Thursday, February 11, 2021

ECCLESIASTES 12 SERIES - Verse 5

  Commentary of Charles Spurgeon, Adam Clarke & Matthew Henry
 
 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:
Vs.5 
 
It is probable that Solomon wrote this when he was himself old,......And all this, put together, makes up a good reason why we should remember our Creator in the days of our youth, that he may remember us with favor when these evil days come, and his comforts may delight our souls when the delights of sense are in a manner worn off.

When they shall be afraid of that which is high -Being so feeble, they are afraid to trust themselves to ascend steps, stairs, etc., without help.  

The almond-tree flourishes. The old man's hair has grown white, so

that his head looks like an almond-tree in the blossom. The almond-tree blossoms before any other tree, and therefore fitly shows what haste old age makes in seizing upon men; it prevents their expectations and comes faster upon them than they thought of. Gray hairs are here and there upon them, and they perceive it not.  

The grasshopper is a burden -- Old men can bear nothing; the lightest thing sits heavily upon them, both on their bodies and on their minds, a little thing sinks and breaks them.
 
Desire shall fail - Both relish and appetite for food, even the most delicate, that to which they were formerly so much attached, now fails
 
Because man goeth to his long home - עולמו בית אל el beith olamo, "to the house of his age;" the place destined to receive him, when the whole race or course of life shall be finished; So old age terminates the olam, the complete duration of human life; and when life is no longer desired, and nutrition ceases, the olam of man is terminated.
 
There is none of the courage of youth. Daring is gone; prudence, not to say cowardice, sits on the throne.