Ecclesiastes 3
EverettEcclesiastes 3:1-15
Calling: God’s Calling Through His Divine Intervention in the Affairs of Mankind (The Seasons of Our Life) – After the Preacher concludes that God has predestined mankind and creation to vanity based upon reflects upon his own frustrations of life (Ecclesiastes 1:12 to Ecclesiastes 2:11) and upon those of others (Ecclesiastes 2:12-26), he turns himself to a wider search by looking above. He realizes that God has a purpose for mankind based upon the realization that He continually intervenes in the affairs of mankind, and because His divine laws govern the outcome of men’s lives. We call this divine calling, in which we come to realize that God has a redemptive purpose and plan in His creation. Ecclesiastes 3:1-15 represents the Preacher’s next phase of learning when he teaches us that our life is made up of times and seasons, or periods that change into another period of life. We learn that these seasons have been divinely placed within our lives by God (Ecclesiastes 3:1). Once the Preacher recognizes these divine seasons of life (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8), he concludes that man should simply rest in God and enjoy each day’s journey, knowing that God will work in his life each day (Ecclesiastes 3:9-15). There are twenty-eight seasons listed in the following verses. It is in these seasons of life orchestrated by God that we find meaning and purpose in our lives. The closing verses to Ecclesiastes (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14) will warn us that everything we do in these seasons of life must be undergirded with the fear of God and the keeping of His commandments. The fact that there are twenty-eight is significance. Anytime in historical events the number seven or a factor of seven is used, it serves as a witness of divine intervention. One clear example is found in Matthew’s description of Jesus’ divine lineage, where God brought Israel through seasons of change every fourteen generations. Matthew 1:17, “So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations.” We see these divine seasons (and purposes) listed in Ecclesiastes 3:2-8. We clearly identify with such descriptions of our lives as we recall how we move from birth to childhood to adolescence to adulthood to old age and finally to death. God’s involvement in human affairs leads to the understanding that there will be an eternal judgment (Ecclesiastes 3:17). Therefore, enjoy the goodness that God gives to us in this life, but remember to fear God because His judgment will come upon every man. Ecclesiastes 3:17, “I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.” Each verse in this passage of Ecc 3:2-8 contains two couplets. Each of these sets of couplets is similar to one another. For example, in verse two birth is contrasted with death. In Ecclesiastes 3:3 killing and healing are similar to breaking down and building up. In Ecclesiastes 3:4 weeping and laughter are similar to mourning and dancing. These couplets appear to represent individual seasons of our earthly lives. Within each season in this life there are both good things and evil things to deal with. This is because mankind has been subjected to vanity because of the Fall. Evil is now a part of this life that must be dealt with during every season of life. Thus, we see the struggle between good and evil, between God’s ways and the ways of the devil as we walk through our journey in life. For example, the joy of the birth of a child will always be overshadowed by the knowledge that he will one day have to die (Ecclesiastes 3:2 a). We see this in the birth of our Saviour Jesus Christ. His birth was accompanied with exciting prophecies and visits from wise men from the East. In the Temple Simeon spoke not only of His office as a Saviour but balanced his prophecy with words of sorrow and grief for Mary. Regarding Proverbs 3:2 b, the travail of planting in the field and waiting patiently for the fruit will one day be forgotten by the joy of taking in a great harvest (Ecclesiastes 3:2 b). In our times of sorrow we must not forget how God brings us a ray of sunshine during our darkest hours (Ecclesiastes 3:4 a).
We know that one day sadness will be overcome by joy; for this is how Jesus, because of the joy set before Him, endured the Cross and suffered the shame (Ecclesiastes 3:4 b). There is a season in our lives when we hold our children tightly and protect them in our embrace, while knowing that one day we must release them and send them out to pursue their own destinies (5b). We understand that as horrible wars can be, they always produce peace for a nation if fought in righteousness (Ecclesiastes 3:8). Thus, every season and event in our lives is mixed with sadness as well as joy if we will look for God’s handiwork in it. The preacher then asks himself the value of labouring and travailing during the seasons of life (Ecclesiastes 3:9). For God subjected mankind to travail at the time of the Fall in the Garden in order to keep us humble (Ecclesiastes 3:10). For it is in humility that we will turn back to God. Now the answer comes when God reveals to him that there is a beauty to be found within each of these seasons in our lives; because each one will teach us a new lesson that we cannot learn from an earlier season of life (Ecclesiastes 3:11 a). God created our life as a series of seasons so that we would better understand that eternity is made up of ages and periods in which God takes mankind from one dispensation into another. This is why Ecclesiastes 3:11 b says that God has placed eternity in our hearts. He did this by subjecting us to the pattern of seasons the He has subjected eternity to. Ecclesiastes 3:11 c then tells us that no man can find contentment in these seasons by pursuing earthly works and ambitions. If we try to fully understand the fullness of the world around us during each season of life, just as Solomon, we will realize that we cannot complete such pursuits; for God’s creation is far to vast and our lives too short. This causes us to become unfulfilled with earthly pursuits and dreams, because by them we will only find discontentment in watching them go incomplete as we move into another season of life. As Solomon amidst his vast gardens and building projects, we must conclude that contentment and joy will only be found in pursuing our divine assignment on a daily basis. All other pursuits and ambitions will fall incomplete and unfulfilled at the end of one’s life. We must find our joy today as we serve the Lord. We must resign ourselves to serving the Lord with gladness of heart (Ecclesiastes 3:12) and enjoy the benefits that God has given us during our daily service to Him, and this without coveting more than we have been given (Ecclesiastes 3:13). This is the secret of happiness in the midst of our being subjected to travail all the days of our lives. Outline – Here is a proposed outline:
- The Preacher Concludes God Has a Purpose — Ecclesiastes 3:1-82. The Preacher Explains His Conclusion — Ecclesiastes 3:9-15
Ecclesiastes 3:9-15
The Preacher Explains His Conclusion of Man’s Purpose - The Preacher will then acknowledge each man’s purpose, or calling, in this life, in Ecclesiastes 3:9-15 as a calling to rejoice and to do good in this life by enjoying the good of each day’s labours (Ecclesiastes 3:13). In other words, mankind has been called to serve the Lord by doing good works and to rest in God’s divine provision for his life. Ecclesiastes 3:9 What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth? Ecclesiastes 3:9 — Comments - Having pursued wisdom (Ecclesiastes 1:12-18), mirth (Ecclesiastes 2:1-3), building projects (Ecclesiastes 2:4-6) and material riches (Ecclesiastes 2:7-11), all to a greater extend that any man before him had been able to achieve, and having realized both the vanity of his own pursuits and of mankind in general) as he now reflects upon his utter helplessness to obtain true happiness and fulfill his own destiny in this life (Ecclesiastes 2:12-26), and acknowledging the reality of divine providence over all of mankind and creation (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8), the preachers asks the most basic question regarding his life on earth, “What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth?” In other words, what is my purpose and destiny? How can I find true happiness and satisfaction and contentment and utter fulfillment? Ecclesiastes 3:10 I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it. Ecclesiastes 3:10 — Comments - Ecclesiastes 3:10 tells us that mankind was subjected to sorrow and travail in order to humble him. This subjection took place at the time of the Fall in the Garden of Eden. In contrast to God’s curse upon the serpent, God sought to lead Adam and Eve into repentance and redemption. Thus, God did not curse them, but instead, subjected them unto vanity. The reason God subjected them to vanity was for their own well-being. For in their daily pain and travail, they would look to their Creator for hope and future redemption. Man’s original role in taking dominion over the earth was to tend the Garden. The woman’s role in taking dominion over the earth was not in tilling the soil, but in bearing children. We then see how man was working the land while woman was tending to children. This was God’s original divine order and plan for mankind to prosper and fulfill their destinies. This is reflected in the way in which God judged Adam and Eve in the Fall. The woman had her pain and sorrow increased in the area of childbearing while the man had his sorrow and pain increased in tilling the earth.
God added travail and sorrow to each of their earthly journeys so that they would learn to turn to Him for their daily peace and rest. Such daily travail brings humility, and humility leads us back to God. In fact, Ecclesiastes 3:10 tells us, “I have seen the travail that God hath given to the sons of man to be humbled by it.” Ecclesiastes 3:11 He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end. Ecclesiastes 3:11 — “He hath made every thing beautiful in his time” – Comments - Ecclesiastes 3:11 teaches us that there is a beauty to be found within each of the seasons in our lives listed in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8; because each one will teach us a new lesson that we cannot learn from an earlier season of life. Even what may seem bad, such as war and destruction, has its beautiful purpose in this world. For example, in the Story of Creation God says that everything was good. But as we look around us we see so many things that are bad and evil. But if we step back and look at creation from God’s perspective, that is, from eternity past to eternity future, we will realize that the season that we are living in was placed upon mankind in order to produce something good. Ecclesiastes 3:11 — “also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end” – Comments - We can see Ecclesiastes 3:11 reflected in the work of NASA, the U.S. space agency whose job is to explore space, God’s creation. The more they learn, the more vast and enormous space and learning becomes. Ecclesiastes 3:11 — Comments - Ecclesiastes 3:11 says that God has placed eternity in our hearts. He did this by subjecting us to the pattern of seasons that He has subjected eternity to. These seasons in our life are listed in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8. God has put a desire within our hearts to discover and find out all knowledge, yet in our short, mortal lifespan, no man can live long enough to discover everything. We have been made to labour and travail in this life as a way of humbling us (Ecclesiastes 3:10). If a man were a king and all others served him, so that he had not travail to humble him, then his heart would be lifted up. Therefore, God has designed this life with the travail of labour, and in this labour we strive to find out all things of this world, which we cannot do in this short life. Ecclesiastes 3:12 I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life. Ecclesiastes 3:12 — Comments - In Ecclesiastes 3:12 the Preacher answers his own question from Ecclesiastes 3:9, “What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth?” He decides that the only way to fulfill his purpose and destiny, and find true happiness and satisfaction and contentment and utter fulfillment in this life is to use each day as an opportunity to do good, which means to serve one another. He will find true joy and happiness in simply helping others. Since we cannot discover everything and fulfill every aspect of this mortal life (Ecclesiastes 3:12), we should realize that God has given us something each day to accomplish, something good to do to help others as a way of obeying His commandments. We are to rejoice in each day’s divine blessings. Ecclesiastes 3:13 And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God. Ecclesiastes 3:12 — Comments - Besides doing good in this life (Ecclesiastes 3:11), the Preacher also realizes that in order to find true happiness and contentment, he must be thankful for each day. He should be content and rejoice in the things he possesses, for these are the things that God has given to him (Ecclesiastes 3:12). Ecclesiastes 3:14 I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him. Ecclesiastes 3:14 — Comments - In our decision to rejoice in each day’s labours and to do good, we begin to realize that God is orchestrating each day, so that we cannot change what He has designed for us. It would be vain and futile for us to labour to design the outcome of each day. God has designed it this way so that we may acknowledge Him and look to Him and fear Him as we seek direction in each day’s journey. We must realize that we cannot begin the day and determine its outcome at the end of the day. Ecclesiastes 3:15 That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past. Ecclesiastes 3:15 — Comments - Ecclesiastes 3:15 seems to serve as a summary of the entire passage of Ecc 3:1-15. Thus, the Preacher is reflecting upon God’s divine intervention in the affairs of mankind by noting how the past, present, and future of His plan of redemption involve the repetition of events; or, in simple terms, is overseeing all matters of life.
Ecclesiastes 3:16-6
Justification: The Depravity of Mankind – The Preacher has concluded that this world has been subjected to vanity (Ecclesiastes 1:1 to Ecclesiastes 2:26); yet, God has a purpose for mankind, which can be called a plan of redemption (Ecclesiastes 3:1-15). He now seeks out God’s plan of justification for mankind in the midst of a depraved humanity, but first he must build a case for man’s need of redemption. Thus, in Ecclesiastes 3:16-22 he makes the conclusion that mankind is depraved. In Ecclesiastes 4:1 to Ecclesiastes 6:12 the Preacher uses illustrations from life and from creation to support his theme that all is vanity. In this section he discusses the overall condition of mankind in his fallen state of depravity and his need for redemption. Outline – Here is a proposed outline:
- The Preacher Concludes Man’s Depravity — Ecclesiastes 3:16-222. The Preacher Explains His Conclusion — Ecclesiastes 4:1 to Ecclesiastes 6:12