The Admonishment of the Silver Cord, the Golden Bowl and the Broken Wagon Wheel
In the book of Ecclesiastes, King Solomon was already established as a successful king in Israel. His kingdom was flourishing. God blessed King Solomon with wisdom in the beginning of his reign, and he became the wisest king in all the world. All peoples from different nations would come and seek an audience with him to settle disputes, ask him questions and to marvel at his wisdom. He established alliances with other kings, sought out treaties that gave Israel rich resources and no wars. Solomon built the Lord’s temple with grandeur and riches. King Solomon became very rich, with a beautiful palace, expansive gardens, and he acquired over 700 wives through alliances with other kingdoms.
And yet, King Solomon was disgruntled. Nothing seemed to satisfy him. So he decided to take a walk about his own kingdom and observe his people.
As King Solomon watched his people toil, both the wealthy and poor, he pondered how life is meaningless under the sun. No matter what, both classes of people met the same ending, death.
King Solomon came to the same conclusion that whether there was pleasure, toil, oppression, wickedness, wisdom, righteousness, advancement, riches, friendship, there’s a common destiny for all:
“Everything is meaningless. All go to the same place; all come from dust and to dust all return. Who knows if the spirit of man rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down to the earth?” Ecclesiastes 3:20-21
Ecclesiastes was written before Jesus’ time and there was no reassurance of a resurrection, but King Solomon in his discourse left nuggets of hope.
King Solomon came to the conclusion that some things are beyond understanding. He fell back on the advice to fear God and obey Him no matter how things seem to be.
“Remember your Creator in the days of your youth,” Ecclesiastes 12::1. NIV
”Remember Him – before the silver cord is severed, or the golden bowl is broken; before the pitcher is shattered at the spring, or the wheel broken at the well, and the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.” Ecclesiastes 12:6-7 NIV
The silver cord is a metaphor of the fragility of life. It is the cord that bind the spirit to the physical body and upon death it snaps and the spirit goes back to God.
The golden bowl that is broken, the shattered pitcher and the broken wagon wheel give us visual images of the shut down of our body’s system.
There’s a call to action for young people to remember and honor their Creator before their life systems fail and death follows.
Even as we age we should not tarry to ask Jesus in our hearts and receive Jesus’ precious gift of grace for everlasting life. For we cannot predict the moment we will pass away and then it will be too late.
Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: 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.”
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14. NIV
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