The Conclusion of the Matter

Passage: Ecclesiastes 12:9-14

In the last verses of Ecclesiastes a second voice asserts itself. Most of the book has consisted of the words of “The Teacher.” Then, when the Teacher’s lengthy rant finally comes to an end, a narrator takes the stage. He says a few words about how wise and influential the Teacher was. He goes on to caution the reader against listening to anyone else’s advice.

Then, as though he can’t help himself, the narrator adds some advice of his own. Perhaps after reading back through the preceding material the narrator recognizes how it sounds – pessimistic; critical; at times self-contradictory. He has to wrap it all up somehow. So, in conclusion, he says,
Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.
For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.
Remarkably, it’s this post-script that brings the whole book back in line with the rest of the Old Testament. For much of his discourse the Teacher talks about how fleeting life is. He goes to great lengths to urge his readers to make the most of every day because you can’t know if today will be your last. He invites his listeners to avoid agonizing over the bigger questions of life’s meaning and what happens after we die because there are no rock-solid answers to those questions. Exclamation point. We’re confused because we've been led to believe that the point of the Bible is to give answers to those questions.

As though aware of the dilemma, the narrator jumps in at the last minute to connect the dots for us. God’s in control, he says. God knows the stuff we can’t know. Therefore in order to live every passing day with peace, live in step with God. Follow God’s rules, and trust your future to God’s care. Phew.

What we have to ask is this: Is this the official conclusion to Ecclesiastes, or a later addition by an unsatisfied editor? Would Ecclesiastes still fit our canon if it didn’t have this God-friendly final word? Does the conclusion of the book fit with all that precedes it?
You could argue either way. It could very well be that the whole of the book was composed in a point-counterpoint fashion in order to heighten the impact of its overall message. The final imperative to walk in step with God makes more sense when you’ve been confronted with the futility and emptiness of life without God.

However, even without its conclusion, Ecclesiastes provides remarkable - even inspired - insight into the human condition. Whether or not one has faith in God, one cannot escape the fact that life is made up largely of repeating cycles and routine activity. These could easily lose their meaning over time. What the Teacher urges everyone to do is find a way to make the repetitive and routine stuff of life meaningful. This, he says, is the secret to living a full and joyful life. This is, as it turns out, divinely inspired wisdom. The focus of God’s Law – that Law according to which the final narrator exhorts us to live – is this very thing. Living out one’s routine duties and relationships in a healthy and functional way. Making commitments to people and to responsibilities, and sticking with them. Honoring and respecting other people; tending and caring for others and the world you live in. Making the most of the mundane. Whether you understand this as overt response to a divine mandate, or see it simply as a good way to go, this is the wise way to live.