The Preterist View of Ecclesiastes Chapter 12

 The Preterist View of Ecclesiastes Chapter 12 


12:1 — “Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come…” 


Solomon urges early devotion, fearing the inevitable decline. But Paul calls us new creations in Christ (2 Cor 5:17), not fading flesh. The “evil days” were the end of the Old Covenant age (Matt 24:19) and hardship of growing old—all things are now fulfilled, fear is no longer here.


12:2–6 — “…before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened…” 


A haunting picture of aging and death, but also symbolic of covenantal collapse. Jesus used the same language in Matthew 24:29 to describe the end of the Jewish world. This is more than personal death—it’s the end of the Mosaic age. That world faded, but the light of Christ now shines without end.


12:7 — “And the dust returns to the earth… and the spirit returns to God who gave it.” 


Under Solomon, this was finality. Sheol awaited. But Paul says, “We have a building from God, eternal in the heavens” (2 Cor 5:1). Since AD 70, the righteous dead no longer wait—they return to God directly, clothed in glory.



12:8 — “Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher; all is vanity.” 


This is the closing sigh of a man who lived under shadows. But Paul answers with finality: “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col 1:27). Vanity was the curse of the old world; fulfillment is the reality of the new.



12:9–10 — “The Preacher… taught the people knowledge… sought to find words of delight…” 


Solomon's role was noble—but limited. He offered wisdom under the sun, but not resurrection hope. Paul, however, “did not shrink from declaring the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27). At this time, Solomon is viewed as a prophet of futility—Paul as the apostle of fullness.



12:11 — “The words of the wise are like goads… given by one Shepherd.” Solomon hints at a greater Shepherd. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, fulfilled this (John 10:11). Paul points to Christ as the source of true wisdom (Col 2:3). The voice of vanity gives way to the Shepherd’s voice in the age of life.


12:12 — “Of making many books there is no end… much study is a weariness…” The Old Covenant burdened the mind with endless searching. But Paul brings rest: “In Him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom” (Col 2:3). We are no longer under the burden of seeking—we have found.


12:13–14 — “Fear God and keep his commandments… for God will bring every deed into judgment…” 


This was the best Solomon could offer: reverence, obedience, and looming judgment. But Paul unveils a deeper truth: "Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes” (Rom 10:4). The final judgment is past (Rev 22:12), and the age of righteousness has come. Solomon, king of peace in a fading age, wrestled with meaning in a covenant of shadows. He probed riches, wisdom, toil, pleasure, and found only vapor. His world was closing in—pointing toward an end he could not yet name.


We see the end through the cross, the resurrection, and the 70 AD parousia—the final collapse of the old and the full arrival of the kingdom. In Christ, vanity is defeated. Death is overcome. The spirit no longer waits in Sheol. The judgment that haunted Solomon has been fulfilled. We are not chasing the wind—we walk in the Spirit. Ecclesiastes is the ache of the old covenant world. Christ is the voice of the new. And now we live, not “under the sun,” But in the Son.

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