Ecclesiastes 3:1-22 “A Time for Everything”

November 25, 2008

First Church of the Brethren

H. Kevin Derr

Ecclesiastes 3:1-22

“A Time for Everything”

 

¹ There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:

² a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,

³ a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,

⁴ a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,

⁵ a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,

⁶ a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,

⁷ a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,

⁸ a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

⁹ What do workers gain from their toil? ¹⁰ I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. ¹¹ He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. ¹² I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. ¹³ That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God. ¹⁴ I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him.

¹⁵ Whatever is has already been,
and what will be has been before;
and God will call the past to account.

¹⁶ And I saw something else under the sun:
In the place of judgment—wickedness was there,
in the place of justice—wickedness was there.

¹⁷ I said to myself,
“God will bring into judgment
both the righteous and the wicked,
for there will be a time for every activity,
a time to judge every deed.”

¹⁸ I also said to myself, “As for human beings, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals. ¹⁹ Surely the fate of human beings is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath; humans have no advantage over animals. Everything is meaningless. ²⁰ All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return. ²¹ Who knows if the human spirit rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?”

²² So I saw that there is nothing better for people than to enjoy their work, because that is their lot. For who can bring them to see what will happen after them?

Prayer

I. Ecclesiastes reflects some common ideas that we see in the Scriptures, one that comes into focus here is that of a sense of order, and a time that is appropriate for the various activities of life. We see the idea of order emerge in Genesis in the creation, God brings order out of Chaos. Paul will later tell us that God is a God of order not disorder. This idea of an appropriate time and season for all the activities of life is echoed here by Ecclesiastes.

a. Here in the third chapter, we find the controlling thought expressed clearly in the first verse, he writes, ¹There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:

i. The world that God has created also includes a time and a place for all the activities of humanity. There are times and places were some activities and behaviors are fine, but others that are not appropriate.

1. It is not to necessarily suggest that some of these things are evil, just that there is an appropriate time and place.

2. That is not to say that all behavior is fine, it just needs the appropriate time and place.

a. This is not an uncommon idea in the ancient world, for example Aristotle said that there is no appropriate time and place for adultery. It is wrong.

b. This is also true in the Scriptures, Solomon is not saying that there is a time that is right for adultery.

ii. He does say ²a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,

1. A time for beginnings and endings, a time to plant and a time to uproot, likely a reference to trees or vineyards, but that is not the issue at hand. All things come to an end. People, plants, animals, we all come to and end.

2. There is a beginning point and an ending point, this is true of all of creation, from the whole of the universe, to the smallest gain of sand.

iii. Ecclesiastes goes on to give us a much bigger sense of this movement in life. He says, ³a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,

1. This may be understood in different ways, but following the agricultural theme, a time to kill animals that are wounded, and a time to heal them.

2. There are times to tear down our buildings and time to build new ones. There are beginnings and endings to all we know.

iv. There are times for tears and laughter, dancing and sitting with those who have lost loved ones. ⁴a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,

1. There are times and places for these activities, a time to mourn a reference to death, and a time to dance, a reference to birth.

2. weeping and laughing, events of life we know all to well. Each is fine in its context, in the right place and time.

v. This line of thinking continues, ⁵ a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain,

1. gathering and scattering stones, building and tearing down.

2. A time for marriage and a time for abstinence

vi. Ecclesiastes is clearly taking us to a very specific place with this line of thinking, he is not specifically address the activities themselves their value or righteousness, but he is taking us to a specific destination. He continues

1. ⁶ a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away, ⁷ a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, ⁸ a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

2. So where is he taking us?

II. Here it is, here is our destination.

⁹ What do workers gain from their toil? ¹⁰ I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. ¹¹ He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. ¹² I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. ¹³ That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God. ¹⁴ I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him.

a. What do workers gain from their toil? What do we get from all our work? What comes of it? That is the question of Ecclesiastes.

i. He says he has seen the burden that God has laid on all humanity, to work and toil for our food, an echo of the curse from Genesis 1

ii. But then there is a shift, he says “God has made everything beautiful in its time.”

1. There is a fundamental beauty to life and all of creation, that is not to say that it is without difficulty, he already mentioned the cruse, the result of the fall.

2. But, even with that burden, there is beauty, this is a gift from God.

3. He also tells us that God has set eternity in the human heart.

a. We realize that there is more to the universe than just ourselves, we understand that time goes well beyond the short span of our days

b. We comprehend that there is more than just what we see

c. Yet, even though creation hints to the reality of the creator, though our hearts and minds attempt to grasp that there is more, we still do not understand God, nor what God has done from the beginning of time to the end of time.

iii. Then he says,. ¹² I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. ¹³ That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God

1. What is good for people? To be happy and do good, to be righteous.

2. To eat and drink and find enjoyment in their work these things are to be seen as a gift from God.

3. This is dependable, because the universe that God created will endure, we cannot add to or take away from, and God had done this so that we will fear him, that we will know him and be in relationship with him.

III. We then move into a restatement of some things we have been over, but then it is expanded, Ecclesiastes says,

¹⁵ Whatever is has already been,
and what will be has been before;
and God will call the past to account.

¹⁶ And I saw something else under the sun:
In the place of judgment—wickedness was there,
in the place of justice—wickedness was there.

¹⁷ I said to myself,
“God will bring into judgment
both the righteous and the wicked,
for there will be a time for every activity,
a time to judge every deed.”

a. Whatever is has been, what will be was already, here is the change, God will judge what has been done and what will be done.

b. Then Ecclesiastes notes what he has seen, wickedness.

i. In the place of Judgment, wickedness, corruption in those who judge and oversee people

ii. In the place where there should be the granting of justice, wickedness, corruption, and favoritism

iii. Then he comes to this realization, God will judge what humans do under the sun.

1. The righteous and the wicked will be examined by the Lord God.

2. Just as there as been time and place for all that humanity does under the sun, so too will God take time to see that every activity, every deed is considered.

3. Here will be the realization of the wise and the foolish, the righteous and the wicked, while death may face both, there will be an accounting to God for foolishness, for sinfulness and for wickedness.

IV. Now He pushes us just a little further, Ecclesiastes writes, ¹⁸ I also said to myself, “As for human beings, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals. ¹⁹ Surely the fate of human beings is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath; humans have no advantage over animals. Everything is meaningless. ²⁰ All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return. ²¹ Who knows if the human spirit rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?”

a. God tests us so that we may see we are like the animals.

i. How are we like the animals, sometimes in our behavior

ii. But all the time in that like they draw their last breath so will we.

iii. We are both formed from the dust and return to the dust.

1. We have the same breath, in this we have no advantage over animals.

2. We are all bound to breath our last, to return to the earth.

b. Then he asks the question that so much of humanity asks, What happens after we die. Is there life or isn’t there beyond the last breath?

i. We of course have the assurance of Jesus that for those who believe in him, death is not an issue,. If you would consider how often this topic emerges in popular culture.

ii. Ecclesiastes was addressing the same question in his day, what happens when we die?

c. At the end of the day, he says, ²² So I saw that there is nothing better for people than to enjoy their work, because that is their lot. For who can bring them to see what will happen after them?

i. Here is the best hope for those who do not know Christ Jesus, to simply be able to enjoy their work, because work is their lot.

1. Who can convince them that there is something more?

2. Who can change the mind of the man or woman who refuses to see that Jesus is the Christ.

ii. Yet, for you and I there is more to life, there is genuine life, Jesus said it this way: ⁷ Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. ⁸ All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. ⁹ I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. ^[a] They will come in and go out, and find pasture. ¹⁰ The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

1. Those who are not the Messiah, those who are not pointing to the Messiah, are thieves robbers and are not here for the benefit of the people of God.

2. Jesus is the Shepherd, the gate, the way we come to life.

a. The thief comes to steal and destroy

b. But the shepherd, Jesus comes to bring life, life to the full or abundantly.

c. While Ecclesiastes hints at this coming revelation, he did not fully understand what he was point us too, yet he none the less points us to life that will be abundant, more than just a chasing after the wind, more than just another beginning and ending point.

d. He directs us toward Jesus the Christ.