Series: Ecclesiastes
Sermon #40: Remember Your Creator Right Now!
Ecclesiastes
12:1
[Audio file from Internet Archive at https://archive.org/details/Ecclesiastes121.]
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;
Outline:
I. Remember Why?
II. Remember Who?
III. Remember When?
I. Remember Why?
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;
Because we forget so easily what is most important of
all.
Because we neglect that which is invisible, spiritual,
and supernatural.
Because we are drawn away by our own lusts.
Because we are distracted by the cares and riches of the
age.
Because we are prone to suppress this knowledge due to
the effects of sin.
Eccl.11:8 — But if a man live many years, and rejoice in
them all; yet let him remember the days of darkness; for they shall be
many. All that cometh is vanity.
Dt. 8:18 — But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he
that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which
he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.
Neh. 4:14 — And I looked, and rose up, and said unto the nobles,
and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, Be not ye afraid of them: remember the Lord,
which is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your
daughters, your wives, and your houses.
Ps. 63:6 — When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee
in the night watches.
Ps. 119:55 — I have remembered thy name, O LORD, in the night,
and have kept thy law.
II. Remember Who?
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;
Remember who? Remember your Creator!
Many have pointed out that the Hebrew word here
translated “Creator” is in the plural, i.e.,
“Creators.” See for example:
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.), pg. 23, s.v. §2. The Name Elohim and the Trinity, pp. 22-23.
Robert L. Reymond, A New Systematic Theology of the Christian
Faith (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1998), pg. 209, s.v. Ch. 8: God
as Trinity, 8. Those passages in which a plural noun is employed to refer to
God…” Reymond includes extensive citations from B. B. Warfield, “The Biblical
Doctrine of the Trinity,” Biblical and
Theological Studies, pp. 33-35.
Charles Simeon, Evangelical Preaching: An Anthology of
Sermons by Charles Simeon, Classics of Faith and Devotion (Portland, OR:
Multnomah Press, 1986), pg. 14; s.v. Sermon 1: “The Creation of Man” (Gen.
1:26), pp. 13-18.
Compare the following texts which also include plural
forms in the Hebrew that does not come out in translation (highlighted in red):
Job 35:10 — But none saith, Where is God my maker,
who giveth songs in the night;
Ps. 149:2 — Let Israel rejoice in him that made him: let the children
of Zion be joyful in their King.
Is. 54:5 — For thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is
his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth
shall he be called.
“It is not surprising that this word
with its distinctive emphases is used most frequently to describe the creation
of the universe and the natural phenomena (Gen 1:1, 21, 27; 2:3, etc.). The
usages of the term in this sense present a clearly defined theology. The magnitude of
God’s power is exemplified in creation. This has implications for
the weak (Isa 40:26; cf. vv. 27–31) and for the unfolding of God’s purposes in
history (Isa 42:5; 45:12). Creation displays the majesty (Amos 4:13), orderliness (Isa
45:18), and sovereignty (Ps 89:12 [H 13]) of God.”
— McComiskey, T. E. (1999). 278
בָּרָא. R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament
(electronic ed., p. 127). Chicago: Moody Press. (Highlighting is mine)
Remember the Trinitarian Creator, God the Father the
Creator, God the Son the Creator, God the Holy Spirit the Creator!
Remember that God is your Creator. He is the Creator of
all that exists in the universe outside of Himself. Remember that God created
all things in six literal 24 hour days in successive acts of immediate creation
ex nihilo, i.e., from nothing! Genesis 1-2 is God’s Word concerning what God
did when He created the universe.
Catechisms
Children’s:
Q. 1. Who made you?
A. God.
A. God.
Q. 2. What else did God make?
A. God made all things.
A. God made all things.
Q. 3. Why did God make you and all things ?
A. For his own glory.
A. For his own glory.
Q. 4. How can you glorify God?
A. By loving him and doing what he commands.
A. By loving him and doing what he commands.
Q. 5. Why ought you to glorify God?
A. Because he made me and takes care of me.
A. Because he made me and takes care of me.
Q. 16. Who were our first parents?
A. Adam and Eve.
A. Adam and Eve.
Q. 17. Of what were our first parents made?
A. God made the body of Adam out of the ground, and formed Eve from the body of Adam.
A. God made the body of Adam out of the ground, and formed Eve from the body of Adam.
Q. 18. What did God give Adam and Eve besides bodies?
A. He gave them souls that could never die.
A. He gave them souls that could never die.
Q. 19. Have you a soul as well as a body?
A. Yes; I have a soul that can never die.
A. Yes; I have a soul that can never die.
Q. 20. How do you know that you have a soul?
A. Because the Bible tells me so.
A. Because the Bible tells me so.
Q. 21. In what condition did God make Adam and Eve?
A. He made them holy and happy.
A. He made them holy and happy.
— Catechism For
Young Children: An Introduction to the Westminster Shorter Catechism[1]
Keach’s:
Q.
12. How does God execute His decrees?
A.
God executes His decrees in the works of creation and providence.
(Gen.
1:1; Rev. 4:11; Matt. 6:26; Acts 14:17)
Q.
13. What is the work of creation?
A.
The work of creation is God's making all things of nothing, by the Word of His
power, in the space of six days, and all very good.
(Gen.
1:1; Heb. 11:3; Ex. 20:11; Gen. 1:31)
Q.
14. How did God create man?
A.
God created man male and female, after His own image, in knowledge,
righteousness, and holiness, with dominion over the creatures.
(Gen.
1:27; Col. 3:10; Eph. 4:24; Gen. 1:28)
— Benjamin Keach's Baptist
Catechism[2]
Heidelberg:
Q. What do you believe when you say, “I believe in God,
the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth”?
A. That the eternal Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
out of nothing created heaven and earth
and everything in them, who still upholds and rules them
by his eternal counsel and providence,
is my God and Father because of Christ his Son. I trust
him so much that I do not doubt he will provide whatever I need for body and
soul, and he will turn to my good whatever adversity he sends me in this sad
world. He is able to do this because he is almighty God; he desires to do this
because he is a faithful Father.
— Heidelberg
Catechism, “Of God the Father,” Lord’s Day 9, Question 26[3]
New City
“Q4: How and why did God create us?
God created us male and female in his own image to know
him, love him, live with him, and glorify him. And it is right that we who were
created by God should live to his glory.
Q5: What else did God create?
God created all things by his powerful Word, and all his
creation was very good; everything flourished under his loving rule.”
— New City
Catechism[4]
Confessions
Westminster:
1. It pleased God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, for
the manifestation of the glory of
his eternal power, wisdom, and goodness, in the
beginning, to create or make of nothing
the world, and all things therein, whether visible or
invisible, in the space of six days, and
all very good.
2. After God had made all other creatures, he created
man, male and female, with reasonable
and immortal souls, endued with knowledge, righteousness,
and true holiness after
his own image….
— Westminster
Confession of Faith, Ch. IV: Of Creation[5]
Belgic:
Article 12, Of the Creation: “We believe that the Father,
by the Word, that is, by his Son, has created of nothing, the heaven, the
earth, and all creatures, as it seemed good unto him, giving unto every
creature its being, shape, form, and several offices to serve its Creator. That
he does also still uphold and govern them by his eternal providence, and
infinite power, for the service of mankind, to the end that man may serve his
God….”
Article 14. Of the Creation and Fall of man, and his
Incapacity to perform what is truly good: “We believe that God created man out
of the dust of the earth, and made and formed him after his own image and
likeness, good, righteous, and holy, capable in all things to will, agreeably
to the will of God….”
— The Belgic
Confession (1561)[6]
Denials of
immediate creation in various forms of evolution:
This includes professing Christians, seminary professors
and respected authors.
Biologos may be
foremost as a proponent organization for what some would refer to as theistic
evolution. Peter Enns and Bruce Waltke are prominent names associated with this
error. Enns was dismissed from Westminster Theological Seminary for his
teachings on the inerrancy of Scripture which cannot be divorced from his
errors on the authority of the Scriptures when it comes to immediate divine
creation ex nihilo (MAR 2008). Bruce
Waltke was similarly dismissed from Reformed Theological Seminary over his
public teachings on theistic evolution (APR 2010).
See “Appendix 1: Recommended sources on the divine
account of creation ex nihilo in
Genesis, responses to evolutionary denials of the creation account, the
connection between creation and providence, etc.”
The effects of the
various denials of immediate creation:
When the devil goes after truth he does not waste his
time on peripheral doctrines, but targets soul-damning essentials. Satan knows
how to undermine the Gospel. Some may dismiss the significance of the doctrine
of immediate creation ex nihilo in
six 24 hour days, but he does not. This historical reality, including the
creation of Adam and Eve, and the historical reality of their fall recorded
in Genesis 3 are critical for faith, and essential for the Gospel. The rest of
Scripture, and our eternal salvation stands or falls based on what we do with
the first eleven chapters of Genesis, and especially on what we believe about
the first three chapters. Make no mistake about it!
God is not only our Creator, He is also our Judge.
Compare 11:9 — Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and
let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of
thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these
things God will bring thee into judgment.
The Gospel calls us to live with our “head on a swivel”
looking both backwards and forwards all the time, living in remembrance of what
God has done in the past in Creation and Redemption, and what He will do in the
future in Judgment and Recreation.
III. Remember When?
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;
This is the major emphasis, not only in this verse, but
in the following context. Notice the time words in this verse first, and then
how this emphasis is carried through in the phrases piled on poetically in the
six verses that follow.
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, when the
sound of the grinding is low,….7 Then
shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto
God who gave it.
1. Remember when?
Now! Remember now! Remember your Creator before it is too late!
The urgency of the claims of the Gospel in the face of
the worst kind of procrastination
Now is the day of salvation!
2. Remember when? in
the days of thy youth! Now! Remember now! Remember your Creator sooner
rather than later!
Lam. 3:27 — It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.
Pr. 22:6 — Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old,
he will not depart from it.
2 Chr. 34:1-8 — 1 Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign,
and he reigned
in Jerusalem one and thirty years. 2 And he did that
which was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the ways of David his
father, and declined neither to the right hand, nor to the left. 3
For in the
eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek
after the God of David his father: and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and
Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the
molten images. 4 And they brake down the altars of Baalim in his
presence; and the images, that were on high above them, he cut down; and the
groves, and the carved images, and the molten images, he brake in pieces, and
made dust of them, and strowed it upon the graves of them that had sacrificed
unto them. 5 And he burnt the bones of the priests upon their
altars, and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem. 6 And so did he in the
cities of Manasseh, and Ephraim, and Simeon, even unto Naphtali, with their
mattocks round about. 7 And when he had broken down the altars and
the groves, and had beaten the graven images into powder, and cut down all the
idols throughout all the land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem. 8
Now in the
eighteenth year of his reign, when he had purged the land, and the
house, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, and Maaseiah the governor of the
city, and Joah the son of Joahaz the recorder, to repair the house of the LORD
his God.
On the subject of “youth” see especially the following:
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.
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.
This is from an address presented
13 APR 2011 during the plenary session of the 2011 TGC National Conference in
Chicago, IL. The video and audio of this address are on The Gospel Coalition at http://resources.thegospelcoalition.org/library/youth
[accessed 14 AUG 2016].
3. Remember when? while
the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no
pleasure in them! Now! Remember now! Remember your Creator without
delay!
while the evil days come not, nor the years
draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them
2 Sam. 19:35 — 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?
Remember when?
[Sermon preached 21 AUG 2016 by Pastor John T. “Jack” Jeffery
at Wayside Gospel Chapel, Greentown, PA.]
Complete Outline:
I. Remember Why?
II. Remember Who?
III. Remember When?
Appendix 1: Recommended sources on the divine account
of creation ex nihilo in Genesis,
responses to evolutionary denials of the creation account, the connection
between creation and providence, etc.
David Anderson, Geoff Barnard, Alistair Donald, Steve
Fuller, Greg Haslam, Phil Hills, R. T. Kendall, Andy McIntosh, Alistair
McKitterick, Norman C. Nevin, Michael Reeves, Andrew Sibley, and John C.
Walton, Should Christians Embrace
Evolution: Biblical and Scientific Responses, ed. Norman C. Nevin
(Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 2009).
D. A. Carson, Collected
Writings on Scripture, compiled by Andrew David Naselli (Wheaton: Crossway,
2010), s.v. review of Peter Enns, Inspiration and Incarnation: Evangelicals
and the Problem of the Old Testament (2005), in Part 2, Reviews, Ch. 7,
“Three More Books on the Bible: A Critical Review,” pp. 255-283; from Trinity Journal 27:1 (Spring 2006), pp. 18-45.
Oliver D. Crisp, Retrieving
Doctrine: Essays in Reformed Theology (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic,
2010), s.v. Ch. 1: “John Calvin on
Creation and Providence,” pp. 3-25, and Ch. 2: “Karl Barth on Creation,” pp.
26-44.
Richard B. Gaffin, No
Adam, No Gospel (Philadelphia: Westminster Seminary Press, 2015).
Guillermo Gonzalez and, Jay W. Richards, Creation, Evolution, and Intelligent Design,
Christian Answers to Hard Questions, series eds. Peter A. Lillback and Steven
T. Huff (Philadelphia: Westminster Seminary, 2013).
Kenneth Keathley, Mark
Rooker, 40 Questions About Creation and Evolution, in 40 Questions
& Answers, series ed. Benjamin L. Merkle (Grand Rapids: Kregel Academic,
2014).
Tremper Longman, How
to Read Genesis (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2005).
James R. Mook, David W. Hall, Terry Mortenson, Richard L.
Mayhue, Todd S. Beall, Steven W. Boyd, Trevor Craigen, Robert V. McCabe,
William D. Barrick, Travis R. Freeman, Ron Minton, James Stambaugh, Thane H.
Ury, and Paul J. Scharf, Coming to Grips
with Genesis, eds. Terry Mortenson, and Thane H. Ury (Green Forest, AR:
Master Books, 2008).
Terry Mortenson,
"Jesus, Evangelical Scholars, and the Age of the Earth" (1 AUG
2007);
on answersingenesis at https://answersingenesis.org/age-of-the-earth/jesus-evangelical-scholars-and-the-age-of-the-earth/ [accessed 19 NOV
2015]. Note: This article was originally published in the The
Master’s Seminary Journal 18:1 (SPR 2007), pp. 69-98. “With the
permission of TMSJ, this web version has a longer conclusion than appeared in
the published article.” The downloadable PDF file of the original article
is available on The Master's Seminary at https://www.tms.edu/m/tmsj18d.pdf [accessed 19 NOV
2015].
Paul Nelson, Robert C.
Newman, and Howard J. Van Till, Three Views on Creation and
Evolution, in Counterpoints: Bible and Theology, eds. Stanley N. Gundry,
James Porter Moreland, and John Mark Reynolds (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1999).
Matthew A. Postiff, “Essential
Elements of Young Earth Creationism and Their Importance to Christian Theology,”
Detroit Baptist Seminary Journal 21 (2016),
pp. 31-58; on Detroit Baptist Theological
Seminary at http://www.dbts.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/3_Postiff_J_2016.pdf [accessed 30 AUG 2016].
Vern S. Poythress, Christian
Interpretations of Genesis 1, Christian Answers to Hard Questions, series
eds. Peter A. Lillback and Steven T. Huff (Philadelphia: Westminster Seminary,
2013).
Vern S. Poythress, Did
Adam Exist?, Christian Answers to Hard Questions, series eds. Peter A.
Lillback and Steven T. Huff (Philadelphia: Westminster Seminary, 2014).
Vern S. Poythress, Redeeming
Science: A God-Centered Approach (Wheaton: Crossway, 2006).
Francis Schaeffer, Genesis
in Space and Time: The Flow of Biblical History (Downers Grove, IL:
Inter-Varsity Press, 1972).
J. P. Versteeg, Adam
in the New Testament: Mere Teaching Model or First Historical Man?, 2nd
ed., trans. Richard B. Gaffin Jr. (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 1977, 2012).
Edward J. Young, In
the beginning: Genesis chapters 1 to 3 and the authority of Scripture (Carlisle,
PA: Banner of Truth Trust, 1976).
Edward J. Young, Studies
in Genesis One (Philadelphia: Presbyterian and Reformed, 1964).
Appendix 2: 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].[7]
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).[8]
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].[9]
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].
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] On
Center for Reformed Theology and
Apologetics at http://www.reformed.org/documents/
[accessed 19 AUG 2013].
[2] The Baptist
Catechism commonly called Keach’s Catechism, or A Brief Instruction in the
Principles of the Christian Religion, rev. Paul King Jewett (Grand Rapids:
Baker Book House, n.d.; London: John Rippon, 1794), pp. 17-18; The Baptist Catechism, ed. James M.
Renihan (n.p.: The Association of Reformed Baptist Churches of America, n.d.;
printed 2004), pp. 6-7; The Baptist
Confession of Faith & The Baptist Catechism (Birmingham, AL: Solid
Ground Christian Books, and Carlisle, PA: Reformed Baptist Publications, n.d.;
2010 ed.), pg. 95; on Creeds of
Christendom at http://www.creeds.net/baptists/keach.htm [accessed 10 APR 2013]; on The Reformed Reader at http://www.reformedreader.org/ccc/keachcat.htm [accessed 10 APR 2013]; and on GraceNet UK at http://www.grace.org.uk/faith/spurgeon.html [accessed 10 APR 2013]. Note: These catechism
questions and answers are similar to or identical to those found in several
other catechisms.
[3] Reformed
Standards of Unity, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids: Rose Publishing Co.,
n.d.; original ed. Grand Rapids: Society for Reformed Publications, 1952), pp.
29; The Three Forms of Unity (n.p.:
the Mission Committee of the Protestant Reformed Churches in America, n.d.;
1999 reprint), pg. 7; and The Three Forms
of Unity (Birmingham, AL: Solid Ground Christian Books, n.d.), pp. 75-76;
on Protestant Reformed Churches in
America at http://www.prca.org/about/official-standards/creeds/three-forms-of-unity/heidelberg-catechism [accessed 22 AUG 2016].
[4] On
New City Catechism at http://www.newcitycatechism.com/q-parent/q4.php
and http://www.newcitycatechism.com/q-parent/q5.php
[accessed 22 AUG 2016].
[5] The Westminster
Standards (Philadelphia: Great Commission Publications, n.d.; 1989
printing), pp. 7-8; The Confession of
Faith; the Larger and Shorter Catechisms, with the Scripture Proofs at large; together
with The Sum of Saving Knowledge (Inverness: The Publications Committee of
the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland, 1976), pp. 31-33.
[6] Reformed
Standards of Unity, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids: Rose Publishing Co.,
n.d.; original ed. Grand Rapids: Society for Reformed Publications, 1952), pp.
65, 67; The Three Forms of Unity
(n.p.: the Mission Committee of the Protestant Reformed Churches in America,
n.d.; 1999 reprint), pp. 33, 34; and The
Three Forms of Unity (Birmingham, AL: Solid Ground Christian Books, n.d.),
pp. 27, 30; on Creeds of Christendom
at http://www.creeds.net/reformed/belgic/index.htm [accessed 22 AUG 2016].
[7] 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).
[8] 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].
[9] “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”
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