Ecclesiastes 3

• We will begin again reviewing what we have learnt of Ecclesiastes:

  • This book is Wisdom literature. The author is Solomon, a man who was given by God wisdom and discernment greater than any man.

  • The book of Ecclesiastes establishes Solomon’s theory of the meaning of life.

    • The thesis is the meaning of life can’t be found in the creation, therefore it is vanity to try and seek for it there.

  • Solomon began providing proof through the repeating cycles in nature that display a meaninglessness in understanding an advantage in life.

    • Solomon continued to establish this by his personal experiences concluding that wisdom and wealth are meaningless in understanding an advantage in life.

• Last week we added Solomon processing through a man’s desire to leave a legacy, lasting remembrance, and concluding man can’t truly affect his own legacy here on this earth as a measure of understanding this advantage in life. Trying to do so was vanity, or truly meaningless.

  • If what one can leave behind is not the point in living day to day life then where would man go to find an answer to the question, “What is the advantage of life?”

• Let's read Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

Eccl. 3:1 There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven —
Eccl. 3:2  A time to give birth and a time to die;
A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted.
Eccl. 3:3  A time to kill and a time to heal;
A time to tear down and a time to build up.
Eccl. 3:4  A time to weep and a time to laugh;
A time to mourn and a time to dance.
Eccl. 3:5  A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace and a time to shun embracing.
Eccl. 3:6  A time to search and a time to give up as lost;
A time to keep and a time to throw away.
Eccl. 3:7  A time to tear apart and a time to sew together;
A time to be silent and a time to speak.
Eccl. 3:8  A time to love and a time to hate;
A time for war and a time for peace.

• v.1 Where does Solomon take the focus next? (There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven)

• First is the measurement of what? (appointed time)

  • Man’s life is contained in time while God is not bound by time.

  • The time is not arbitrary but what? (appointed)

  • The definition of appointed is: predetermined; arranged; set:

  • There is predetermined time when everything is going to happen.

• First we learned the time is appointed then we learned this was true for everything, but the clarification for everything is what? (every event)

  • Every event where? (under the heaven)

  • This directs us to the “under the sun events”, things as they unfold on earth.

  • What is this to mean to us? (earthly, temporal)

• To give the details of just how inclusive this concept of God’s control is, Solomon proceeds with a unique poetic style using merisms.

  • Wikipedia defines "merism" (Latin merismus, Greek μερισμός merismós) as a linguistic phenomenon in which a combination of two contrasting parts of the whole refer to the whole.

  • For example, in order to say that someone "searched everywhere", one could use the merism "searched high and low".

  • The bible uses this style in other places.

Gen. 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Rev. 22:13 “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”

• In Genesis the use of heavens and the earth is to convey God created everything, not just the heavens and the earth but everything inbetween.

• In Revelation the use of three merisms would be to empasize God is everything, not just in the beginning and the end but everything inbetween as well.

  • Eccl 3:2 What merism does Solomon begin with? (A time to give birth and a time to die; A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted.)

    • What is this a description of? (The creation of and ending of everything living)

    • Solomon is using this event of creating and ending all life to point back to the conclusion that God has an appointed time for each.

• v.3 What does Solomon describe next? (A time to kill and a time to heal; A time to tear down and a time to build up.)

  • v.4 What scope of emotional responses does man have to all events? (A time to weep and a time to laugh; A time to mourn and a time to dance.)

  • v.5 How does man respond to events in life? (A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones)

    • What is pictured by the dispersing of stones and the gathering of stones? (Building things, removing stones before planting or building contrasted with gathering stones for walls or buildings)

  • v.5 What is described next? (A time to embrace and a time to shun embracing.)

    • What does it mean to embrace? (to take or receive gladly or eagerly; accept willingly)

    • This is not just a picture of a human hug but a broader concept of opening up to relationship, ideas, or opportunities. The opposite is shunning to embrace or a time to not be open to those same things and everything in-between.

  • v.6 What is described as a way to approach all decisions men have in life? (A time to search and a time to give up as lost; A time to keep and a time to throw away.)

    • The best description of these might be to think of those situations we see where the extreme in the negative is not followed by people. How many times have we witnessed people that will not give up on a relationship and/or endeavor past the point it was healthy. The second one can be seen on display by anyone who has watched an episode of ‘Hoarders’.

  • v.7  What is displayed next? (A time to tear apart and a time to sew together)

    • Because the word "sew" is used many see this in a narrow view of clothes or cloth but the idea is larger than that. There is an appropriate time for things to be separated and other times where things should be brought together in life. Examples to demonstrate this might be when a child leaves home to be joined in marriage to a spouse.

Gen. 2:24 For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.

• This can be true in all relationships. Nations or tribes separating in treaties to join other nations in treaties. Work place or church connections.

• v.7 What is also true for human relationships? (A time to be silent and a time to speak.)

  • There is an appointed time for everything we speak or don’t speak.

  • Sometimes we speak more with our actions than our words.

  • Be mindful before speaking to be sure the Spirit is prompting us in our words and our timing to speak. (Story of a bible study leader sharing that just because you might have an answer to every question does not mean you need to share on every question…new concept for me)

• v.8 What extremes of emotion are addressed? (A time to love and a time to hate)

  • What can be activities that demonstrate these extremes? (A time for war and a time for peace.)

  • These are words Solomon uses to describe the all-inclusiveness of responses covered in God’s economy. There are times in which war must exist to carry out God’s ultimate purposes.

Deut. 20:10 When you approach a city to fight against it, you shall offer it terms of peace.
Deut. 20:11 “If it agrees to make peace with you and opens to you, then all the people who are found in it shall become your forced labor and shall serve you.
Deut. 20:12 “However, if it does not make peace with you, but makes war against you, then you shall besiege it.
Deut. 20:13 “When the LORD your God gives it into your hand, you shall strike all the men in it with the edge of the sword.

• The answer is not always one way or the other; it is determined by God, and we must follow God’s prompting in every case.

  • The Bible Knowledge Commentary says Solomon followed his general statement with a poem on 14 opposites, each of which happens in its time. The fact that Solomon utilized polar opposites in a multiple of seven and began his list with birth and death is highly significant. The number seven suggests the idea of completeness and the use of polar opposites—a well-known poetical device called merism—suggests totality (cf. Ps. 139:2-3).

Psa. 139:0 For the choir director. A Psalm of David.
Psa. 139:1 O LORD, You have searched me and known me.
Psa. 139:2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
You understand my thought from afar.
Psa. 139:3 You scrutinize my path and my lying down,
And are intimately acquainted with all my ways.
Psa. 139:4 Even before there is a word on my tongue,
Behold, O LORD, You know it all.
Psa. 139:5  You have enclosed me behind and before,
And laid Your hand upon me.
Psa. 139:6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is too high, I cannot attain to it.
Psa. 139:7 Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
Psa. 139:8 If I ascend to heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.
Psa. 139:9 If I take the wings of the dawn,
If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,
Psa. 139:10 Even there Your hand will lead me,
And Your right hand will lay hold of me.
Psa. 139:11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me,
And the light around me will be night,”
Psa. 139:12  Even the darkness is not dark to You,
And the night is as bright as the day.
Darkness and light are alike to You.
Psa. 139:13 For You formed my inward parts;
You wove me in my mother’s womb.
Psa. 139:14 I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Wonderful are Your works,
And my soul knows it very well.
Psa. 139:15 My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth;
Psa. 139:16 Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;
And in Your book were all written
The days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was not one of them.

• We see both King David and King Solomon identify clearly that God is in control of all events unfolding in creation! Because God is in control of all creation, Solomon now returns to the question facing all men, “What is the advantage of life?”

Eccl. 3:9 What profit is there to the worker from that in which he toils?
Eccl. 3:10 I have seen the task which God has given the sons of men with which to occupy themselves.
Eccl. 3:11 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.
Eccl. 3:12 I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good in one’s lifetime;
Eccl. 3:13 moreover, that every man who eats and drinks sees good in all his labor — it is the gift of God.
Eccl. 3:14 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.
Eccl. 3:15 That which is has been already and that which will be has already been, for God seeks what has passed by.

• v.9 What is the rhetorical question proposed by Solomon again? (What profit is there to the worker from that in which he toils?)

• v.10 What had Solomon seen? (I have seen the task which God has given the sons of men with which to occupy themselves.)

  • What is a task? (a definite piece of work assigned to, falling to, or expected of a person; duty.)

    • Who gave the task? (God)

  • Who did God give the task to? (he sons of men)

  • Why did God give the tasks? (with which to occupy themselves)

    • God gives man work to fill his time on earth.

• v.11 Solomon reiterates central theme in Chapter 3 how? (He has made everything appropriate in its time.)

  • What else does he add? (He has also set eternity in their heart)

  • What is eternity? (The time beyond what happens during a man’s life on earth)

    • Man lives his life on earth with an innate knowledge there is something after this life.

  • What is the limitation of knowledge God gives man? (yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end.)

    • It is God’s plan that man does not know all things God is doing in His creation from the beginning of creation to the fulfillment of that creation. We are each part of a beautiful tapestry and need to know only what our part in that is, not how it relates to the whole. He is the creator and artist and we can trust what part we have to play by trusting in Him.

    • We can see the desire of men to know about eternity and to know the whole of this bigger plan by our desire to know more in our acquisition of human knowledge of our world in areas like science, philosophy and even theology.

• v.12 Without knowledge of all God is doing, what does Solomon say is also true? (I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good in one’s lifetime)

  • Man is to rejoice.

  • Man is to do good in his own lifetime.

    • Without knowing the bigger picture and how our circumstances fit into the larger puzzle, we are to rejoice and focus on our own time.

    • What are we to do with what God gives us?

Eph. 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;
Eph. 2:9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Eph. 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

• Eccl. 3:13 How does Solomon finish? (moreover, that every man who eats and drinks sees good in all his labor — it is the gift of God.)

  • When man can daily have his basic survival needs met and then sees good in all his labor, that is what? (it is the gift of God)

    • The definition of good is established by who? (God.)

    • When God sees the work as good then it is to only be seen as a gift from God, not a gift to God.

    • Man is to focus his work and life in the light of eternity.

• v.14 Unlike man’s work that comes and goes in his life time what is true about that work done by God? (I know that everything God does will remain forever)

  • What impact does the work of man have to this end? (there is nothing to add to it and there is nothing to take from it)

    • There is not need to correct or fix that which is perfect! Nothing man does can add or take away from God’s perfect plan.

    • God has one goal for man? (for God has so worked that men should fear Him.)

  • All that God has created and made evident in His creation should bring the fear of God into every heart of man.

    • Paul also conveys this in Romans 1:18-21.

Rom. 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,
Rom. 1:19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.
Rom. 1:20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.
Rom. 1:21 For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

• Eccl 3:15 From God’s perspective what is true? (That which is has been already and that which will be has already been, for God seeks what has passed by.)

  • What is that ‘which has been already’? (Prior to God’s creation)

  • What is that ‘which will be’? (After this creation)

    • From God’s perspective these two event have already been set. From the big picture they are set by God.

  • What does God seek? (what has passed by.)

  • What connects the past from the future? (That which happens now or in the moment or in each day that knit together is each life of a man. That which occurs in the measurement of time from man’s perspective)

    • God seeks man to do labor and use the time given in God’s way because man has the fear of God. God will judge those works as seen in the movement of time and will call the past to account in due time.

Eccl. 3:16 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.
Eccl. 3:17 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.
Eccl. 3:18 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.”
Eccl. 3:19 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.
Eccl. 3:20 All go to the same place. All came from the dust and all return to the dust.
Eccl. 3:21 Who knows that the breath of man ascends upward and the breath of the beast descends downward to the earth?
Eccl. 3:22 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?

• v.16 Knowing God measures a man’s labor in an eternal perspective, what does Solomon observe? (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.)

  • How does Solomon introduce the next truth? (I have seen)

  • Where did this witness take place? (under the sun) On earth.

    • What should exist on earth? (in the place of justice)

    • What occurs instead of justice? (there is wickedness)

    • What else should exist on earth? (in the place of righteousness)

    • What prevails instead of righteousness? (wickedness)

• v.17 What future event brings consolation to Solomon? (I said to myself, “God will judge both the righteous man and the wicked man,” )

  • God will not have to rush His justice why? (for a time for every matter and for every deed is there.)

    • There is a purpose in God’s plan for what is wicked both in future judgment of those as well as in supporting God’s plan for the present circumstances, in every event on earth. God uses the acts of the wicked to continually bring about His ultimate purposes.

• v.18 What conclusion does Solomon say God will see? (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.”)

• v.19 Solomon clarifies what is common to man and beast in what way? (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.)

  • What does it mean they have the same breath?

Gen. 2:7 Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

Gen. 6:17 “Behold, I, even I am bringing the flood of water upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life, from under heaven; everything that is on the earth shall perish.

Gen. 7:15 So they went into the ark to Noah, by twos of all flesh in which was the breath of life.

• Both man and beast have the same breath of life and when it is gone they are dead. For all man’s wisdom and works the end is still the same….death. Both are just passing through this world and in that way they do not change the path set by God and all is vanity.

• v.20 What other parallel is in death of man and beast seen? (All go to the same place. All came from the dust and all return to the dust.)

Gen. 2:19 Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name.

• Both man and beast return to the ground where all originally were created from.

• Eccl. 3:21 What rhetorical question does Solomon pose? (Who knows that the breath of man ascends upward and the breath of the beast descends downward to the earth?)

  • What is the breath of man here? (That which allowed him to live physically)

  • What is the breath of the beast? (That which allowed it to live physically)

  • When the breath of life leaves the man as when it leaves the animal there is no outward manifestation to show any difference. In man’s physical state alone he is like the beast God created.

• The reference to the breath of man ascending upwards and the breath of the beast descending downward to the earth means what then?

  • This could mean a view of the breath of man being the spirit of man. That which lives eternally. There is no indication that this is a view for animals so that leaves us with an unanswered question.

  • Solomon has been talking about the judgment of the wicked. There is no guarantee for men that their spirit will ascend. God knows which man’s spirit will ascend and which will descend. Man does not know or have the ability to judge this based on what his activities on earth are. Works are not what causes the breath of man to ascend.   

• v.22 What is Solomon’s conclusion? (I have seen that nothing is better than that man should be happy in his activities, for that is his lot.)

  • The activities of man to be pleasing to God, to be happy with the labor each day for this purpose.

  • During a man’s life on earth what is true for what follows man on earth? (For who will bring him to see what will occur after him?)

• Man is never in control of what happens on earth after his existence. That is not the goal that man should spend his life’s activities striving towards.