Ecclesiastes Chapter Three
Ecclesiastes 3:1 (NASB) There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven--
Solomon's point in this section is that God has a plan for all people. Thus, he provides cycles of life, each with its work for us to do. Although we may face many problems that seem to contradict God's plan, these should not be barriers to believing in him, but rather opportunities to discover that, without God, life's problems have no lasting solutions!
Timing is important. All the experiences listed in these verses are appropriate at certain times. The secret to peace with God is to discover, accept, and appreciate God's perfect timing. The danger is to doubt or resent God's timing. This can lead to despair, rebellion, or moving ahead without his advice.
Matthew Henry has said: “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.”
Ecclesiastes 3:2 (NASB) A time to give birth and a time to die; A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted.
Clarke has said: “It is worthy of remark, that in all this list there are but two things which may be said to be done generally by the disposal of God, and in which men can have but little influence: the time of birth, and the time of death. But all the others are left to the option of man, though God continues to overrule them by his providence.”
Ecclesiastes 3:3 (NASB) A time to kill and a time to heal; A time to tear down and a time to build up.
Chuck Smith has said of this section of scripture: “Now we get into the weary, monotony of life. This has been used poetically as something that is very beautiful. "A time to love," and it's been made very beautiful, but in the Hebrew idea, it was monotony. Life is just monotonous. There is a time and a season, a time and a purpose under heaven to everything: there is a time to be born, a time to die; a time to plant, a time to pluck up that which is planted; a time to kill, a time to heal; a time to break down, a time to build up; a time to weep, a time to laugh; a time to mourn, a time to dance; a time to cast ( Ecc. 3:1-5 ) And that's the idea of the Hebrew. It's just a monotony. Life seems to be ordered in these things. Just a time, a time, a time, a time. And the Hebrew idea is that of the monotony of life. It isn't, "Oh, the glorious time to love and a time to plant," you know, as we make it very romantic today. It was really being expressed in a very life-gets-so-tedious, don't it? Therefore he concludes. What profit hath he that works in that wherein he has labored? ( Ecc. 3:9 )”
Ecclesiastes 3:4 (NASB) A time to weep and a time to laugh; A time to mourn and a time to dance.
Philpot has said: “Does a man only WEEP once in his life? Does not the time of weeping run, more or less, through a Christian's whole life? Does not mourning run parallel with his existence in this tabernacle of clay? for "man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upwards." Then "a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up" must run parallel with a Christian's life, just as much as "a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance." Living souls will know many times to weep; they will have often to sigh and cry over their base hearts; to mourn with tears of godly sorrow their backslidings from God; to weep over their broken idols, faded hopes, and marred prospects; to weep at having so grieved the Spirit of God by their disobedience, carnality, and worldliness; to be melted into contrition at the feet of a dying Lord, so as in some measure to be led into the path in which Jesus walked as "a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief." They will have to bewail the falling off of those friends whom once they looked upon as bidding fairer for the kingdom of God than themselves; to weep at the cruel arrows of calumny which are shot against them by professors; to mourn over the low state of Zion, how few there are who really serve the Lord acceptably with reverence and godly fear, and adorn the doctrine in all things.”
Let us thank God that all of these things are only for a season and there will be a time of unending joy and laughter. Where there will be no more tears or sorrow in the world beyond this world. But in this world there will be seasons of both.
Ecclesiastes 3:5 (NASB) A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones; A time to embrace and a time to shun embracing.
Here in Kansas – stones are removed from the fields to make them suitable for plowing. Those stones that have been “thrown out” are sometimes used to build fences or buildings. But there are times to clear a field and times to build fences or barns just as there are times to embrace and times to shun embracing.
Ecclesiastes 3:6 (NASB) A time to search and a time to give up as lost; A time to keep and a time to throw away.
Have you ever lost anything? How long do you keep looking for it? At what point do you stop looking? There comes a time when you may have to give it up as being lost. There also comes a time when things need to be thrown away. Is it worn out? Is it no longer usable? Does it fit? I know I have some clothes that I have thrown out. But for me – that is not easy. It can be too small – it can have holes in it – but I tend to hang on. Maybe I should take this verse to heart. There is a time to keep and a time to throw away.
Ecclesiastes 3:7 (NASB) A time to tear apart and a time to sew together; A time to be silent and a time to speak.
That last phrase really hits home for me. I remember there was a time I was in a big meeting with some very important people. I was asked a question and to tell you the truth – I was not listening. Rather than admit that I was not paying attention I thought I could bluff my way through. I started speaking and just filled the air with words. I have no idea what I said but the response from those who were there made it plain that I did not say anything to answer the question. I have often heard – it is better to be thought a fool than to open your mouth and confirm it. There are times to be silent and there are times to speak up. When you do speak up – know what you are talking about.
Ecclesiastes 3:8 (NASB) A time to love and a time to hate; A time for war and a time for peace.
When is the time for hating? We shouldn't hate evil people, but we should hate what they do. We should also hate it when people are mistreated, when children are starving, and when God is being dishonored. In addition, we must hate the sin in our life—this is God's attitude.
Ecclesiastes 3:9 (NASB) What profit is there to the worker from that in which he toils?
Your ability to find satisfaction in your work depends to a large extent upon your attitude. You will become dissatisfied if you lose the sense of purpose God intended for your work. We can enjoy our work if we (1) remember that God has given us work to do, and (2) realize that the fruit of our labor is a gift from him. See your work as a way to serve God.
Ecclesiastes 3:10 (NASB) I have seen the task which God has given the sons of men with which to occupy themselves.
Work was given to man before the fall of man. He was to tend the garden. After the fall work became harder:
"Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; and you will eat the plants of the field; by the sweat of your face you will eat bread, till you return to the ground, because from it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return." Genesis 3:18-19
Labor has become hard.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 (NASB) He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end.
God has "set eternity in the human heart." This means that we can never be completely satisfied with earthly pleasures and pursuits. Because we are created in God's image, (1) we have a spiritual thirst, (2) we have eternal value, and (3) nothing but the eternal God can truly satisfy us. God has built in us a restless yearning for the kind of perfect world that can only be found in his perfect rule. He has given us a glimpse of the perfection of his creation. But it is only a glimpse; we cannot see into the future or comprehend everything. So we must trust God now and do his work on earth.
Ecclesiastes 3:12 (NASB) I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good in one's lifetime;
To be happy and do good are worthy goals for life, but we can pursue them in the wrong way. God wants us to enjoy life. When we have the proper view of God, we discover that real pleasure is found in enjoying whatever we have as gifts from God, not in what we accumulate.
Ecclesiastes 3:13 (NASB) moreover, that every man who eats and drinks sees good in all his labor--it is the gift of God.
Your ability to find satisfaction in your work depends to a large extent upon your attitude. You will become dissatisfied if you lose the sense of purpose God intended for your work. We can enjoy our work if we (1) remember that God has given us work to do, and (2) realize that the fruit of our labor is a gift from him. See your work as a way to serve God.
Ecclesiastes 3:14 (NASB) I know that everything God does will remain forever; there is nothing to add to it and there is nothing to take from it, for God has so worked that men should fear Him.
What is the purpose of life? It is that we should fear the all-powerful God. To fear God means to respect and stand in awe of him because of who he is. Purpose in life starts with whom we know, not what we know or how good we are. It is impossible to fulfill your God-given purpose unless you revere God and give him first place in your life.
Ecclesiastes 3:15 (NASB) That which is has been already and that which will be has already been, for God seeks what has passed by.
Wesley has said: “Things past, present, and to come, are all ordered by one constant counsel, in all parts and ages of the world. There is a continual return of the same motions of the heavenly bodies, of the same seasons of the year, and a constant succession of new generations of men and beasts, but all of the same quality
Ecclesiastes 3:16 (NASB) Furthermore, I have seen under the sun that in the place of justice there is wickedness and in the place of righteousness there is wickedness.
Everywhere I look there seems to be wickedness. Evil and corruption sit in the place where justice should be, thus affecting the legal system. Solomon asked how God's plan can be perfect when so much injustice and oppression exist in the world. He concluded that God does not ignore injustice but will bring it to an end at his appointed time.
Life Application Study Bible points out: Solomon reflects on several apparent contradictions in God's control of the world:
(1) There is evil and corruption where there should be justice (Ecc_3:16-17);
(2) people created in God's image die just like the animals (Ecc_3:18-21);
(3) no one comforts the oppressed (Ecc_4:1-3);
(4) many people are motivated by envy (Ecc_4:4-6);
(5) people are lonely (Ecc_4:7-12);
(6) recognition for accomplishments is temporary (Ecc_4:13-16).
It is easy to use such contradictions as excuses to not believe in God. But Solomon used them to show how we can honestly look at life's problems and still keep our faith. This life is not all there is, yet even in this life we should not pass judgment on God because we don't know everything. God's plan is for us to live forever with him. So live with eternal values in view, realizing that all contradictions will one day be cleared up by the Creator himself.
Ecclesiastes 3:17 (NASB) I said to myself, "God will judge both the righteous man and the wicked man," for a time for every matter and for every deed is there.
We should have no doubt that God will judge the righteous man as well as the wicked man. Many go through this life as if there is no judgment coming. Do not be deceived – the judgment is on its way.
Ecclesiastes 3:18 (NASB) I said to myself concerning the sons of men, "God has surely tested them in order for them to see that they are but beasts."
Wesley has said: “That although God made them men, yet they have made themselves beasts by their brutish practices, and that, considered only with respect to the present life, they are as vain and miserable creatures as the beasts themselves.”
Ecclesiastes 3:19 (NASB) For the fate of the sons of men and the fate of beasts is the same. As one dies so dies the other; indeed, they all have the same breath and there is no advantage for man over beast, for all is vanity.
Our bodies can't live forever in their present state. In that sense, humans and animals are alike. But Solomon acknowledged that God has given people the hope of eternity, and that we will undergo judgment in the next life—making us different from animals. Because we have eternity planted in our hearts, we have a unique purpose in God's overall plan. Yet we cannot discover God's purpose for our lives by our own efforts—only through building a relationship with him and seeking his guidance. Are you now living as God wants? Do you see life as a gift from him?
Ecclesiastes 3:20 (NASB) All go to the same place. All came from the dust and all return to the dust.
All creatures die. Their bodies will decay and return to dust. What advantage then does a human have over the animals? If there is no life beyond this life – none.
Ecclesiastes 3:21 (NASB) Who knows that the breath of man ascends upward and the breath of the beast descends downward to the earth?
What therefore happens to a man that acts like a beast? Does his breath not descend downward to the earth?
Ecclesiastes 3:22 (NASB) I have seen that nothing is better than that man should be happy in his activities, for that is his lot. For who will bring him to see what will occur after him?
From a worldling point of view – no one can “prove” life beyond this life. Who will bring a person to see that there is life beyond this life? Perhaps the One who has tasted of death and has overcome it will prove to some that there can be life beyond the grave.
