To Everything, There Is A Season

Hello my friends, readers, visitors and brothers and sisters in Christ! As I spent some time alone,

quieting my thoughts, stepping back from all that is going on around us, I was brought to this chapter. A familiar one to Christians but I wanted to put the whole chapter fully in view for those who aren't familiar with it! This post is going to be a bit different than all of my other ones and since it was just laid on my spirit to share the chapter in its entirety, I will say just a few things then let the God speak to you individually about the rest as you read and prayerfully meditate upon these powerful words! I was going to break it down but that's not what I was led to do. Depending on what I'm led to do in the future, I may break it down to explain it more but for the moment, the Lord will explain and speak to you individually if you just ask Him to do so!

Ecclesiastes 3:1-22
To everything there is a season,
A time for every purpose under heaven:
2) A time to be born,
And a time to die;
A time to plant,
And a time to pluck what is planted;
3) A time to kill,
And a time to heal;
A time to break down,
And a time to build up;
4) A time to weep,
And a time to laugh;
A time to mourn,
And a time to dance;
5) A time to cast away stones,
And a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace,
And a time to refrain from embracing;
6) A time to gain,
And a time to lose;
A time to keep,
And a time to throw away;
7) A time to tear,
And a time to sew;
A time to keep silence,
And a time to speak;
8) A time to love,
And a time to hate;
A time of war,

And a time of peace.

The God-Given Task
9) What profit has the worker from that in which he labors? 10) I have seen the God-given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied. 11) He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end. 12) I know that nothing is better for them than to rejoice, and to do good in their lives, 13) and also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor—it is the gift of God.

14) I know that whatever God does, It shall be forever. Nothing can be added to it, And nothing taken from it. God does it, that men should fear before Him. 15) That which is has already been, And what is to be has already been; And God requires an account of  what is past.

Injustice Seems to Prevail
16) Moreover I saw under the sun: In the place of judgment, Wickedness was there; And in the place of righteousness, Iniquity was there. 17) I said in my heart, "God shall judge the righteous and the wicked, For there is a time there for every purpose and for every work." 18) I said in my heart, "Concerning the condition of the sons of men, God tests them, that they may see that they themselves are like animals." 19) For what happens to the sons of men also happens to animals; one thing befalls them: as one dies, so dies the other. Surely, they all have one breath; man has no advantage over animals, for all is vanity. 20) All go to one place: all are from the dust, and all return to dust. 

21) Who knows the spirit of the sons of men, which goes upward, and the spirit of the animal, which goes down to the earth? 22) So I perceived that nothing is better than that a man should rejoice in his own works, for that is his heritage. For who can bring him to see what will happen after him?"

God has it all under control! He laid out the "plans" clearly and precisely. The book Ecclesiastes was written by Solomon, the son of David. The author calls himself "the son of David, king in Jerusalem" in Ecclesiastes 1:1 and 1:12. Solomon was the best qualified Davidic descendant (simply put the descendant of David) for this particular quest in this book because he was the wisest man who ever taught in Jerusalem! That is found in Ecclesiastes 1:16, "I communed with my heart, saying, “Look, I have attained greatness, and have gained more wisdom than all who were before me in Jerusalem. My heart has understood great wisdom and knowledge." and in 1 Kings 4:29-30, "And God gave Solomon wisdom and exceedingly great understanding, and largeness of heart like the sand on the seashore. 30) Thus Solomon’s wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the men of the East and all the wisdom of Egypt." The Hebrew title "Qoheleth" is a rare term and comes from the word qahal, "to convoke an assembly, to assemble." Thus, it means "one who addresses an assembly, a preacher." The Septuagint used the Greek word Ekklesiastes as its title for this book. Derived from the word ekklesia, "assembly, congregation, church," it simply means "preacher." The Latin Ecclesiastes means "speaker before an assembly." Ecclesiastes 1:1 in Hebrew reads, "The words of Qoheleth, the son of David, king in Jerusalem." and as a comparison in English, it reads, "The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem." Solomon gives clear affirmations in the paired statements that God is solely at work in each of our individual lives, seeking to accomplish His will. All of these events come directly from God, and they are good in their own time! These are one of the most quoted Bible verses when it comes to the meaning of life, both by Christians, and ironically, non-Christians alike!

This following summary is taken from respected Matthew Henry's Commentary from 1710. A summary for your reading and hopefully understanding.

"The changes of human affairs." Verses 1-10  - To expect unchanging happiness in a changing world, must end in disappointment. To bring ourselves to our state in life, is our duty and wisdom in this world. God's whole plan for the government of the world will be found altogether wise, just, and good. Then let us seize the favourable opportunity for every good purpose and work. The time to die is fast approaching. Thus labour and sorrow fill the world. This is given us, that we may always have something to do; none were sent into the world to be idle.

"The Divine counsels unchangeable." Verses 11-15 - Every thing is as God made it; not as it appears to us. We have the world so much in our hearts, are so taken up with thoughts and cares of worldly things, that we have neither time nor spirit to see God's hand in them. The world has not only gained possession of the heart, but has formed thoughts against the beauty of God's works. We mistake if we think we were born for ourselves; no, it is our business to do good in this life, which is short and uncertain; we have but little time to be doing good, therefore we should redeem time. Satisfaction with Divine Providence, is having faith that all things work together for good to them that love him. God doeth all, that men should fear before him. The world, as it has been, is, and will be. There has no change befallen us, nor has any temptation by it taken us, but such as is common to men.

"The vanity of worldly power." Verses 16-22 - Without the fear of the Lord, man is but vanity; set that aside, and judges will not use their power well. And there is another Judge that stands before the door. With God there is a time for the redressing of grievances, though as yet we see it not. Solomon seems to express his wish that men might perceive, that by choosing this world as their portion, they brought themselves to a level with the beasts, without being free, as they are, from present vexations and a future account. Both return to the dust from whence they were taken. What little reason have we to be proud of our bodies, or bodily accomplishments! But as none can fully comprehend, so few consider properly, the difference between the rational soul of man, and the spirit or life of the beast. The spirit of man goes upward, to be judged, and is then fixed in an unchangeable state of happiness or misery. It is as certain that the spirit of the beast goes downward to the earth; it perishes at death. Surely their case is lamentable, the height of whose hopes and wishes is, that they may die like beasts. Let our inquiry be, how an eternity of existence may be to us an eternity of enjoyment? To answer this, is the grand design of revelation. Jesus is revealed as the Son of God, and the Hope of sinners."

There is nothing under this sun, moon and stars that has not been divinely and thoughtfully designed. Every single thing that God has created with His breath upon this earth has a purpose. Everything! You. Me. Every animal on the land, in the sky and in the sea. Every insect. Everything! In the first 8 verses, we see time viewed from the human perspective. Even from a human perspective, time is viewed as being orderly which is a good thing. A "season" is an "appointed time!" Because EVERYTHING that happens on and in the earth, has an appointed time, a season, of existence for a "purpose." As you read this chapter, look deeply into the sequence and what it truly means. I'd like to skip to the middle and end of the chapter and talk about that for a moment. It may appear as a "breakdown," of this chapter, but I assure you, it's not. It's more of a summary lesson than anything else. In verse 11, it's man’s relationship to time & eternity and this likely also includes work by man. Everything, including work, God has made beautiful or appropriate. He's made everything to fit perfectly and beautifully in His time, or the appropriate time. So, when an activity is done at the right time, the Preacher, Solomon, is saying that that’s beautiful. But you see, it goes way beyond that too! It's evident that there’s something much greater and more to this life than just the things done under the sun. How do we know this? Because God has put the world in our heart! How amazing is that! The word there that is translated in Hebrew as "world" is "Olam" meaning forever, long time, eternity. God has put eternity in our hearts! We inherently know, without a doubt, that there’s more than what we’ve experienced thus far in our lives, and it’s just out of our reach. That’s what Solomon says. There’s this amazing eternity out there way beyond our comprehension. There's things we just don't know, won't know and can't know. But that's just it. It isn't about the "little" that our minds can comprehend, it's what God knows that matters! I believe that's exactly what Solomon wants us to remember, that yes, he focuses on the fact that we can’t know eternity past or future, but more importantly, God does know all of those things. Then in verses 12-13, he asserts that man should enjoy his life & work and that we should rejoice, do good, eat, drink, enjoy your work, in this life. We need to recognize that this is all a gift from God, every last bit of it!

We Are Appointed a Time to Be Born and a Time to Die!

Now moving onto verses 14-15, Solomon asserts that God’s work is permanent, complete, & continuous! God's work is PERMANENT, man's work is but for a season and will end at some point. God wants us to enjoy our work but knows it's fleeting. Man's work only gives a certain amount of joy, but God's work is joyful for eternity. In essence, what man does is only up to his death and then it ceases here on earth, but what God does, everything God does, is eternal. Isn't it better to know the One who's work is ETERNAL? Yes! We now know God's work is permanent but God’s work is also complete and perfect. You can’t add to it or take anything away from it. There’s nothing lacking from what God does. or how He does it, unlike the work of man. With man's work, there's always improving, removing, adding to it. Not with God's! His work is complete and perfect! I believe what is being taught here is that we humans need to learn a valuable lesson from this fact of God’s permanent perfect work. What, you may ask? We should fear before him and stand in complete awe of His mighty work! There's a stark contrast between the work of man and his ability vs the work of God and His eternal, impeccable workmanship! Also God's work is perpetual! What happened in the past is happening now, what will happen in the future already happened in the past. Mind blown! Solomon used that line of argument before. He used it to discourage the natural man from getting too comfortable in seeking fleeting fulfillment in the "stuff" of this life. However, now he uses this statement pointing to God’s work and this continuous or perpetual attribute of it! You see, the same facts without God being placed properly into view can lead a man into great despair. But WITH God in the picture as He should be, it's suddenly a good thing! God makes all the difference....in everything! He is the one that makes the difference between us living a life in vane and emptiness or living a fulfilling life, being fulfilled by the very One that can and will provide for us!

Verses 16-17, this is the part in the chapter that we need to consider God's work of judgment. There's alot to unpack in these verses but I'll shorten it the best I can for the sake of the post. Solomon's eyes turns to the fact of the injustices in this life. It’s one thing when the injustice is perpetrated by those who are then judged in a court of law or a place where that particular society designated as the place of justice, the place where justice is/will be served out. The same place where the righteous and innocent should be vindicated and where the wicked and guilty should be swiftly punished. But, that’s not what Solomon observes. He observes the total overthrow of an institution! It's because that’s what ultimately happens when you have an institution in a society that’s designed to mete out justice against evil-doers….when in fact, the very ones who are given such charge are the evil-doers themselves! Seeing the injustice and iniquity abound, he does just like we do or would do. He tries to work it out in his heart, but seeing what the wicked men are capable of and do, is distressing to us as it was him. Seeing the wicked do the exact opposite of what our consciences know is right and just can conjure up all kinds of emotions in us humans. We need to remember, as he did to console himself, that God will judge the righteous with rewards but not so for the wicked! The wicked will be judged harshly. We know the conviction of God's judgment is coming but we don't have that same thing at our disposal. Remember, there's a proper time for everything to be done under the sun and that means judgment is coming to the wicked one day, but their judgment won't be under the sun! God ordained a time for it to happen.

Verses 18-21, is leading us to consider God’s work of humbling man through death. There's also alot to unpack in these verses as well and as I did in the above verses, I will try to do with these. In these verses, Solomon started speaking about God’s work of judgement. But exactly when does that judgement occur? It’s not in this life. The New Testament book of Hebrews tells us in 9:27, "And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment," That’s simply just the order of things. Death. Then judgement. In verse 18, Solomon muses in his heart about which could be the universality of death itself. And concerning death, God has made it this way to humble men: by showing us that we’re inherently beasts. Now don't get me wrong here, we are greater than beasts of the earth because we were made in God’s image! This is not meaning we are as "lowly" as the beasts that we were made to be in charge of, but in that as beasts die, so does man. We all die. Both man and beast were created from the dust of the earth that God commanded to bring forth life, living creatures. We all have the same breath that God gives to His living creatures and the same breath that God will some day take away.  It is surreal that we’re all made of dust and yet when that one last breath we all have left is removed, we all go back to the dust. However, there is a clear distinction between man and beast in verse 21. If the natural man has been listening so far, then he is clearly aware there’s a judgement coming. Animals don’t seem to be a part of that judgement as they are instinctual creatures, without free will. However, with our natural eyes and what we can SEE, we all just cease to exist one day. Our bodies stop operating and will return to the ground, or dust, from where they were originally created. Difference is, man is judged in the end not beasts.

For the sake of the judgment and dying, I want to expand on something important here. Here's how you die once or twice and how the type of judgment will be determined. To be "spiritually" born means that God's Holy Spirit "quickens" us (or makes us alive). When a sinner believes on the Lord Jesus Christ, then God the Father and God the Son come into your person to reside in the form of God the Holy Spirit. John 14:23, "Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him." The Holy Spirit is "God within us." If you are born once, physically/bodily, and never turn from your sins, never accepting Jesus Christ into your life, heart, and as your Savior, then you will die twice....once physically, in the bodily sense, and a second time, a spiritual, eternal death, spending eternity in the lake of fire called Hell. The book of Revelation speaks of this "second death" in several places, one being Revelation 20:6, "Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power,but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years," And again in Revelation 21:7-8, "He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. 8) But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."  However, if you are born twice, first in the physical/bodily sense, and THEN again when you choose to turn from our sins, accepting Jesus Christ into your heart as your personal Savior, SPIRITUALLY receiving Him and His free gift of salvation, then you will only die ONCE....in the physical/bodily sense, because SPIRITUALLY, you are alive, and will live eternally with God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in Heaven! Romans 8:9 tells us that the Spirit of Christ dwells within every believer. We have God's Spirit living in our bodies that house Him. Those who die "twice" will have a different kind of judgment, a very different kind of judgment than that of the Believers who die once! Choose wisely while there's still time!

To end this section with verse 22, in light of everything else above, that all of this is God's work that can't be prevented or changed, and in light of our relationship to time and eternity, Solomon returns to his assertion that man should enjoy life & not worry about the future because we don't know what the future holds for any of us! To follow God's instructions throughout the scriptures, we can find so much joy in this life, even through these difficult times we are ALL facing around the globe! We’re limited as a mere human and we are reminded in these verses that we all die. Given that fact, you should enjoy your life now! Find whatever enjoyment you can, through your job if you're blessed to still be working, through your retirement, through your isolation and lock down, through gardening, through writing, through art. Through whatever it is that makes your heart smile. Don’t worry about what’ll happen in the future because we don't know what that will be. We can already see all around us that we are losing some ground and things are moving fast. It's getting scary out there but God didn't give us the spirit of fear! Look at all He DID give to us! Try to take time to concern yourself with the present, the here and now. And keep it in mind that the pure enjoyment of work and activity is your portion from God. It’s your inheritance as a child of God! And like any inheritance, someone has to leave it to you.....God.

I will close this with saying that life apart from God is completely meaningless. Don't be as the world is, don't do as the world does, and don't live as the world without God lives! If one lives a life without God, then this is all there is on this temporal earth until death steals your last breath and you spend eternity in hell. I don't want to see that for anyone! Neither does our Loving Father! All of  humankind's pursuits and feeble efforts are futile when God is excluded from all of them. Since the works of God can't be thwarted, then it's only a life of obedient service to Him that can put great value and deep purpose to our lives.

"The purpose of the book seems to be to show that self-gratification and successful worldliness do not bring satisfaction to the human heart. Life without a knowledge of and fellowship with God is empty and meaningless. Man has a destiny which calls for cooperation with God in some worthy enterprise, and in this he finds abiding peace of soul..." (H.I. Hester, The Heart Of Hebrew History, p.311).



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