by a splendid effort, Mr. Clay recovered himself, but I could not control my tears." In connection with her meeting these notable men, we might add that Miss Fanny Crosby had the honor of being the first woman whose voice was heard publicly in the Senate Chamber at Washington. She read a poem there on one occasion.
Hymnary at http://www.hymnary.org/person/Crosby_Fanny [accessed 27 AUG 2016].

The title for this sermon comes from verse 6 that was included in a poem written by Fanny J. Crosby which later was put to music.

Outline:

I. The Bright Times Before the Winter of Life (12:2)
II. The Advance of Age and the Day of the Lord (12:3-4)
III. The Metaphors of Aging (12:5)
IV. The Metaphors of Death (12:6)
V. The Fulfillment of the Curse in Death (12:7)

Transition:

Matt Chandler, “Youth” (Ecclesiastes 11:9-12:8), an address presented to the plenary session of The Gospel Coalition 2011 national conference in Chicago, IL; in The Scriptures Testify About Me: Jesus and the Gospel in the Old Testament, ed. D. A. Carson (Wheaton: Crossway, 2013), pp. 103-125.

Barry C. Davis, “Ecclesiastes 12:1-8—Death, an Impetus for Life,” Bibliotheca Sacra 148:591 (JUL 1991), pp. 298-318.

See especially William D. Barrick, Ecclesiastes: The Philippians of the Old Testament, Focus on the Bible series (Fearn, Ross-Shire, Scotland: Christian Focus, 2012), pg. 198 for cautions in studying this passage!

I. The Bright Times Before the Winter of Life (12:2)

While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened,
nor the clouds return after the rain:

Job 3:9 — Let the stars of the twilight thereof be dark; let it look for light, but have none; neither let it see the dawning of the day:

Is. 5: 30 — And in that day they shall roar against them like the roaring of the sea: and if one look unto the land, behold darkness and sorrow, and the light is darkened in the heavens thereof.

Is. 13:10 — For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.

Ezek. 32:7-8 — 7 And when I shall put thee out, I will cover the heaven, and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light. 8 All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over thee, and set darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord GOD. 

Joel 3:15 — The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.

Job 2:31 — The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.

Mt. 24:29 — Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:

2 While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars,
be not darkened,
nor the clouds return after the rain:

3 In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble,
and the strong men shall bow themselves,
and the grinders cease because they are few,
and those that look out of the windows be darkened,
4 And the doors shall be shut in the streets,
when the sound of the grinding is low,
and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird,
and all the daughters of musick shall be brought low;
5 Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high,
and fears shall be in the way,
and the almond tree shall flourish,
and the grasshopper shall be a burden,
and desire shall fail:

because man goeth to his long home,
and the mourners go about the streets:

6 Or ever the silver cord be loosed,
or the golden bowl be broken,
or the pitcher be broken at the fountain,
or the wheel broken at the cistern.

II. The Advance of Age and the Day of the Lord (12:3-4)

3 In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble,
and the strong men shall bow themselves,
and the grinders cease because they are few,
and those that look out of the windows be darkened,
4 And the doors shall be shut in the streets,
when the sound of the grinding is low,
and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird,
and all the daughters of musick shall be brought low;

See William D. Barrick, Ecclesiastes: The Philippians of the Old Testament, Focus on the Bible series (Fearn, Ross-Shire, Scotland: Christian Focus, 2012), pg. 199, “Provan admits that even an apocalyptic interpretation of these verses can be applied to aging and dying: ‘The end times for the individual human being are here pictured, then, in terms of the end of the world.’”
Barrick cites Iain Provan, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, NIV Application Commentary, gen. ed. Terry Muck (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2001), pg. 217.

“Familiar examples of Semitic allegories can be seen in the description of senility and death in Ecclesiastes (12:3ff.), the vintage-cup from which all nations would drink (Jer. 25:15ff.), the eagles and the vine (Ezek. 27:3ff.), the lioness and her cubs (Ezek. 19:2ff.), the boiling pot (Ezek. 24:3ff.), and the shepherd and his two staffs (Zech. 11:4ff.). Not only are these allegories rather brief, unlike Jonah, but as Aalders has indicated, they contain unmistakable indications of their allegorical nature.[1] Thus the meaning of the Ecclesiastes allegory is given in Ecclesiastes 12:5, where the man has died and the mourners are present in the streets.”
— R. K. Harrison, Introduction to the Old Testament with a comprehensive review of Old Testament Studies and a special supplement on the Apocrypha (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1969), pg. 911. [highlighting mine]     

“The ills of old age are summed up in a unique allegory in Eccles. 12.1-7, which is now introduced as an admonition to the young to rejoice over their youth in remembrance of their creator, and to be mindful of the process of growing old. The allegory was probably originally composed in the form of a riddle.

            Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth,
                        before the evil days come,
            and the years draw nigh, when 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 only the clouds return after the rain;16
3          in the days when the keepers of the house tremble,17
                        and the strong men are bent,18
            and the grinders cease because they are few,19
                        and those that look through the windows are dimmed,20
4          and the doors on the street are shut;21
                        the sound of the grinding is low,22
            and the voice of a bird ‘grows still’23
                        and every song is quenched.24
5          They are afraid also of what is high,
                        and terrors are in the way;
            then the almond tree blossoms,25
                        the grasshopper drags itself along,26
                                    and the caper burst asunder.27
            Yea, man goes to his secluded house,
                        and the mourners go about the streets;
6          Before the silver cord is snapped,28
                        and the golden bowl is broken,29
            and pitcher is broken at the fountain,
                        and the wheel broken at the cistern,
7          and the dust returns30 to the earth as it was,
                        and the breath returns to God, who gave it.

            This is a sober analysis of how with increasing age the powers, the senses and all the manifestations of life become weaker and weaker.

— Hans Walter Wolff, Anthropology of the Old Testament, trans. Margaret Kohl (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1974; from Anthropologie des Alten Testaments, Munich: Chr. Kaiser Verlag, 1973), pp. 123-125, s.v. 4. Characteristics of age.
“Translator’s Note: The biblical quotations have been taken from the Revised Standard Version; but its wording has been modified where this was necessary for a correct rendering of the author’s text.” Op. cit., pg. x. [highlighting mine]

Wolff’s footnotes 16-30 on the translation follow [op. cit., pp. 243-244; highlighting mine]:

“16. As in the Palestinian winter; cf. W. Zimmerli, Prediger, p. 246.
17. The arms.
18. The legs (so W. Zimmerli, ibid.). K. Galling, “Prediger’, p. 122, thinks of bent backs.
19. The teeth.
20. the eyes.
21. The ears become deaf.
22. The voice.
23. Cf. K. Galling, op. cit., on this passage.
24. The singing falls silent.
25. The hair becomes grey.
26. Walking becomes difficult, there is no more running and jumping.
27. No stimulus and no aphrodisiac helps the old man any more.
28. Cf. K. Galling, op. cit., on this passage.
29. Cf. K. Galling, ibid., on this passage.
30. See BHK (so also RSV).” BHK is Biblia Hebraica,3 ed. R. Kittel.”

Wolff’s translation with the pertinent footnotes inserted in parentheses [highlighting mine]:

            “Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth,
                        before the evil days come,
            and the years draw nigh, when 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 only the clouds return after the rain; (as in the Palestinian winter)
3          in the days when the keepers of the house tremble, (the arms)
                        and the strong men are bent, (the legs…bent backs)
            and the grinders cease because they are few, (the teeth)
                        and those that look through the windows are dimmed, (the eyes)
 4         and the doors on the street are shut; (the ears become deaf)
                        the sound of the grinding is low, (the voice)
            and the voice of a bird ‘grows still’
                        and every song is quenched. (the singing falls silent)
5          They are afraid also of what is high,
                        and terrors are in the way;
            then the almond tree blossoms, (the hair becomes grey)
                        the grasshopper drags itself along, (walking becomes difficult, there is no                                                                                       more running and jumping)
                                    and the caper burst asunder. (No stimulus and no aphrodisiac helps                                                                                     the old man any more)
            Yea, man goes to his secluded house,
                        and the mourners go about the streets;
6          Before the silver cord is snapped,
                        and the golden bowl is broken,
            and pitcher is broken at the fountain,
                        and the wheel broken at the cistern,
7          and the dust returns30 to the earth as it was,
                        and the breath returns to God, who gave it.”

“Verses 3–7 give us one of the most imaginative descriptions of old age and death found anywhere in literature.”

“The meaning may be as follows: keepers of the house—Your arms and hands tremble. strong men—Your legs, knees, and shoulders weaken and you walk bent over. grinders—You start to lose your teeth. windows—Your vision begins to deteriorate. doors—Either your hearing starts to fail, or you close your mouth because you’ve lost your teeth. grinding—You can’t chew your food, or your ears can’t pick up the sounds outdoors. rise up—You wake up with the birds early each morning, and wish you could sleep longer. music—Your voice starts to quaver and weaken. afraid—You are terrified of heights and afraid of falling while you walk down the street. almond tree—If you have any hair left, it turns white, like almond blossoms. grasshopper—You just drag yourself along, like a grasshopper at the close of the summer season. desire—You lose your appetite, or perhaps your sexual desire. long home—You go to your eternal [long] home and people mourn your death.”
— Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Satisfied (Ecclesiastes): Looking for the Answer to the Meaning of Life, 2nd ed. (Colorado Springs, CO: David C. Cook, 1990, 1995), s.v. “(3) Remember (12:1-8).”

3 In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble,
and the strong men shall bow themselves,
and the grinders cease because they are few,
and those that look out of the windows be darkened,

Ps. 35:14 — I behaved myself as though he had been my friend or brother: I bowed down heavily, as one that mourneth for his mother.

Ps. 38:6 — I am troubled; I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long.

Gen. 27:1 — And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see, he called Esau his eldest son, and said unto him, My son: and he said unto him, Behold, here am I.

Gen. 48:10 — Now the eyes of Israel were dim for age, so that he could not see.  And he brought them near unto him; and he kissed them, and embraced them.

1 Sam. 3:2 — And it came to pass at that time, when Eli was laid down in his place, and his eyes began to wax dim, that he could not see;

4 And the doors shall be shut in the streets,
when the sound of the grinding is low,
and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird,
and all the daughters of musick shall be brought low;

Ps. 141:3 — Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips.

Jer. 25:10 — Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the candle.

Rev. 18:22-23 — 22 And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee; 23 And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.

2 Sam. 19:31-35 — 31 And Barzillai the Gileadite came down from Rogelim, and went over Jordan with the king, to conduct him over Jordan. 32 Now Barzillai was a very aged man, even fourscore years old: and he had provided the king of sustenance while he lay at Mahanaim; for he was a very great man. 33 And the king said unto Barzillai, Come thou over with me, and I will feed thee with me in Jerusalem. 34 And Barzillai said unto the king, How long have I to live, that I should go up with the king unto Jerusalem? 35 I am this day fourscore years old: and can I discern between good and evil?  can thy servant taste what I eat or what I drink?  can I hear any more the voice of singing men and singing women?  wherefore then should thy servant be yet a burden unto my lord the king?

Eccl. 2:8 — I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces: I gat me men singers and women singers, and the delights of the sons of men, as musical instruments, and that of all sorts.

III. The Metaphors of Aging (12:5)

5 Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high,
and fears shall be in the way,
and the almond tree shall flourish,
and the grasshopper shall be a burden,
and desire shall fail:
because man goeth to his long home,
and the mourners go about the streets:

1. The Fears of Life

Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high,
and fears shall be in the way,

2. The Fall of Life

and the almond tree shall flourish,
and the grasshopper shall be a burden,

3. The Fading of Life

and desire shall fail:

This is translated differently in some modern versions:

NASB: “and the caperberry is ineffective”

HCSB: “and the caper berry has no effect”

NLT: “and the caperberry no longer inspires sexual desire”

See G. E. Post, “Caper-berry,” in A Dictionary of the Bible Dealing with its Language, Literature, and Contents Including Biblical Theology, ed. James Hasting, 5 vols. (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, n.d.; 1988 reprint from 1898 ed. by T. & T. Clark, Edinburgh), I:350; on Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) at http://www.ccel.org/ccel/hastings/dictv1.i.vii.html [accessed 28 AUG 2016]; and E. W. G. Masterman, “Caper-berry,” Dictionary of the Bible, 1 vol. ed. (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1909), pg. 117; on Study Light at http://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/hdb/view.cgi?n=1175 [accessed 28 AUG 2016].

4. The End of Life

because man goeth to his long home,
and the mourners go about the streets:

On “long home” see the following:

“Eternity is endlessness; and this idea is only qualified by the nature of the object to which it is applied, or by the direct word of God. When applied to things physical, it is used in accordance with the revealed truth that the heaven and earth shall pass away, and it is limited by this truth. When applied to God, it is used in harmony with the truth that He is essentially and absolutely existent, and that as He is the causa causarum and without beginning, so in the very nature of things it must be held that no cause can ever put an end to His existence. When the word is applied to man’s future destiny after the resurrection, we naturally give it the sense of endlessness without any limitation, except such as the post-resurrection state shall involve; and this is not revealed.
—Robert Baker Girdlestone, Synonyms of the Old Testament: Their Bearing on Christian Doctrine, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., n.d., 1976 reprint of 1897 ed.), pp. 316-317, s.v. Ch. XXVIII. Eternal, Age To Come. § 2. The Word ʾOlam.         

For an interesting contrary viewpoint see Youngblood’s “Summary and Conclusions” (pp. 409-410):

“It is here argued that conceptual and philological antecedents for Qoheleth and his world should be sought in a Mesopotamian/Ugaritic/Phoenician orbit rather than from Egypt or some other horizon; that “light” and “darkness” frequently serve as metaphors for life and death respectively in Ecclesiastes as well as in other OT books; that “darkness” is often a poetic name for Sheol in Ecclesiastes, as elsewhere; that the obvious relationship between “eternity” and “darkness” can easily lead to confusion and/or differences of opinion when the reader encounters the Hebrew root ʾlm, which can point to either; that in Ecclesiastes the five occurrences of ʾlm preceded by lĕ- (1:4, 10; 2:16; 3:14; 9:6) bear the meaning “long duration, eternity,” whereas the other three occurrences (3:11; 12:5, 14) are to be interpreted in the sense of “concealment, darkness”; that the former derive from an original ʾlm and the latter from an original ʾlm, as differentiated also in Ugaritic; and that the near and remote contexts of Eccl 12:5 prefer “dark house” rather than “eternal home” for bêt ‘ôlām, especially in the light of Akkadian parallels.”
— Ronald Youngblood, “Qoheleth’s “Dark House” (Eccl 12:5),” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 29:4 (DEC 1986), pp. 397-410; from Ch. 13 in A Tribute to Gleason Archer: Essays on the Old Testament, eds. W. C. Kaiser, Jr., and R. F. Youngblood (Chicago: Moody, 1986).

Youngblood acknowledges scholarly opposition to what he is proposing:

“Hans Walter Wolff, on the other hand, renders hāʾôlām in a closely related way (“the most distant time”) and vigorously defends his translation.”

In a footnote at that point (op. cit., pg. 405, note 48) Youngblood documents this: “H. W. Wolff, “The Concept of Time in the Old Testament,” CTM 45 (January 1974) 41–42.” In that same footnote he mentions another chapter in the same volume by his co-editor that balances the approach he is arguing for:

“W. C. Kaiser, Jr., gives an equally vigorous defense of “eternity” in A Tribute to Gleason Archer: Essays on the Old Testament (ed. Kaiser and R. F. Youngblood; Chicago: Moody, 1986) 204-205.”

The chapter indicated is Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., “Integrating Wisdom Theology into Old Testament Theology,” in A Tribute to Gleason Archer: Essays on the Old Testament, eds. W. C. Kaiser, Jr., and R. F. Youngblood (Chicago: Moody, 1986), pp. 197-209.

Pr. 26:13 — The slothful man saith, There is a lion in the way; a lion is in the streets.

Ps. 143:3 — For the enemy hath persecuted my soul; he hath smitten my life down to the ground; he hath made me to dwell in darkness, as those that have been long dead.

Job 17:13 — If I wait, the grave is mine house: I have made my bed in the darkness.

Job 30:23 — For I know that thou wilt bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living.

Is. 14:18 — All the kings of the nations, even all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own house.

2 Chr. 35:25 — And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah: and all the singing men and the singing women spake of Josiah in their lamentations to this day, and made them an ordinance in Israel: and, behold, they are written in the lamentations.

Gen. 50:10 — And they came to the threshingfloor of Atad, which is beyond Jordan, and there they mourned with a great and very sore lamentation: and he made a mourning for his father seven days.

Jer. 9:17 — Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Consider ye, and call for the mourning women, that they may come; and send for cunning women, that they may come: (cp. 9:1-26)

Mt. 9:23-24 — 23 And when Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the minstrels and the people making a noise, 24 He said unto them, Give place: for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn. (cp. 9:18-26)

IV. The Metaphors of Death (12:6)

Or ever the silver cord be loosed,[2]
or the golden bowl be broken,
or the pitcher be broken at the fountain,
or the wheel broken at the cistern.

Text and translation issues with this verse: verb in 1st line (text), verb in 3rd line (translation) different from verbs in 2nd and 4th lines

How many metaphors are in this verse? Four, or two? Connect 1st and 2nd lines, and 3rd and 4th lines - suggested by identical verbs at ends of 2nd and 4th lines, and recognized by many.

V. The Fulfillment of the Curse in Death (12:7)

Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was:
and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was:

“That Yahweh made man of the dust of the earth (Gen. 2:7; cf. Job 8:19; Eccl. 3:20 reflects not only God’s sovereign power but indicates also that human nature is not to be comprehended in and through the prior animal creation. Man is clay that the sovereign Potter has fashioned (Job 33:6; Isa. 64:7; Jer. 16:8). If God withdraws the breath of life, man reverts not into animality but into dust; man is dust preserved by Yahweh that at death (Gen. 3:19; Eccl. 12:7) awaits the coming resurrection.”
— Carl F. H. Henry, God, Revelation and Authority, 6 vols. (Waco, TX: Word Books, 1976-1983), 6:223, s.v. Ch. 9: “The Origin and Nature of Man.”      

Eccl. 3:20 — All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.

Gen. 2:7 — And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Gen. 3:19 — In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

Job 34:15 — All flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn again unto dust.

Ps. 103:14 — For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.

Ps. 104:29 — Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled: thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust.

and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

Eccl. 3:21 — Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?

Job 34:14 — If he set his heart upon man, if he gather unto himself his spirit and his breath;

Num. 16:22 — And they fell upon their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt thou be wroth with all the congregation?

Num. 27:16 — Let the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation,

Is. 57:16 — For I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always wroth: for the spirit should fail before me, and the souls which I have made.

Zech. 12:1 — The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him.

Lk. 23:46 — And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.

Acts 7:59 — And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.

See also:

John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, 2 vols., ed. John T. McNeill, trans. Ford Lewis Battles, in The Library of Christian Classics, gen. eds. John Baillie, John T. McNeill, and Henry P. Van Dusen (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1960), I:184-186; s.v. 1.15.2, Diversity of body and soul; I:190-192; s.v. 1.15.5, Manichaean error of the soul’s emanation.

Robert L. Reymond, A New Systematic Theology of the Christian Faith, 2nd rev. ed. (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1998), pp. 422-424, s.v. Ch. 12, “The Biblical View of Man,” on Dichotomy, and “The Origin of the Soul.”

Conclusion:

1 Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth,
while the evil days come not,
nor the years draw nigh,
when thou shalt say,
I have no pleasure in them;
2 While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars,
be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain:
3 In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble,
and the strong men shall bow themselves,
and the grinders cease because they are few,
and those that look out of the windows be darkened,
4 And the doors shall be shut in the streets,
when the sound of the grinding is low,
and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird,
and all the daughters of musick shall be brought low;
5 Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high,
and fears shall be in the way,
and the almond tree shall flourish,
and the grasshopper shall be a burden,
and desire shall fail:
because man goeth to his long home,
and the mourners go about the streets:
6 Or ever the silver cord be loosed,
or the golden bowl be broken,
or the pitcher be broken at the fountain,
or the wheel broken at the cistern.
7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was:
and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

Fanny J. Crosby (1820-1915), “Saved By Grace” (1891)

“The hymn…was called into being through…a ser­mon preached by Dr. How­ard Cros­by who was a dis­tant rel­a­tive and dear friend of mine. He said that no Christ­ian should fear death, for if each of us was faith­ful to the grace giv­en us by Christ, the same grace that teach­es us how to live would al­so teach us how to die. His re­marks were af­ter­ward pub­lished in a news­pa­per, and they were read to me by Mr. Big­low. Not ma­ny hours af­ter I heard them I be­gan to write the hymn.”

However, these words al­most didn’t see light of day. They came to pub­lic no­tice by ac­ci­dent, during a con­fer­ence Fan­ny at­tend­ed at North­field, Mass­a­chu­setts. Dur­ing the meet­ing, the great evan­gel­ist, Dwight Moo­dy, asked if Fan­ny—like so many others—would give a per­son­al tes­ti­mo­ny to the au­di­ence. Not want­ing to draw at­ten­tion to her­self, she al­most de­clined, but fin­al­ly got up to speak, and said:

There is one hymn I have writ­ten which has never been pub­lished. I call it my soul’s po­em. Somet­imes when I am trou­bled, I re­peat it to my­self, for it brings comfort to my heart.”

CyberHymnal at http://cyberhymnal.org/htm/s/b/sbygrace.htm [accessed 26 AUG 2016].

“Ira D. Sankey, D. L. Moody’s song leader, lists this hymn as one of his five favorites to sing as solos.”

The summer conference referred to was “conducted by Dr. Adoniram Judson Gordon in 1894. An English reporter was present and requested a copy to take to London, where it was published in his paper. Sankey discovered the poem in the English paper and requested George C. Stebbins, famed gospel tunesmith, to compose music for it.”
— Helen Salem Rizk, Stories of the Christian Hymns, rev. ed. (n.p.: Abingdon, 1964, 1986), pg. 35.

See also Kenneth W. Osbeck, 101 More Hymn Stories (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1985), pp. 236-241.

Al Smith’s facts about this hymn conflict with those related by others. He has Crosby composing it in 1890 (not 1891), at a camp meeting in Poughkeepsie, NY where L. W. Munhall was speaking. Smith does not mention anything about Howard Crosby’s influence. Smith also has her reciting it “two summers later” at Northfield which would be 1892 rather than 1894. Smith does not mention A. J. Gordon conducting the conference, but relates that “Dr. A. T. Pierson was in charge of the afternoon meetings and he asked Fanny to take part.” He does not mention Moody as being at the conference, or being the one who asked Fanny to give her testimony as others tell it. There are discrepancies also about the name of the London paper where it was first published. According to Smith it was Fanny’s idea to have Stebbins compose the tune for her poem when Sankey asked her if he could. Some of Smith’s information was gathered in conversations with George C. Stebbins during “the last six of his one hundred years.”
— Alfred B. Smith, Al Smith’s Treasury of Hymn Histories (n.p.: Dickinson, 1981, 1982, 1985), pp. 130-132.

[Sermon preached 28 AUG 2016 by Pastor John T. “Jack” Jeffery at Wayside Gospel Chapel, Greentown, PA.]

Complete Outline:

I. The Bright Times Before the Winter of Life (12:2)
II. The Advance of Age and the Day of the Lord (12:3-4)
III. The Metaphors of Aging (12:5)
IV. The Metaphors of Death (12:6)
V. The Fulfillment of the Curse in Death (12:7)

Select Sources on Ecclesiastes

J. Sidlow Baxter, Explore The Book: A Basic and Broadly Interpretive Course of Bible Study from Genesis to Revelation, 6 vols. in 1 ed. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, n.d., 1960 printing).

William D. Barrick, Ecclesiastes: The Philippians of the Old Testament, Focus on the Bible series (Fearn, Ross-Shire, Scotland: Christian Focus, 2012). Barrick’s lecture notes (PDF files) and audio (mp3) are on Dr Barrick at http://drbarrick.org/teaching/ecclesiastes/ [accessed 3 FEB 2016].

Thorleif Boman, Hebrew Thought Compared With Greek, 2nd ed. rev., trans. Jules L. Moreau (New York: W. W. Norton. 1960; from Das hebrӓische Denken im Vergleich mit dem Griechischen, Gottingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1954).

Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Ecclesiastes (New York: Robert Carter & Brothers, 1860); on Internet Archive at https://archive.org/details/expositionofbook00bridrich [accessed 11 MAY 2015]; on Google Books at http://books.google.com/books?id=e4kOAQAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false [accessed 11 MAY 2015]; and linked on Precept Austin at http://preceptaustin.org/proverbs_commentaries.htm#cb [accessed 11 MAY 2015].

C. Hassell Bullock, An Introduction to the Old Testament Poetic Books: The Wisdom and Songs of Israel (Chicago: Moody Press, 1979).

Franz Delitzsch, “Commentary on The Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes,” trans. M. G. Easton, in Commentary on the Old Testament in Ten Volumes, C. F. Keil and F. Delitzsch, Vol. VI: Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon: Three Volumes in One (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., n.d., 1975 reprint), III:179-442.

Michael A. Eaton, Ecclesiastes: An Introduction and Commentary, Vol. 16, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity, 1983).

ESV Study Bible (Wheaton: Crossway, 2008).

Sinclair B. Ferguson. The Pundit's Folly: Chronicles of an Empty Life (Carlisle, PA: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1995).

Duane A. Garrett, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Vol. 14, New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman, 1993).

Robert Baker Girdlestone, Synonyms of the Old Testament: Their Bearing on Christian Doctrine, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., n.d., 1976 reprint of 1897 ed.); on Study Light at http://www.studylight.org/lexicons/gos/ [accessed 13 JUL 2016]; and on NTS Library at http://www.ntslibrary.com/PDF%20Books%20II/Girdlestone%20-%20Synomyns%20of%20the%20OT.pdf [accessed 13 JUL 2016]; in an earlier edition, Robert Baker Girdlestone, Synonyms of the Old Testament: Their Bearing on Christian Faith and Practice (London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1871); on Internet Archive at https://archive.org/details/synonymsofoldtes00gird [accessed 13 JUL 2016]; and on Google Books at https://books.google.com/books?id=D3YcA72rnqQC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false [accessed 13 JUL 2016]. Note: The Hebrew characters did not make it intact into the digital edition on NTS Library.

Donald R. Glenn, “Ecclesiastes,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, eds. J. F. Walvoord, and R. B. Zuck (Wheaton, IL: Victor, 1985).

William Henry Green, “Scope and Plan of the Book of Ecclesiastes,” Biblical Reparatory and Princeton Review 29 (1857), pp. 419-40; on Gordon Faculty Online at http://faculty.gordon.edu/hu/bi/Ted_Hildebrandt/OTeSources/21-Ecclesiastes/Text/Articles/Green-ScopeofEccl-1857.pdf [accessed 7 NOV 2015].[3]

R. K. Harrison, Introduction to the Old Testament with a comprehensive review of Old Testament Studies and a special supplement on the Apocrypha (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1969).

Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., Coping With Change: Ecclesiastes (Fearn, Roth-shire, Scotland: Christian Focus, 2013).[4]

Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., Ecclesiastes: Total Life, in Everyman’s Bible Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1979).

Derek Kidner, The Message of Ecclesiastes: A Time to Mourn, and a Time to Dance, in The Bible Speaks Today, Old Testament series ed. J. A. Motyer (Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press, 1976).

H. C. Leupold, Exposition of Ecclesiastes (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1952).

Tremper Longman III, The Book of Ecclesiastes, New International Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997).

John MacArthur, MacArthur Study Bible, rev. ed. (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1997).

Tim Mackie, “The book of Ecclesiastes explained with illustrations,” on The Bible Project at http://www.jointhebibleproject.com [accessed 18 JUN 2016]; includes downloadable full resolution video (700+ mb), and poster; for the video see also “Read Scripture Ecclesiastes” (10 JUN 2016), on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrsQ1tc-2wk [accessed 18 JUN 2016].[5]

D. B. Miller, Ecclesiastes, Believers Church Bible Commentary (Scottdale, PA; Waterloo, ON: Herald Press, 2010).

Roland Edmund Murphy, Ecclesiastes, Vol. 23A, Word Biblical Commentary (Dallas: Word, 1992).

New Geneva Study Bible (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1995).

John G. Reisinger, Studies in Ecclesiastes (Frederick, MD: New Covenant Media, 2008).

Philip Graham Ryken, Ecclesiastes: Why Everything Matters, in Preaching the Word, gen. ed. R. Kent Hughes (Wheaton: Crossway, 2010).

Philip G. Ryken, Why Everything Matters: The Gospel in Ecclesiastes (Fearn, Ross-shire, Scotland: Christian Focus Publications, Ltd., 2015).

Benjamin Shaw, “On Reading Ecclesiastes,” in The Hope Fulfilled: Essays in Honor of O. Palmer Robertson, ed. Robert L. Penny (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 2008), pp. 47-58.

Peter B. Steese, ed., Ecclesiastes, gen. ed. Leonard F. Dean (Boston: Allyn and Bacon, Inc., 1966).

Tom V. Taylor, Studies in Ecclesiastes (Port Colborne, Ontario, CA: Gospel Folio Press, 2013).  See also the “Thomas V. Taylor Library” on the Interdisciplinary Biblical Research Institute at  http://www.taylorlib.ibri.org/ [accessed 27 NOV 2013].

Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Satisfied (Ecclesiastes): Looking for the Answer to the Meaning of Life, 2nd ed. (Colorado Springs, CO: David C. Cook, 1990, 1995).

Hans Walter Wolff, Anthropology of the Old Testament, trans. Margaret Kohl (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1974; from Anthropologie des Alten Testaments, Munich: Chr. Kaiser Verlag, 1973).

Addison G. Wright, “The Riddle of the Sphinx: The Structure of the Book of Qoheleth,” in Reflecting with Solomon: Selected Studies on the Book of Ecclesiastes, ed. Roy B. Zuck (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1994), pp. 45-66; originally published in Catholic Biblical Quarterly 30 (1968), pp. 313-334.

J. Stafford Wright, “Ecclesiastes,” in Psalms-Song of Songs, Vol. 5, Expositor's Bible Commentary, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1991).

J. Stafford Wright, “The Interpretation of Ecclesiastes”, in Classical Evangelical Essays in Old Testament Interpretation, ed. Walter C. Kaiser Jr. (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1972), pp. 135-150; from J. Stafford Wright, “The Interpretation of Ecclesiastes,” Evangelical Quarterly 18 (1946), pp. 18-34; on Rediscovering the Bible at http://rediscoveringthebible.com/InterpretationOfEcclesiastes.html [accessed 7 MAY 2015].

Ronald F. Youngblood, “Qoheleth's 'Dark House' (Eccl. 12:5),” in A Tribute to Gleason Archer, eds. Walter C. Kaiser and Ronald F. Youngblood (Chicago: Moody Press, 1986), pp.211-228; also published in Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 29:4 (DEC 1986), pp. 397-410; on Biblical Studies at http://www.etsjets.org/files/JETS-PDFs/29/29-4/29-4-pp397-410_JETS.pdf [accessed 4 APR 2016].




Notes:

[1] Harrison’s footnote 36 here documents “The Problem of the Book of Jonah, p. 16.” This source is: G. Ch. Aalders, The Problem of the Book of Jonah (London: Tyndale, 1948), pp. 17-18; on Biblical Studies at http://biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/tp/jonah_aalders.pdf [accessed 27 AUG 2016]. Comparison reveals that Harrison is very dependent on Aalders in this paragraph, and Aalders’ specific statement that Harrison footnotes is actually on pg. 18, not 16.

[2] NKJV note: “So with Qr., Tg.; Kt. removed; LXX, Vg. broken.” Qr. = “Qere (literally, in Aramaic, “read”)— certain words read aloud, differing from the written words, in the Masoretic tradition fo the Hebrew Old Testament.” Tg. = “Targum—an Aramaic paraphrase of the Old Testament.” Kt. = “Kethib (literally, in Aramaic, “written”)—the written words of the Hebrew Old Testament preserved by the Masoretes.” LXX = Septuagint—an ancient translation of the Old Testament into Greek.” Vg. = “Vulgate—an ancient translation of the Bible into Latin, translated and edited by Jerome.”
Source: New Geneva Study Bible, New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982, 1995), pg. xiv, s.v. “Special Abbreviations.”

[3] Walter C. Kaiser, Jr. inexplicably refers to this as an “unsigned article” on at least two occasions in his commentary despite the facts that: 1) William Henry Green is clearly indicated as the author under the title on the first page of the article (pg. 419), and 2) one of his own faculty members (Ted Hildebrandt) has posted the article on the school’s web site where Kaiser served as both faculty member and President. Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., Ecclesiastes: Total Life, in Everyman’s Bible Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1979); and Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., Coping With Change: Ecclesiastes (Fearn, Roth-shire, Scotland: Christian Focus, 2013).

[4] Although not indicated on the copyright page, this appears in all respects to be a revised edition (2nd ed.) of the Moody Press 1979 original. The relationship to the original is referenced in the “Preface,” where the author mentions the inclusion of his own translation of Ecclesiastes in this revision as one significant change. “Dale Ralph Davis compares the two and says, “the ‘bones’ are much the same but the whole has been updated and expanded.” Source: Tim Challies, “Best Commentaries on Ecclesiastes” (18 NOV 2013), on Challies at http://www.challies.com/resources/best-commentaries-on-ecclesiastes [accessed 7 NOV 2015].

[5] “This video explores the main ideas and flow of thought of the book of Ecclesiastes.
The Bible Project is a non-profit creating animated videos that explain the narrative of the Bible. These videos are free to use for personal and educational purposes. Download a full resolution version of this video along with a study guide at www.jointhebibleproject.com.”
“About the author: Tim Mackie is a Pastor of Door of Hope church and a Professor at Western Seminary - timmackie.com”