One of the most “apocalyptic” texts in the Bible is in Ecclesiastes 12. Solomon encourages his reader to remember the Creator before the world ends – before the sun, moon, and stars go dark; before the clouds return; before all civic activity grinds to a halt.
Most commentators, though, recognize that Ecclesiastes 12 is not describing the collapse of a world, but old age. Those lights are not in heaven but in the head; they grow dim because the aging lost their eyesight and their judgment. It’s not the end of the cosmos but of a micro-cosmos. Aging is the dying of a small world; death is a hint of the world’s end.
And we can turn the imagery backward too: If aging is like the collapse of a universe, the collapse of a universe is like aging. Worlds are born, mature, reach their pinnacle, then begin to grow old.
The Lord laid the foundation of earth and set the heavens in place. He stays forever, but the garments of the universe grow old and worn, and eventually need to be changed (Hebrews 1:10-12, quoting Psalm 102).
So there’s something biblical about that old trope about civilizations following the life-cycle of living things.
Dear Reader,
Can I be direct with you?
War abroad. Socialists on the rise. AI upending human life. Endless uproar online. The modern attention economy doesn’t want readers — it wants users enslaved to the tyranny of the present.
First Things is the antidote: literary excellence, timeless truths, and a fixed point of reference in a culture that has lost its bearings.
But we can’t do it without readers like you.
Our goal: Raise $150,000 by November 1 to sustain First Things in the year ahead.
Your gift anchors readers in the permanent things.
Make your Fall Campaign gift now using the button below.
If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Giovanni Del Piero, Director of the Editor’s Circle, at gdelpiero@firstthings.com or 212-627-1985.
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
The Church in the Age of Therapy
In 1966, Philip Rieff wrote in The Triumph of the Therapeutic that “Religious man was born to…
Canada’s Deadliest Blind Spot
On September 20, the Daily Mail ran a story with the provocative headline, “Our 83-year-old Christian grandmother…
The Faithful Joy of Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen
Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen seem to have had little in common. She favored rhinestones; he wore…
