Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ecclesiastes 3:1
To every [thing there is] a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
1. To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose ] The two Hebrew nouns stand to each other in much the same relation as the Greek and , the former expressing a period of duration, the latter the appointed time at which an event happens. Accepting this view, the words “season” and “time” in the A. V. ought, perhaps, to change places. The thought is one of which we find an echo in the maxim of Pittacus, “Know the right season for everything” (Diog. Laert. i. 4, 6). It is significant, in connexion with the conclusion maintained in the Introduction, Ch. iii., that Demetrius Phalereus, the librarian of Ptolemy Philadelphus, wrote a treatise, , of opportuneness (Diog. Laert. Ecc 3:5 9). So Theognis, (402), , , “Do nothing in excess, In all we do is the right season precious.” So here the thought with which the new section opens is that it is wisdom to do the right thing at the right time, that inopportuneness is the bane of life. The survey of human occupations and interests that follows has a striking parallel in the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius (iv. 32), who, from his Stoic standpoint, sees in their perpetual recurrence, evidence of the monotonous iteration of the phenomena of man’s life, analogous to that of the phenomena of Nature.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Everything – More particularly, the actions of people (e. g. his own, Ecc 2:1-8) and events which happen to people, the world of Providence rather than the world of creation. It would seem that most of his own works described in Ecc 2:1-8 were present to his mind. The rare word translated season means emphatically fitting time (compare Neh 2:6; Est 9:27, Est 9:31).
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Ecc 3:1-8
To everything there is a season.
Times and seasons in the Church
The principle which Solomon asserts, and which is of extreme importance in all matters connected with our practical life in this world, is also of equal importance in religious matters. It is true of religion as of all other things, that in it too there is a time for all things, a time to be merry and a time to be sad; and moreover that true wisdom consists in regulating these times, not in leaving them to take their chance (so to speak), but in fixing seasons and periods as aids to the various religious feelings. Let me then bring under your notice a few points illustrative of the method which the Church adopts, a method which is the carrying into religion the principle of the text, cutting out our time, allotting to each portion its proper work, and so economizing the whole and guarding against waste and misuse. The first instance I shall take will be that of our observance of the Sunday. I ask myself–why is this day set apart as it is? and looking upon it not merely as a day of animal rest, but as a day of religious service, the reply is ready, that although men ought to serve God every day, yet they are more likely to remember their duty if a special day be set apart for the purpose; the Sunday, in fact, is a great practical call to worship God; the most thoughtless person cannot fail to have the duty of worship brought before him; no man can by possibility live in this country, and not know that prayer and praise are a duty; few men can have failed to have heard of Christs Sacraments, however much they may have neglected them. The great truth also of the resurrection of the Lord, the great truth upon which all our own hopes of a resurrection depend, how completely and powerfully is that preached by this same institution! for Sunday is emphatically the feast of Christs Resurrection. It is in strict accordance with this principle that the Church has attached a peculiar solemnity to the Friday. As Easter Day throws a light of joy upon all the Sundays in the year, so is it deemed right that the awful event of Good Friday should throw a shade of sadness upon all other Fridays; accordingly you will find the Friday marked in the Prayer-book as a day of fasting and abstinence. Is this a vain rule, a relic of Popery, a remnant of the Dark Ages? I think that sober, thoughtful Christians will not say so; for indeed there is nothing which will tend so much to Christianize the mind, if I may so speak, as to meditate upon the Passion of the Lord Christ. On the same principle we have certain days set apart for the commemoration of saints. The first founders of the kingdom of Christ, those to whose zeal and faithfulness we owe the preservation of the precious deposit of faith, are men to be kept ever in our minds as the great champions of Gods noble army, whose faith we may well follow. It may be said that every Christian will have a grateful sense of the debt he owes to the apostles and martyrs of Christ; yea, but the question is whether the debt will not be discharged more punctually and more completely, if the work be arranged upon system, if a day be set apart for consideration of the character and works of this apostle, and another for that; in fact, if a person throws himself into the Church system and follows her mode of commemorating the saints, is it not to be expected that he will take a more complete view of the various characters and excellences of the apostles, than a man who acknowledged their excellence in general, but does not thus study them in detail? Take the Ember weeks as another example of the same principle. It is desirable that Gods blessing should be invoked by the Church at large upon those who are ordained to the ministry, and upon whose faith and pure conversation so much of the prosperity of the Church depends; how can this great end be best secured? by appointing to the work its proper time. Once more, take the round of great festivals, which, beginning with Advent, terminate in Trinity Sunday. You cannot have failed to observe the manner in which the round of feasts brings before us all the great Christian doctrines; how the Church, preparing at first for the advent of Christ, exhibits Him to us as a babe in swaddling-clothes, then carries us up to His betrayal and death, His burial, His rising again, His ascension into heaven, the coming of the Holy Ghost, and then exhibits to us the full mystery of Godhead, the incomprehensible Three Persons in One God. Lastly, I will take as an example of the Church system the season of Lent. Its meaning may be briefly stated thus, it is the season of penitence. Season of penitence? a person may say, ought not all seasons to be seasons of penitence? Truly; but as there is a time for all things, so has penitence its special time; and the Church requires of us that for forty days before the Passion of Christ, we should meditate upon and grieve over the sins which caused His death. I think I need not say much to convince you of the wisdom of this appointment; if you were perfect, like the angels, you would not require such a season; there is no change of season in heaven, because the blessed spirits around Gods throne have but one occupation, and that is to sing His praise; but in like manner there is no night there, because, being freed from the burden of the flesh, there is to them no weariness; and just as in this world night is necessary for us, which has no existence in heaven, so on earth we may find help to our souls from those aids to our infirmity, which the Church on earth requires, but which the Church triumphant knows not. (Bp. Harvey Goodwin.)
The realities of life
(with Ecc 3:10):–There are many falsehoods written over the ashes of the dead; but none more flagrant and profane than that inscribed on the monument erected in Westminster Abbey, by the Duke and Duchess of Queensberry, to the memory of the poet Gay. It was written by Gay himself, and reads thus–
Life is a jest, and all things show it;
I thought so once, but now I know it.
What a miserable estimate of the grand existence of man on earth! What a gross misrepresentation of the lessons taught by Gods works and ways! What a libel on the momentous revelations of the future world! What a noble answer to Gays wretched falsehood Longfellow supplies in his Psalm of Life! How many souls have been stirred to action by its trumpet-call! How many true and brave lives have been lived in response to its appeal!
I. The realities of life surround us all. There are the realities of your calling; the duties connected with it, which you feel must be discharged in the most efficient manner possible; the responsibilities attaching to it, which perhaps in several ways are heavy; the temptations to swerve from the line of rectitude, and practise that which is mean and sinful; the worry and anxiety arising out of the keenness of competition, the sharp dealing and fraud of your fellow-men, and the uncertainties of all secular life. We are not to be slothful in our secular pursuits; if we are, we may as well give them up altogether; yet, at the same time, we should see that we have them all in subordination to our spiritual interests, and the life to come. Often the realities of life thicken around men while they are destitute of all preparation. They have failed to exercise forethought-neglected to make provision for the future. All previous periods of life have seen them unfaithful to themselves, to their opportunities, to their calling. You can never redeem what you have lost; but you may avoid losing more. It is of no use bemoaning the past. Let the dead past bury its dead! At once embrace the opportunities of the living present. Forget the things which are behind, and reach towards the things which are before.
II. Hearken to the word of counsel, as to the way is which you should meet the realities of life and turn them to good account. Cultivate earnestness of character. History furnishes us with some rare instances of earnest purpose and endeavour–vigorous grappling with the realities of life, that should inspire us with enthusiasm. I am doing a great work, said Nehemiah, while rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, so that I cannot come down. This one thing I do, exclaims the Apostle Paul. Minutius Aldus, a famous printer at Venice in the sixteenth century, had this significant inscription placed over the door of his office–Whoever thou art, Aldus entreats thee again and again, if thou hast business with him, to conclude it briefly, and hasten thy departure: unless, like Hercules to the weary Atlas, thou come to put thy shoulder to the work, then will there ever he sufficient occupation for thee and all others who may come. In the diary of Dr. Chalmers, under the date of March 12th, 1812, there occurs this entry–I am reading the life of Dr. Doddridge, and am greatly struck with the quantity of business which he put through his hands. O God, impress upon me the value of time, and give regulation to all my thoughts and to all my movements. May I be strong in faith, instant in prayer, high in my sense of duty, and vigorous in the occupation of it! When I detect myself in unprofitable reverie, let me make an instant transition from dreaming to doing. I think it was Sir James Mackintosh who said that whenever he died, he should die with a host of unaccomplished purposes and unfinished plans in his brain. So every earnest man will leave behind him many a half-finished, and even many an unattempted work. Nevertheless, with a true and earnest heart we may complete some things–we may weave the threads of life into a fabric of varied use and beauty–and, like David of old, serve our generation by the will of God before we fall on sleep, and are laid among our fathers. Once more, nothing will so help you to deal with the realities of life as true religion. Do you possess it, and are you living under its influence? (W. Walters.)
The fall of the leaf
At no period of the year are the sunsets so varied and beautiful as in autumn. The many-coloured woods of the years eventide correspond to the many-coloured clouds of the sunset sky; and as the heavens burst into their brightest hues, and exhibit their loveliest transfigurations when the daylight is fading into the gloom of night, so the year unfolds its richest tints and its fairest charms when it is about to sink into the darkness and desolation of winter. The beauty of the autumnal tints is commonly supposed to be confined to the fading foliage of the trees. This is indeed the most obvious feature of the season–that which appeals to every eye, and reads its lesson to every heart. But nature here, as everywhere else, loves to reproduce in her smallest things the peculiarities of her greatest. It was a beautiful myth, created by the glowing imagination of the Greek poets, that the great god Pan, the impersonation of nature, wedded the nymph Echo; so that every note which he blew from his pipe of reeds awakened a harmonious response in her tender bosom. Most truly does this bright fancy represent the real design of nature, according to which we hear on every hand some curious reverberation of some familiar sound, and see all things delighting to wear each others robes. The fading frees pipe their many-coloured music aloft on the calm blue October air–for the chromatic scale is the harmonious counterpart of the musical–and the lowly plants that grow beneath their shadow dance to the music. The weeds by the wayside are gifted with a beauty in the decline of life equal to that of the proudest oaks and beeches. Each season partakes to some extent of the characteristics of all the other seasons, and shares in all the varied beauties of the year. Thus we find an autumn in each spring in the death of the primroses and lilies, and a harvest in each summer in the ripe hay-fields; and every one has noticed that the sky of September possesses much of the fickleness of spring in the rapid change of its clouds and the variableness of its weather. Very strikingly is this mutual repetition by the seasons of each others characteristic features seen in the resemblance between the tints of the woods in spring and in autumn. The first leaves of the oak expand from the bud in a pale tender crimson; the young leaves of the maple tree, and all the leaves that appear on a maple stump, are of a remarkable copper colour; the immature foliage of the hazel and alder is marked by a dark purple tinge, singularly rich and velvety-looking. Not more varied is the tinting of the autumnal woods than that of the spring woods. And it may be remarked that the colour into which any tree fades in autumn is the same as it wears when it bursts the cerements of spring, and unfolds to the sunny air. Its birth is a prophecy of its death, and its death of its birth. Natures cradles have not more of beginning in them than of ending; and natures graves have not more of ending in them than of beginning. No one can take a walk in the melancholy woodland in the calm October days without being deeply impressed by the thought of the great waste of beauty and creative skill seen in the faded leaves which rustle beneath his feet. Take up and examine one of these leaves attentively, and you are astonished at, the wealth of ingenuity displayed in it. It is a miracle of design, elaborately formed and richly coloured–in reality more precious than any jewel; and yet it is dropped off the bough as if it had no value, and rots away unheeded in the depths of the forest. Myriads of similar gems are heaped beneath the leafless trees, to moulder away in the rains of November. It saddens us to think of this continual lavish production and careless discarding of forms of beauty and wonder, which we see everywhere throughout nature. Could not the foliage be so contrived as to remain permanently on the trees, and only suffer such a periodical change as the evergreen ivy undergoes? Must the web of natures fairest embroidery be taken down every year, and every year woven back again to its old completeness and beauty? Is nature waiting for some great compensation, as Penelope of old waited for her absent husband, when she unravelled each evening the work of each day, and thus deluded her eager lovers with vain promises? Yes! she weaves and unweaves her web of loveliness each season–not in order to mock us with delusive hopes, but to wean us from all false loves, and teach us to wait and prepare for the true love of our souls, which is found, not in the passing things of earth, but in the abiding realities of heaven. This is the secret of all her lavish wastefulness. For this she perpetually sacrifices and perpetually renews her beauty; for this she counts all her most precious things but as dross. By the pathos of her autumn loveliness she is appealing to all that is deepest and truest in our spiritual nature; and through her fading flowers and her withering grass, and all her fleeting glories, she is speaking to us words of eternal life, whereby our souls may be enriched and beautified for ever. (H. Macmillan, D. D.)
The clock of destiny
Destiny! What a word! Orthographically it is composed of seven parts, as if, in the use of the sacred number, seven, it was intended, by its very structure, to express, to all ages, its profound significance–viz, sufficiency, fulness, completion, perfection! Such, indeed, is the sweeping import of the word destiny. It means a state of things that is complete, perfect. It signifies that this world–with its empires that rise and fall–its marvellous incidents that are enacted by human wisdom, courage, strife and ambition–its generations that are born, that live and die–its joys and sorrows–its shifting seasons and rolling years: this earth, as it now exists, is under a management that is sufficient, perfect!–a management of which it can be said: A sparrow cannot fall to the ground without notice–that is, without permission and purpose! Destiny has a Clock–a huge timepiece which measures off the events in this fixed order of things. On its dial-plate is inscribed this world-wide truth: To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heaven. By what Hand is this Clock of Destiny wound up and managed in all its complicated machinery? In other words: What is the superintending power of this fixed order of things? One answer says: Fatalism makes the pendulum oscillate, fitting cog to cog and wheel to wheel, controlling all the movements of the dial-gnomon. God is here given the go-by, while absolute necessity and fixed, cold, unconscious law are delegated with all power. Fatalism annihilates intelligence and free-will in the worlds government. It declares that Everything from a star to a thought; from the growth of a tree to a spasm of sorrow; from the coronation of a king to the falling of a sparrow is connected with and under the positive control of molecular force. In short, destinys timepiece is wound up and kept in running order by a hand tuner divine! The third chapter of Ecclesiastes was written in the interest of the Divine Hand managing the Clock of Destiny–in other words, to teach the glorious doctrine of special providence. O ye priests of science falsely so called, ye prophets of the Unknowable, ye wise men who make law supreme and deify force–let the Hebrew sage teach you a better creed! Yea, ye, doubters, ye of unbelief, as to the doctrine of special providence in things great and small–listen to this: God doeth! not fate. His acts shall be for ever, not of short duration but of eternal import. He is independent of all contingency–the wicked cannot frustrate the Almightys purposes: Nothing can be put to it and nothing can be taken from it. His government is for mans highest good–by each swing of the pendulum the Divine Father would move the race nearer to Himself: And God doeth it that they should fear before Him. He is never surprised–nothing is new to Him, nothing old. He acts in the eternal Now. All things–past, present, future–are ever under His all-seeing eye: That which hath been is now, and that which is to be hath already been. It is, however, impossible for us now to understand all about the management of this huge timepiece, which measures off the events great and small, in the fixed course of things. So says the author of my text in verse 11: No man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end. But this shortsightedness, on our part, is no reason why we should question the wisdom of what is being done, or, in any way, withhold our confidence and love from God as a Father–who is ever doing for us exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think. And, now, in view of the fact that the Lord reigneth–that the Clock of Destiny is Gods machine, ever running in the interest of mans highest good–what should be our daily conduct and highest ambition? Let this third chapter of Ecclesiastes give us, in closing, an exhortation, as it has already imparted to us profound instruction. In verse 12 let us read that it is our mission here to do good–in verse 13, to enjoy the good of all our labour, seeing that this is the gift of God–in verses 16, 17, not to fret ourselves because of evil-doers, for God shall judge the righteous and the wicked–in verses 18-21, not to be disheartened or over-mournful because of death, for though that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts–all coming from and going to the same place–dust: yet there is a spirit in man that goeth upwards. He is immortal, and hence can say: O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? Finally, verses 22, Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in all his works. Do good and rejoice in that good–this is mans duty! Scatter sunbeams to expel darkness–build up blazing fires to warm and cheer the cold, weary and worn! Be kind–be charitable–save your neighbour from tears, groans, heartaches! Swell the refrain of merry Christmas carols! Ring out the bells of New Year greeting! Rejoice ever-morel (A. H. Moment, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
CHAPTER III
Every thing has its time and season, 1-8.
Men are exercised with labour, 9, 10.
Every thing is beautiful in its season, 11.
Men should enjoy thankfully the gifts of God, 12, 13.
What God does is for ever, 14.
There is nothing new, 15.
The corruption of judgment; but the judgments of God are right,
16, 17.
Man is brutish, and men and brutes die in like manner, 18-21.
Man may enjoy the fruit of his own labours, 22.
NOTES ON CHAP. III
Verse 1. To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose] Two general remarks may be made on the first eight verses of this chapter.
1. God by his providence governs the world, and has determined particular things and operations to particular times. In those times such things may be done with propriety and success; but if we neglect the appointed seasons, we sin against this providence, and become the authors of our own distresses.
2. God has given to man that portion of duration called TIME; the space in which all the operations of nature, of animals, and intellectual beings, are carried on; but while nature is steady in its course, and animals faithful to their instincts, man devotes it to a great variety of purposes; but very frequently to that for which God never made time, space, or opportunity. And all we can say, when an evil deed is done, is, there was a time in which it was done, though God never made it for that purpose.
To say any farther on this subject is needless, as the words themselves give in general their own meaning. The Jews, it is true, see in these times and seasons all the events of their own nation, from the birth of Abraham to the present times; and as to fathers and their followers, they see all the events and states of the Christian Church in them!
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. The following paraphrase will explain all that is necessary to be generally understood:-
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
A season; a certain thee appointed by God for its being and continuance, which no human wit or providence can prevent or alter. And by virtue of this appointment or decree of God, all the vicissitudes and changes which happen in the world, whether comforts or calamities, do come to pass; which is here added, partly, to prove what he last said, Ecc 2:24,26, that both the free and comfortable enjoyment of the creatures which some have, and the crosses and vexations which others have with them, are from the hand and counsel of God; partly, to prove the principal proposition of the book, that all things below are vain, and happiness is not to be found in them, because of their great uncertainty, and mutability, and transitoriness, and because they are so much out of the reach and power of men, and wholly in the disposal of another, to wit, God, who doth either give or take them away, either sweeten or embitter them, as it pleaseth him; and partly, to bring the minds of men into a quiet and cheerful dependence upon Gods providence, and submission to his will, and a state of preparation for all events.
To every purpose, or will, or desire, to wit, of man; to all mens designs. attempts, and businesses. Not only natural, but even the free and voluntary actions of men, are ordered and disposed by God to accomplish his own purpose. But it must be considered, that he doth not here speak of a thee allowed by God, wherein all the following things may lawfully be done, which is wholly besides his scope and business; but only of a thee fixed by God, in which they would or should be done.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
1. Man has his appointed cycleof seasons and vicissitudes, as the sun, wind, and water (Ec1:5-7).
purposeas there is afixed “season” in God’s “purposes” (for example,He has fixed the “time” when man is “to be born,”and “to die,” Ec 3:2),so there is a lawful “time” for man to carry out his”purposes” and inclinations. God does not condemn, butapproves of, the use of earthly blessings (Ec3:12); it is the abuse that He condemns, the making themthe chief end (1Co 7:31). Theearth, without human desires, love, taste, joy, sorrow, would be adreary waste, without water; but, on the other hand, the misplacingand excess of them, as of a flood, need control. Reason andrevelation are given to control them.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
To every [thing there is] a season,…. A set determined time, when everything shall come into being, how long it shall continue, and in what circumstances; all things that have been, are, or shall be, were foreordained by God, and he has determined the times before appointed for their being, duration, and end; which times and seasons he has in his own power: there was a determined time for the whole universe, and for all persons and things in it; a settled fixed moment for the world to come into being; for it did not exist from everlasting, nor of itself, nor was formed by the fortuitous concourse of atoms, but by the wisdom and power of God; nor could it exist sooner or later than it did; it appeared when it was the will of God it should; in the beginning he created it, and he has fixed the time of its duration and end; for it shall not continue always, but have an end, which when it will be, he only knows: so there is a determined time for the rise, height, and declension of states and kingdoms in it; as of lesser ones, so of the four great monarchies; and for all the distinct periods and ages of the world; and for each of the seasons of the year throughout all ages; for the state of the church in it, whether in suffering or flourishing circumstances; for the treading down of the holy city; for the prophesying, slaying, and rising of the witnesses; for the reign and ruin of antichrist; for the reign of Christ on earth, and for his second coming to judgment, though of that day and hour knows no man: and as there is a set time in the counsels and providence of God for these more important events, so for every thing of a lesser nature;
and a time to every purpose under the heaven; to every purpose of man that is carried into execution; for some are not, they are superseded by the counsel of God; some obstruction or another is thrown in the way of them, so that they cannot take place; God withdraws men from them by affliction or death, when their purposes are broken; or by some other way; and what are executed he appoints a time for them, and overrules them to answer some ends of his own; for things the most contingent, free, and voluntary, fall under the direction and providence of God. And there is a time for every purpose of his own; all things done in the world are according to his purposes, which are within himself wisely formed, and are eternal and unfrustrable; and there is a time fixed for the execution of them, for every purpose respecting all natural and civil things in providence; and for every purpose of his grace, relating to the redemption of his people, the effectual calling of them, and the bringing them to eternal glory; which are the things that God wills, that he takes delight and pleasure in, as the word e signifies. The Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions render it, “to everything under the heaven there is a time”; and Jarchi observes that in the Misnic language the word used so signifies. The Targum is,
“to every man a time shall come, and a season to every business under heaven.”
e “omni voluntati”, Montanus, Mercerus, Cocceius; i.e. “rei proprie capitae ac desideratae”, Drusius
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
“Everything has its time, and every purpose under the heavens its hour.” The Germ. language is poor in synonyms of time. Zckler translates: Everything has its Frist …, but by Frist we think only of a fixed term of duration, not of a period of beginning, which, though not exclusively, is yet here primarily meant; we have therefore adopted Luther’s excellent translation. Certainly (from , cogn. , signare), belonging to the more modern Heb., means a Frist ( e.g., Dan 2:16) as well as a Zeitpunkt , point of time; in the Semit. (also Assyr. simmu , simanu , with ) it is the most common designation of the idea of time. is abbreviated either from ( , to determine) or from (from , cogn. , to go towards, to meet). In the first case it stands connected with on the one side, and with (from , to count) on the other; in the latter case, with , Exo 21:10 (perhaps also and in , ). It is difficult to decide this point; proportionally more, however, can be said for the original (Palest.-Aram. ), as also the prep. of participation is derived from (meeting, coming together).
(Note: Vid., Orelli’s work on the Heb. Synon. der Zeit u. Ewigkeit, 1871. He decides for the derivation from morf ; Fleischer (Levy’s Chald. W.B. II. 572) for the derivation from , the higher power of , whence (Arab.) inan , right time. We have, under Job 24:1, maintained the former derivation.)
The author means to say, if we have regard to the root signification of the second conception of time – (1) that everything has its fore-determined time, in which there lies both a determined point of time when it happens, and a determined period of time during which it shall continue; and (2) that every matter has a time appointed for it, or one appropriate, suitable for it. The Greeks were guided by the right feeling when they rendered by , and by .
Olympiodorus distinguishes too sharply when he understands the former of duration of time, and the latter of a point of time; while the state of the matter is this, that by the idea comprehends the termini a quo and ad quem , while by it is limited to the terminus a quo . Regarding , which proceeds from the ground-idea of being inclined to, and intention, and thus, like and , to the general signification of design, undertaking, res gesta, res .
The illustration commences with the beginning and the ending of the life of man and (in near-lying connection of thought) of plants.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| Mutability of Human Affairs. | |
1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: 2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which 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 together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; 6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; 7 A time to rend, 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. 9 What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth? 10 I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it.
The scope of these verses is to show, 1. That we live in a world of changes, that the several events of time, and conditions of human life, are vastly different from one another, and yet occur promiscuously, and we are continually passing and repassing between them, as in the revolutions of every day and every year. In the wheel of nature (Jam. iii. 6) sometimes one spoke is uppermost and by and by the contrary; there is a constant ebbing and flowing, waxing and waning; from one extreme to the other does the fashion of this world change, ever did, and ever will. 2. That every change concerning us, with the time and season of it, is unalterably fixed and determined by a supreme power; and we must take things as they come, for it is not in our power to change what is appointed for us. And this comes in here as a reason why, when we are in prosperity, we should by easy, and yet not secure–not to be secure because we live in a world of changes and therefore have no reason to say, To-morrow shall be as this day (the lowest valleys join to the highest mountains), and yet to be easy, and, as he had advised (ch. ii. 24), to enjoy the good of our labour, in a humble dependence upon God and his providence, neither lifted up with hopes, nor cast down with fears, but with evenness of mind expecting every event. Here we have,
I. A general proposition laid down: To every thing there is a season, v. 1. 1. Those things which seem most contrary the one to the other will, in the revolution of affairs, each take their turn and come into play. The day will give place to the night and the night again to the day. Is it summer? It will be winter. Is it winter? Stay a while, and it will be summer. Every purpose has its time. The clearest sky will be clouded, Post gaudia luctus–Joy succeeds sorrow; and the most clouded sky will clear up, Post nubila Phoebus–The sun will burst from behind the cloud. 2. Those things which to us seem most casual and contingent are, in the counsel and foreknowledge of God, punctually determined, and the very hour of them is fixed, and can neither be anticipated nor adjourned a moment.
II. The proof and illustration of it by the induction of particulars, twenty-eight in number, according to the days of the moon’s revolution, which is always increasing or decreasing between its full and change. Some of these changes are purely the act of God, others depend more upon the will of man, but all are determined by the divine counsel. Every thing under heaven is thus changeable, but in heaven there is an unchangeable state, and an unchangeable counsel concerning these things. 1. There is a time to be born and a time to die. These are determined by the divine counsel; and, as we were born, so we must die, at the time appointed, Acts xvii. 26. Some observe that here is a time to be born and a time to die, but no time to live; that is so short that it is not worth mentioning; as soon as we are born we begin to die. But, as there is a time to be born and a time to die, so there will be a time to rise again, a set time when those that lie in the grave shall be remembered, Job xiv. 13. 2. A time for God to plant a nation, as that of Israel in Canaan, and, in order to that, to pluck up the seven nations that were planted there, to make room for them; and at length there was a time when God spoke concerning Israel too, to pluck up and to destroy, when the measure of their iniquity was full, Jer 18:7; Jer 18:9. There is a time for men to plant, a time of the year, a time of their lives; but, when that which was planted has grown fruitless and useless, it is time to pluck it up. 3. A time to kill, when the judgments of God are abroad in a land and lay all waste; but, when he returns in ways of mercy, then is a time to heal what he has torn (Hos 6:1; Hos 6:2), to comfort a people after the time that he has afflicted them, Ps. xc. 15. There is a time when it is the wisdom of rulers to use severe methods, but there is a time when it is as much their wisdom to take a more gentle course, and to apply themselves to lenitives, not corrosives. 4. A time to break down a family, an estate, a kingdom, when it has ripened itself for destruction; but God will find a time, if they return and repent, to rebuild what he has broken down; there is a time, a set time, for the Lord to build up Zion,Psa 102:13; Psa 102:16. There is a time for men to break up house, and break off trade, and so to break down, which those that are busy in building up both must expect and prepare for. 5. A time when God’s providence calls to weep and mourn, and when man’s wisdom and grace will comply with the call, and will weep and mourn, as in times of common calamity and danger, and there it is very absurd to laugh, and dance, and make merry (Isa 22:12; Isa 22:13; Eze 21:10); but then, on the other hand, there is a time when God calls to cheerfulness, a time to laugh and dance, and then he expects we should serve him with joyfulness and gladness of heart. Observe, The time of mourning and weeping is put first, before that of laughter and dancing, for we must first sow in tears and then reap in joy. 6. A time to cast away stones, by breaking down and demolishing fortifications, when God gives peace in the borders, and there is no more occasion for them; but there is a time to gather stones together, for the making of strong-holds, v. 5. A time for old towers to fall, as that in Siloam (Luke xii. 4), and for the temple itself to be so ruined as that not one stone should be left upon another; but also a time for towers and trophies too to be erected, when national affairs prosper. 7. A time to embrace a friend when we find him faithful, but a time to refrain from embracing when we find he is unfair or unfaithful, and that we have cause to suspect him; it is then our prudence to be shy and keep at a distance. It is commonly applied to conjugal embraces, and explained by 1Co 7:3-5; Joe 2:16. 8. A time to get, get money, get preferment, get good bargains and a good interest, when opportunity smiles, a time when a wise man will seek (so the word is); when he is setting out in the world and has a growing family, when he is in his prime, when he prospers and has a run of business, then it is time for him to be busy and make hay when the sun shines. There is a time to get wisdom, and knowledge, and grace, when a man has a price put into his hand; but then let him expect there will come a time to spend, when all he has will be little enough to serve his turn. Nay, there will come a time to lose, when what has been soon got will be soon scattered and cannot be held fast. 9. A time to keep, when we have use for what we have got, and can keep it without running the hazard of a good conscience; but there may come a time to cast away, when love to God may oblige us to cast away what we have, because we must deny Christ and wrong our consciences if we keep it (Mat 10:37; Mat 10:38), and rather to make shipwreck of all than of the faith; nay, when love to ourselves may oblige us to cast it away, when it is for the saving of our lives, as it was when Jonah’s mariners heaved their cargo into the sea. 10. A time to rend the garments, as upon occasion of some great grief, and a time to sew, them again, in token that the grief is over. A time to undo what we have done and a time to do again what we have undone. Jerome applies this to the rending of the Jewish church and the sewing and making up of the gospel church thereupon. 11. A time when it becomes us, and is our wisdom and duty, to keep silence, when it is an evil time (Amos v. 13), when our speaking would be the casting of pearl before swine, or when we are in danger of speaking amiss (Ps. xxxix. 2); but there is also a time to speak for the glory of God and the edification of others, when silence would be the betraying of a righteous cause, and when with the mouth confession is to be made to salvation; and it is a great part of Christian prudence to know when to speak and when to hold our peace. 12. A time to love, and to show ourselves friendly, to be free and cheerful, and it is a pleasant time; but there may come a time to hate, when we shall see cause to break off all familiarity with some that we have been fond of, and to be upon the reserve, as having found reason for a suspicion, which love is loth to admit. 13. A time of war, when God draws the sword for judgment and gives it commission to devour, when men draw the sword for justice and the maintaining of their rights, when there is in the nations a disposition to war; but we may hope for a time of peace, when the sword of the Lord shall be sheathed and he shall make wars to cease (Ps. xlvi. 9), when the end of the war is obtained, and when there is on all sides a disposition to peace. War shall not last always, nor is there any peace to be called lasting on this side the everlasting peace. Thus in all these changes God has set the one over-against the other, that we may rejoice as though we rejoiced not and weep as though we wept not.
III. The inferences drawn from this observation. If our present state be subject to such vicissitude, 1. Then we must not expect our portion in it, for the good things of it are of no certainty, no continuance (v. 9): What profit has he that works? What can a man promise himself from planting and building, when that which he thinks is brought to perfection may so soon, and will so surely, be plucked up and broken down? All our pains and care will not alter either the mutable nature of the things themselves or the immutable counsel of God concerning them. 2. Then we must look upon ourselves as upon our probation in it. There is indeed no profit in that wherein we labour; the thing itself, when we have it, will do us little good; but, if we make a right use of the disposals of Providence about it, there will be profit in that (v. 10): I have seen the travail which God has given to the sons of men, not to make up a happiness by it, but to be exercised in it, to have various graces exercised by the variety of events, to have their dependence upon God tried by every change, and to be trained up to it, and taught both how to want and how to abound, Phil. iv. 12. Note, (1.) There is a great deal of toil and trouble to be seen among the children of men. Labour and sorrow fill the world. (2.) This toil and this trouble are what God has allotted us. He never intended this world for our rest, and therefore never appointed us to take our ease in it. (3.) To many it proves a gift. God gives it to men, as the physician gives a medicine to his patient, to do him good. This travail is given to us to make us weary of the world and desirous of the remaining rest. It is given to us that we may be kept in action, and may always have something to do; for we were none of us sent into the world to be idle. Every change cuts us out some new work, which we should be more solicitous about, than about the event.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
ECCLESIASTES
CHAPTER 3
Ecc 3:1-9
A TIME FOR EVERY PURPOSE OF MAN
Verses 1-8 affirm that there is a season and time for every purpose under heaven. A time which begins and ends according to the will of the all wise and Almighty creator God. Fourteen pairs of opposites in human experience are cited to emphasize how completely the divine will sets an appropriate time for every needed human activity, Ecc 3:17. The disappointing reality is that man under the sun is unmindful of his more important needs and the appropriate time often passes unheeded, 1Sa 15:26; Jer 8:20; Heb 12:17.
Verse 9 expresses Solomon’s awareness that man’s activity under the sun does not satisfy his need and is of little profit.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
THE WOULD-BE RELIGIOUS MAN
Ecc 3:1 to Ecc 4:16.
IN these chapters Solomon discusses the would-be religious man. Just as in the case of The Would-be Wise Man, and The Would-be Happy Man, he presents both the false philosophies current among men and the philosophies that are true. The one thing that he makes clear is the fact that true religion is more than action, on the one side, or negation on the other. Christ Himself, the perfect model in true religion, did not escape the criticisms of men who believed that religion consisted of deeds and donts.
It came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples.
And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto His disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners?
Then came to Him the disciples of John, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast oft, but Thy disciples fast not? (Mat 9:10-11; Mat 9:14).
And Jesus, having overheard what they were saying about Him, said,
John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a devil.
The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners (Mat 11:18-19).
In other words, Jesus did not escape criticism. Flawless as His religion was, it did not suit the men and women who made fast and hard rules for others; and then watched to see who would toe the line.
Solomon had observed sufficiently to know that true religion does not consist in exactitudes; but, rather, in the spirit that animates loyalty, gives rise to love, and eventuates in service. He even goes so far as to defend certain things that are supposed to be indefensible, indicating The Justification of Worldliness, The Vindication of Religion, and The Adjudication of Values.
THE JUSTIFICATION OF WORLDLINESS
Circumstances should often determine conduct.
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace (Ecc 3:1-8).
This all sounds like strange speech. It sounds as if Solomon favored destruction, murder, dancing, war, and other questionable, or evidently wicked acts. But such an interpretation would pervert his intention. What he says is clearly true if intelligently interpreted. There is a time to every purpose under the heaven. There is a time to be born; that is when the period of gestation is complete. There is a time to die; that is when life itself has been lived and the strength of the body and the heart has been exhausted. There is a time to plant; that is in the springtime. And there is a time to pluck up, or gather; that is in the autumn. Yes, there is even a time to kill, and a time to heal. When the pig in the pen or ox in the stall are fully fatted, that is the time to kill for animals. When a man has proven himself an intentional murderer, and thereby has demonstrated that the continuation of his existence renders society unsafe, the State has a perfect right to kill.
But when the good citizen is sick, that is the time to heal.
There is a time to break down; that is when the hedge fence has become a nuisance and ought to be removed, or the house has become old and leaky, and is no longer worthy of patches even; then destroy them and leave the landscape to natures beautification, or employ the place for a new building.
There is a time to weep, and that is when the heart is filled with sorrow. There is a time to laugh; that is when mirth is appropriate.
There is a time to mourn; that is when bereavement has smitten the house. There is a time to dance; that is when every heart is lithe with joy.
It had better be said in passing that the dancing with which Solomon was familiar was not the unjustifiable debauch that belongs to the present day.
There is a time to cast away stones; that is when we are clearing up the field for the plow. There is a time to gather stones together; that is when you want to construct a house of the same.
In other words, circumstances may justly control conduct!
We believe absolutely with Solomon that it is better not to look upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright; in other words, when it is a temptation! But we also agree with Paul, that, for the sick, a little wine for thy stomachs sake is justifiable.
When we hear that certain people have done so and so, one should learn the circumstances before passing criticism. To illustrate how a thing that is not only proper in itself, but eminently desirable, may become absurd, you have only to recall the story of the barber who had found the Lord, and became instantly an enthusiastic soul-winner, and let no man get by without a personal appeal for surrender. One day a stranger appeared in the shop, was comfortably seated in the barbers chair, and when his face was lathered, the barber, with razor in hand, leaned over him and asked, Are you prepared to die? The story goes that they found the man in the next county still running. The thing that Solomon is trying to emphasize is appropriateness. To every thing there is a season.
Through every experience there runs a possible profitable exercise.
What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth?
I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it (Ecc 3:9-10).
People have an idea that they should be kept from travail, preserved against sorrow, insured against hardship. They argue that if God were good He would exempt man from all of these things. The logic is faulty. The argument itself finds no defense in human experience.
Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth.
We have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us * * after their own pleasure; but He for our profit * *.
Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby (Heb 12:6; Heb 12:9-11).
Mark the words exercised thereby. Moses could never have been the man he was without the danger to his infancy in the bulrushes, the travail of spirit he endured at the sight of his suffering kin, and the hardships of the desert life.
Daniel would never have developed as he did had he not been placed on pulse and water, opposed by his envious enemies, flung by his master to the lions.
Joseph would never have been as fit a Premier, had he not passed to his prominence by the path of opposition, the experiences of the pit, and even the dankness of the prison dungeon.
Paul could hardly have been the Apostle of the centuries without the opposition, hardship, flogging, and imprisonment, through which he walked to his immortal diploma.
It is not essentially different today. John Bunyan might never have seen the illumined path to the Celestial City had he not been in Bedford jail and denied all physical vision. Huber might never have attained the honors connected with his name as a scientist had he not been smitten with blindness, and Alexander Stevens was made an invalid first and an orator afterward. Strange as it seems, Beethoven conceived his glorious symphonies while suffering deafness, and Phillips Brooks became the torrential orator because he had to talk fast to defeat his own stuttering. Hardships, suffering, travail of spirit may not be absolutely essential to human success, but, that they are exercises by which God has profited man a thousand times, none can dispute. That, we believe to be the meaning of this text, I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it. He hath made every thing beautiful in his time. The field that is being torn by the plow, if it were sentient, would complain that its very face was being battered to pieces; and when the harrow was put over the same, its complaint might be deeper still, namely, that a thousand scratches were being put upon the same face, and that without occasion. But the plow-man knows the share and harrow are essential for the beauty and fruitfulness of the coming summer.
There is human comfort in the sense of Divine control.
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 (Ecc 3:14).
Therein is unspeakable comfort. No man who doubts the Divine control can be a happy man. Robert Browning, believer that he was, could, under the most adverse circumstances, declare
Gods in His Heaven,
and believe that
Alls right with the world.
But Schopenhauer, failing to see God in anything, refusing to admit His intervention at any point, regarded life a regrettable tragedy, declared it to be a misfortune, and death itself to be preferable to human existence.
If thou but suffer God to guide thee,
And hope in Him through all thy ways,
Hell give thee strength whateer betide thee,
And bear thee through the evil days.
Who trusts in Gods unchanging love,
Builds on the Bock that can not move.
What can these anxious cares avail thee,
The never-ceasing moans and sighs?
What can it help if thou bewail thee,
Oer each dark moment as it dies?
Our cross and trials do but press
The heavier for our bitterness.
Only be still and wait His leisure
In cheerful hope, with heart content
To take whateer thy Fathers pleasure
And all-discerning love hath sent;
No doubt our inmost wants are known
To Him who chose us for His own.
Sing, pray, and keep His ways unswerving,
So do thine own part faithfully,
And trust His Word, though undeserving,
Thou yet shalt find it true for thee;
God never yet forsook at need
The soul that trusted Him indeed.
But to our text again. We look and discover
THE VINDICATION OF RELIGION
God is a discerner of right and wrong.
Moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there.
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 (Ecc 3:16-17).
In this statement of Scripture is food for thought a fact in which men must uniformly believe. They may boast themselves to be the apostles of skepticism; they may talk lightly, and even learnedly, of immutable laws, and of man as the climax of Natures endeavor; but there is something within man, doubtless his immortal self, that senses God and recognizes in Him the final Judge as between right and wrong and, consequently, the Arbiter of eternal destinies.
That is how it happens that the most profane man of the day, when in danger, will cease his profanity and voice prayer. That is how it happens that the boastful atheist, when death draws nigh, pales in his presence and evidently fears that judgment may stand just back of lifes last enemy. That is why it took place that the murderer, when the nails of crucifixion were driven into his hands and feet, turned his dying eyes to the Man of Nazareth and begged to be remembered in grace when that Godlike One should come into His Kingdom.
There are plenty of people who imagine they can get on without God, when the heart is stout, when the health is perfect, when the business is prosperous, when the domestic order is peaceful, and when their good name is in no danger. But when have you known a man that could face serious illness in an unshaken skepticism, or certain death, knowing no concern for sin?
Charles Wesley but expressed what even the worst of men are like to feel as they approach the final judgment:
Depths of mercy! can there be
Mercy still reserved for me?
Can my God His wrath forbear,
And the chief of sinners spare?
I have long withstood His grace;
Long provoked Him to His face;
Would not hear His gracious calls;
Grieved Him by a thousand falls.
Jesus, answer from above;
Is not all Thy nature love?
Wilt Thou not the wrong forget?
Lo, I fall before Thy feet.
Now incline me to repent;
Let me now my fall lament;
Deeply my revolt deplore;
Weep, believe, and sin no more.
The sense of God makes manifest the sins of man.
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.
I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.
For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity.
It was when Isaiah saw God high and lifted up that he saw himself a sinful man, a man of unclean lips, dwelling among a people of the same. It was when Peter realized the Divine presence in the person of Jesus that he fell on his face and cried, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man. It was when Paul, on the way to Damascus, beheld the Lord of holiness, that he bit the dust, and blinded by his own tears, extended his hand to those who would lead him out of total darkness into the light of redemption; and it was that former estate to which he referred when he affirmed that he was the chief of sinners.
The beastliness of humanity of which Solomon here writes, becomes evident when men see themselves in the light of Gods face. And it is then, and only then, that grace has her opportunity.
John Newton had followed his feet in forbidden paths and yielded his heart to any and every seduction of evil, but when at last he sensed God, and was saved, he wrote:
Amazing grace! how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found;
Was blind, but now I see.
Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear,
The hour I first believed!
Through many dangers, toils, and snares,
I have already come;
Tis grace that brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me Home.
THE ADJUDICATION OF VALUES
Solomon in the fourth chapter gives serious concern to the oppressions that are done under the sun, to the tears of the oppressed, and is led to four conclusions, which he impresses one after another by the one word better.
He affirms that non-existence is better than sordid life. For when he considers oppression, beholds the tears of the oppressed, and recognizes the fact that they are without comforters, he praises the dead more than the living; but declares, Better is he than both they, which hath not yet been.
To some this would seem adeclaration that it werebetter never to have been born than to have lived. But such is not the declaration of Scripture. It isbetter not to have been born than to have been born to oppression, tears and lack of comforters; and still better yet not to have been born to oppress ones fellows. But neither oppression nor the oppressor are essentials of life. It can be lived in freedom, and also in integrity, and yet, so lived it is as much beyond and better than being dead as a living tree is better than a dead one; and a living dog is better than a dead lion.
James Thompson, the poet, must certainly have looked at life from the low standpoint of mortality, and have seen much of what Solomon here depicts, or else he could never have voiced himself in the despair of this verse:
Weary of erring in this desert life,
Weary of hoping hopes forever vain,
Weary of struggling in all sterile strife,
Weary of thought that makes nothing plain,
I calm my eyes and calm my panting breath,
And pray to Thee, oh, ever quiet Death,
To come and soothe away my bitter pain.
One of three words accounts for such a philosophy of lifesin, skepticism or stupidity.
The stupid see little in life! Only this week I have read a letter. The writer was ignorant as indicated alike by his faulty spelling, his false reasoning, and his fanatical conclusions. To him society was all wrong; civilization was a mistake, and Christianity was a pretense. The prison-house was his enforced habitat. There are thousands of men behind bars who are more stupid than wicked, and the mighty majority of them see nothing in life; that accounts for the fact that they hold it so cheaply, that they put it in peril so constantly, and that they prefer the thrill of robbery to the slower method of making money by honest labor. The majority of these men doubt God, deny the authority of Scripture, and deride the professions of Christianity as mere pretenses. They believe that one had better never been born. Such is the conclusion of stupidity!
Skepticism lifts its subjects to little higher level. Professor Clifford believed that the great companion was dead. Harriet Martineau insisted that everlasting winter had set in. Herbert Spencer doubted if any deeds were worthy of the endeavor. George Burman Foster admitted that he was seeking to save his soul from freezing as he strove vainly to cling to the sunnier side of doubt. Mills feared that the universe had gotten away from God, while Hume, Paine and Voltaire, and our own Bob Ingersoll looked upon life as an insoluble enigma, and existence as a regrettable event.
But, the depths and dregs of despair are left to men who live consciously and constantly in sin. Such is the power of sin to produce despair that no conceivable human talent will lift its subject above the experience of the same. Think of Bobby Burns as an illustration of what I am saying. It is affirmed that his genius was so overmastering that the news of Burns arrival at the village not only drew farmers from their fields, but the midnight wakened travelers left their beds to listen delightedly until the morning. Among scholars, statesmen and philosophers, he blazed, one said, like a torch amidst the tapers, showing himself to be wiser than the scholars, wittier than the humorous and kinglier than the courtliest. No less an authority than Walter Scott declares that the most precious memory of life was a look into Burns eyes, dark and tender, the most glorious eyes he had ever seen. But Newell Dwight Hillis declares that the last time that Robert Burns eyes glowed, they blazed with anger against a creditor who had come to drag the dying man from his bed to the prison cell. Possessed by sorrow as with an evil spirit, his dark hair streaked with gray before its time, worn by worries and wasted with fever, embittered by trouble against which he had bravely struggled, but struggled in vain, like Saul, Burns fell upon an untimely death. In spite of our love of Burns, in spite of the beauty of his poetry, in spite of the brilliance of his intellect, we are compelled to confess with grief that it was sins and excesses that sent this favorite child of the intellectual world to the land of despair.
Byron, handsome of feature beyond description, intelligent of face above his fellows, courtly in manners as few men ever become, and talented to the point of a positive immortality, drank and caroused until his friend Shelley declared that a sudden and violent death would be the greatest blessing that could overtake him.
Doubtless each of these men would have joined with Solomon in the speech, It were better never to have been born, and yet the world would not accept their judgment, when in spite of their sins and despair, they gave to life contributions of such high order as to disprove their own pessimistic philosophy, and such also as to illustrate the fact that stupidity, skepticism and sinfulness, while they each and everyone tend to despair, may not, even when combined, produce that sordid thing which is worse than death or non-existence.
Again, Solomon declares contentment better than sordid success.
Better is an handful with quietness, than both the hands full with travail and vexation of spirit (Ecc 4:6).
A week ago I reminded you of the Scotch minister, who on a Christmas Day sought to do some service for his Saviour and Lord, and remembering the poor old lady at the foot of the hill, carried her a basket of provisions. Arriving at the door, he saw her sitting down to the morning meal. It consisted of a crust of bread, and a cup of water, but with bowed head and grateful spirit, she was giving thanks to God for what she had. Who will question that that meal was better than all the wines of the kings table, if the latter be taken in travail and vexation of spirit?
My friend and former classmate, Dr. J. T. M. Johnson, writing of A. D. Brown, the great shoe merchant of St. Louis, quotes Carnegie as having said, Those who have the misfortune to be rich mens sons are heavier weighted in the race. A basketful of bonds is the heaviest basket a young man ever had to carry. Cyrus Fields he quotes as having said, I am dying. My fortune is gone. My money is dishonored. I was so unkind to Edward, when I thought I was being kind to him. If I only had been fortunate enough to compel my boys to earn their living, they would have known the meaning of money. Truly, better is a little with righteousness than great revenues without right.
Solomons third claim is that married life is better than single lonesomeness.
Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour.
For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but Woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up (Ecc 4:9-10).
These are days when marriage is a mooted question; days when many advise against it; days in which there is a proposed substitute for the permanent relation, in the form of a temporary trial called companionate marriage. But God was not mistaken when in the garden of Eden He looked on Adam and said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.
There are exceptions to all rules, but the rule of life is that the worlds monarchs, in practically every vocation and calling, have been not only men bound by the legal tie of marriage but men inspired to the highest and holiest endeavors by the women they had chosen as wives, and in whose continued sympathy and certain affection they had found their inspiration.
The evil times upon which we have fallen speak contemptuously of the marriage relation, and the youth of this generation are honestly debating whether the same is desirable or not. Solomon seeks in this text to answer that question and with the wisdom which characterizes him in all else, he answers it correctly, Two are better than one. In spite of all the exceptions to the rule, the rule itself remains. In spite of all the stupidity of selection, in spite of all the inharmonies of fellowship, in spite of all the difficulties of adjustment, in spite of all the disagreements and divorces that characterize and even curse the relationship, the truth of the text stands, Two are better than one. And this reasoning is sound, For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.
How true are the words of the author of The Quest for Happiness, Many a wife has, in her very zeal and passionate love for her husband, smoothed his pathway, soothed his tire after his days toil, given encouragement and praise, where jealous competitors gave only blows and condemnation; has prophesied her husbands ultimate victory, where the outside world foretold failure; and has at last made herself an offering upon the altar of her husbands wealth or office or honors. Thenceforth, invalided, her very sweetness and patience in the sick-room have made her very spirit seem like a shrub that, crushed, exhales the richer perfume. After all, this woman had her choice. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man or a woman lay down the life for the beloved one. And the happiness that she feels within is a thousand-fold more intense than that of the woman who lives for herself only, and who lives in perfect health.
Finally, Solomon declares poverty-stricken childhood is better than aged, kingly folly.
Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king, who mil no more be admonished (Ecc 4:13).
This sentence needs no argument! It amounts to a moral axiom, The poor, intelligent child holds in his very self every potentiality of eminent success, sacred influence and even that of seraphic eternity; while an old and foolish king who will no more be admonished holds within himself nothing but folly and wickedness, the certainty of death, and the prospect of hell.
And yet, what inspired prescription, what Divinely elected path can the child take to insure him for time and eternity against the sins of youth, the sorrows of manhood, and the curses of old age? Solomon himself can answer this question before we have finished the Book. Turn with me to the 12th chapter and read his counsel, Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them.
The whole appeal for child-conversion is in the combination of these two texts, and in the logical relation the first sustains to the second. Life is a series of conflicts. The child faces them all. Victory within will not be a matter of temporal advantage in birth, a matter of physical prowess or even mental acumen. Thousands of babies have been born and brought up as was the prodigal son, in luxurys lap only to waste the fathers substance in riotous living, and have been reduced to the level of pigs. Thousands of babies have been born with a physique Samsonian in character, but to be caught by the Delilahs of lust and delivered into the power of the Philistines, to be blinded, enslaved and sent to final suicide. Thousands have been born with intellects somewhat akin to that of Burns and Byron, and yet suffer with them a kindred defeat. Natural strength is no insurance of success.
James Whitcomb Brougher while pastor of the Auditorium Temple, Los Angeles, California, baptized Bob Fitzsimmons. He tells about it in the following way:
Bob Fitzsimmons, the noted prize fighter, came to my office in Los Angeles and asked to see me. I sent my secretary to inquire whether or not he wanted to talk. He replied that he did. I welcomed him. I then asked what I could do for him especially. He said, Doctor Brougher, can you tell me how I can become as strong on the inside as I am on the outside? I asked him to explain how he became a prize fighter. He repeated the story of his life, describing his self-denials, hardships and peculiar experiences that were necessary to become the champion bruiser of the world. After he had finished, I said, Bob, you are a giant physically, but mentally, you are just an ordinary chap, and spiritually you are a little child. I could lick you spiritually. I put the emphasis on the last word and did not take too much territory.
He admitted his weakness and asked me how he could overcome it. I asked him if he was willing to pay the same price for spiritual development that he had paid for physical. He replied that he was. I explained to him just what was necessary to be done in order to be a Christian.
I saw the giant get on his knees, ask God to forgive the sins of the past, pledge his allegiance to Jesus Christ, and arise with the determination to follow his Lord and Master in baptism. I baptized him the next Sunday morning before 3,000 people, and he began the greatest fight he had ever undertakena contest with the world, the flesh, and the devil. He fought it out for two years and then God took him Home. Just before his death, he said, It has been a hard fight; but by the help of Jesus Christ, I have won.
Fuente: The Bible of the Expositor and the Evangelist by Riley
CRITICAL NOTES.
Ecc. 3:1. Season-time.] Season signifies a certain period or term; time denotes a division of time in general.
Ecc. 3:2. A time to plant, &c.] Used in O.T. as a metaphor to describe the founding and destruction of cities.
Ecc. 3:7. A time to rend and a time sew.] The rending of garments on hearing sad tidings, and sewing them when the season of grief is past.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH. Ecc. 3:1-8
THE SUPREMACY OF THE DIVINE CONTROL
Man forms designs for his own happiness, gives free scope to his powers, and traces out the course of his life. Yet there is over him a higher system of things, a stern and terrible Power by which he is overmastered and subdued. He is made, after all, to fulfil the designs of heaven. The Divine control over every domain of creation is supreme over all other sovereignties. This is evident from the following facts:
I. The Divine Control is exerted throughout all time. Human history is inserted between the two eternities. In the infinite solitudes of the past, before the birth of time, the mind has not whereon to rest, nor can the eye pierce beyond the present order of things into the immense future. Between these there is a range of time, forming the platform upon which human history is erected. Here the mind can rest, and survey the rule of the Supreme.
1. God made time for us by giving a peculiar direction to His power. Before time was, or ever any creature was made, He dwelt in that eternity which knows no periods. No voice could be heard in that vast solitude but His own. Yet He was not content to remain thus solitary, but surrounded Himself with those intelligencies upon whom He might pour the illustrations of His wisdom and benevolence. Thus the Divine power directed by goodness has created time for us wherein all the circumstances and issues of all creatures are displayed.
2. God rules over the whole course of time which He has made. Origination gives a natural title to possession. God has exerted His power and wisdom both in time and space, and therefore has an undisputed claim to reign supreme over each realm.
3. Gods Supreme Control is to be observed chiefly in the events of time. Events take place at certain seasons, and a season is a portion cut off from time. They are its joints, or articulationscritical periods of time. What has been ripening slowly through long years comes to the birth at a moment in the grand decisive events of history. Thus the Deluge, the giving of the Law, the establishment of Judaism, the founding of Christianity, the invention of Printing, the Reformation, are some of the great births of time. They are seasons when it is most of all observed that there is a wise and Infinite Power above, directing the great issues of time. These are the joints that connect and strengthen the whole frame of human history. The smooth course of affairs often fails to excite attention, but great events startle men into surprise, and invite contemplation. The thoughtless world is thus roused to behold the mighty hand of the great Ruler of all.
II. The Divine control is marked by an unchangeable order. The times and seasons in which every purpose comes to full ripeness are predetermined by God. With Him there is no disordered mixture of thingsno wild confusion. Infinite wisdom cannot be taken by surprise, or plunged of a sudden into perplexity. All the events of time arise from a fixed order of things. They are determined by a plan, dimly seen by us, but traced in stern and clear lines by a steady hand, and with the precision and confidence of infinite skill. We call this regular order of things law, for so it is as seen from our point of view; but on Gods side it is the exercise of will; not indeed of an uncertain and capricious nature, but following methodthe will of the Father of Lightsa clear and illumined will. This is unchangeable by us, or by any other power.
1. Infinite wisdom and power lead to such a result. God has no need to make experiments to try some doubtful issue. He has no mistakes to repair, nor can any reason arise to oblige Him to retouch and modify His plan. In His vast design no element, however small, is omitted or overlooked. He has power to carry all His purposes into effect; hence such a Being has no cause or reason to oblige Him to depart from a fixed order.
2. The study of nature teaches us that there must be such an order in human events. There is such a fixed order in the physical world, in the great orbs that roll above us. The laws of nature are regular, severe, exact. We can depend upon them in their inflexible constancy. All things in the universe are ordered by number, weight, and measure. Are we to suppose that the regular plan of the Divine government is only concerned with lifeless matter, and does not also extend with equal accuracy and completeness to souls? Is man alone to be made the sport of blind chance, when all movements and changes of created things are governed by a rigid law? Man, with all the events of time that concern him, reveals an infinite complication, yet surely the boundless wisdom of God is equal to the task of governing him according to a regular plan? The most slippery elements of human affairs are held by the Divine hand.
3. The Bible is full of this doctrine. What reason teaches us to expect, the Bible reveals as a fact. The added light of Revelation enlarges our prospect, and strengthens our sight of the wide realms over which God rules. What is the Gospel itself but the kingdom of God, implying authority, law, and order? The more we look into Gods latest Revelation, the more are we persuaded that there is nothing that concerns human nature which is left out by the Divine plan. The teaching of the Bible is that man, as an inhabitant of this world, and as a candidate for immortality, is completely under the control of the Supreme.
III. The Divine control is illustrated by the whole course of human affairs. The hand of God in history can be clearly perceived by every one whose attention is at all awake. The proudest is brought, sooner or later, to confess that God has beset him, behind and before. The kings of the earth who have taken counsel together against the Lord and His Anointed have either been tamed to submission, or in mad rebellion have broken themselves against the bars of destiny. History is but a revelation of the fixed principles of Providence. A survey of this scene of man will give abundant illustration of the completeness of the Divine control throughout the whole extent of human history.
1. It is illustrated in the individual life.
(1.) The boundaries of that life are determined. Birth and death are the extreme limits between which each single life receives a manifestation. Life is purely a gift. We sought it not: it was thrust upon us. Though flowing to us through human channels, it rises from the Fountain of Life. We were summoned into His presence. The time of our public appearance here was appointed by Providence, and we must accept it for good or evil. We are here, called from the abyss of nothing by the Almighty power. The time of our departure hence is also determined. Though that time is to us unknown, yet where our journey of life shall end is known fully to the Great Disposer of all things. He has already drawn the circle which we must fill, nor can we by all our skill and care enlarge it, nor enclose a greater area from the territory of life allotted to us.
(2.) The discipline of that life is determined. We pass through various changes of fortune, and these are employed by Divine Providence as a means of spiritual education. We are planted, and again plucked upwe enter upon new modes of life, and old scenes pass away from us, never to return. Structures which we had raised in confidence and hope are broken down, and with a sadder heart and dearly-bought experience we build again as best we may. We are stunned by disease, as if killed by the terrible blow; and then healed again to receive what awaits us in life. In the merchandise of life, we experience the excitement of loss and gain; and what we have secured by energy and kept with care we may be obliged, in the emergencies of fortune, to cast away.
(3.) The emotions of our life are determined. We have no command over our joys or our sorrows. They arise from the constitution of our nature, acted upon by the various changes in the world around us. There are times when sorrow lifts the sluices of our tears, and we cannot intercept their flow; again the season of joy comes and shakes our countenance into ripples of laughter. There are times too of excessive emotion, when to mourn or to dance seems to be the only fit expression of the great force with which both grief and pleasure possess our frame.
(4.) The seasons of special duty are also determined. War and peace, silence and speech, are here selected as the type of many. In a world of conflicting interests and passions, there are times when even the most peaceful disposition is dragged into a contest, and then the season comes when the conditions of peace ought to be cheerfully accepted. There are times when silence is the highest duty, lest we should pluck the unripe fruit of wisdom, or speak words out of season to some heavy heart. Then the moment comes when we should hold no longer from speaking, but give utterance to the thought within us to instruct, to comfort, and to bless. The seasons both of silence and speech are forced upon us, when the most sullen is compelled to utterance, and the most noisy tongue is silenced.
2. It is illustrated in the life of nations. The history of nations is analogous to that of individuals, but it is drawn to a larger scale. It is developed through greater measures of time. Nations, like individuals, have peculiarities of character, and special elements of strength and weakness. As the moral determinations of a mans early life change the whole course of his subsequent history, so it is with nations. By great moral crises they rise to superior influence and grandeur, or date from them the first symptoms of decline. History shows that the Divine control over the life of nations is complete.
(1.) They have their allotted span of life. For them, too, there is a time to be born and a time to die. They rise, flourish, and decay, and run through a strange and eventful course between the cradle and the grave. One nation after another has passed away. We have but the poor remains of their glory embalmed in history. Rome and Carthage, and mighty Babylonwhere are they? The mighty past is full of the graves of empires. Divine Providence calls a people to be a nation, and when their course is run they go down into the dust of time. They were planted and then plucked up, they were gathered and then dispersed by weakness, and completely undone.
(2.) They have times of severe Providential visitations. They are wounded as by the thrusts and stabs of some terrible fortune; they are healed again, recover strength, and live to complete their history.
(3.) They pass through the varied changes of public feeling. In times of great public calamity they are constrained to weep and mourn; and in some great national excitement of joy they assume the proper circumstances of mirth and rapture.
(4.) They have the alternations both of prosperity and adversity. They have their times to get, and to lose, to gather, and to cast away.
(5.) They have times of special duty. Now, by the pressure of circumstances, or by a sense of propriety, they are forced to silence; and again, the time comes for self assertion. Hence, love and hatred, peace and war.
3. It is illustrated in the life of Churches. The life of the Church itself, as the Kingdom of God, survives the destruction of States and all the changes of the world; the seed of the Kingdom is imperishable. But separate Churches have histories as strange and eventful as those of the individual.
(1.) They have a fixed period of existence. They are founded, endowed with spiritual life; and after flourishing, it may be through centuries, they die out. They are planted and plucked up; gathered as stones for a building, and, like the Temple at Jerusalem, they are scattered. Where are the Seven Churches of Asia now? Where those flourishing African Churches of the early centuries? Infidelity and superstition grow rank over the ruins of once famous Churches. Ecclesiastical systems change; they have no natural immortality. Each system will have its day. There is no miracle wrought to preserve the garments of religious thought and Church order from waxing old, and decaying through the wilderness of history.
(2.) They have seasons of manifest Divine Visitation. There are times when God, in His dealings with His Church, compels attention. There are manifest visitations of God to His people both of anger and love. By the corruption of doctrine, and the influence of the world, by neglecting her true mission, and by prosperity, the Church is corrupted, and Divine judgments threaten, and at length fall upon her. Then is the season to weep and mourn and to rend the garments. Providence often resorts to terrible means, as if the Lord would slay His people. Then there are times of blessed visitation, when the Church is increased and prosperous; the sharp wound is healed, the season of joy and exultation has come.
(3.) They have seasons of special duty. There are times when Churches can afford to be silent and regard the cavils and opposition of others with a lofty indifference. It is often best to maintain peace, and to allow the fury without to spend its own violence and utterly exhaust itself. But the fit time for self-assertion arrives, and the Church must carry the war into the enemies camp. The Christian Religion itself has been the occasion of terrible conflicts, and men have kindled the flame of fierce passions upon the altar of God. The temper of the world towards the Churches of different periods varies. It is fickle and inconstant like human affection. There is for the Church, in regard to her relations with the world, a time to love, and a time to hate. For the Church of every age there are times and seasons which the Father hath put into His own power. They are all a portion of the eternal plan.
THE CLOCK OF DESTINY
MORTALITY is a huge time-piece wound up by the Almighty Maker; and after he has set it a-going nothing can stop it till the Angel swears that time shall be no longer. But here it ever vibrates and ever advancesticking one child of Adam into existence, and ticking another out. Now it gives the whirr of warning, and the world may look out for some great event; and presently it fulfils its warning, and rings in a noisy revolution. But there! as its index travels on so resolute and tranquil, what tears and raptures attend its progress! It was only another wag of the sleepless pendulum: but it was fraught with destiny, and a fortune was madea heart was brokenan empire fell. We cannot read the writing on the mystic cogs as they are coming slowly up; but each of them is coming on Gods errand, and carries in its graven brass a Divine decree. Now, howevernow, that the moment is past, we know; and in the fulfilment we can read the flat. This instant was to say to Solomon, Be born! this other was to say to Solomon in all his glory, Die! That instant was to plant Israel in Palestine; that other was to pluck him up. And thus inevitable, inexorable, the great clock of human destiny moves on, till a mighty hand shall grasp its heart and hush for ever its pulse of iron [Dr. J. Hamilton].
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Ecc. 3:1. In all the afflictions of the good, it is an element of consolation that the severe season will have an end, and in the great future a brighter one will arise. It is the highest prudence to await in patience Gods time.
The fact that there is a Divine plan to be observed amidst all the seeming disorder of human things, is the charter of our liberty, the very foundation of our hope. Under the dominion of a wild and reckless chance, we could not walk sure-footedly in this life, nor cherish a deathless hope of better things awaiting us in the life to come.
There are atmospheres that support, and others that extinguish flame. There are beliefs that have a like effect upon the soul. Without the recognition of a superior power controlling all things, the torch of hope cannot burn.
The plan of God must be distinguished from fate and destiny. Some ancient philosophers taught that God Himself was subjected to an iron necessity, that the resistless walls of fate constrained even the Highest. We know that God is above His plan; that it is framed by Infinite Wisdom, maintained by Infinite Power, and pervaded by the Spirit of Infinite Love.
The plan of God results not from mere will, supported by a terrible and uncertain power. His will is not wilfulness, or caprice. We know what we are to expect from one who is wise and good.
The view of the machinery of the Divine Government, constructed with such infinite skill, and moved on by a terrible power, would of itself oppress and overwhelm our soul. Human nature must languish even under the contemplation of the highest regularity and order. But there is an infinite tenderness above all, and within the awful circles of wisdom and power there is a Divine bosom on which weary souls can repose, and where they are safe from fear.
Even Christ Himself became subject to the plan of God. He waited for His baptism and His hour. His greatest enemies could not prevail against Him till the appointed season had come.
TimeSeason.
1. Consolation for the righteous in the day of trouble. They know that there will be a period to their sorrow, and that comfort and rest await them.
2. Assurance of the triumph of truth and right. He who has formed the plan of natures vast year is the Holy One, and in the upshot of all things He will vindicate His own character. He will make the cause of the right and the true to triumph.
3. The condemnation of the false and wrong. The most rebellious will be forced at last to submission; and he who has enjoyed his fancied liberty, because judgment appeared to linger, will find that he is overtaken at last.
There is no wandering out of the reach of Gods perfect knowledge, no slipping through the hands of Omnipotence. Gods hand is as steady as His eye; and certainly thus to reduce contingencies to method, instability and chance itself to an unfailing rule and order, argues such a mind as is fit to govern the world [South].
Nothing can come from the most carefully constructed of human schemes till the pre-determined hour has struck, even if all men on earth were to put forth the most violent efforts. God will not suffer the hands of His great clock to be pointed by the kings and princes and lords of the earth [Luther].
The things under heaven have but a timea brief season. There is awaiting the good and the true the calm and untroubled flow of the ages of eternity.
Ecc. 3:2. There is a time to be born, and however much a man may dislike the era on which his existence is cast, he cannot help himself: that time is his, and he must make the most of it. Milton need not complain that his lot is fallen on evil days; for these are his days, and he can have no other. Roger Bacon and Galileo need not grudge their precocious being, that they have been prematurely launched into the age of inquisitors and knowledge-quenching monksfor this age was made to make them. And so with the time to die. Voltaire need not offer half his fortune to buy six weeks reprieve; for if the appointed moment has arrived it cannot pass into eternity without taking the sceptic with it. And even good Hezekiahhis tears and prayers would not have turned the shadow backward, had that moment of threatened death been the moment of Gods intention [Dr. J. Hamilton].
How immense is the difference between the circumstances of one human being and another!and yet this is made by, what seems to us, the mere accident of birth. This babe to be haild and wood as a Lord, and that to be shunnd like a leper! Thus the Supreme Power determines the bounds of our habitation by appointing the time and place where we shall make our entrance upon life.
Each human soul born into the world is an entirely new product. It never existed before. Matter continues the same through all changes and evolutions, but souls are strictly new. The observation of this common fact prepares the mind to accept the great mystery of creation.
To be born is
1. To enter upon scenes of life already prepared for us. The world was made ready for our habitation, and the circumstances of society were prepared for us long before we came.
2. To incur the obligation of duty. The fact that we are created by a higher Power implies a certain relation to that Power, and therefore corresponding duties.
3. To take our part in the system of Providence. We become, at birth, a part of the established order of things; we must take our place and accept our condition.
4. To enter upon a state of probation. There is another great event awaiting us, determined by the Divine decreedeath. Life is the season in which the character is to be fitted for the next scene of things to which God shall call us.
The gift of Life.
1. It is a Divine gift. God alone can impart it. The breathing marble is but a figure of speech. The Spirit of God, the primal force of the universe, is sent forth, and they are created.
2. It is a blessed gift. Our creation is the foundation of all the blessings that we can enjoy in any world. All the riches and advancement belonging to thought and feeling from hence take their rise.
3. It is an awful gift. Existence is a terrible responsibility, for we may make it an evil and a curse.
Believers and Christians know that no tyrants sword can kill or destroy them, and that before their hour comes no creature whatever can harm them. Hence they do not trouble and worry themselves much about death, but when it comes they die unto the will of God as He pleases, like lambs and young children [Luther].
The busiest of mortals must find a time to die. Death has been described as the land without any order, and, as it seems to us, without any order the King of Terrors carries off his victims. But Providence observes a fixed order. There is for every mortal course a fixed hour to close.
The time and manner of our death are to us unknown. This uncertainty is beneficial
1. On social grounds. Man, by this provision, does not end his labours till the last moment in which he can be useful to society.
2. On religious grounds. The motives for seeking God are strengthened by the uncertainty of life.
But above all, believe it, the sweetest Canticle is Nunc dimittis. where a man hath obtained worthy ends and expectations. Death hath this also, that it openeth the gate to good fame, and extinguisheth envy [Bacon].
The time of death is one
1. Of parting from all the associations of life. Those scenes of nature and of man which had become endeared to us are rudely torn from our heart. There is a complete loss of the world.
2. Of an oppressive sense of loneliness. There is no human breast on which the parting soul can rely. The dread journey must be attempted alone, as far as human supports are concerned.
3. Of the dread of the unknown and untried. The unknown is ever the terrible.
And so there is a time to plant. The impulse comes upon a man of fortune, and he lays out his spacious lawn, and studs it with massive trees; and he plants his garden, and in the soil imbeds the richest and rarest flowers. And that impulse fades away, and in the fickleness of sated opulence the whole is rooted up, and converted into a wilderness again. Or by his own or a successors fall, the region is doomed to destruction; and when strangling nettles have choked the geraniums and the lilies, and, crowded into atrophy, the lean plantations grow tall and branchless, the axe of an enterprising purchaser clears away the dark thickets, and his plough-share turns up the weedy parterre [Dr. J. Hamilton].
God has often plucked up the heathen and planted His own people. The Church is a cleared enclosure in the midst of the wilderness of the world.
The Heavenly Husbandman will pluck up every plant that is unfit for His garden.
The growths of sin and error can only flourish for a time. No advantage of situation can give them a title to continuance. The season for plucking up will come, for God must remove them out of His sight.
Ecc. 3:3. God often resorts to terrible means in order to purify His Church.
Affliction is sometimes sharp, and seems to be the prelude to death; but it is not in itself an end. God only ordains death as a passage to life. He is the Heavenly Physician who wounds but to heal.
The hurt comes before the healing, and affliction before the fruition of blessedness.
The miracles of healing performed by Our Lord contain a prophecy of what He will do as the Restorer of Paradise. He will heal all the wounds of His people, and give them life to enjoy in its best condition.
Times of healing, whether of bleeding and sick nations, of rent and distempered Churches, or wounded spirits, are in Gods hand; and, till His time come, all essays of other physicians for healing are in vain; and therefore He is to be humbly employed and depended upon for that end, considering that however times of healing be fixed with Him, yet the importunity of penitents is ordinarily a comfortable forerunner of their being healed [Nisbet].
The most famous and enduring of works have been destroyed, and the glories of each succeeding age are often built upon the ruins of the past.
No worldly fortune so great but God can break it down, as He will for every man at death. All the works of man are doomed. Those structures alone shall abide that are raised upon the everlasting foundations.
When this life is past, there will be, for the good, an end of the succession of breaking down and building up. For them there is prepared the city which shall never be spoiled by the invader.
God builds again the walls of the Church when He grants great spiritual prosperity and increase.
In the Churchs lowest condition the faithful few need not despair; the time to build up will come.
The progress of all human things is towards final and complete ruin. But upon these ruins God will raise everlasting habitations.
In the midst of failure and destruction, the wise may hope and take courage. Their ruined structures shall be built again. We must fail here; but if we are one with God, we shall find all re-constructed for us on a larger plan, and with more refined elegance.
Ecc. 3:4. We cannot fix the seasons of sorrow or of joy; they are forced upon us by the decrees of Providence.
With the good, joy always comes last. Their history is a transcript of the history of Christ. He suffered first, and then entered into His glory.
The weeping of the world is but tears shed over the grave of hope; it is the anguish of despair. But the righteous weep with a sadness which takes comfort. Their darkest prospect is rounded by the glory of unfading hope.
There are seasons when the Church must hang her harp upon the willows and weep the tears of memory and long regrets; but the night of weeping shall be followed by the morning of joy.
It is best to yield to the feeling of the time, for this is the design of Providence. The children of this world try to force themselves to laughter when they ought to weepthere is a deep misery underlying their loudest joy.
Tears are, as it were, the blood of the wounds of the soul, which manifest the greatness of them; and so the light skipping of the body in dancing is but the shadow of the light and lofty flying of the mind in joy [Jermin].
The Lord hath His own times fixed wherein He will fill the mouths of His people with laughter, and turn their mourning into dancing by making them see the performance of those promises which they could hardly believe, healing their spiritual distempers, guarding their hearts against the vexation of affliction, giving them such sweet foretastes of their future happiness that they cannot but skip for joy, even in the midst of the worst that men can do to them. And when His time for making His people laugh and dance cometh, the world cannot hinder it [Nisbet].
No one can fix a date and say, I shall spend that day merrily, or I must spend it mournfully. The day fixed for the wedding may prove the day for the funeral; and the ship which was to bring back the absent brother, may only bring his coffin. On the other hand, the day we had destined for mourning, God may turn to dancing, and may gird it with irresistible gladness [Dr. J. Hamilton].
There are extremes of joy and sorrow which must receive a corresponding expression. From their very nature, they must be of brief duration. There is an average healthy pulse for the spiritual as well as for the natural man. The soul must not be dissolved in rapture so as to give no heed to the claims of duty.
The extreme forms of human emotion show that this world is not our place of rest. Ours is not that calm and untroubled joy which the righteous look for beyond life. The Fountain of Life above is no intermittent spring.
Ecc. 3:5. Destruction and re-buildingThese words describe all history.
1. The history of material and social progress. This is mainly a breaking-up of institutions which have been proved a failureno longer able to accompany the soul into higher latitudes; or it is the substitution of new methods because they are better and more potent than the oldas in skilful inventions and contrivances.
2. The history of thought. Old fashions of thinking have passed away, and new systems have been built up. And so it will be to the end, as long as the constitution of the mind is unchanged.
Human monuments cannot endure for ever. They are broken down, to be replaced by other works of taste and skill. The material progress of man requires such renewal. A like necessity exists in intellectual progress. Each age requires a new embodiment of the truth. Hence the necessity of current literature.
Christ said to the Jews, Behold your house is left unto you desolate. It was Gods house no longer. When the Church has reached this stage of corruption, the time for scattering her stones is not far off. But God cherishes the purpose of building in the midst of this work of undoing. The glorious Christian Temple was raised upon the ruins of Judaism.
There is a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing. There is a time when the fondness of friendship bestows its caresses, and receives them in return with reciprocal sincerity and delight: and a time when the ardour cools; when professions fail; when the friend of our bosoms love proves false and hollow-hearted, and the sight of him produces only the sigh and tear of bitter recollection. We refrain from embracing because our embrace is not returned [Wardlaw].
The love of God to His Church is unchangeable, but the special expressions of His lovei.e., His favour, varies. The souls of the righteous are sometimes cast down as if God did not permit them always to enjoy His closest and most retired affection.
Providence has ordained it that not even in religion itself shall we have a constant rapture of delight. In the most entrancing music of the soul, there must be pauses of silence.
Ecc. 3:6. There is a time when every enterprise succeeds; when, as if he were a Midas, whatsoever the prosperous merchant touches is instantly gold. Then comes a time when all is adversewhen flotillas sink, when ports are closed, and each fine opening only proves another and a tantalising failure. And so there is a time to keep and a time to cast away. There is a time when in the cutting blast the traveller is fain to wrap his cloak more closely around him; a time when in the torrid beam he is thankful to be rid of it. There is a time when we cannot keep too carefully the scrip or satchel which contains the provision for our journey; a time when, to outrun the pursuing assassin, or to bribe the red-armed robber, we fling it down without a scruple. It was a time to keep when the sea was smooth, and Romes ready market was waiting for the corn of Egypt; but it was a time to cast the wheat into the sea when the angry ocean clamoured for the lives of thrice a hundred passengers [Dr. J. Hamilton].
We have here
1. A recognition of the duty of industry. There is a time to get. Providence calls men to active diligence in the sober pursuit of this worlds good.
2. The vicissitudes of fortune. No human power can contrive that our fortunes shall be constant and unbroken. They may be undermined by the merest accident; or we may be deprived of the power to enjoy them.
3. The prudence proper in extremity. It is right carefully to preserve the results of our labour, but there are emergencies when, to serve some higher purpose, we must part with our most cherished earthly good.
That which is subject to such violent changes, and which we must be prepared to lose, cannot be our chief good. It is no part of our real selves, no lasting inheritance of the soul.
Even our life, the dearest treasure we possess, must be rendered up at the high demands of duty.
The treasures of the mind and soul are alone exempt from this inexorable law. Capricious fortune cannot force us to resign immortal wealth.
We must not attach our hearts to that which we may lose so soon.
Ecc. 3:7. There is a time when calamity threatens or grief has come, and we feel constrained to rend our apparel and betoken our inward woe; a time when the peril has withdrawn, or the fast is succeeded by a festival, when it is equally congruous to remove the symbols of sorrow. There is a time to keep silencea time when we see that our neighbours grief is great, and we will not sing songs to a heavy heart; a time when, in the abatement of anguish, a word of sympathy may prove a word in season; a time when to remonstrate with the transgressor would be to reprove a madman, or, like the pouring of vinegar on nitre, would be to excite a fiery explosion; but a time will come when, in the dawn of repentance, or the sobering down of passion, he will feel that faithful are the wounds of a friend [Dr. J. Hamilton].
Providence has ordained that great and violent griefs shall not be perpetual. The rents of sorrow are healed by time; wherefore time has been called the comforter.
There are seasons when man must pay his tribute to nature, and assume the proper circumstances of woe. Again the season arrives when it is seemly to remove the ensigns of sorrow.
Silence should go before speech, for only in the silence of meditation can speech be wisely framed.
Silence is the proper attitude of the soul.
1. Before a great sorrow. The small griefs of men are noisy and demonstrative, but the greatest griefs are silent. They choke the utterance.
2. Before a great mystery. When words fail to give to the vast and infinite shape and outline, we can only stand and wonder and adore. In the inner shrine of religious thought we must cover our faces.
O the strong buckler of a circumspect defence, silence! O the most faithful foundation of stability! For many being well settled with a stable heart, yet unawares have fallen by the error of a wandering tongue [St. Ambrose].
There are some seasons wherein the Lords people are to refrain from speaking even that which is in itself good, and might prove so to others. As
1. When we are called to learn from others (Job. 32:7);
2. When men turn brutish, and declare themselves incapable of profiting, and the more they are spoken to are the more enraged in their wickedness (Mat. 7:6), and so incorrigible that others can neither have access to deal with them, nor with God for them (Amo. 5:13); and,
3. When the truth hath been often before sufficiently asserted and cleared even to their conviction (Mat. 27:14) [Nisbet].
God broke the long silence which reigned before the world was made by saying, Let there be light. We should only break silence to speak words of quiet power, rich in the purity of truth and goodness, and tending to diffuse peace and joy.
The resulting force of one body acting upon another depends upon the angle at which it is struck. Words spoken in proper season strike the mind directly with full effective force, while those which are ill-timed can only strike with diminished power.
Seasons for speaking.
1. To give testimony for the truth.
2. To rebuke sin.
3. To comfort the afflicted.
4. To vindicate the innocent.
5. To instruct.
Providence has supreme control over those actions which seem to lie most within our own power. The most refractory under Heavens government must accept the seasons of silence and speech with the same helpless resignation as they must accept the natural seasons of the year.
Ecc. 3:8. We have no complete command over our love and hatred, for they depend upon causes beyond ourselves. They are the opposite poles of human emotion, and, like the magnetic needle, they obey the forces of attraction and repulsion.
There is a period when, from identity of pursuit, or from the spell of some peculiar attraction, a friend is our all in all, and our idolatrous spirits live and move and have their being in him; but with riper years or changing character, the spell dissolves, and we marvel at ourselves that we could ever find zest in insipidity, or fascination in vulgarity. And just as individuals cannot control their hatred and their love, so nations cannot regulate their pacifications and their conflicts. But just at the moment when they are pledging a perpetual alliance, an apple of discord is thrown in, and to avenge an insulted flag, or settle a disputed boundary, or maintain the tottering balance of power, wager of battle is forthwith joined [Dr. J. Hamilton].
God has both the mild and the stormy passions of human nature entirely under His command.
The changes of our hearts emotion are determined by Providence working slowly through time.
The system of Divine Providence is made up of antagonistic elements, of which each one in turn will have its brief season. If we accept the facts of human nature as they are, we cannot expect otherwise than that wars and commotions will arise. History is but the development of the possibilities latent in man.
In the recital of the chief examples of the Divine Control, the series is concluded by the mention of peace, for this is the goal and Sabbath of all Gods ways with man. The end of all the strife and agitation of this troubled year of existence is to secure eternal peace.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
B. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS THAT WE WORK UNDER THE RULE OF GODS PROVIDENCE Ecc. 3:1-22
1. Man should adjust to live his life within the framework of Gods providence. Ecc. 3:1-8
TEXT 3:18
1
There is an appointed time for everything, And there is a time for every event under heaven
2
A time to give birth, and a time to die;
A time to plant, and a time to uproot what is planted.
3
A time to kill, and a time to heal;
A time to tear 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 throw stones, and a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace, and a time to shun embracing.
6
A time to search, and a time to give up as lost;
A time to keep, and a time to throw away.
7
A time to tear apart, and a time to sew together;
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.
THOUGHT QUESTIONS 3:18
61.
Give evidence that Gods creation is orderly. (Ecc. 3:1)
62.
Compare translations of the first line of verse two. What variations do you find?
63.
What might have to die in order for a particular generation to be healed? (Ecc. 3:3)
64.
What experience usually occasions mourning?
65.
Look up the term dance in a Bible concordance. After reading several of the references, how would you describe dancing as it is pictured in the Bible? Would you equate it with the modern dance?
66.
If the first part of verse five is figurative, and the second line is speaking to the same subject, what single idea is under consideration?
67.
List some dreams from your own life that you have searched for and found. List others you have given up as lost. (Ecc. 3:6)
68.
When is silence golden? When is it yellow?
69.
List some things the Christian hates and therefore should wage war against.
70.
List the objects of each of the twenty-six infinitives.
71.
List the objects of the four prepositions for. (Ecc. 3:1; Ecc. 3:8)
PARAPHRASE 3:18
To everything there is a season, and a time to every delight under heaven. There is a time for all things to be born, and everything in due season will die; man can take advantage of the seasons and plant when he should, but the time will come when that which has been planted will have to be uprooted. Self-discipline and social justice require the destruction of evil, but a time will come when both the people and their land will be healed; so there is also a time to wreck, and tear down that which is beyond repair, and there is a time to build anew. Many events of life will sadden the heart and cause one to weep, just as other events make the heart merry and result in laughter; since death comes to all, there will be seasons of mourning. On occasion, joy shall also overwhelm one and find expression through dancing. There is an appropriate time for making love, and just as appropriately there is a time to refrain; there is a time when an embrace is proper, and also a time when wisdom leads one to refrain from embracing. Fortunes are sometimes gained because one knows the times for searching, but it is also true that they are often kept because good judgment is exercised in refraining from excess; even our present possessions are retained with discretion, and we find wisdom in discarding or sharing with others that which is no longer of value to oneself. There is a time when clothing should be discarded, and a time when it should be mended and used again; the same kind of judgment is in order with the control of the tongue: silence is often golden. On the other hand, words fitly spoken have great power and should be said. Love encompasses all that is holy and good, and there is a time when it should be demonstrated to your fellow man; hate is reserved for that which is evil, and yet there is a time when it should also be exercisedthere is a time for war, and a time for peace.
DIAGRAM B
THE EVENTS OF ONE GENERATION UNDER HEAVEN
COMMENT 3:18
In this section the reader is confronted with seven parallel passages demonstrating the theme that God, the Creator, is in control of His world. More than this, it illustrates the various activities which take place in the lifetime of one generation. The Preacher has observed that one generation passes away while another generation moves in to take its place (Ecc. 1:4). Here he gives a detailed account of the activities of each generation from birth to death.
Parallelisms were popular with the writers of the Old Testament. One is tempted to be carried away with the poetic beauty of the passage and possibly miss the message which it contains. This popular passage from Ecclesiastes has made its way into the forms of art, poetry and song in our present generation. It should be emphasized once again, however, that the theme discussed in chapter two is still under consideration. Some have written that this is an unrelated insertion of material without appropriate relationship to the context of the discussion, but a cursory reading of the two chapters together would dispense with such an argument. The lesson is that God controls through orderly laws and principles. Man may run contrary to Gods appointed times and seasons, but if he does, he will experience frustration and failure. The good man of the preceding chapter attempts to live in harmony with Gods order, while the sinner has little regard for it.
Certain qualities mark the comparisons. (1) The list is rather extended. This may serve the purpose of demonstrating that the many sides of life are under Gods control, or it may have been Solomons intention to show the various activities of man from the time of his birth until the time of his death. (2) Nothing evil is included in the list. Some of the activities are difficult to interpret as to exact meanings, but nothing needs to be placed in the category of immoral behaviour. This is very clear. The contrary is actually true. Since the second line of the couplet partially explains the first line, the meaning of each line interprets the meaning of the other. The meaning of the event must be in harmony with the parts of the comparison. Nothing in any of the descriptions suggests evil activities. Hate, kill, rend and war are all extreme in nature, but are approved by God under qualifying circumstances. (3) Some events are inevitable. It is obvious that no one has control over the time of his death (Ecc. 8:8). We are also subjected to a time to give birth, to weep and to heal. These circumstances of life are beyond our control. God controls them in the sense that His laws are active in His world. It is improper to read predestination into the passage. (4) Some events can be experienced at ones own discretion. Man controls such activities as loving and refraining from love, deciding what to keep and what to cast away. Even in these areas, however, there are times and seasons within Gods order when good judgment dictates policy. (5) Sometimes one works contrary to the seasons. One may keep silent when he should be speaking. He may laugh when he should be mourning. The wise man interprets the times and adjusts his activities accordingly.
Jeremiah stated this truth when he said, I know, O Lord, that a mans way is not in himself; nor is it in a man who walks to direct his steps (Jer. 10:23). Solomon himself had written, The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord (Pro. 16:33). He has also written that he sees the activities of life as coming from the hand of the Lord (Ecc. 2:24).
Ecc. 3:1 The arrangement of mans activities as he lives out his life is now under consideration (cf. introductory remarks for this section). This verse is not intended to suggest that all things are predetermined or that man has no choice in arranging certain times or events. If this were true, the distinction between the good man and the sinner would be inappropriate. In addition, there would be little meaning given to admonition and rebuke found throughout the book. (Ecc. 5:1 ff; Ecc. 11:1 ff; Ecc. 12:1 ff are but examples.) This verse acknowledges what has previously been taught: there is nothing new under the sun, and God seeks that which is past (Ecc. 1:9; Ecc. 3:15). The events peculiar to every generation are set forth. No intention is made for chronological order or arrangement. Each generation may experience different events at varying times, but generally speaking each generation will experience all the events.
Ecc. 3:2 The Hebrew word rendered be born is passive and would best be translated give birth. This idea is more in harmony with the parallel time to plant and therefore comes close to the original idea. The purpose is to illustrate the beginning and end of a thing. Everything else happens between these two events. While birth represents the animal kingdom and plant represents the vegetable kingdom, the intention is not to be comprehensive of all things, but rather representative of beginnings and ends.
Ecc. 3:3 Both Deu. 32:39 and Hos. 6:1 suggest that it is Gods prerogative to tear, wound, smite and kill, even as it is His prerogative to heal, to bind up, and to make alive. Man is also involved in these activities as he exacts judgment and pursues justice. The term kill here will not allow cutting but does allow capital punishment. Both the execution of criminals, and killing necessitated by the need to protect the innocent, would be allowed. Killing which results from war would probably be excluded as it is specifically mentioned in verse eight. The verse suggests the necessity of judgment and appropriate punishment if there is to be a time of healing and building up.
In the spiritual relationship the principle is also valid. Pauls rather lengthy discourse on this subject in I Corinthians chapter five clearly illustrates the necessity of tearing down before there can be a season of restoration.
Ecc. 3:4 One doesnt live long before he experiences both laughter and weeping. These human emotions are common to all men in every age. Mourning suggests a deeper sorrow than weeping, while dancing may be thought of as the sheer physical display of inner joy. Jesus spoke to both of these activities when he said, But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the market places, who call out to the other children, and say, We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn (Mat. 11:16-17). Dancing in the Bible times should not be confused with the modern-day dance. Biblical dancing was the unrehearsed, spontaneous exuberance resulting from a great physical victory, or some festive occasion.
Ecc. 3:5 An attempt to escape or skirt the obvious has led to far-fetched and varied conclusions concerning the first part of this verse. Since the verses are couplets, and each line parallels the other, then the clear statements of a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing, would suggest that a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together, is a euphemistic description of sexual love. The fidelity of a monogamous union finds proper expression and fulfillment in such acts of love. God has placed natural desires within both men and women which result not only in the propagation of the race, but also in the holy mystery of oneness that exists between husband and wife. Such an interpretation as this does not appear to meet with any difficulty. This makes the first part of the couplet harmonious with the second part. It speaks to a vital and major part of lifes experience which is not discussed elsewhere in this section. Finally, the absurdity of most interpretations necessitates a clearly defined and logical explanation of the verse.
Some of the more popular but unacceptable interpretations of gathering and casting stones are listed: (1) building or demolishing houses, walls, cisterns and similar works made from stones; (2) marring an enemys field by casting stones upon it (2Ki. 3:19; 2Ki. 3:25); (3) stoning as a form of capital punishment; (4) clearing land or vineyards of stones (Isa. 5:2).
Ecc. 3:6 Easy come, easy go, is an idiom which may speak to part of the lesson of this verse. The first section appears to refer to that which man acquires either through his own ingenuity or by his good fortune. In like manner he may find his possessions slipping away from him in a manner beyond his control. The latter part of the couplet suggests that man sometimes decides what he keeps and what he chooses to discard. Earthly wisdom enables one to take advantage of both situations. He will take advantage of the opportunities offered through Gods providence, and he will also exercise discretion in the wise use of that which he has gathered or collected.
Benevolent acts could be under consideration. They are part of the Preachers message (Ecc. 11:1-6), and Solomon had written, There is one who scatters, yet increases all the more, and there is one who withholds what is justly due, but it results only in want. The generous man will be prosperous, and he who waters will himself be watered (Pro. 11:24-25). This principle is also taught in many of the New Testament books. An example is found in 2Co. 9:6-15.
Ecc. 3:7 Since the tearing of garments was commonly associated with mourning among the Jews, it is easy to see such an application of this verse. Also, the tear was to be mended after an appropriate period of mourning depending upon the nearness of the relationship of the deceased person. However, mourning and weeping have previously been included in the listing of events, and it isnt likely that such would be the intention in this verse. What then is the category of activities to which he speaks? Once again the second comparison offers a clue. Wisdom dictates the practical value, or lack of it, of many things possessed in life. We finally give up on certain garments while others are mended or patched. Clothing was of great value (2Ki. 5:5; 2Ch. 9:24). In like manner, wisdom is manifested in the ability to know when to keep silent and when to speak. There were occasions when Jesus chose to remain silent (Mar. 14:60-61; Mar. 15:4-5). There were other times when His words were like apples of gold in settings of silver (Pro. 25:11). How penetrating is James sermon on the control of the tongue (James 3). (Cf. Pro. 17:28; Pro. 15:23) Solomon is speaking to a vast area of life in which the daily events are of major significance.
Ecc. 3:8 Unlike verse five, love here has as the opposite hate, and the comparison is peace. It is unlike the conjugal love of the former verse and should be understood as more comprehensive of the affairs of men. In times of peace, all of mans activities should be expressions of love, as he moves about in his relationship with his family and his fellow man. However, when war is necessary, there should be foundational issues which require the hatred of just men. The seriousness of war speaks to the issue of life and mans ability to distinguish between that which is to be loved and thus defended, and that which should be destroyed because it is the recipient of mans justifiable hatred.
The infinitives represent a more personal, individual activity, while the preposition for speaks in each instance to general categories which involved multitudes at the same time.
We have refrained from giving the couplets an unwarranted spiritual or Christian interpretation, as this would be out of character with the purpose of the book. We have also withstood the temptation, to which many others have yielded, to see Gods activities with Israel or the church in each of the events. The greater context of the passage assures that Gods laws are in effect in Gods world. He is very much in control. However, the emphasis is undoubtedly on the activities of men. Solomon is giving us an overview of the total life of one generation. He stated it clearly in the beginning that there is a time for everything and every event under heaven (Ecc. 3:1). His objective, at this point in his book, is to bring man to see that there is nothing better than to resign himself to the work and pleasures of the day, recognizing that this is a gift to man from the hand of God. It is not the activity of God but of man that is foremost in his mind. His very next question substantiates this contention: What profit is there to the worker from that in which he toils?
FACT QUESTIONS 3:18
119.
What kind of an account is Solomon picturing?
120.
What themes are under consideration?
121.
Explain what will happen to man if he elects to live contrary to Gods appointed times and seasons.
122.
Define the good man.
123.
Define the sinner.
124.
Give two reasons why this list of the activities of each generation is rather long.
125.
Name four extreme activities of men that are listed.
126.
Give at least one example of an inevitable event that man experiences.
127.
Explain why verse one should not be interpreted as teaching predestined times and events.
128.
State the purpose of verse two.
129.
What kind of killing would be included by the context of verse three.
130.
Distinguish between weeping and mourning.
131.
Explain what is meant by an euphemistic description.
132.
Give an example of such a description and explain its meaning.
133.
What will earthly wisdom enable a man to do? (Ecc. 3:6)
134.
In what way is the term love in verse eight to be thought as different from the same term in verse five?
135.
What is Solomons overall objective at this point? How does verse nine substantiate your answer?
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(1) A season.The word is only found in later Hebrew (Neh. 2:6; Est. 9:27; Est. 9:31), and in the Chaldee of Daniel and Ezra.
Purpose.The use of the word here and in Ecc. 3:17; Ecc. 5:8; Ecc. 8:6, in the general sense of a matter, belongs to later Hebrew. The primary meaning of the word is pleasure or desire, and it is so used in this book (Ecc. 5:4; Ecc. 12:1; Ecc. 12:10).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
1. To every thing Better, To every enterprise, or undertaking.
Season time Denoting a fixed time, an appointed season. The Great Ordainer has balanced human affairs by setting one thing over against another, and writing this law of changefulness upon the animal and vegetable kingdoms, upon the processes of inanimate nature, and upon the instincts and judgments of mankind.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
There is a Time for Everything In Its Place ( Ecc 3:1-8 ).
Ecc 3:1-8
‘To everything there is a fixed season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die,
A time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted,
A time to kill, and a time to heal,
A time to break down, and a time to build up,
A time to weep and a time to laugh,
A time to mourn, and a time to dance,
A time to cast stones, and a time to gather stones together,
A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing,
A time to seek, and a time to lose,
A time to keep, and a time to throw away,
A time to cause a tear, and a time to sew,
A time to keep silence, and a time to speak,
A time to love, and a time to hate,
A time for war, and a time for peace.’
This list is made up of fourteen contrasting phrases depicting opposites. The fourteen is intended to convey the idea of the divine perfection of the list. It is the perfect seven twofold. It is noteworthy that the first two in the list stress the idea of death, both the death of man and the death of plants. The Preacher is very much aware of the reality of death. But against it he sets the reality of new life. That too he is aware of. We again have illustrated the continual repetition of birth and death. Things are born and they die, and new life replaces them. And all in their time. The time line goes on, with all these activities continually repeating themselves.
But then he goes on to cover the broader aspects of life. So the next five contrast what is the dark side with what is the light side. Killing, breaking down, weeping, mourning and casting stones on to a field to render it useless, are contrasted with healing, building up, laughing, dancing and clearing the field of stones to make it fruitful. He sees both sides of life, the dark and the light. That is what life is like as it goes on its way, a life of contrasting and repetitive experiences, each in its time. Sometimes negative, sometimes positive. But all transient.
Then he deals with the more homely aspects of life – embracing, seeking something lost, keeping things, and accidentally tearing things, in contrast with refraining from embracing, losing something, throwing something away, and repairing something that is torn.
And finally we have three examples which relate to men’s relationships with each other, keeping silence compared with speaking, loving compared with hating, and war compared with peace. The time-line continues on as these experiences occur again and again at different points in time, but all passing.
As can be seen this magnificent overall view, covering many aspects of life, is expressed in contrasts. The point is being made that everything has its time, in a long string of times, and the opposite also has its time. There is a time when one thing happens, there is a time when the opposite happens. There is a time when the good happens, and a time when the not so good happens. Something may be right at one time, when at another time it might be wrong. Each thing has its time. So goes on the continual process of life, constantly repeating itself over time, which is his main point.
It is not necessary however to see here a predetermination of these activities. The time in question is the right time, or the wrong time, in each case, not the predetermined time. It is fixed because it is right for that time. Indeed a man can die before his time (Ecc 7:17, compare also Ecc 9:11 where time is related to chance) which is contrary to predetermination. What does come out is that we need to ensure that we do things at the right time, and be careful that we do not do them at the wrong time.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The Preacher Concludes that God Has a Purpose for Mankind King Solomon now acknowledges that God has a purpose (or calling) for people based upon His divine intervention in the affairs of mankind. He now attempts to understand the meaning of life in light of God’s divine intervention, which the Preacher calls “seasons” and “purpose under heaven.” Ecc 3:1-15 represents the Preacher’s next phase of learning when he tells us that our life is made up of times and seasons, or periods of change; and we learn that these seasons have been divinely placed within our lives by God (Ecc 3:1). The Preacher lists these divine seasons in Ecc 3:2-8. We clearly identify with such a description of our lives as we recall how we move from birth to childhood to adolescence to adulthood to old age and finally to death.
Outline Here is a proposed outline:
1. General Summary Ecc 3:1
2. The Vanity of Wisdom Ecc 3:2-3
3. The Vanity of Mirth and Pleasure Ecc 3:4
4. The Vanity of Strength and Conquest Ecc 3:5
5. The Vanity of Riches Ecc 3:6
6. The Vanity of the King’s Rule over Israel and the Nations Ecc 3:7-8
Ecc 3:1 General Summary – In a summary of this passage of Scripture, we see that Solomon begins by making a general summary of about the divinely orchestrated seasons in the affairs of mankind (Ecc 3:1).
Ecc 3:1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
Ecc 3:1
Illustration – Our life is a series of seasons. When we yield our lives into the hands of divine providence and provision, God is allowed to orchestrate these seasons in a magnificent way. I have seen these seasons very clearly in my life as God has orchestrated them towards a greater level of sacrifice and service. I began making a sacrifice as a Seminary student, and watched God’s hand provide my needs. As I continued to serve the Lord, I have had the experiences of sensing seasons of change soon before they arrive. For example, in 1988, the Lord dealt with me about returning to Fort Worth to finish my Seminary degree. In 1993 I received a promotion with DMJ Management, where I served for 4 years. It was a season of learning how to deal with Christian business ethics in a corporate world. In 1997, I sensed a season of change coming just before being called into the mission field. In 2010-2011, I took a sabbatical of rest and saw God’s divine hand of provision. After one year, I was called back into the mission field in an amazing series of divinely orchestrated events. In contrast, I have observed men and women as they orchestrate their own careers apart from divine intervention. They do reach their peaks of success, but in an exhausted state of ill marriage or ill health or broken marriages. Such individuals have not relinquished their lives unto divine providence and provision. Thus, life is busy and difficult and eventually failures await them in some form or manner. This is the vanity that the preachers describes in the first chapters of Ecclesiastes.
Ecc 3:2-3 The Vanity of Wisdom – Ecc 3:2-3 reflects upon King Solomon’s conclusion regarding the vanity of his pursuit of wisdom (Ecc 1:12-18), where he realizes that he cannot control life and death, the seasons of this earth, and good and evil. These are events that God alone has determined and can judge. In Ecc 3:2 the king deals with the issues of life and death, and with the seasons of planting and harvesting, which often determined life and death in these ancient world. In Ecc 3:3 King Solomon acknowledges that, despite his vast knowledge and wisdom he obtained, he alone cannot control the forces of good and evil, to stop killing and other destructive forces of mankind; neither can he heal and restore things to good. Although he is a king, he does not have the power to control evil or good. Despite his vast wisdom, the king acknowledges that only God determines life and death, and He also judges good and evil upon this earth. These aspects of one’s life are beyond King Solomon’s grasp. These outcomes were in the hands of God.
Ecc 3:2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
Ecc 3:2
Gal 4:4, “But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,”
Ecc 3:2 “and a time to die” Comments – Jesus had an appointed time to die (Luk 9:51, Heb 9:27).
Luk 9:51, “And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem”
Heb 9:27, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.”
Ecc 3:2 “to plant.to pluck up” Comments – A time to sow and reap (Gal 6:9).
Gal 6:9, “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.”
Ecc 3:2 Comments – In Ecc 3:2 the king deals with the issues of life and death, and with the seasons of planting and harvesting, which often determined life and death in these ancient world. The phrase “a time to live and die” refers to human life and the animal kingdom. The phrase “a time to plant and pluck up that which is planted” refers to the plant kingdom. In all of his pursuits of wisdom (Ecc 1:12-18), King Solomon realizes that he cannot affect the timing of one’s birth, nor of one’s death. It is a time that God alone has determined. Neither can he change the seasons of the earth. There is a planting season and a harvest season determined by God, which no man can change (Gen 8:22). Even with modern science and technology, man still cannot understand how life begins, nor can he conquer death; neither can he control the seasons and weather under creation. He cannot determine the days of the year to plant, nor the days to harvest. This timing is left up to the seasons that only God controls (Gen 8:22).
Gen 8:22, “While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.”
Ecc 3:3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
Ecc 3:3
God ordained laws for those who murder:
Gen 9:6, “Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.”
God ordained the offering of burnt sacrifices:
Gen 8:20, “And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.”
Ecc 3:3 “and a time to heal” Illustration – Jesus taught, preached and healed.
Mat 4:23, “And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.”
Ecc 3:3 “a time to break down” Comments – Jesus cleanses the temple. Illustration:
Joh 2:15, “And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables.”
Ecc 3:3 “and a time to build up” Illustration – Jesus builds the Church.
Mat 16:18, “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
Ecc 3:3 Comments – The phrase “A time to kill, and a time to heal” refers to the aspect of creation that has the breath of life, which is the plant and animal kingdoms. The phrase “a time to break down, and a time to build up” refers to that part of creation that does not contain life, such as the geological and mineral elements of creation. In Ecc 3:3 King Solomon acknowledges that, despite his vast knowledge and wisdom he obtained (Ecc 1:12-18), he alone cannot stop killing and other destructive forces of mankind. Neither can he heal and restore things to good. Even as a king he does not have the power to control evil or good. In Ecc 3:2 the king acknowledges that only God determines life and death, and He also judges good and evil upon this earth. Both are beyond King Solomon’s grasp.
Ecc 3:4 The Vanity of Mirth and Pleasure Ecc 3:4 reflects upon King Solomon’s conclusion regarding the vanity of his pursuit of mirth and pleasure (Ecc 2:1-3). King Solomon had pursued mirth and pleasure with the greatest of resources that man could obtain; yet, in all of these pursuits he now realizes that he cannot determine the time of a person’s weeping and laughter, mourning and dancing. The reason is because even Solomon could not determine the outcome of every person’s situation, whether it saddened or rejoiced the heart. These outcomes were in the hands of God.
Ecc 3:4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
Ecc 3:4 Joh 11:35
1Sa 30:4, “Then David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep.”
Ecc 3:4 “and a time to laugh” – Illustration:
Psa 2:4
Ecc 3:4 “a time to mourn” Comments – Mourning for King Saul (1Sa 31:13, 2Sa 1:17).
1Sa 31:13, “And they took their bones, and buried them under a tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days.”
2Sa 1:17, “And David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and over Jonathan his son.”
Ecc 3:4 “and a time to dance” Illustration:
2Sa 6:16
Ecc 3:4 Comments – King Solomon had pursued mirth and pleasure with the greatest of resources that man could obtain (Ecc 2:1-3); yet, in all of these pursuits he now realizes in Ecc 3:4 that he cannot determine the time of a person’s weeping and laughter, mourning and dancing. The reason is because even Solomon could not determine the outcome of every person’s situation, whether it saddened or rejoiced the heart. These outcomes were in the hand of God.
Ecc 3:5 The Vanity of Strength and Conquest – Ecc 3:5 reflects upon King Solomon’s conclusion regarding the vanity of his pursuit of strength and conquest (Ecc 2:4-6). The king had embarked upon some of the greatest building projects of the ancient world, carving and moving great stones; yet he could not determine the timing of when these projects could be completed, or even accomplished. His people had gathered stones and cast them away; his hired servants had grasped hold of these projects, and postponed or even cancelled them. The timing of these great building projects was in the hands of God.
Ecc 3:5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
Ecc 3:5
Ecc 3:6 The Vanity of Riches – Ecc 3:6 reflects upon King Solomon’s conclusion regarding the vanity of his pursuit of riches (Ecc 2:7-11). The king had gathered the greatest accumulation of wealth that had ever been collected upon earth, yet this wealth could not be kept entirely safe and secure. There were times he must give it away, and there were times thieves broke in and stole this wealth. He determined that riches were in the hands of an Almighty God as to whom He would give it to and whom He would take it away.
Ecc 3:6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
Ecc 3:6 Mat 6:33
Ecc 3:6 “and a time to lose” Illustration:
Mat 16:25
Ecc 3:6 “a time to keep” Illustration – God keeps Israel as His people (Exo 32:11; Exo 32:14).
Exo 32:11; Exo 32:14, “And Moses besought the LORD his God, and said, LORD, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand?… And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.”
Ecc 3:6 “ and a time to cast away” Illustration:
Jer 33:26
Ecc 3:6 Comments – King Solomon had gathered the greatest accumulation of wealth that had ever been collected upon earth (Ecc 2:7-11), yet this wealth could not be kept entirely safe and secure. There were times he must give it away, and there were times thieves broke in and stole this wealth. He determined that riches were in the hands of an Almighty God as to whom He would give it to and whom He would take it away.
As we reflect upon Israel’s redemptive history, we now can see that there is a predetermined time for them to prosper; and there will be a time when God will utter waste them in divine judgment. There is a time in their history for gathering stones and building the glorious Temple, and there will be a time of tearing it down in judgment. All of this was beyond Solomon’s judgment as a mortal king over Israel.
Ecc 3:7-8 The Vanity of the King’s Rule over Israel and the Nations Ecc 3:7-8 reflects upon King Solomon’s conclusion regarding the vanity and limitations of his rule over Israel and the nations. The king had decreed some of the wisest judgment among men, yet these judgments could not fix everyone’s problems in the kingdom (Ecc 3:7). In this respect he found himself in the hands of an Almighty God in knowing when to keep silent and let God work things out, and when to intervene and speak his royal judgment. Although King Solomon was the greatest king upon earth during his period of reign, with the divine wisdom to maintain peace over his kingdom, yet he was not able to control love and hate, war and peace upon the earth (Ecc 3:8). These were things too great for him, things he had to look to God for their outcome. In all of his judgments, he could not resolve all conflicts. It was beyond his mortal ability to do so; thus, judgment ultimately rested in God’s hands.
Ecc 3:7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
Ecc 3:7 1Sa 15:28
Mar 15:38, “And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom.”
Act 14:14, “Which when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of, they rent their clothes , and ran in among the people, crying out,”
Ecc 3:7 “and a time to sew” Illustration:
Gen 37:3
Ecc 3:7 “a time to keep silence” – Illustrations:
Pro 10:19, “In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise.”
Pro 15:28, “The heart of the righteous studieth to answer: but the mouth of the wicked poureth out evil things.”
Pro 17:27, “He that hath knowledge spareth his words: and a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit.”
Pro 17:28 Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.”
Pro 18:13, “He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him.”
Pro 20:3, “It is an honour for a man to cease from strife: but every fool will be meddling.”
Pro 21:23, “Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles.”
Pro 29:20, “Seest thou a man that is hasty in his words? there is more hope of a fool than of him.”
Isa 53:7, “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.”
Mat 26:62-63, “And the high priest arose, and said unto him, Answerest thou nothing? what is it which these witness against thee? But Jesus held his peace.”
Mat 27:12, “And when he was accused of the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing.”
Act 8:32, “The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth:”
Jas 1:19, “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:”
1Pe 2:23, “Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:”
Ecc 3:7 “and a time to speak” Comments – We see this same thought in Pro 25:11.
Pro 25:11, “Apples of gold in imagery of silver, Is the word spoken at its fit times .” (Young’s Literal Translation)
Illustration – Jesus taught daily in the temple.
Mat 26:55, “In that same hour said Jesus to the multitudes, Are ye come out as against a thief with swords and staves for to take me? I sat daily with you teaching in the temple, and ye laid no hold on me.”
Pro 31:8-9, “Open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction. Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy.”
Ecc 3:7 Comments – King Solomon had decreed some of the wisest judgment among men, yet these judgments could not fix everyone’s problems in the kingdom. In this respect he found himself in the hands of an Almighty God in knowing when to keep silent and let God work things out, and when to intervene and speak his royal judgment.
Ecc 3:8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.
Ecc 3:8 Joh 3:16
Ecc 3:8 “and a time to hate” – Illustrations:
Psa 97:10
Psa 139:21-22, “Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee? I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies.”
Ecc 3:8 “a time of war, and a time of peace” Comments – Before there is peace, there must be a war. For example, the nation of Israel enjoyed peace during the reign of King Solomon because David was a man of war. He had subdued all nations surrounding him in order to have peace. Also, in order for a believer to walk in victory and peace in his life, he must first learn to kick the devil out of his life by spiritual warfare. The Lord once spoke to me and said, “There is peace in a home when there is dominion in that home.” He then quickened to me Luk 11:21. There can only be peace in a home when a man is armed for war. Unless the United States had gone to war during the First and Second World War, this world would not have enjoyed peace.
Luk 11:21, “When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace:”
There are a number of biblical examples where the Lord called for war and failure to execute a war would have been sin. God told Joshua to go destroy the inhabitants of Canaan so that the children of Israel could possess the land and have rest (Heb 4:1-9). The Lord also told Saul to destroy the Amalekites so that His people would have rest from their wars. Note:
1Sa 15:18, “And the LORD sent thee on a journey, and said, Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed.”
Ecc 3:8 Comments – Although King Solomon was the greatest king upon earth during his period of reign, with the divine wisdom to maintain peace over his kingdom, yet he was not able to control love and hate, war and peace upon the earth. These were things too great for him, things he had to look to God for their outcome. In all of his judgments he could not resolve all conflicts. It was beyond his mortal ability to do so; thus, judgment ultimately rested in God’s hands.
As we reflect upon Israel’s redemptive history, we now can see that there is a predetermined time for them to be at peace, and there is a time God brought the nations into their land to judge them by waging war upon His people.
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
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 (Ecc 1:12 to Ecc 2:11) and upon those of others (Ecc 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.
Ecc 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 (Ecc 3:1). Once the Preacher recognizes these divine seasons of life (Ecc 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 (Ecc 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 (Ecc 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.
Mat 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 Ecc 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 (Ecc 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.
Ecc 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 Ecc 3:3 killing and healing are similar to breaking down and building up. In Ecc 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 (Ecc 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 Pro 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 (Ecc 3:2 b). In our times of sorrow we must not forget how God brings us a ray of sunshine during our darkest hours (Ecc 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 (Ecc 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 (Ecc 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 (Ecc 3:9). For God subjected mankind to travail at the time of the Fall in the Garden in order to keep us humble (Ecc 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 (Ecc 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 Ecc 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.
Ecc 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 (Ecc 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 (Ecc 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:
1. The Preacher Concludes God Has a Purpose Ecc 3:1-8
2. The Preacher Explains His Conclusion Ecc 3:9-15
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
The Dependence of Man Upon the Course of NatuRev. 1. To everything, all that men undertake or do on earth, there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven, under the government and providence of God:
v. 2. a time to be born, v. 3. a time to kill, v. 4. a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, v. 5. a time to cast away stones, v. 6. a time to get, v. 7. a time to rend, v. 8. a time to love, v. 9. What profit hath he that worketh v. 10. I have seen the travail which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it, v. 11. He hath made everything beautiful In his time,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
EXPOSITION
Ecc 3:1-22
Section 4. In confirmation of the truth that man’s happiness depends upon the will of God, Koheleth proceeds to show how Providence arranges even the minutest concerns; that man can alter nothing, must make the best of things as they are, bear with anomalies, bounding his desires by this present life.
Ecc 3:1-8
The providence of God disposes and arranges every detail of man’s life. This proposition is stated first generally, and then worked out in particular by means of antithetical sentences. In Hebrew manuscripts and most printed texts Ecc 3:2-8 are arranged in two parallel columns, so that one “time” always stands under another. A similar arrangement is found in Jos 12:9, etc; containing the catalogue of the conquered Canaanite kings; and in Est 9:7, etc; giving the names of Haman’s tensions. In the present passage we have fourteen pairs of contrasts, ranging from external circumstances to the inner affections of man’s being.
Ecc 3:1
To every thing there is u season, and a time to every purpose under heaven. . “Season” and “time” are rendered by the LXX. and . The word for “season” (zeman), denotes a fixed, definite portion of time; while eth, “time,” signifies rather the beginning of a period, or is used as a general appellation. The two ideas are sometimes concurrent in the New Testament; e.g. Act 1:7; 1Th 5:1. So in Wis. 8:8, “wisdom to foreseeth signs and wonders, and the events of seasons and times ( ).” Every thing refers especially to men’s movements and actions, and to what concerns them. Purpose; chephets, originally meaning “delight,” “pleasure,” in the later Hebrew came to signify “business,” “thing,” “matter.” The proposition isIn human affairs Providence arranges the moment when everything shall happen, the duration of its operation, and the time appropriate thereto. The view of the writer takes in the whole circumstances of men’s life from its commencement to its close. But the thought is not, as some have opined, that there is naught but uncertainty, fluctuation, and imperfection in human affairs, nor, as Plumptre conceives, “It is wisdom to do the right thing at the right time, that inopportuneness is the bane of life,” for many of the circumstances mentioned, e.g. birth and death, are entirely beyond men’s will and control, and the maxim, , cannot apply to man in such eases. Koheleth is confirming his assertion, made in the last chapter, that wisdom, wealth, success, happiness, etc; are not in man’s hands, that his own efforts can secure none of themthey are distributed at the will of God. He establishes this dictum by entering into details, and showing the ordering of Providence and the supremacy of God in all men’s concerns, the most trivial as well as the most important. The Vulgate gives a paraphrase, and not a very exact one, Omnia tempus habeat, et suis spatiis transenat universa sub caelo. Koheleth intimates, without attempting to reconcile, the great crux of man’s free-will and God’s decree.
Ecc 3:2
A time to be born, and a time to die. Throughout the succeeding catalogue marked contrasts are exhibited in pairs, beginning with the entrance and close of life, the rest of the list being occupied with events and circumstances which intervene between those two extremities. The words rendered, “a time to be born,” might more naturally mean “a time to bear;” , Septuagint; as the verb is in the infinitive active, which, in this particular verb, is not elsewhere found used in the passive sense, though other verbs are so used sometimes, as in Jer 25:34. In the first case the catalogue commences with the beginning of life; in the second, with the season of full maturity: “Those who at one time give life to others, at another have themselves to yield to the law of death” (Wright). The contrast points to the passive rendering. There is no question of untimely birth or suicide; in the common order of events birth and death have each their appointed season, which comes to pass without man’s interference, being directed by a higher law. “It is appointed unto men once to die” (Heb 9:27). Koheleth’s teaching was perverted by sensualists, as we read in Wis. 2:2, 3, 5. A time to plant. After speaking of human life it is natural to turn to vegetable life, which runs in parallel lines with man’s existence. Thus Job, having intimated the shortness of life and the certainty of death, proceeds to speak of the tree, contrasting its revivifying powers with the hopelessness of man’s decay (Job 14:5, etc.). And to pluck up that which is planted. This last operation may refer to the transplanting of trees and shrubs, or to the gathering of the fruits of the earth in order to make room for new agricultural works. But having regard to the opposition in all the members of the series, we should rather consider the “plucking up” as equivalent to destroying, if we plant trees, a time comes when we cut them down, and this is their final cause. Some commentators see in this clause an allusion to the settling and uprooting of kingdoms and nations, as Jer 1:10; Jer 18:9. etc. but this could not have been the idea in Koheleth’s mind.
Ecc 3:3
A time to kill, and a time to heal. The time to kill might refer to war, only that occurs in Ecc 3:8. Some endeavor to limit the notion to severe surgical operations performed with a view of saving life; but the verb harag does not admit of the meaning “rewound” or” cut.” It most probably refers to the execution of criminals, or to the defense of the oppressed; such emergencies and necessities occur providentially without man’s prescience. So sickness is a visitation beyond man’s control, while it calls into exercise the art of healing, which is a gift of God (see Ecclesiasticus 10:10; 38:1, etc.). A time to break down, and a time to build up. The removal of decaying or unsuitable buildings is meant, and the substitution of new and improved structures. A recollection of Solomon’s own extensive architectural works is here introduced.
Ecc 3:4
A time to weep, and a time to laugh, grouped naturally with a time to mourn, and a time to dance. The funeral and the wedding, the hired mourners and the guests at the marriage-feast, are set against one another. The first clause intimates the spontaneous manifestation of the feelings of the heart; the second, their formal expression in the performances at funerals and weddings and on other solemn occasions. The contrast is found in the Lord’s allusion to the sulky children in the market-place, who would not join their companions’ play: “We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned unto you, and ye have not lamented” (Mat 11:17). Dancing sometimes accompanied religious sere-monies, as when David brought up the ark (2Sa 6:14, 2Sa 6:16).
Ecc 3:5
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together. There is no question about building or demolishing houses, as that has been already mentioned in Ecc 3:3. Most commentators see an allusion to the practice of marring an enemy’s fields by casting stones upon them, as the Israelites did when they invaded Moab (2Ki 3:19, 2Ki 3:25). But this must have been a very abnormal proceeding, and could scarcely be cited as a usual occurrence. Nor is the notion more happy that there is an allusion to the custom of flinging stones or earth into the grave at a buriala Christian, but not an ancient Jewish practice; this, too, leaves the contrasted “gathering” unexplained. Equally inappropriate is the opinion that the punishment of stoning is meant, or some game played with pebbles. It seems most simple to see herein intimated the operation of clearing a vineyard of stones, as mentioned in Isa 5:2; and of collecting materials for making fences, wine-press, tower, etc; and repairing roads. A time to embrace. Those who explain the preceding clause of the marring and clearing of fields connect the following one with the other by conceiving that “the loving action of embracing stands beside the hostile, purposely injurious, throwing of stones into a field” (Delitzsch). It is plain that there are times when one may give himself up to the delights of love and friendship, and times when such distractions would be incongruous and unseasonable, as on solemn, penitential occasions (Joe 2:16; Exo 19:15; 1Co 7:5); but the congruity of the two clauses of the couplet is not obvious, unless the objectionable position of stones and their advantageous employment are compared with the character of illicit (Pro 5:20) and legitimate love.
Ecc 3:6
A time to get (seek), and a time to lose. The verb abad, in piel, is used in the sense of “to destroy” (Ecc 7:7), and it is only in late Hebrew that it signifies, as here, “to lose.” The reference is doubtless to property, and has no connection with the last clause of the preceding verse, as Delitzsch would opine. There is a proper and lawful pursuit of wealth, and there is a wise and prudent submission to its inevitable loss. The loss here is occasioned by events over which the owner has no control, differing from that in the next clause, which is voluntary. The wise man knows when to exert his energy in improving his fortune, and when to hold his hand and take failure without useless struggle. Loss, too, is sometimes gain, as when Christ’s departure in the flesh was the prelude and the occasion of the sending of the Comforter (Joh 16:7); and there are many things of which we know not the real value till they are beyond our grasp. A time to keep, and a time to cast away. Prudence will make fast what it has won, and will endeavor to preserve it unimpaired. But there are occasions when it is wiser to deprive one’s self of some things in order to secure more important ends, as when sailors throw a cargo, etc; overboard in order to save their ship (comp. Jon 1:5; Act 27:18, Act 27:19, Act 27:38). And in higher matters, such as almsgiving, this maxim holds good: “There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth . The liberal soul shall be made fat, and he that watereth shall be watered also himself” (Pro 11:24, Pro 11:25). Plumptre refers to Christ’s so-called paradox,” Whosoever would ( ) save his life shall lose it, and whosoever shall lose his life for my sake shall find it” (Mat 16:25).
Ecc 3:7
A time to rend, and a time to sew ( ). This is usually understood of the rending of garments in token of grief (Gen 37:29, Gen 37:34, etc.), and the repairing of the rent then made when the season of mourning was ended. The Talmudists laid down careful rules concerning the extent of the ritual tear, and how long it was to remain unmended, both being regulated by the nearness of the relationship of the deceased person. In this interpretation there are these two difficulties: first, it makes the clause a virtual repetition of Ecc 3:4; and secondly, it is not known for certain that the closing of the rent was a ceremonial custom in the times of Koheleth. Hence Plumptre inclines to take the expression metaphorically of the division of a kingdom by schism, and the restoration of unity, comparing the Prophet Ahijah’s communication to Jeroboam (l Kings 11:30, 31). But surely this would be a most unlikely allusion to put into Solomon’s mouth; nor can we properly look for such a symbolical representation amid the other realistic examples given in the series. What Koheleth says is thisThere are times when it is natural to tear clothes to pieces, whether from grief, or anger, or any other cause, e.g. as being old and worthless, or infected; and there are times when it is equally natural to mend them, and to make them serviceable by timely repairs. Connected with the notion of mourning contributed by this clause, though by no means confined to that notion, it is added, A time to keep silence, and a time to speak. The silence of deep sorrow may be intimated, as when Job’s friends sat by him in sympathizing silence (Job 2:13), and the psalmist cried, “I was dumb with silence, I held my peace, even from good; and my sorrow was stirred” (Psa 39:2); and Elisha could not bear to hear his master’s departure mentioned (2Ki 2:3, 2Ki 2:5). There are also occasions when the sorrow of the heart should find utterance, as in David’s lament over Saul and Jonathan (2Sa 1:17, etc.) and over Abner (2Sa 3:33, etc.). But the gnome is of more general application. The young should hold their peace in the presence of their elders (Job 32:4, etc.); silence is often golden: “Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: when he shutteth his lips, he is esteemed as prudent” (Pro 17:28). On the other hand, wise counsel is of infinite value, and must not be withheld at the right moment, and “a word in due season, how good is it!” (Pro 15:23; Pro 25:11). “If thou hast understanding, answer thy neighbor; if not, lay thy hand upon thy mouth” (Ecclesiasticus 5:12; see more, Ecclesiasticus 20:5, etc.).
Ecc 3:8
A time to love, and a time to hate. This reminds one of the gloss to which our Lord refers (Mat 5:43), “Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy,” the first member being found in the old Law (Le 19:18), the second being a misconception of the spirit which made Israel God’s executioner upon the condemned nations. It was the maxim of Bias, quoted by Aristotle, ‘Rhet.,’ Ecc 2:13, that we should love as if about some day to hate, and hate as if about to love. And Philo imparts a still more selfish tone to the gnome, when he pronounces, “It was well said by them of old, that we ought to deal out friendship without absolutely renouncing enmity, and practice enmity as possibly to turn to friendship. A time of war, and a time of peace. In the previous couplets the infinitive mood of the verb has been used; in this last hemistich substantives are introduced, as being more concise and better fitted to emphasize the close of the catalogue. The first clause referred specially to the private feelings which one is constrained to entertain towards individuals. The second clause has to do with national concerns, and touches on the statesmanship which discovers the necessity or the opportuneness of war and peace, and acts accordingly. In this and in all the other examples adduced, the lesson intended is thisthat man is not independent; that under all circumstances and relations he is in the hand of a power mightier than himself, which frames time and seasons according to its own good pleasure. God holds the threads of human life; in some mysterious way directs and controls events; success and failure are dependent upon his will. There are certain laws which, regulate the issues of actions and events, and man cannot alter these; his free-will can put them in motion, but they become irresistible when in operation. This is not fatalism; it is the mere statement of a fact in experience. Koheleth never denies man’s liberty, though he is very earnest in asserting God’s sovereignty. The reconciliation of the two is a problem unsolved by him.
Ecc 3:9
If thus man, in all his actions and under all circumstances, depends upon time and seasons which are beyond his control, we return to the same desponding question already asked in Ecc 1:3. What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboreth? The preceding enumeration leads up to this question, to which the answer is “None.” Since time and tide wait for no man, since man cannot know for certain his opportunity, he cannot reckon on reaping any advantage from his labor.
Ecc 3:10-15
There is a plan and system in all the circumstances of man’s life; he feels this instinctively, but he cannot comprehend it. His duty is to make the best of the present, and to recognize the immutability of the law that governs all things.
Ecc 3:10
I have seen the travail which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it; i.e. to busy themselves therewith (Ecc 1:13). This travail, exercise, or business is the work that has to be done under the conditions prescribed of time and season in face of the difficulty of man’s free action and God’s ordering. We take infinite pains, we entertain ample desires, and strive restlessly to carry them out, but our efforts are controlled by a higher law, and results occur in the way and at the time arranged by Providence. Human labor, though it is appointed by God and is part of man’s heritage imposed upon him by the Fall (Gen 3:17, etc.), cannot bring contentment or satisfy the spirit’s cravings.
Ecc 3:11
He hath made every thing beautiful in his (its) time. “Everything:” (eth hacol) does not refer so much to the original creation which God made very good (Gen 1:31), as to the travail and business mentioned in Ecc 3:10. All parts of this have, in God’s design, a beauty and a harmony, their own season for appearance and development, their work to do in carrying on the majestic march of Providence. Also he hath set the world in their heart. “The world;” eth-haolam, placed (as hacol above) before the verb, with eth, to emphasize the relation. There is some uncertainty in the translation of this word. The LXX. has, ; Vulgate, Mundum tradidit disputationi eorum. The original meaning is “the hidden,” and it is used generally in the Old Testament of the remote past, and sometimes of the future, as Da 3:33, so that the idea conveyed is of unknown duration, whether the glance looks backward or forward, which is equivalent to our word “eternity.” It is only in later Hebrew that the word obtained the signification of “age” (), or “world” in its relation to time. Commentators who have adopted the latter sense here explain the expression as if it meant that man in himself is a microcosm, a little world, or that the love of the world, the love of life, is naturally implanted in him. But taking the term in the signification found throughout the Bible, we are justified in translating it “eternity.” The pronoun in “their heart” refers to “the sons of men” in the previous verse. God has put into men’s minds a notion of infinity of duration; the beginning and the end of things are alike beyond his grasp; the time to be born and the Lime to die are equally unknown and uncontrollable. Koheleth is not thinking of that hope of immortality which his words unfold to us with our better knowledge; he is speculating on the innate faculty of looking backward and forward which man possesses, but which is insufficient to solve the problems which present themselves every day. This conception of eternity may be the foundation of great hopes and expectations, but as an explanation of the ways of Providence it fails. So that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end; or, without man being able to penetrate; yet so that he cannot, etc. Man sees only minute parts of the great whole; he cannot comprehend all at one view, cannot understand the law that regulates the time and season of every circumstance in the history of man and the world. He feels that, as there has been an infinite past, there will be an infinite future, which may solve anomalies and demonstrate the harmonious unity of God’s design, and he must be content to wait and hope. Comparison of the past with the present may help to adumbrate the future, but is inadequate to unravel the complicated thread of the world’s history (comp. Ecc 8:16, Ecc 8:17, and Ecc 9:1, where a similar thought is expressed).
Ecc 3:12
I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice; rather, I knew, perceived, that there was no good for them; i.e. for men. From the facts adduced, Koheleth learned this practical resultthat man had nothing in his own power (see on Ecc 2:24) which would conduce to his happiness, but to make the best of life such as he finds it. Vulgate, Cognovi quod non esset melius nisi laetari. To do good in his life; ;; Facere bene (Vulgate). This has been taken by many in the sense of “doing one’s self good, prospering, enjoying one’s self.” like the Greek , and therefore nearly equivalent to “rejoice” in the former part of the verse. But the expression is best taken here, as when it occurs elsewhere (e.g. Ecc 7:20), in a moral sense, and it thus teaches the great truth that virtue is essential to happiness, that to “trust in the Lord to depart from evil, and to do good” (Psa 36:3, 27), will bring peace and content (see in the epilogue, Ecc 12:13, Ecc 12:14). There is no Epicureanism in this verse; the enjoyment spoken of is not licentiousness, but a happy appreciation of the innocent pleasures which the love of God offers to those who live in accordance with the laws of their higher nature.
Ecc 3:13
And also that every man should eat and drink… it is the gift of God. This enforces and intensifies the statement in the preceding verse; not only the power to “do good,” but even to enjoy what comes in his way (see on Ecc 2:24), man must receive from God. When we pray for our daily bread, we also ask for ability to take, assimilate, and profit by the supports and comforts afforded to us. “It” is better omitted, as “is the gift of God” forms the predicate of the sentence. Ecc 11:1-10 :17, “The gift of the Lord remaineth with the godly, and his favor bringeth prosperity for ever.”
Ecc 3:14
I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be forever. A second thing (see Ecc 3:12) that Koheleth knew, learned from the truths adduced in Ecc 3:1-9, is that behind man’s free action and volition stands the will of God, which orders events with a view to eternity, and that man can alter nothing of this providential arrangement (comp. Isa 46:10; Psa 33:11). Nothing can be put to it, nor anything taken from it. We cannot hasten or retard God’s designs; we cannot add to or curtail his plans. Septuagint, “It is impossible to add ( ) to it, and it is impossible to Lake away from it.” Thus Ecclesiasticus 18:6, “As for the wondrous works of the Lord, it is impossible to lessen or to add to them ( ), neither can the ground of them be found out.” God doeth it, that men should fear before him. There is a moral purpose in this disposal of events. Men feel this uniformity and unchangeableness in the working of Providence, and thence learn to cherish a reverential awe for the righteous government of which they are the subjects. It was this feeling which led ancient etymologists to derive and Deus from , “fear” (comp. Rev 15:3, Rev 15:4). This is also a ground of hope and confidence. Amid the jarring and fluctuating circumstances of men God holds the threads, and alters not his purpose. “I the Lord change not; therefore ye, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed” (Ma 3:6). The Vulgate is not very successful: Non possumus eis quid-quam addere, nec auferre, quae fecit Deus ut timeatur, “We cannot add anything unto, or take anything away from, those things which God hath made that he may be feared.”
Ecc 3:15
That which hath been is now; so Septuagint; “That which hath been made, the same remaineth” (Vulgate); better, that which hath been, long ago it is; i.e. was in existence long before. The thought is much the same as in Ecc 1:9, only here it is adduced not to prove the vanity and endless sameness of circumstances, but the orderly and appointed succession of events under the controlling providence of God. That which is to be hath already been. The future will be a reproduction of the past. The laws which regulate things change not; the moral government is exercised by him who “is, and was, and is to come” (Rev 1:8), and therefore in effect history repeats itself; the same causes produce the same phenomena. God requireth that which is past; literally, God seeketh after that which hath been chased away; Septuagint, “God will seek him who is pursued ( );” Vulgate, “God reneweth that which is passed (instaurat quod abiit).” The meaning isGod brings back to view, recalls again into being, that which was past and had vanished out of sight and mind. The sentence is an explanation of the preceding clauses, and has nothing to do with the inquisition at the day of judgment. Hengstenberg has followed the Septuagint, Syriac, and Targum, in translating, “God seeks the persecuted,” and seeing herein an allusion to the punishment of the Egyptians for pursuing the Israelites to the Red Sea, or a general statement that God succors the oppressed. But this idea is quite alien to the intention of the passage, and injures the coherence.
Ecc 3:16-22
Acknowledging the providential government of God, which controls events and places man’s happiness out of his own power, one is confronted also by the fact that there is much wickedness, much injustice, in the world, which oppose all plans for peaceful enjoyment. Doubtless there shall be a day of retribution for such iniquities; and God allows them now in order to try men and to teach them humility. Meantime man’s duty and happiness consist, as before said, in making the best use of the present and improving the opportunities which God gives him.
Ecc 3:16
And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment. Koheleth records his experience of the prevalence of iniquity in high places. The place of judgment (mishat); where justice is administered. The accentuation allows (cf. Gen 1:1) this to be regarded as the object of the verb. The Revised Version, with Hitzig, Ginsburg, and others, take as an adverbial expression equivalent to “in the place.” The former is the simpler construction. “And moreover,” at the commencement of the verse, looks back to Ecc 3:10,” I have seen the travail,” etc. That wickedness (resha) was there. On the judicial seat iniquity sat instead of justice. The place of righteousness (tsedek). “Righteousness” is the peculiar characteristic of the judge himself, as “justice” is of his decisions. That iniquity (resha) was there. The word ought to be translated “wickedness” or “iniquity” in both clauses. The Septuagint takes the abstract for the concrete, and at the end has apparently introduced a clerical error, which has been perpetuated in the Arabic and elsewhere, “And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, there was the ungodly (); and the place of the righteous, there was the godly ().” The Complutensian Polyglot reads in both places. It is impossible to harmonize these statements of oppression and injustice here and elsewhere (e.g. Ecc 4:1; Ecc 5:8; Ecc 8:9, Ecc 8:10) with Solomon’s authorship of the book. It is contrary to fact that such a corrupt state of things existed in his time, and in writing thus he would be uttering a libel against himself. If he was cognizant of such evils in his kingdom, he had nothing to do but to put them down with a high hand. There is nothing to lead to the belief that he is speaking of other countries and other times; he is stating his own personal experience of what goes on around him. It is true that in Solomon’s latter days disaffection secretly prevailed, and the people felt his yoke grievous (1Ki 12:4); but there is no evidence of the existence of corruption in judicial courts, or of the social and political evils of which he speaks in this book. That he had a prophetical for, sight of the disasters that would accompany the reign of his successor, and endeavors herein to provide consolation for the future sufferers, is a pious opinion without historical basis, and cannot be justly used to support the genuineness of the work.
Ecc 3:17
I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked. In view of the injustice that prevails in earthly tribunals, Koheleth takes comfort in the thought that there is retribution in store for every man. when God shall award sentence according to deserts. God is a righteous Judge strong and patient, and his decisions are infallible. Future judgment is here plainly stated, as it is at the final conclusion (Ecc 11:1-10 :14). They who refuse to credit the writer with belief in this great doctrine resort to the theory of interpolation and alteration in order to account for the language in this and analogous passages. There can be no doubt that the present text has hitherto always been regarded as genuine, and that it does clearly assert future retribution, though not so much as a conclusion firmly established, but rather as a belief which may explain anomalies and afford comfort under trying circumstances. For there is a time there for every purpose and for every work. The adverb rendered “there” (, sham) is placed emphatically, at the end of the sentence. Thus the Septuagint, “There is a reason for every action, and for every work there ().” Many take it to mean” in the other world,” and Plumptre cites Eurip; ‘Med.,’ 1073
“All good be with you! but it must be there;
Here it is stolen from you by your sire.”
But it is unexampled to find the elliptical “there,” when no place has been mentioned in the context, and when we are precluded from interpreting the dark word by a significant gesture, as Medea may have pointed downwards in her histrionic despair. Where the words, “that day,” are used in the New Testament (e.g. Luk 10:12; 2Ti 1:18, etc.), the context shows plainly to what they refer. Some take the adverb here in the sense of “then.” Thus the Vulgate, Justum et impium iudicabit Deus, et tempus omnis rei tunc erit.” But really no time has been mentioned, unless we conceive the writer to have been guilty of a clumsy tautology, expressing by “then” the same idea as “a time for every purpose,” etc. Ewald would understand it of the past; but this is quite arbitrary, and limits the signification of the sentence unnecessarily. It is best, with many modern commentators, to refer the adverb to God, who has just been spoken of in the preceding clause. A similar use is found in Gen 49:24. With God, spud Deum, in his counsels, there is a time or judgment and retribution for every act of man, when anomalies which have obtained on earth shall be rectified, injustice shall be punished, virtue rewarded. There is no need, with some commentators, to read up, “he appointed;” the usual reading gives a satisfactory sense.
Ecc 3:18
The comfort derived from the thought of the future judgment is clouded by the reflection that man is as powerless as the beast to control his destiny. Concerning the estate of the sons of men; rather, it happens on account of the sons of men. God allows events to take place, disorders to continue, etc; for the ultimate profit of men, though the idea that follows is humiliating and dispiriting. The LXX. has , “concerning the speech of the sons of men.” So the Syriac. The word dibrah may indeed bear that meaning, as it is also used for “word“ or “matter;” but we cannot conceive that the clause refers solely to words, and the expression in the text signifies merely “for the sake, on account of,” as in Ecc 8:2. That God might manifest them; rather, that God might test them; Ut probaret eos Deus (Vulgate). God allows these things, endures them patiently, and does not at once redress them, for two reasons. The first of these is that they may serve for the probation of men, giving them opportunity of making good or bad use of them. We see the effect of this forbearance on the wicked in Ecc 8:11; it hardens them in impenitence; while it nourishes the faith of the righteous, and helps them to persevere (see Dan 11:35 and Rev 22:11). And that they might see that they themselves are beasts. The pronoun is repeated emphatically, “that they themselves are [like] beasts, they in themselves.” This is the second reason. Thus they learn their own powerlessness, if they regard merely their own animal life; apart from their relation to God and hope of the future, they are no better than the lower creatures. Septuagint. “And to show ( ) that they are beasts.” So the Vulgate and Syriac. The Masoretic reading adopted in the Anglican Version seems best.
Ecc 3:19-21
are best regarded as a parenthesis explanatory of Ecc 3:16-18, elucidating man’s impotence in the presence of the anomalies of life. The conclusion in Ecc 3:22 is connected with Ecc 3:16-18. We must acknowledge that there are disorders in the world which we cannot remedy, and which God allows in order to demonstrate our powerlessness; therefore the wisest course is to make the best of present cir-circumstances.
Ecc 3:19
For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; literally, chance are the sons of men, and chance are beasts (see on Ecc 2:14); Septuagint, “Yea, and to them cometh the event () of the sons of men, and the event of the beast.” Koheleth explains in what respect man is on a level with the brute creation. Neither are able to rise superior to the law that controls their natural life. So Solon says to Croesus (Herod; 1:32), , “Man is naught but chance;” and Artabanns reminds Xerxes that chances rule men, not men chances (ibid; 7:49). Even one thing befalleth them. A third time is the ominous word repeated, “One chance is to both of them.” Free-thinkers perverted this dictum into the materialistic language quoted in the Book of Wisdom (2. 2): “We are born at haphazard, by chance (Language:English}); etc. But Koheleth’s contention is, not that there is no law or order in what happens to man, but that neither man nor beast can dispose events at their own will and pleasure; they are conditioned by a force superior to them, which dominates their actions, sufferings, and circumstances of life. As the one dieth, so dieth the other. In the matter of succumbing to the law of death man has no superiority over other creatures. This is an inference drawn from common observation of exterior facts, and touches not any higher question (comp. Ecc 2:14, Ecc 2:15; Ecc 9:2, Ecc 9:3). Something similar is found in Psa 49:20, “Man that is in honor, and understandeth not, is like the beasts that perish.” Yea, they have all one breath (ruach). This is the word used in verse 23 for the vital principle, “the breath of life,” as it is called in Gen 6:17, where the same word is found. In the earlier record (Gen 2:7) the term is nishma. Life in all animals is regarded as the gift of God. Says the psalmist, “Thou sendest forth thy spirit (ruach), they are created” (Psa 104:30). This lower principle presents the same phenomena in men and in brutes. Man hath no pre-eminence above a beast; i.e. in regard to suffering and death. This is not bare materialism, or a gloomy deduction from Greek teaching, but must be explained from the writer’s standpoint, which is to emphasize the impotence of man to effect his own happiness. Taking only a limited and phenomenal view of man’s circumstances and destiny, he speaks a general truth which all must acknowledge. Septuagint, “And what hath the man more than the beast? Nothing.” For all is vanity. The distinction between man and beast is annulled by death; the former’s boasted superiority, his power of conceiving and planning, his greatness, skill, strength. cunning, all come under the category of vanity, as they cannot ward off the inevitable blow.
Ecc 3:20
All go unto one place. All, men and brutes, are buried in the earth (Ecc 12:7). The author is not thinking of Sheol, the abode of departed spirits, but merely regarding earth as the universal tomb of all creatures. Plumptre quotes Lueretius, ‘De Rer. Nat.,’ 5.260
“Omniparens eadem rerum commune sepulchrum.”
“The mother and the sepulcher of all.”
Thus Bailey, ‘Festus’
“The course of nature seems a course of death;
The prize of life’s brief race, to cease to run;
The sole substantial thing, death’s nothingness.”
All are of the dust (Gen 3:19; Psa 104:29; Psa 146:4). So Ecclesiasticus 41:10, “All things that are of earth shall turn to earth again.” This is true of the material part of men and brutes alike; the question of the destiny of the immaterial part is touched in the next verse.
Ecc 3:21
Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth? The statement is here too categorically rendered, though, for dogmatical purposes, the Masorites seem to have punctuated the text with a view to such interpretation. But, as Wright and others point out, the analogy of two other passages (Ecc 2:19 and Ecc 6:12), where “who knoweth” occurs, intimates that the phrases which follow are interrogative. So the translation should be, “Who knoweth as regards the spirit (ruach) of the sons of men whether it goeth upward, and as regards the spirit (ruach) of the beast whether it goeth downward under the earth?” Vulgate, Quis novit si spiritus, etc.? Septuagint, ; “Who ever saw the spirit of the sons of man, whether it goeth upward?” The Authorized Version, which gives the Masoretic reading, is supposed to harmonize better with the assertion at the end of the book (Ecc 12:7), that the spirit returns to the God who gave it. But there is no formal denial of the immortality of the soul in the present passage as we render it. The question, indeed, is not touched. The author is confirming his previous assertion that, in one point of view, man is not superior to brute. Now he says, looking at the matter merely externally, and taking not into consideration any higher notion, no one knows the destiny of the living powers, whether God deals differently with the spirit of man and of beast. Phenomenally, the principle of life in both is identical, and its cessation is identical; and what becomes of the spirit in either case neither eye nor mind can discover. The distinction which reason or religion assumes, viz. that man’s spirit goes upward and the brute’s downward, is incapable of proof, is quite beyond experience. What is meant by “upward” and “downward” may be seen by reference to the gnome in Pro 15:24, “To the wise the way of life goeth upward, that he may depart from Sheol beneath.” The contrast shows that Sheol is regarded as a place of punishment or annihilation; this is further confirmed by Psa 49:14, Psa 49:15, “They are appointed as a flock for Sheol: death shall be their shepherd their beauty shall be for Sheol to consume But God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol; for he shall receive me.” Koheleth neither denies nor affirms in this passage the immortality of the soul; that he believed in it we learn from other expressions; but he is not concerned with parading it here. Commentators quote Lucretius’ sceptical thought (‘De Rer. Nat.,’ 1.113-116)
“Ignoratur enim quae sit natura animal,
Nata sit, an contra nascentibus insinuetur,
Et simul interest nobiscum, morte dimenta,
An tenebras Orci visat vastasque lacunas.”
“We know not what the nature of the soul,
Born in the womb, or at the birth infused,
Whether it dies with us, or wings its way
Unto the gloomy pools of Orcus vast.”
But Koheleth’s inquiry suggests the possibility of a different destiny for the spirits of man and brute, though he does not at this moment make any definite assertion on the subject. Later on he explains the view taken by the believer in Divine revelation (Ecc 12:7).
Ecc 3:22
After all, the writer arrives at the conclusion intimated in Ecc 3:12; only here the result is gathered from the acknowledgment of man’s impotence (Ecc 3:16-18), as there from the experience of life. Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better, etc.; rather, so, or wherefore I saw that there was nothing, etc. As man is not master of his own lot, cannot order events as he would like, is powerless to control the forces of nature and the providential arrangements of the world, his duty and his happiness consist in enjoying the present, in making the best of life, and availing himself of the bounties which the mercy of God places before him. Thus he will free himself from anxieties and cares, perform present labors, attend to present duties, content himself with the daily round, and not vex his heart with solicitude for the future. There is no Epicureanism here, no recommendation of sensual enjoyment; the author simply advises men to make a thankful use of the blessings which God provides for them. For who shall bring him to see what shall be after him? The Revised Version, by inserting “back”Who shall bring him back to see?affixes a meaning to the clause which it need not and does not bear. It is, indeed, commonly interpreted to signify that man knows and can know nothing that happens to him after deathwhether he will exist or not, whether he will have cognizance of what passes on earth, or be insensible to all that befalls here. But Koheleth has completed that thought already; his argument now turns to the future in this life. Use the present, for you cannot be sure of the future;this is his exhortation. So he says (Ecc 6:12), “Who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun?” where the expression, “under the sun,” shows that earthly life is meant, not existence after death. Ignorance of the future is a very common topic throughout the book, but it is the terrestrial prospect that is in view. There would be little force in urging the impotence of men’s efforts towards their own happiness by the consideration of their ignorance of what may happen when they are no more; but one may reasonably exhort men to cease to torment themselves with hopes and fears, with labors that may be useless and preparations that may never be needed, by the reflection that they cannot foresee the future, and that, for all they know, the pains which they take may be utterly wasted (cf. Ecc 7:14; Ecc 9:3). Thus in this section there is neither skepticism nor Epicureanism. In brief, the sentiment is thisThere are injustices and anomalies in the life of men and in the course of this world’s events which man cannot control or alter; these may be righted and compensated hereafter. Meantime, man’s happiness is to make the best of the present, and cheerfully to enjoy what Providence offers, without anxious care for the future.
HOMILETICS
Est 3:1-9
Times and seasons; or, Heaven’s order in man’s affairs.
I. THE EVENTS AND PURPOSES OF LIFE.
1. Great in their number. The Preacher’s catalogue exhausts not, but only exemplifies, the “occupations and interests,” occurrences and experiences, that constitute the warp and woof of mortal existence. Between the cradle and the grave, instances present themselves in which more things happen than are here recorded, and more designs are attempted and fulfilled than are here contemplated. There are also cases in which the sum total of experience is included in the two entries, “born,” “died;” but the generality of mortals live long enough to suffer and to do many more things beneath the sun.
2. Manifold in their variety. In one sense and at one time it may seem as if there were “no new thing under the sun” (Ecc 1:9), either in the history of the race or in the experience of the individual; but at another time and in another sense an almost infinite variety appears in both. The monotony of life, of which complaint is often heard (Ecc 1:10), exists rather in the mind or heart of the complainant than in the texture of life itself. What more diversified than the events and purposes the Preacher has catalogued? Entering through the gateway of birth upon the mysterious arena of existence, the human being passes through a succession of constantly shifting experiences, till he makes his exit from the scene through the portals of the grave, planting and plucking up, etc.
“All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages.”
(‘As You Like It,’ act it. sc. 7.)
3. Antithetic in their relations. Human life, like man himself, may almost be characterized as a mass of contradictions. The incidents and interests, purposes and plans, events and enterprises, that compose it, are not only manifold and various, but also, it would seem, diametric in their opposition. Being born is in due course succeeded by dying; planting by plucking up; and killingit may be in war, or by administration of justice, or through some perfectly defensible causeif not by actual raising from death, which lies confessedly beyond the power of man (1Sa 2:6; 2Ki 5:7), at least by healing every malady short of death. Breaking down, whether of material structures (2Ch 23:17) or of intellectual systems, whether of national (Jer 1:10) or religious (Gal 2:18) institutions, is after an interval followed by the building up of those very things which were destroyed. Weeping endureth only for a night, while joy cometh in the morning (Psa 30:5). Dancing, on the other hand, gives place to mourning. In short, whatever experience man at any time has, before he terminates his pilgrimage he may almost confidently count on having the opposite; and whatever action he may at any season perform, another season will almost certainly arrive when he will do the reverse. Of every one of the antinomies cited by the Preacher, man’s experience on the earth furnishes examples.
4. Fixed in their times. Though appearing to come about without any order or arrangement, the events and ‘purposes of mundane existence are by no means left to the guidance, or rather no-guidance, of chance; but rather have their places in the vast world-plan determined, and the times of their appearing fixed. As the hour of each man’s entrance into life is decreed; so is that of, his departure from the same (Heb 9:27; 2Ti 4:6). The date at which he shall step forth upon the active business of life, represented in the Preacher’s catalogue by “planting and plucking up,” “breaking down and building up,” “casting away stones and gathering stones together,” “getting and losing;” the period at which he shall marry (Est 3:4), with the times at which weddings and funerals (Est 3:4) shall occur in his family circle; the moment when he shall be called upon to stand up valiantly for truth and right amongst his contemporaries (Pro 15:23), or to preserve a discreet and prudent silence when talk would be folly (Pro 10:8), or even hurtful to the cause he serves; the times when he shall either suffer his affections to flow forth in an uninterrupted stream towards the good, or withhold them from unworthy objects; or, if be a statesman, the occasions what, he shall go to war and return from it, are all predetermined by infinite wisdom.
5. Determined in their durations. How long each individual life shall continue (Psa 31:15; Act 17:26), how long each experience shall last, and how long each action shall take to perform, is equally a fixed and ascertained quantity, if not to man’s knowledge, certainly to that of the supreme Disposer of events.
II. THE TIMES AND SEASONS OF LIFE.
1. Appointed by and known only to God. As in the material and natural world the Creator hath appointed times and seasons, as, e.g; to the. heavenly bodies for their rising and setting (Psa 104:19), to plants for their growing and decaying, and to animals for their instinctive actions (Job 39:1, Job 39:2; Jer 8:7), so in the human and spiritual world has he ordained the same (Act 17:26; Eph 1:10; Tit 1:3); and these times and seasons, both in the natural and in the spiritual world, hath God reserved to himself (Act 1:7).
2. Unavoidable and unalterable by man. As no man can predict the day of his death (Gen 27:2; Mat 25:13), any more than know beforehand that of his birth, so neither can he fathom beforehand the incidents that shall happen, or the times when they shall fall out during the course of his life (Pro 27:1). Nor by any precontriving can he change by so much as a hair’s breadth the place into which each incident is fitted, or the moment when it shall happen.
Learn:
1. The changefulness of human life, and the duty of preparing wisely to meet it.
2. The Divine order that pervades human life, and the propriety of accepting it with meekness.
3. The difficulty (from a human point of view) of living well, since no man can be quite certain that for anything he does he has found the right season.
4. The wisdom of seeking for one’s self the guidance of him in whose hands are times and seasons (Act 1:7).
Est 3:11-14
All things beautiful; or, God, man, and the world.
I. THE BEAUTIFUL RELATION OF THE WORLD TO GOD. Expressed by four words.
1. Dependence: no such thing as independence, self-subsistence, self-origination, self-regulation, in mundane affairs. The universe, out to its circumference and in to its center, from its mightiest Structure down to its smallest detail, is the handiwork of God. Whatever philosophers may say or think upon the subject, it is simple absurdity to teach that the universe made itself, or that the incidents composing the sum of human life and experience have come to pass of themselves. It will be time enough to believe things are their own makers when effects can be discovered that have no causes. Persons of advanced (?) intelligence and culture may regard the Scriptures as behind the age in respect of philosophic insight and scientific attainment; it is to their credit that their writers never talk such unphilosophic and unscientific nonsense as that mundane things are their own creators. Their common senseif not permissible to say their inspirationappears to have been strong and clear enough to save them from being befooled by such vagaries as have led astray many modem savants, and to have taught them that the First Cause of all things is God (Gen 1:1; Exo 20:11; Neh 9:6; Job 38:4; Psa 19:1; Isa 40:28; Act 14:15; Act 17:24; Rom 11:36; Eph 3:9; Heb 3:4; Rev 4:11).
2. Variety no monotony in mundane affairs. Obvious as regards both the universe as a whole and its individual parts. The supreme Artificer of the former had no idea of fashioning all things after one model, however excellent, but sought to introduce variety into the works of his hands; and just this is the principle upon which he has proceeded in arranging the program of man’s experiences upon the earth. To this diversity in man’s experience the twenty-eight instances of events and purposes given by the Preacher (Est 3:2-8) allude; and this same diversity is a mark at once of wisdom and of kindness on the part of the Supreme. As the material globe would be monotonous were it all mountain and no valley, so would human life be uninteresting were it an unchanging round of the same few incidents. But it is not. If there are funerals and deaths, there are as well marriages and births; if nights of weeping, days of laughing; if times of war, periods of peace.
3. Order: no chance or accident in mundane affairs. To short-sighted and feeble man, human life is full of accidents or chances; but not so when viewed from the standpoint of God, Not only does no event happen without his permission (Mat 10:29; Luk 12:6), but each event occurs at the time and falls into the place appointed for it by infinite wisdom. Nor is this true merely of such events as are wholly and exclusively in his power, like births and deaths (Est 3:2), but of such also as to some extent at least are within man’s control, as e.g. the planting of a field and the plucking up of that which is planted (Est 3:2), killing and healing, breaking down and building up (Est 3:3), weeping and laughing (Est 3:4), etc. Men may flatter themselves that of these latter actions they are the sole originators, have both the choosing of their times and the fixing of their forms; but according to the Preacher, God’s supremacy is as little to be disputed in them as in the matter of man’s coming into or going out from the word. We express this thought by citing the well-known proverb, “Man proposes, but God disposes,” or the familiar words of Shakespeare
“There’s a divinity that shapes our ends,
Rough-hew them how we will.”
(‘Hamlet,’ act 5. so. 2.)
4. Beauty: no defect or deformity in mundane affairs. This cannot signify that in such events and actions as “killing,” “hating,” “warring,” there is never anything wrong; that God regards them only as good in the making, and generally that sin is a necessary stage in the development of human nature. The Preacher is not pronouncing judgment upon the moral qualities of the actions he enumerates, but merely calling attention to their fitness for the times and seasons to which they have been assigned by God. Going back in thought to the “Very good!” of the Creator when he rested from his labors at the close of the sixth day (Gen 1:31), the Preacher cannot think of saying less of the work God is still carrying on in evolving the plan and program of his purpose. “God hath made everything beautiful in its time” (cf. Est 3:11): beautiful in itself, so far as it is a work of his; but beautiful not less in its time, even when the work, as not being entirely his, is not beautiful in itself, or in its inward essence. Cf. Shakespeare’s
“How many things by season seasoned are
To their right praise and true perfection!”
(‘Merchant of Venice,’ act 5. sc. 1.)
Beautiful in themselves and their times are the seasons of the year, the ages of man, and the changing experiences through which he passes; beautiful, at least in their times, are numerous human actions which God cannot be regarded as approving, but which nevertheless he permits to occur because he sees the hour has struck for their occurring. As it were, the glowing wheels of Divine providence never fail to keep time with the great clock of eternity.
II. THE BEAUTIFUL RELATION OF MAN TO THE WORLD. Also expressed in four words.
1. Weariness: no perfect rest in the midst of mundane affairs. Not only is man tossed about continually by the multitudinous vicissitudes of which he is the subject, but he derives almost no satisfaction from the thought that in all these changes there is a beautiful because divinely appointed harmony, and a beneficent because Heaven-ordained purpose. The order pervading the universe is something outside of and beyond him. The fixing of the right times is a work in which he cannot, even in a small degree, co-operate. As a wise man, he may wish to have every action in which he bears a part performed at the set time marked out for it on the clock of eternity; but the very attempt to find out for each action the right time only aggravates the fatigue of his labor, and increases the sense of weariness under which he groans. “What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboreth?” Not, certainly, “no profit,” but not enough to give him rest or even free him from weariness. And this, when viewed from a moral and religious standpoint, is beautiful inasmuch as it prevents (or ought to prevent) man from seeking happiness in mundane affairs.
2. Ignorance: no perfect knowledge of mundane affairs. “No man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.” One more proof of the vanity of human lifethat no man, however wise and far-seeing, patient and laborious, can discover the plan of God either in the universe as a whole or in his own life; and what renders this a special sorrow is the fact that God hath set “the world [or.,’ eternity’] in his heart.” If the “world” be accepted as the true rendering (Jerome, Luther, Ewald), then probably the meaning is that, though each individual carries about within his besom in his own personality an image of the worldis, in fact, a microcosmus in which the macrocosmus or great world is mirrorednevertheless the problem of the universe eludes his grasp. If, however, the translation “eternity” be adopted (Delitzsch, Wright, Plumptre), then the import of the clause will be that God hath planted in the heart of man “a longing after immortality,” given him an idea of the infinite and eternal which lies beyond the veil of outward things, and inspired him with a desire to know that which is above and beyond him, yet he cannot find out the secret of the universe in the sense of discovering its plan. With an infinite behind and. before him, he can grasp neither the beginning of the work of God in its purpose or plan, nor the end of it in its issues and results, whether to the individual or to the whole. What his eye looks upon is the middle portion passing before him here and nowin comparison with the whole but an infinitesimal speckand so he remains with reference to the whole like a person walking in the dark.
3. Submission: no ground for complaining as to mundane affairs. Rather in the view presented is much to comfort man had the ordering of the universe, or even of his own lot, been left to man, man himself would have been the first to regret it. As Laplace is credited with having said that, if only the Almighty had called him into counsel at the making of the universe, he could have given the Almighty some valuable hints, so are there equally foolish persons who believe they could have drafted for themselves a better life-program than has been done for them by the supreme Disposer of events. A wise man, however, will always feel grateful that the Almighty has retained the ordering of events in his own hand, and will meekly submit to the same, believing that God’s times are the best times, and that his ways are ever “mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies” (Psa 25:10).
4. Fear: no justification for impiety or irreverence in mundane affairs. A proper study of the constitution and course of nature, a due recognition of the order pervading all its parts, with a just consideration both of the perfection and permanence (Est 3:14) of the Divine working, ought to inspire men with “fear “of such sort as both to repress within them irreligion and impiety, and to excite within them humility and awe.
Est 3:15
Requiring that which is past.
I. IN THE REALM OF NATURE. God seeks after that which is past or has been driven away, in the sense that he recalls or brings again phenomena that have vanished; as e.g. the reappearance of the sun with its light and heat, the various seasons of the year with their respective characteristics, the circling of the winds with other meteorological aspects of the firmament. The thought here is the uniformity of sequence in the physical world (Ecc 1:4-7).
II. IN THE SPHERE OF INDIVIDUAL EXPERIENCE. God seeks after that which has been driven away in the sense that he reproduces in the life of one individual experiences that have existed in another, or in himself at a former point in his career. The thought is, that by Heaven’s decree a large amount of sameness exists in the phases of thought and feeling through which different individuals pass, or the same individuals at successive stages of their development.
III. IN THE DOMAIN OF HISTORY. God seeks after that which has been driven away, in the sense that, on the broad theatre of action which men name “time,” or “the world,” he frequently, in the evolutions of his providence; seems to recall the past by reproducing “situations” “incidents,” “events,” “experiences,” similar to, if not identical with, those which occurred before. The thought is that history frequently repeats itself.
IV. IN THE PROGRAM OF THE UNIVERSE. God will eventually seek after that which has been driven away, by calling up again out of the past for judgment every individual that has lived upon the globe, with every word that has been spoken and every act that has been done, with every secret thought and imagination, whether it has been good or whether it has been bad. The thought is that the distant past and the distant future will one day meet. The place will be before the great white throne; the time will be the last day.
Verses 16, 18
Wickedness in the place of judgment; or, the mystery of providence.
I. THE PROFOUND PROBLEM. The moral disorder of the universe. “I saw under the sun in the place of judgment that wickedness was there, and in the place of righteousness that wickedness was there” (verse 16).
1. The strange spectacle. What fascinated the Preacher’s gaze and perplexed the Preacher’s heart was not so much the existence as the triumph of sinthe fact that sin existed where and as it did. Had he always beheld sin in its naked deformity, essential loathsomeness, and abject baseness, receiving the due reward of its misdeeds, trembling as a culprit before the bar of providential judgment, and suffering the punishment its criminality merited, the mystery and perplexity would most likely have been reduced by half. What, however, he did witness was iniquity, not trembling but triumphing, not sorrowing but singing, not suffering the due recompense of her own evil deeds but snatching off the rewards and prizes that belonged to virtue. In short, what he perceived was the complete moral disorder of the worldas it were society turned topsy-turvy; the wicked up and the righteous down; bad men exalted and good men despised; vice arrayed in silks and bedizened with jewels, and virtue only half covered with tattered rags.
2. Two particular sights.
(1) Iniquity usurping the place of judgment; thrusting itself into the very council-chambers where right and justice should prevail; now as a judge who deliberately holds the scales uneven because the one litigant is rich and the other poor, anon as an advocate who employs all his ingenuity to defend a prisoner whom he knows to be guilty, and again as a witness who has accepted a bribe and calmly swears to a lie.
(2) Iniquity preoccupying the place of righteousness; i.e. the tribunal, whether secular or ecclesiastical, whose efforts should be all directed to finding out and maintaining the cause of righteousness.
II. THE PERPLEXING MYSTERY. “I said in mine heart” (verse 17). The Preacher was troubled about it, as David (Psa 37:1, Psa 37:7), Job (Job 21:7), Asaph (Psa 73:3), and Jeremiah (Jer 12:1) had been. To him, as to them, it was an enigma. But why should it have been?
1. On one hypothesis it is no enigma. On the supposition that God, duty, and immortality are non-existent, it is not a mystery at all that vice should prevail and virtue have a poor time of it so long as it remains above ground, for (on the hypothesis) fleeing to a better country beyond the skies is out of the question. The mystery would be that it were otherwise.
2. On another hypothesis it is an enigma. What creates the mystery is that these things occur while God is, duty presses, and immortality awaits. Since God is, why does he suffer these things to happen? Why does he not interpose to put matters right? If right and wrong are not empty phrases, how comes it that moral distinctions are so constantly submerged? With “eternity in their hearts,” how is it to be explained that men are so regardless of the future?
III. THE PROPOSED SOLUTION. This lay in three things.
1. The certainty of a future judgment. “I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked; for there is a time for every purpose and for every work” (verse 17). Convinced that God, duty, and immortality were no fictions but solemn realities, the Preacher saw that these implied the certainty of a judgment in the future world when all the entanglements of this world would be sorted out, its inequalities evened, and its wrongs righted; and seeing this, he discerned in it a sufficient reason why God should not be in a hurry to east down vice from its undeserved eminence and exalt virtue to its rightful renown.
2. The discrimination of human character. The Preacher saw that God allowed wickedness to triumph and righteousness to suffer, in order that he might thereby “prove them,” i.e. sift and distinguish them from one another by the free development of their characters. Were God by external restraints to place a check on the ungodly or by outward helps to recompense the pious, it might come to be doubtful who were the sinful and who the virtuous; but granting free scope to both, each manifests its hidden character by its actions, according to the principle, “Every tree is known by its fruits” (Mat 7:16-20).
3. The revelation of human depravity. Because a future judgment awaits, it is necessary that the wickedness of the wicked should be revealed. Hence God abstains from interfering prematurely with the world’s disorder that men may see to what thorough inherent depravity they have really come; that, oppressing and destroying one another, they are little better than brute beasts who, without consideration or remorse, prey on each other.
LESSONS.
1. Patience.
2. Confidence.
3. Hopefulness.
Verses 19-22
Are men no better than beasts?
I. BOTH ALIKE EMANATE FROM THE SOIL. “All are of the dust” (verse 20). This the first argument in support of the monstrous proposition that man hath no pre-eminence above a beast.
1. The measure of truth it contains. In so far as it asserts that man, considered as to his material part, possesses a common origin with the beasts that perish, that both were at first formed from the ground, and are so allied to the soil that, besides emerging from it, they are every day supported by it and will eventually return to it, being both resolved into indistinguishable dust, it accords exactly with the teaching of Scripture (Gen 1:24; Gen 2:7), science, and experience. Compare the language of Arnobius, “Wherein do we differ from them? Our bones are of the same materials; our origin is not more noble than theirs” (‘Ad Genies,’ Est 2:16).
2. The amount of error it conceals. It overlooks the facts that, again according to Scripture (Gen 1:27; Gen 2:7; Gen 9:6), man was created in the Divine image, which is never said of the lower creatures; was endowed with intelligence far surpassing that of the creatures (Job 32:8); and so far from being placed on a level with the lower animals, was expressly constituted their lord (Gen 1:28). Read in this connection Shakespeare’s “What a piece of work is maul” etc. (‘Hamlet,’ act 2. sc. 2). Moreover, it ignores what is patent on every page of Scripture as well as testified by every chapter in human experience, viz. that God deals with man as he does not deal with the beasts, subjecting him as not them to moral discipline, and accepting of him what is never asked of them, the tribute of freely rendered service, inviting him as they are never invited to enter into conscious fellowship with himself, punishing him as never them for disobedience, and making of him an object of love and grace to the extent of devising and completing on his behalf a scheme of salvation, as is never done or proposed to be done for them. Unless, therefore, Scripture be set aside as worthless, it will be impossible to hold that in respect of origin and nature man hath no pre-eminence over the beasts.
II. BOTH ALIKE ARE THE SPORT OF CHANCE. “That which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them;” or, “Chance are the sons of men, chance is the beast, and one chance is to them both” (verse 19).
1. The assertion under limitations may be admitted as correct. Certainly no ground exists for the allegation that the course of providence, whether as it relates to man or as it bears upon the lower animals, is a chance, a peradventure, a haphazard. Yet events, which in the program of the Supreme have their fixed places and appointed times, may seem to man to be fortuitous, as lying altogether beyond his calculation and not within his expectation; and what the present argument amounts to is that man is as helpless before these events as the unthinking creatures of the field arethat they deal with him precisely as with the boasts, sweeping down upon him with resistless force, falling upon him at unexpected moments, and tossing him about with as much indifference as they do them.
2. The assertion, however, must be qualified. It follows not from the above concessions that man is as helpless before unforeseen occurrences as the beasts are. Not only can he to some extent by foresight anticipate their coming, which the lower creatures cannot do, but, unlike them also, he can protect himself against them when they have come. To man belongs a power not (consciously at least) possessed by the animals, of not merely accommodating himself to circumstancesa capability they to some extent share with himbut of rising above circumstances and compelling them to bend to him. If to this be added that if time and chance happen to man as to the beasts he knows it, which they do not, and can extract good from it, which they cannot, it will once more appear that ground exists for disputing the degrading proposition that man hath no pre-eminence over the beasts.
III. BOTH ALIKE ARE THE PREY OF DEATH. “As the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath” (verse 19).
1. Seeming correspondences between the two in the matter of dying.
(1) In both death means the extinction of physical life and the dissolution of the material frame.
(2) In both the mode of dying is frequently the same,
(3) The same grave receives both when the vital spark has departed.
(4) The only difference between the two is that man commonly gets a coffin and a funeral, a mausoleum and a monument, whereas the beast gets none of these luxuries.
2. Obvious discrepancies between the two in respect of dying.
(1) Man living knows that he must die (Ecc 9:5), which the beast does not.
(2) Man has the choice and power, if he accepts the provisions of grace, of meeting death without a fear.
(3) Even if he does not, there is something nobler in the spectacle of a man going forth with eyes open to the dread conflict with the king of terrors, than in that of a brute expiring in unconscious stupidity.
(4) If one thinks of him dying, as he often does die, like a Christian, it will be seen more absurd than ever to assert that a man hath no pre-eminence over a ‘beast.
IV. BOTH, DYING, PASS BEYOND THE SPHERE OF HUMAN KNOWLEDGE, “Who knoweth the spirit of man, whether it goeth upward? and the spirit of the beast, whether it goeth downward to the earth?” (verse 21).
1. Admitted so far as scientific knowledge is concerned. The agnostics of the Preacher’s day, like those of modern times, could not say what became of a man’s spirit, if he had one (of which they were not sure), after it had escaped from his body, any more than they could tell where a beast’sand the beast was as likely to have a spirit as the manwent to after its carcass sank into the soil. Whether it was the man’s that went upward and the beast’s downward, or vice versa, lay outside their ken. Their scientific apparatus did not enable them to report, as the scientific apparatus of the nineteenth century does not enable it to report, upon the post-mundane career of either beast or man; and so they assumed the position from which the agnostics of to-day have not departed, that it is all one with the man and the beast when the grave hides them, and that a man hath no preeminence over a beast.
2. Denied so far as religious knowledge is concerned. Refusing to hold that the anatomist’s scalpel, or chemist’s retort, or astronomer’s telescope, or analyst’s microscope are the ultimate tests of truth, and that nothing is to be credited which cannot be detected by one or other of these instruments, we are not so hopelessly in the dark about man’s spirit when it leaves its earthly tabernacle as are agnostics whether ancient or modern. On the high testimony of this Preacher (Ecc 12:7), on the higher witness of Paul (2Co 5:1; Php 1:23), and on the highest evidence attainable on the subject (2Ti 1:10), we know that when the spirit of a child of God forsakes the body it does not disperse into thin air, but passes up into the Father’s hand (Luk 23:46), and that when a good man disappears from earth he forthwith appears in heaven (Luk 23:43; Php 1:23), amid the spirits of the just made perfect (Heb 12:23); so that another time we decline to endorse the sentiment that man hath no pre-eminence over a beast.
V. BOTH ALIKE, PASSING FROM THE EARTH, NEVER MORE RETURN. “Who shall bring him back to see that which shall be after him?” (verse 29). Accepting this as the correct rendering of the words (for other interpretations consult the Exposition):
1. It may be granted that no human power can recall man from the grave any more than it can reanimate the beast; that the realm beyond the tomb, so far as the senses are con-corned, is “an undiscovered country, from whose borne no traveler returns.”
2. It is contended that nevertheless there is a power which can and ultimately will despoil the grave of its human victims, and that man will eventually come back to dwell, if not upon the old soil and beneath the old sky, at least beneath a new heavens and upon a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
LESSONS.
1. The dignity of man.
2. The solemnity of life.
3. The certainty of death.
HOMILIES BY D. THOMAS
Est 3:1-8
The manifold interests and occupations of life.
There is nothing so interesting to man as human life. The material creation engages the attention and absorbs the inquiring activities of the student of physical science; but unless it is regarded as the expression of the Divine ideas, the vehicle of thought and purpose, its interest is limited and cold. But what men are and think and do is a matter of concern to every observant and reflecting mind. The ordinary observer contemplates human life with curiosity; the politician, with interested motives; the historian, hoping to find the key to the actions of nations and kings and statesmen; the poet, with the aim of finding material and inspiration for his verse; and the religious thinker, that he may trace the operation of God’s providence, of Divine wisdom and love. He who looks below the surface will not fail to find, in the events and incidents of human existence, the tokens of the appointments and dispositions of an all-wise Ruler of the world. The manifold interests of our life are not regulated by chance; for “to everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.”
I. LIFE‘S PERIODS (ITS BEGINNING AND CLOSE) ARE APPOINTED BY GOD. The sacredness of birth and death are brought before us, as we are assured that “there is a time to be born, and a time to die.” The believer in God cannot doubt that the Divine Omniscience observes, as the Divine Omnipotence virtually effects, the introduction into this world, and the removal from it, of every human being, Men are born, to show that God will use his own instruments for carrying on the manifold work of the world; they die, to show that he is limited by no human agencies. They are born just when they are wanted, and they die just when it is well that their places should be taken by their successors. “Man is immortal till his work is done.”
II. LIFE‘S OCCUPATIONS ARE DIVINELY ORDERED. The reader of this passage is forcibly reminded of the substantial identity of man’s life in the different ages of the world. Thousands of years have passed since these words were penned, yet to how large an extent does this description apply to human existence in our own day! Organic activities, industrial avocations, social services, are common to every age of man’s history. If men withdraw themselves from practical work, and from the duties of the family and the state, without sufficient justification, they are violating the ordinances of the Creator. He has given to every man a place to fill, a work to do, a service of helpfulness to render to his fellow-creatures.
III. THE EMOTIONS PROPER TO HUMAN LIFE ARE OF DIVINE APPOINTMENT. These are natural to man. The mere feelings of pleasure and pain, the mere impulses of desire and aversion, man shares with brutes. But those emotions which are man’s glory and man’s shame are both special to him, and have a great share in giving character to his moral life. Some, like envy, are altogether bad; some, like hatred, are bad. or good according as they are directed; some, like love, are always good. The Preacher of Jerusalem refers to joy and sorrow, when he speaks of “a time to laugh, and a time to weep;” to love and hate, for both of which he declares there is occasion in our human existence. There has been no change in these human experiences with the lapse of time; they are permanent factors in our life. Used aright, they become means of moral development, and aid in forming a noble and pious character.
IV. THE OPERATION OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE IS APPARENT IN THE VARIED FORTUNES OF HUMANITY. This passage tells of accumulation and consequent prosperity, of loss and consequent adversity. The mutability of human affairs, the disparities of the human lot, were as remarkable and as perplexing in the days of the Hebrew sage as in our own. And they were regarded by him, as by rational and religious observers in our own time, as instances of the working of physical and social laws imposed by the Author of nature himself. In the exercise of divinely entrusted powers, men gather together possessions and disperse them abroad. The rich and the poor exist side by side; and the wealthy are every day impoverished, whilst the indigent are raised to opulence. These are the lights and shades upon the landscape of life, the shifting scenes in life’s unfolding drama. Variety and change are evidently parts of the Divine intention, and are never absent from the world of our humanity.
V. THE MORAL AND SPIRITUAL ISSUES OF HUMAN LIFE BEAR MARKS OF DIVINE WISDOM AND ORDER. It cannot be the case that all the phases and processes of our human existence are to be apprehended simply in themselves, as if they contained their own meaning, and had no ulterior significance. Life is not a kaleidoscope, but a picture; not the promiscuous sounds heard when the instrumentalists are “tuning up,” but an oratorio; not a chronicle, but a history. There is a unity and an aim in life; but this is not merely artistic, it is moral. We do not work and rest, enjoy and suffer, hope and fear, with no purpose to be achieved by the experiences through which we pass. He who has appointed “a season, and a time for every purpose under the heaven,” designs that we should, by toil and endurance, by fellowship and solitude, by gain and loss, make progress in the course of moral and spiritual discipline, should grow in the favor and in the likeness of God himself.T.
Est 3:9-13
The mystery and the meaning of life.
The author of Ecclesiastes was too wise to take what we call a one-sided view of human life. No doubt there are times and moods in which this human existence seems to us to be all made up of either toil or endurance, delight or disappointment. But in the hour of sober reflection we are constrained to admit that the pattern of the web of life is composed of many and diverse colors. Our faculties and capacities are many, our experiences are varied, for the appeals made to us by our environment change from day to day, from hour to hour. “One man in his time plays many parts.”
I. IN LIFE THERE IS MYSTERY TO SOLVE. The works and the ways of God are too great for our feeble, finite nature to comprehend. We may learn much, and yet may leave much unlearned and probably unlearnable, at all events in the conditions of this present state of being.
1. There are speculative difficulties regarding the order and constitution of things, which the thoughtful man cannot avoid inquiring into, which yet often baffle and sometimes distress him. “Man cannot find out the work that God hath done from the beginning even to the end.”
2. There are practical difficulties which every man has to encounter in the conduct of life, fraught as it is with disappointment and sorrow. “What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboreth?”
II. IN LIFE THERE IS BEAUTY TO ADMIRE. The mind that is not absorbed in providing for material wants can scarcely fail to be open to the adaptations and the manifold charms of nature. The language of creation is as harmonious music, which is soothing or inspiring to the ear of the soul. What a revelation is here of the very nature and benevolent purposes of the Almighty Maker! “He hath made everything beautiful in its time.” And beauty needs the aesthetic faculty in order to its appreciation and enjoyment. The development of this faculty in advanced states of civilization is familiar to every student of human nature. Standards of beauty vary; but the true standard is that which is offered by the works of God, who “hath made everything beautiful in its time.” There is a beauty special to every season of the year, to every hour of the day, to every state of the atmosphere; there is a beauty in every several kind of landscape, a beauty of the sea, a beauty of the heavens; there is a beauty of childhood, another beauty of youth, of healthful manhood and radiant womanhood, and even a certain beauty peculiar to age. The pious observer of the works of God, who rids himself of conventional and traditional prejudices, will not fail to recognize the justice of this remarkable assertion of the Hebrew sage.
III. IN LIFE THERE IS WORK TO DO. Labor and travail are very frequently mentioned in this book, whose author was evidently deeply impressed by the corresponding factsfirst, that God is the almighty Worker in the universe; and, secondly, that man is made by the Creator like unto himself, in that he is called upon by his nature and his circumstances to effort and to toil. Forms of labor vary, and the progress of applied science in our own time seems to relieve the toiler of some of the severer, more exhausting kinds of bodily effort. But it must ever remain true that the human frame was not intended for indolence; that work is a condition of welfare, a means of moral discipline and development. It is a factor that cannot be left out of human life; the Christian is bound, like his Master, to finish the work which the Father has given him to do.
IV. IN LIFE THERE IS GOOD TO PARTICIPATE, There is no asceticism in the teaching of this Book of Ecclesiastes. The writer was one who had no doubt that man was constituted to enjoy. He speaks of eating and drinking as not merely necessary in order to maintain life, but as affording gratification. He dwells appreciatingly upon the happiness of married life. He even commends mirth and festivity. In all these he shows himself superior to the pettiness which carps at the pleasures connected with this earthly existence, and which tries to pass for sanctity. Of course, there are lawful and unlawful gratifications; there is a measure of indulgence which ought not to be exceeded. But if Divine intention is traceable in the constitution and condition of man, he was made to partake with gratitude of the bounties of God’s providence.
V. ALL THE PROVISIONS WHICH DIVINE WISDOM ATTACHES TO HUMAN LIFE ARE TO BE ACCEPTED WITH GRATITUDE AND USED WITH FAITHFULNESS, AND WITH A CONSTANT SENSE OF RESPONSIBILITY. In receiving and enjoying every gift, the devout mind will exclaim, “It is the gift of God.” In taking advantage of every opportunity, the Christian will bear in mind that wisdom and goodness arrange human life so that it shall afford repeated occasion for fidelity and diligence. In his daily work he will make it his aim to “serve the Lord Christ.”
APPLICATION.
1. There is much in the provisions and conditions of our earthly life which baffles our endeavors to understand it; and when perplexed by mystery, we-are summoned to submit with all humility and patience to the limitations of our intellect, and to rest assured that God’s wisdom will, in the end, be made apparent to all.
2. There is a practical life to be lived, even when speculative difficulties are insurmountable; and it is in the conscientious fulfillment of daily duty, and the moderate use of ordinary enjoyments, that as Christians we may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior.T.
Est 3:14
The purposes of Providence.
Different minds, observing and considering the same facts, are often very differently affected by them. The measure of previous experience and culture, the natural disposition, the tone and temper with which men address themselves to what is before them,all affect the conclusion at which they arrive. The conviction produced in the mind of the Preacher of Jerusalem is certainly deserving of attention; he saw the hand of God in nature and in life, where some see only chance or fate. To see God’s hand, to admire his wisdom, to appreciate his love, in our human life,this is an evidence of sincere and intelligent piety.
I. GOD‘S WORK IS PERFECT AND UNALTERABLE. “Nothing can be put to it, nor anything taken from it.” This cannot be said to be the general conviction; on the contrary, men are always finding fault with the constitution of things. If they had been consulted in the creation of the universe, and in the management of human affairs, all would have been far better than it is! Now, all depends upon the end in view. The scientific man would make an optical instrument which should serve as both microscope and telescopea far more marvelous construction than the eye. The pleasure-seeker would eliminate pain and sorrow from human life, and would make it one prolonged rapture of enjoyment. But the Creator had no intention of making an instrument which should supersede human inventions; his aim was the production of a working, everyday, useful organ of vision. The Lord of all never aimed at making life one long series of gratification; he designed life to be a moral discipline, in which suffering, weakness, and distress fulfill their own service of ministering to man’s highest welfare. For the purposes intended, God’s work needs no apology and admits of no improvement.
II. GOD‘S WORK IS ETERNAL. All men’s works are both unstable and transitory. Fresh ends are ever being approved and sought by fresh means. The laws of nature know no change; the principles of moral government are the same from age to age. When we learn to distrust our own fickleness, and to weary of human uncertainty and mutability, then we fall back upon the unchanging counsels of him who is from everlasting to everlasting.
III. GOD‘S WORK HAS A PURPOSE WITH REFERENCE TO MAN. What God has done in this world he has done for the benefit of his spiritual family. Everything that is may be regarded as the vehicle of communication between the creating and the created mind. The intention of God is “that men should fear before him,”‘ i.e. venerate and glorify him. Our human probation and education as moral and accountable beings is his aim. Hence the obligation on our part to observe, inquire, and consider, to reverence, serve, and obey, and thus consciously and voluntarily secure the ends for which the Creator designed and fashioned us.T,
Verses 16, 17
Man’s unrighteousness contrasted with God’s righteousness.
Every observant, judicial, and sensitive mind shares this experience. Human society, civil relations, cannot be contemplated without much of disapproval, disappointment, and distress. And who, when so affected by the spectacle which this world presents, can do other than raise his thoughts to that Being, to those relationships that are characterized by a moral excellence which corresponds to our highest ideal, our purest aspirations?
I. THE PREVALENCE OF WICKEDNESS UPON EARTH AND AMONG MEN. The observation of the wise man was naturally directed to the state of society in his own times and in his own and of the neighboring countries. Local and temporal peculiarities do not, however, destroy the applicability of the principle to human life generally. Wickedness was and is discernible wherever man is found. Unconscious nature obeys physical laws, brute nature obeys automatic and instinctive impulse. But man is a member of a rational and spiritual system, whose principles he often violates in the pursuit of lower ends. In the earliest ages “the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” A remedial system has checked and to some extent counteracted these evil tendencies; yet to how large an extent is the same reflection just!
II. WICKEDNESS, IN THE FORM OF INJUSTICE, PREVAILS EVEN WHERE JUSTICE SHOULD BE IMPARTIALLY ADMINISTERED. It is well known that in every age complaints have been made of the venality of Eastern magistrates. In the Old Testament references are frequent to the “gifts,” the bribes, by which suitors sought to obtain decisions in their favor. Corruption here is worse than elsewhere, for it is discouraging to uprightness, and lowers the tone of public morals. We may be grateful that, in our own land and in our own day, such corruption is unknownthat our judges are above even temptation to bribery. But the fact has to be faced that injustice, whether from motives of malice or from motives of avarice, has existed widely in human communities.
III. THE UNIVERSAL JUDGMENT OF A RIGHTEOUS GOD. The atheist has no refuge from such observations and reflections as those recorded in verse 16. But the godly man turns from earth to heaven, and rests in the conviction that there is a Divine and righteous Judge, to whose tribunal all men must come, and by whose just decisions every destiny must be decided.
1. All characters, the righteous and the wicked alike, will be judged by the Lord of all. Has the unjust escaped the penalty due from a human tribunal? He shall not escape the righteous judgment of God. Has the innocent, been unjustly sentenced by an earthly and perhaps corrupt judge? There is for him a court of appeal, and his righteousness shall shine as the noonday.
2. All kinds of works shall meet with retribution; not only the acts of private life, but also acts of a judicial and governmental kind. The unjust judge shall meet with his recompense, and the wronged and persecuted shall not be unavenged.T.
Verses 18-21
The common destiny of death.
The double nature of man has been recognized by every student of human nature. The sensationalist and materialist lays stress upon the physical side of our humanity, and endeavors to show that the intellect and the moral sentiments are the outgrowth of the bodily life, the nervous structure and its susceptibilities and its powers of movement. But such efforts fail to convince alike the unsophisticated and the philosophic. It is generally admitted that it would be more reasonable to resolve the physical into the psychical than the psychical into the physical. The author of Ecclesiastes was alive to the animal side of man’s nature; and if some only of his expressions were considered, he might be claimed as a supporter of the baser philosophy. But he himself supplies the counteractive. The attentive reader of the book is convinced that the author traced the human spirit to its Divine original, and looked forward to its immortality.
I. THE COMMUNITY OF MEN WITH BEASTS IN THE ANIMAL NATURE AND LIFE. If we look upon one side of our humanity, it appears that we are to be reckoned among the brutes that perish. The similarity is obvious in:
1. The corporeal, fleshly constitution with which man and brute are alike endowed.
2. The brevity of the earthly life appointed for both without distinction.
3. The resolution of the body into dust.
II. THE SUPERIORITY OF MEN OVER BEASTS IN THE POSSESSION OF A SPIRITUAL AND IMPERISHABLE NATURE AND LIFE. It is difficult for us to treat this subject without; bringing to bear upon it the knowledge which we have derived from the fuller and more glorious revelation of the new covenant. “Christ has abolished death, and has brought life and immortality to light by the gospel.” We cannot possibly think of such themes without taking to their consideration the convictions and the hopes which we have derived from the incarnate Son of God. Nor can we forget the sublime speculations of philosophers of both ancient and modern times.
1. In his spiritual nature man is akin to God. Physical life the Creator imparted to the animal Organisms with which the world was peopled. But a life of quite another order was conferred upon man, who participates in the …Divine reason, who is able? think the thoughts of God himself, and who has intuitions of moral goodness of which the brute creation is for ever incapable. Instead of man’s mind being a function of organized matter, as a base sensationalism and empiricism is wont to affirm, the truth is that it is only as an expression and vehicle of thought, of reason, that matter has a dependent existence.
2. In his consequent immortality man is distinguished from the inferior animals. The life possessed by these latter is a life of sensation and of movement; the organism is resolved into its constituents, and there is no reason to believe that the sensation and movement are perpetuated. But “the spirit of man goeth upward;” it has used its instrument, the body, and the time comesappointed by God’s inscrutable providencewhen the connection, local and temporary, which the spirit has maintained with earth, is sundered. In what other scenes and pursuits the conscious being is continued, we cannot tell. But there is not the slightest reason for conceiving the spiritual life to be dependent upon the organism which it uses as its instrument. The spiritual life is the life of God; and the life of God is perishable.
“The sun is but a spark of fire,
A transient meteor in the sky;
The soul, immortal as its Sire,
Can never die.
T.
Verse 22
The earthly portion.
When a man is, perhaps suddenly, awakened to a sense of the transitoriness of life and the vanity of human pursuits, what more natural than that, under the influence of novel conceptions and convictions, he should rush from a career of self-indulgence into the opposite extreme? Life is brief: why concern one’s self with its affairs? Sense-experiences are changeable and perishable: why not neglect and despise them? Earth will soon vanish: why endeavor to accommodate ourselves to its conditions? But subsequent reflection convinces us that such practical inferences are unjust. Because this earth and this life are not everything, it does not follow that they are nothing. Because they cannot satisfy us, it does not follow that we should not use them.
I. IT IS POSSIBLE TO LIMIT OUR VIEW OF THIS EARTHLY LIFE UNTIL IT LOSES ITS INTEREST FOR US.
1. Man’s works, to the observant and reflecting mind, are perishable and poor.
2. Nan’s joys are often both superficial and transitory.
3. The future of human existence and progress upon earth is utterly uncertain, and, if it could be foreseen, would probably occasion bitter disappointment.
II. IT IS UNWISE AND UNSATISFACTORY SO TO LIMIT OUR VIEW OF LIFE. There is true wisdom in the wise man’s declaration, “There is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his works; for that is his portion.” The epicurean is wrong who makes pleasure his one aim. The cynic is wrong who despises pleasure as something beneath the dignity of his nature. Neither work nor enjoyment is the whole of life; for life is not to be understood save in relation to spiritual and disciplinary purposes. Man has for a season a bodily nature; let him use that nature with discretion, and it may prove organic to his moral welfare. Man is for a season stationed upon earth; let him fulfill earth’s duties, and taste earth’s delights. Earthly experience may be a stage towards heavenly service and bliss.T.
HOMILIES BY W. CLARKSON
Est 3:1-10
Opportunity; opportuneness; ordination.
This view of life embraces
I. OPPORTUNITY, OR THE WISDOM OF WAITING. Everything comes in its turn; if we weep today, we shall laugh to-morrow; if we have to be silent for the present, we shall have the opportunity of speech further on; if we must strive now, the time of peace will return. Human life is neither unshadowed brightness nor unbroken gloom. “Shadow and shine is life flower and thorn.” Let no man be seriously discouraged, much less hopelessly disheartened: what he is now suffering from will not always remain; it will pass and give place to that which is better. Let us only patiently wait our time, and our turn will come. “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning”at any rate, and at the furthest,. In the morning of eternity. Only let us wait in patience and in prayerful hope, doing all that we can do in the paths of duty and of service, and the hour of opportunity will arrive… with succeeding turns God tempers all, That man may hope to rise, yet fear to fall.”
II. OPPORTUNENESS. The words of the text may suggest to us, though the thought may not have been in the writer’s mind, that some things are good or otherwise according to their timeliness. There is a time to speak in the way of rebuking, or of jesting, or of contending, and, when well-timed, such words may be right and wise in a very high degree; but, if ill-timed, they would be wrong and foolish, and much to be condemned. The same thought is applicable to the demonstration of friendliness, or of any strong emotion (Est 3:5, Est 3:7); to the exercise of severity or of leniency (Est 3:3); to the manifestation of sorrow or of joy (Est 3:4); to the action of economy or of generosity (Est 3:6). Hard-and-fast rules will not cover the infinite particulars of human life. Whether we shall act or be passive, whether we shall speak or be silent, what shall be our demeanor and what the tone we shall take,this must depend upon particular circumstances and a number of new combinations; and every man must judge for himself, and must remember that there is great virtue in opportuneness.
III. ORDINATION. There is a season, an “appointed time for every undertaking” (Cox). “What profit hath he that worketh,” when all this” travail” with which “the sons of men” are exercised results in such fixed and inevitable changes? That is the spirit of the moralist here. We reply:
1. That it is indeed true that much is already appointed for us. We have no power, or but little, over the seasons and the elements of nature, and not very much (individually) over the institutions and customs of the land in which we live; we are compelled to conform our behavior to forces which are superior to our own.
2. But there is a very large remainder of freedom. Within the lines that are laid down by the ordination of Heaven or the “powers that be” on the earth, there is ample scope for free, wise, life-giving choice of action. We are free to choose our own conduct, to form our own character, to determine the complexion and aspect of our life in the sight of God, to decide upon our destiny.C.
Est 3:11
This unintelligible world.
How shall we solve all those great problems which continually confront us, which baffle and bewilder us, which sometimes drive us to the very verge of distraction or even of unbelief? The solution is partly found in
I. A WIDE VIEW OF THE WORTH OF PRESENT THINGS. If we look long and far, we shall see that, though many things have an ugly aspect at first sight, God “has made everything beautiful in its time.” The light and warmth of summer are good to see and feel; but is not the cold of winter invigorating? and what is more beautiful to the sight than the untrodden snow? The returning life of spring is welcome to all hearts; but are not the brilliant hues of autumn fascinating to every eye? Youth is full of ardor, and manhood of strength; but declining years possess much richness of gathered wisdom, and there is a dignity, a calm, a reverence, m age which is all its own. There is a joy in battle as well as a pleasantness in peace. Wealth has its treasures; but poverty has little to lose, and therefore little cause for anxiety and trouble. Luxury brings many comforts, but hardness gives health and strength. Each climate upon the earth, every condition in life, the various dispositions and temperaments of the human soul,these have their own particular advantage and compensation. Look on the other side, and you will see something that will please, if it does not satisfy.
II. THE HELP WE GAIN FROM THE GREAT ELEMENT OF FUTURITY. “Also he hath set eternity” (marginal reading, Revised Version) “in their heart.” We are made to look far beyond the boundary of the visible and the present. The idea of “the eternal” may help us in two ways.
1. That we are created for the unseen and the eternal accounts for the fact that nothing which is earthly and sensible will satisfy our souls. Nothing of that order ought to do so; and it would put the seal upon our degradation if it did so. Our unsatisfiable spirit is the signature of our manhood and the prophecy of our immortality.
2. The inclusion of the future in our reasoning makes all the difference to our thought. Admit only the passing time, this brief and uncertain life, and much that happens is inexplicable and distressing indeed; but include the future, add “eternity “to the account, and the “crooked is made straight,” the perplexity is gone. But, even with this aid, there is
III. THE MYSTERY WHICH REMAINS, AND WILL REMAIN No man can find out,” etc. We do well to remember that what we see is only a very small part indeed of the wholeonly a page of the great volume, only a scene in the great drama, only a field of the large landscapeand we may well be silenced, if not convinced. But even that does not cover everything. We need to remember that we are human, and not Divine; that we, who are God’s very little children, cannot hope to understand all that is in the mind of our heavenly Fathercannot expect to fathom his holy purpose, to read his unfathomable thoughts. We see enough of Divine wisdom, holiness, and love to believe that, when our understanding is enlarged and our vision cleared, we shall find that “all the paths of the Lord were mercy and truth”even those which most troubled and bewildered us when we dwelt upon the earth.C.
Est 3:12, Est 3:13, 22 (with Ecc 2:24)
The conclusion of folly or the faith of the wise?
In what catalogue shall we place these words of the text? On whose lips are they to be found? Are they
I. THE REFUGE OF THE SKEPTIC? They may be such. The epicure who has lost his faith in God says, “Let us eat and drink; for to-morrow we die.” There is no sacredness in the present, and no solid hope for the future. What is the use of aiming at a high ideal? Why waste breath and strength on duty, on aspiration, on piety? Why attempt to rise to the pursuit of the eternal and the Divine? Better lose ourselves in that which is at hand, in that which we can grasp as a present certainty. The best thing, the only certain good, is to eat and drink and to labor; is to minister to our senses, and to work upon the material which is visible to our eye and responsive to our touch. So speaks the skeptic; this is his miserable conclusion; thus he owns himself defeated and dishonored. For what is human life worth when the element of sacredness is expunged, when piety and hope are left out of it? It is no wonder that the ages of unbelief have been the times when men have bad no regard for other people’s dues, and very little for their own. Or shall we rather find here
II. AN ARTICLE, OF A WISE MAN‘S FAITH? It is not certain what was the mood in which the Preacher wrote; but let us prefer to think that behind his words, actuating and inspiring him, was a true spirit of faith in God and in Divine providence; let us take him to meanwhat we know to be truethat, in spite of all evidence to the contrary, a wise and loyal-hearted man will hold that there is much that is worth pursuing and possessing in the simple pleasures, in the daily duties, and in the ordinary services which are open to us all.
1. Daily God invites us to eat and drink, to partake of the bounties of his hand; let us appreciate his benefits with moderation and gratitude.
2. Daily he bids us go forth to “our work and to our labor until the evening;” let us enter upon it and carry it out in the spirit of conscientiousness and fidelity toward both God and man (Col 3:23).
3. Daily God gives us the means of getting good to ourselves and doing good to others; let us eagerly embrace our opportunity, let us gladly avail ourselves of our privilege; so doing we shall make our life peaceful, happy, worthy.
In the light that shines into our hearts from the truth of Christ we judge:
1. That these lesser thingspleasure, activity, acquisitionare well in their way and in their measure. “Bodily exercise profiteth a little.” But:
2. That human life has possibilities and obligations which immeasurably transcend these things; such, that to put these into the front rank and to fill our life with them is a fatal error. Made subordinate to that which is higher, they take their place and they render their servicea place and a service not to be despised; but made primary and supreme, they are usurpers that do untold injury, and that must be relentlessly dethroned.C.
Est 3:14, Est 3:15
Divine constancy and human piety.
With the outer world of nature and with our human nature and character before us, these words may somewhat surprise us; it is necessary to take a preliminary view of-
I. HUMAN ACTION UPON THE DIVINE.
1. There is a sense in which man has modified the Divine action according to the Divine purpose. God has given us the material, and he says to us, “Work with it and upon it; mould, fashion, transform, develop it as you will; make all possible use of it for bodily comfort, for mental enlargement, for social enjoyment, for spiritual growth.” Man has made large use of this his opportunity, and, with the advance of knowledge and of science, he will make much more in the centuries to come. He cannot indeed “put to” or “take from” the substance with which God supplies him, but he can do much to change its form and to determine the service it shall render.
2. There is a sense in which man has temporarily thwarted the Divine idea. For is not all sin, and are not all the dire consequences of sin, a sad and serious departure from the purpose of the Holy One? Surely infidelity, blasphemy, vice, cruelty, crime; surely poverty, misery, starvation, death;-all this is not what the heavenly Father meant for his human children when he breathed into man’s nostrils the breath of life. But the leading idea of the text is
II. THE PERMANENCY OF THE DIVINE THOUGHT. This truth includes:
1. The fixedness of the Divine purpose. “The counsel of the Lord standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations” (Psa 33:11). We believe that from the beginning God intended to work out the righteousness and the blessedness of the human race; and whatever has come between him and the realization of his gracious end will be cleared away. Man will one day be all that the Eternal One designed that he should become.
2. The constancy of the Divine Law. The same great moral laws, and the same physical laws also, which governed the action and the destiny of men in primeval times still prevail, and will always abide. Sin has meant suffering and sorrow, righteousness has worked out well-being and joy; diligence has been followed by fruitfulness, and idleness by destitution; generosity has been recompensed with love, and selfishness with leanness of soul, etc. As it was at the beginning, so will it be with the action of all Divine laws, even to the cud.
3. The permanency of the Divine attitude.
(1) What God always felt toward sin he feels today; it is the thing which he hates. In Jesus Christ, as fully and as emphatically as in the Law, his holy intolerance of sin is revealed, his Divine determination to conquer and to destroy it.
(2) What God always felt toward the sinner he feels todaya Divine grief and an infinite compassion; a readiness to forgive and to restore the penitent.
III. THE DIVINE DESIGN. “God doeth it, that men should fear before him.” God’s one unchanging desire is that his children should live a reverential, holy life before him. All the manifestations of his character that he gives us are intended to lead up to and issue in this. And surely the Divine constancy is calculated to promote this as nothing else would. It is God’s desire and his design concerning us, because he knows
(1) that it is the only right relationship for us to sustain; and
(2) that it is the one condition of peace, purity, blessedness, life.C.
Verses 18-21
Before and after Christ.
These words have a strange sound in our ears; they evidently do not belong to New Testament times. They bring before us
I. MAN‘S UNENLIGHTENED CONCEPTION OF HIMSELF. It is evidently possible that, under certain conditions, men may judge themselves to be of no nobler nature than that of “the beasts that perish.” It may be
(1) bodily suffering or weakness; or
(2) untoward and disappointing circumstances; or
(3) bewilderment of mind after vain endeavors to solve great spiritual problems; or
(4) the distracted and unnatural state of the society in which we are placed (see Cox’s ‘Quest of the Chief Good’); but, owing to some one of many possible causes, men may be driven to take the lowest view of human nature; so much so that they may lose all respect for themselvesmay shut the future life entirely out of view, and live in the narrow circle of the present; may confine their ambition and aspiration to bodily enjoyment and the excitements of present occupation; may practically own themselves to be defeated, and go blindly on, ‘hoping nothing, believing nothing, and fearing nothing.”
Such a melancholy conclusion
(1) does us sad dishonor;
(2) has a demoralizing influence on character and life;
(3) yields a wretched harvest of despair and self-destruction. In most happy contrast with this is
II. THE VIEW OF OUR NATURE WHICH CHRIST HAS GIVEN US. He asks us to think how “much a man is better than a sheep,” and reminds us that we are “of more value than many sparrows.” He bids us realize that one human soul is worth more than “the whole world,” and that there is nothing so costly that it will represent its value. He reveals to us the supreme and most blessed fact that each human spirit is the object of Divine solicitude, and may find a home in the Father’s heart of love at once, and in his nearer presence soon. He assures us that there is a glorious future before every man that becomes the subject of his kingdom, and serves faithfully to the end. Under his teaching, instead of seeing that “they themselves are beasts,” his disciples find themselves “children of their Father who is in heaven,” “kings and priests unto God,” “heirs of eternal life.” Coming after Christ, and learning of him, we see that we are capable of a noble heritage now, and move toward a still nobler estate a little further on.C.
HOMILIES BY J. WILLCOCK
Est 3:1-8
Opportuneness.
Our author makes a fresh start. He drops the autobiographical style of the first two chapters, and casts his thoughts into the form of aphorisms, based not merely upon the reminiscences of his own life, but upon the experience of all men. He gives a long list of the events, actions, emotions, and feelings which go to make up human life, and asserts of them that they are governed by fixed laws above our knowledge, out of our control. The time of our entrance into the world, the condition of life in which we are placed, are determined for us by a higher will than our own, and the same sovereign power fixes the moment of our departure from life; and in like manner all that is done, enjoyed, and suffered between birth and death is governed by forces which we cannot bend or mould, or even fully understand. That there is a fixed order in the events of life is, to a certain extent, an instinctive belief which we all hold. The thought of an untimely birth or of an untimely death shocks us as something contrary to our sense of that which is fit and becoming, and those crimes by which either is caused are generally regarded as specially repulsive. Yet there is an appointed season for the other incidents of life, though less clearly manifest to us. Our wisdom lies, not in mere acquiescence in the events of life, but in knowing our duty for the time. The circumstances in which we are placed are so fluctuating, and the conditions in the midst of which we find ourselves are so varying, that a large space is left for us to exercise our discretion, to discern that which is opportune, and to do the right thing at the right time. The first class of events alluded to, the time of birth and the time of death, is that of those which are involuntary; they are events with which there can be no interference without the guilt of gross and exceptional wickedness. The actions and emotions that follow are voluntary, they are within our power, though the circumstances that call them forth at a precise time are not. The relations of life which are determined for us by a higher power give us the opportunity for playing our part, and we either succeed or fail according as we take advantage of the time or neglect it. The catalogue given of the events, actions, and emotions which make up life seems to be drawn up without any logical order; the various items are apparently taken capriciously as examples of those things that occupy men’s time and thoughts, and at first sight the teaching of our author does not seem to be of a distinctively spiritual character. To a superficial reader it might appear as if we had not in it much more than the commonplace prudence to be found in the maxims and proverbs current in every country: “Take time by the forelock;” “He that will not when he may, when he would he shall have nay;” “Time and tide wait for no man,” etc. But we are taught by Christ himself that knowing how to act opportunely is a large part of that wisdom which is needed for our salvation. He himself came to earth in the “fullness of time” (Gal 4:4), when the Jewish people and the nations of the world were prepared by Divine discipline for his teaching and work (Act 17:30, Act 17:31; Luk 2:30, Luk 2:31). The purpose of the mission of John the Baptist, calculated as it was to lead men to godly sorrow for sin, was in harmony with the austerity of his life and the sternness of his exhortations. It was a time to mourn (Mat 11:18). The purpose of Christ’s own mission was to reconcile the world to God and to manifest the Father to men, so that joy was becoming in his disciples (Mar 2:18-20). He taught that there was a time to lose, when all possessions that would alienate the heart from him should be parted with; and that there would be a time of gain, when in heaven the accumulated treasures would become an abiding possession (Mat 6:19, Mat 6:20). “That which the Preacher insists on is the thought that the circumstances and events of life form part of a Divine order, are not things that come at random, and that wisdom, and therefore such a measure of happiness as is attainable, lies in adapting ourselves to the order, and accepting the guidance of events in great things and small, while shame and confusion come from resisting it.” But such teaching is applicable, as we have seen, to the conduct of our spiritual as well as of our secular concerns. The fact that there are great changes through which we must pass in order to be duly prepared for the heavenly state, that we may have to forfeit the temporal to secure the eternal, that the new life has new duties for the discernment and fulfillment of which all our powers and faculties need to be called into full exerciseshould make us earnestly desire to be filled with this wisdom that prompts to opportune action. “If any of you lack wisdom,” says St. James, “let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him” (Jas 1:5).J.W.
Est 3:9-11
Desiderium ceternitatis .
The thought of there being a fixed order in the events of life, of laws governing the world which man cannot fully understand or control, brings with it no comfort to the mind of this Jewish philosopher. It rather, in his view, increases the difficulty of playing one’s part successfully. Who can be sure that he has hit upon the right course to follow, the opportune time at which to act? Do not “the fixed phenomena” and “iron laws of life” render human effort fruitless and disappointing? Another conclusion is drawn from the same facts by a higher Teacher. We cannot by taking thought alter the conditions of our lives, and should, therefore, Christ has taught us, place our trust in our heavenly Father, who governs all things, and whose love for the creatures he has made is seen in his feeding the birds and clothing with beauty the flowers of the field (Mat 6:25-34). The anxiety which the thought of human weakness in the presence of the immutable laws of nature excites is charmed away by the consolatory teaching of Jesus. But no solution is given of the difficulties that occasioned it. These will always exist as they spring from the limitations of our nature. We are finite creatures, and God is infinite. We endure but for a few years; he is from everlasting to everlasting. Our apprehension of these facts, of infinitude and eternity, prevents our being satisfied with that which is finite and temporal. “God has set eternity” “in our hearts.” Though we are limited by time, we are related to eternity. “That which is transient yields us no support; it carries us on like a rushing stream, and constrains us to save ourselves by laying hold on eternity” (Delitzsch). We cannot rest satisfied with fragmentary knowledge, but strive to pass on from it to the great worlds of truth yet undiscovered and unknown; we would see the whole of God’s work from beginning to end (Est 3:1), and find ourselves precluded from accomplishing our desire. From Solomon’s point of view, in which the possibility or certainty of a future life is not taken into account, this desiderium aeternitatis is only another of the illusions by which the soul of man is vexed. But we should contradict our better knowledge, and ungratefully neglect the Divine aids to faith which have been given us in the fuller revelation of the New Testament, if we were to cherish the same opinion. Dissatisfaction with the finite and the temporal is not a morbid feeling in those who believe that they have an immortal nature, and that they are yet to come into “an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away” (1Pe 1:4).J.W.
Est 3:12, Est 3:13
Another condition of pure happiness.
In these words we have a repetition of the conclusion already announced (Ecc 2:24) as to the method by which some measure of happiness can be secured by man, but there is a very important addition made to the former declaration. Our author is referring to temporal things, and tells the secret by which the happiness they may procure for us is to be won. It consists of two particulars:
(1) a cheerful enjoyment of the gifts of God, and
(2) a benevolent use of them.
This latter is the addition to which I have referred. It is a distinct advance upon the previous utterance, as it introduces the idea of an unselfish use of the gifts which God has bestowed upon usan employment of them for the benefit of others less fortunately circumstanced than ourselves. “Over and above the life of honest labor and simple joys which had been recognized as good before, the seeker has learnt that ‘doing good’ is in some sense the best way of getting good” (Plumptre). It may be that beneficence is only a part of what is meant by” doing good,” but in the connection in which the phrase is here employed it must be a large part, because it evidently suggests something more as desirable than a selfish enjoyment of the good things of life. This twofold duty of accepting with gratitude the gifts of God and of applying them to good uses was prescribed by the Law of Moses (Deu 26:1-14); and, to a truly pious mind, the one part of the duty will suggest the other. The thought that God in his bounty has enriched us, who are unworthy of the least of all his mercies, will lead us to be compassionate to those who are in want, and we shall find in relieving their necessities the purest and most exquisite of all joys. We shall in this way discover for ourselves the truth of that saying of our Lord’s, “It is mere blessed to give than to receive” (Act 20:35). While those who selfishly keep all they have for themselves fled that, however their goods increase, their satisfaction in them cannot be increasednay, rather that it rapidly diminishes. Hence it is that the apostle counsels the rich “to do good, to be rich in good works, to be ready to distribute, willing to communicate “(1Ti 6:17-19). The general teaching of the Scriptures, therefore, is in. harmony with the results of our own experience, and leads to the same conclusion, that “doing good” is a condition of pure happiness.J.W.
Est 3:14 -17
An argument in support of the statement that
A present use and enjoyment of the gifts of God is advisable
is found in the fact of the unchangeable character of the Divine purposes and government. He who has given may take away, and none can stay his hand. While, therefore, we are in possession of benefits he has bestowed on us, we should get the good of them, seeing that we know not how long we shall have them. Exception has been taken to this teaching. “The lesson to cheerfulness under such bidding seems a hard one. Men have recited it over the wine-cup in old times and new, in East and West. But the human heart, with such shadows gathering in the background, has recognized its hollowness, and again and again has put back the anodyne from its lips” (Bradley). But though the thought of the Divine unchangeableness may be regarded by some as a stimulus to a reckless enjoyment of the present, it is calculated to have a wholesome influence upon our views of life, and upon our conduct. Acquiescence in one’s lot, and reverential fear of God, leading to an avoidance of sin, are naturally suggested by it. The conviction that the will of God is righteous will prevent acquiescence in it becoming that apathetic resignation which characterizes the spirit of those who believe that over all the events of life an iron destiny rules, against which men strive in vain.
I. THE CHARACTER OF THE DIVINE GOVERNMENT. (Est 3:14.) It is eternal and. unalterable. In the phenomena of the natural world, we see it manifested in laws which man cannot control or change; in the providential government of human affairs, the same rule of a higher Power over all the events of life is discernible; and in the revelations of the Divine will, recorded in the Scriptures, we see steady progress to an end foreseen and foretold from the beginning. What God does stands fast; no created power can nullify or change it (Psa 23:1-6 :11; Isa 46:9, Isa 46:10; Dan 4:35).
II. THE EFFECT WHICH THIS UNCHANGEABLENESS SHOULD PRODUCE. (Est 3:14.) “That men should fear before him.” It should fill our heart with reverence. This is, indeed, the purpose for which God has given this revelation of himself, and no other view of the Divine character is calculated to produce the same effect. The thought of God’s infinite power would not impress us in like manner if at the same time we believed that his will was variable, that it could be propitiated and changed. But the conviction that his will is righteous and immutable should lead us to “sanctify him in our hearts, and make him our Fear and our Dread” (Isa 8:13), and give us hope and confidence in the midst of the vicissitudes of life (Ma Est 3:6). In the earlier part of his work (Ecc 1:9, Ecc 1:10) the Preacher had dwelt upon the uniformity of sequence in nature, as if he were impressed with a sense of monotony, as he watched the course of events happening and recurring in the same order. And now, as he looks upon human history, he sees the same regularity in the order of things. “That which hath been is now, and that which is to be hath already been.” But the former feeling of weariness and oppression is modified by the thought of God’s perfection, and by the “fear” which it excites. He recognizes the fact of a personal will governing the events of history. It is no mechanical process of revolution that causes the repetition time after time of similar events, the same causes producing the same effects; no wheel of destiny alternately raising and depressing the fortunes of men. It is God who recalls, “who seeks again that which is passed away” (Est 3:15). “The past is thought of as vanishing, put to flight, receding into the dim distance. It might seem to be passing into the abyss of oblivion; but God recalls it, brings back the same order, or an analogous order of events, and so history repeats itself” (Plumptre). And out of this belief in God’s wise providence a healthy spirit should gather strength to bear patiently and cheerfully the difficulties and trials of life. The belief that our life is governed by an unalterable law is calculated, as I have said, to lead to a listless, hopeless state of mind, in which one ceases to strive against the inevitable. But that state of mind is very different from the resignation of those who believe that the government of the world is regular and unchangeable, because unerring wisdom guides him who is the Creator and Preserver of all things. Their faith can sustain them in the greatest trials, when God’s ways seem most inscrutable; they can hope against hope, and, in spite of all apparent contradictions, believe that “all things work together for good to them that love God.”J.W.
Verses 18-22
The darkness of the grave.
In these words our author reaches the very lowest depth of misery and despair. His observation of the facts of human life leads him to the humiliating conclusion that it is almost hopeless to assign to man a higher nature and a more noble destiny than those which belong to the beasts that perish. The moral inequalities of the world, the injustice that goes unpunished, the hopes by which men are deluded, the uncertainty of life, the doubtfulness of immortality, seem to justify the assertion “that a man hath no pre-eminence over a beast.” The special point of comparison on which he dwells is the common mortality of both. Man and beast are possessed of bodies composed of the same elements, nourished by the same food, liable to the same accidents, and destined to return to the kindred dust from which they sprang. Both are ignorant of the period of life assigned to them; a moment before the stroke of death falls on them they may be unconscious that evil is at hand, and when they realize the fact they are equally powerless to avert it. What there is in common between them is manifest to all, while the evidence to be . adduced in favor of the superiority of man is, from its very nature, less convincing. The spiritually minded will attach great weight to arguments against which the natural reason may draw up plausible objections. Let us, then, see the case stated at its very worst, and consider if there are any redeeming circumstances which are calculated to relieve the gloom which a cursory reading of the words calls up.
I. The first statement is that MEN, LIKE BEASTS, ARE CREATURES OF ACCIDENT. (Verse 19a.) Not that they are both the results of blind chance; but that, “being conditioned by circumstances over which there can be no control, they are subject, in respect to their whole being, actions, and sufferings, as far as mere human observation can extend, to the law of chance, and are alike destined to undergo the same fate, i.e. death” (Wright). A parallel to the thought of this verse is to be found in the very striking words of Solon to Croesus (Herodotus, 1:32), “Man is altogether a chance;” and in Psa 49:14, Psa 49:20, “Like sheep they are laid in the grave Man that is in honor, and understandeth not, is like the beasts that perish.”
II. The second statement is that As IS THE DEATH OF THE ONE, SO IS THE DEATH OF THE OTHER (Psa 49:19), for in both is the breath of life, and this departs from them in like manner. So that any superiority on the part of man over the beast is incredible in the face of this fact, that death annuls distinctions between them. One resting-place receives them all at lastthe earth from which they sprang (Psa 49:20). A belief in the immortality of the soul of man would at once have relieved the gloom, and convinced the Preacher that the humiliating comparison he institutes only reaches to a certain point, and is based upon the external accidents of human life, and that the true dignity and value of human nature remain unaffected by the mortality of the corporeal part of our being. “Put aside the belief in the prolongation of existence after death, that what has been begun here may be completed, and what has gone wrong here may be set right, and man is but a more highly organized animal, the ‘cunningest of nature’s clocks,’ and the high words which men speak as to his greatness are found hollow. They too are ‘vanity.’ He differs from the brutes around him only, or chiefly, in having, what they have not, the burden of unsatisfied desires, the longing after an eternity which after all is denied him” (Plumptre).
III. The third statement is the saddest of allthat of THE UNCERTAINTY OF KNOWLEDGE AS TO WHETHER, AFTER ALL, THERE IS THIS HIGHER ELEMENT IN HUMAN NATURE“a spirit that at death goeth upward”or whether the living principles of both man and beast perish when their bodies are laid in the dust (verse 21). It is quite fruitless to deny that it is a skeptical question that is askedIf the spirit of the beast goeth downward to the earth, who knows that that of man goeth upward? Attempts have been made to obliterate the skepticism of the passage, as may be seen in the Massoretic punctuation followed in the Authorized Version of our English Bible, but departed from in the Revised Version, “Who knoweth the spirit of mall that. goeth upward,” etc.? as though an ascent of the spirit to a higher life were affirmed. The rendering of the four principal versions, and of all the best critics, convinces us that it is indeed a skeptical question as to the immortality of the soul that is here asked. A very similar passage is found in the great poem of Lucretius
“We know not what the nature of the soul,
Or born or entering into men at birth,
Or whether with our frame it perisheth,
Or treads the gloom and regions vast of death.”
It is to be noted, however, about both the question of the Preacher and the words of the heathen poet, that they do not contain a denial of immortality, but a longing after more knowledge resting on sufficient grounds. Sad and depressing as uncertainty on such a point is to a sensitive mind, a denial of immortality would he infinitely worse; it would mean the death of all hope. The very suggestion of a higher life for man, after “this mortal coil has been shuffled off,” than for the beast implies that, far from denying the immortality of the soul, the writer seeks fur adequate ground on which to hold it. Arguments in favor of the doctrine of immortality were not wanting to the Preacher. He has just spoken of the desiderium aeternitatis implanted in the heart of man (Psa 49:11), which, like the instincts of the lower creation, is given by the Creator for our guidance, and not to tantalize and deceive us. The inequalities anti evils of the present life render a final judgment in a world beyond the grave a moral necessity (Ecc 12:14). But still these are, after all, but indirect arguments, which have not the weight of positive demonstration. It is only faith that can return any certain reply to his doubting question; its weight, thrown into the balance, inclines it to the hopeful side. And this happy conclusion lie reached at last, as he distinctly affirms in Ecc 12:7, “Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and- the spirit shall return unto God. who gave it.” That the Preacher should ever have doubted this great truth, and spoken as though no certainty concerning it were within the reach of man, need not surprise us. In the revelation given to the Jewish people, the doctrine of rewards and punishments in a future state was not set forth. The rewards and punishments for obedience to the Law, and for transgressions against it, were all temporal. Almost nothing was communicated touching the existence of the soul after death. In the passage quoted by Christ in the Gospels, for the confutation of the Sadducees, who denied the resurrection, the doctrine of immortality is implied rather than stated (Mat 22:23-32). And in a matter so far beyond the power of the human intellect to search out, the absence of a word of revelation rendered the darkness doubly obscure. It is, however, utterly monstrous for any of us now who believe in Christ to ask the question, “Who knoweth the spirit of man, whether it goeth upward?” The revelation given us by him is full of light on this point. “He hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (2Ti 1:10). His own resurrection from the dead, and ascension to heaven is the proof of a life beyond the grave, and a pledge to all who believe in him of a future and an everlasting life. It was not wonderful that the Preacher, in the then stage of religious knowledge, should have spoken as he does here; but nothing could justify us, to whom so much fresh light has been given, in using his words, as though we were in the same condition with him.
IV. The fourth and concluding statement is, strangely enough, that since we know not what will come after death, A CHEERFUL ENJOYMENT OF THE PRESENT is the best course one can take. This is the third time he has given this counsel (Ecc 2:24; Ecc 3:12, Ecc 3:13). A calm and happy life, healthy labor, and tranquil enjoyment, are to be valued and token advantage of to the full. It is an Epicureanism of a spiritual cast that he commends, and not the coarse and degraded animalism of those who say, “Let us eat and drink; for to-morrow we die.” He recognizes the good gifts of the present as a “portion” given by God, and saysRejoice in them, though the future be all unknown. The very gloom out of which his words spring give a dignity to them. “We feel that we are in the presence of one who has the germ given him of some courage, equanimity, and calmness, which may grow into other and better things. His spirit is torn by, suffers with, all the pangs that beset the inquiring human heart. He feels for all the woes of humanity; cannot put them by, and fly to the wine-cup and crown himself with garlands. He has hated life, yet he will not lose his courage. ‘Be of good cheer,’ he says, even in his dark hour; ‘work on, and enjoy the fruits of work; it is thy portion. Do not curse God and die'” (Bradley). His words are not, as they might seem. at first, frivolous and heartless. It is a calm and peaceful happiness, a life of honest endeavor and of single-hearted enjoyment of innocent pleasures, that he commends; and, after all, it is only by genuine faith in God that such a life is possiblea faith that enables one to rise above all that is dark and mysterious and perplexing in the world about us.J.W.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
Ecc 3:1. To every thing there is a season There is a fixed season for every thing; nay, all the determinations of man’s will under heaven have their proper time. Solomon says of all things in general, that they have an appointed season; or, according to the propriety of the word zeman, a prepared time. This construction of the passage is strongly confirmed by the contents of the annexed list; for, except the first head, namely, the time of our birth and death, every article therein mentioned as having a time depends on the will of men; and the first article itself, as understood by the Chaldee paraphrast, falls more or less within the determination of man’s will.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
SECOND DISCOURSE
Of Earthly Happiness, its Impediments and Means of Advancement
Chap. 35.
A. The substance of earthly happiness or success consists in grateful joy of this life, and a righteous use of it.
Ecc 3:1-22.
1. The reasons for the temporal restriction of human happiness (consisting in the entire dependence of all human action and effort on an unchangeable, higher system of things)
(Ecc 3:1-11.)
1To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: time to be born, and 2a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; 3A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; 4A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; 5A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and 6a time to refrain from embracing; A time to get, arid a time to lose; 7a time to keep, and a time to cast away; A time to rend, and a time to sew; 8a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time io love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace. 9What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth ? 10I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the ons of men to be exercised in it. 11He 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.
2. The nature of the temporally restricted human happiness
(Ecc 3:12-22.)
12know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life. 13And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour; it is the gift of God. 14I 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. 15That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past. 16And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity wxs there. 17I 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. 18I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts. 19For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no pre-eminence above a beast: for all is vanity. 20All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again. 21Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth ? 22Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion: for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him ?
[Ecc 3:1. This is one of the words relied upon to prove the later Hebraic, or Chaldaic, period of the book. We have, however, no right to say that a word running through the Shemitic tongues [as thia is found in Arabic, Syriac, Ethiopia, as well as Hebrew] is peculiar to any one of them, or borrowed from any one of them, though circumstances may have made it rare in an oariy dialect, perhaps on account of a precision of meaning raruly needed, whilst it has become loose and vulgarized in another. It may have been well known in the days of Soiomon, though seldom used when the more indefinite would answer. means time generally, a fixed time (like a yearly festival), its earlier sense, before it became vulgarized, a time or an occasion precisely adapted to a purpose. Hence we see its very probable connection with proponit, and having also tho sense of binding, like Arabic the purpose linked to the due occasion. This suits all the acts following, as more or less tho result of purpose In a time proposed. It has good support, too, etymologically, in the final changiug to the as is the tendency in other words. Thus, besides other examples, Lam 3:22, according to Rabbi Tanchum, becomes to avoid the harshness of tho final making = they are not consumed, or spent [that is, the mercies of the Lord instead of we are not consumed. We may be assured that the writer did not intend a tautology hero. is more precise than as it has more of purpose than which relates to things immovable.T. L.]
[Ecc 3:18. E. V. On account of the sons of men. Compare Psa 110:4, after the manner of.LXX., Vulgate, simply, de filiis. Syriac, after the speech of menmorehumanohumanly speaking,which seems the most suitable of any, for reasons given in the Exeget. and Note.T. L.]
[Ecc 3:18. Literally, themselves to themselvesin their own estimation. to prove themmake it clear, literally, (LXX., vulg ut probaret), let them see from themselves, or from their own conduct fo themselves, how like beasts they are. This qualified sense is very different from asserting that they are beasts absolutely. The key to it all is in the above. The writer is speaking more humano-tho judgment that must bo pronounced if men were judged by their own ways.T. L.]
[Ecc 3:21 It can only mean, as it stands in tho text, that which goeth up. An effort has been made to give it another turn by pointing as interrogative. It is sufficient to say that it is against the text For oLhtr reasons against H, see Exeget. and NoteT. L]
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
The unconditional dependence of man on Gods government of the world, in all his efforts for happiness, which formed the concluding thought ! of the preceding discourse (Ecc 2:24-26), now becomes the starting point of a new and independent reflection, in so far as temporal conditions and restrictions of human happiness are deduced therefrom, and its essence is placed in gratefully cheerful enjoyment and a devout use: of the earthly blessings bestowed by God. For Divine Providence in its controlling power here below will ever remain obscure and mysterious, so that man, in this its hidden side, can neither alter its course nor observe any other conduct than humble submission and godly fear (Ecc 3:9-11; Ecc 3:14-15). In the same way the view of the many wrongs in this life, and of the extreme obscurity and concealment of the fate that will overtake individual souls after death, obliges.us to cling to the principle of a cheerful, confiding and contented enjoyment of the present (Ecc 3:16-20).In the more special development of this train of thought, we may either (with Vaihinger and Keil) make three principal sections or strophes of the chapter (Ecc 3:1-8; Ecc 3:9-15, and Ecc 3:16-22), or, what appears more logical, two halves; of which each is divided into sec-tions of unequal length. 1. Ecc 3:1-11 show the reason for the temporal restriction of the earthly happiness of man-a, as consisting in the dependence of all human action on time and circumstances (Ecc 3:1-8); b, as consisting in the short-sightedness and feebleness of human knowledge in contrast with the endless wisdom and omniscience of God (Ecc 3:9-11). 2. Ecc 3:12-22 describe human happiness in its nature as temporally restricted and imperfecta, with reference to the awe-inspiring immutability of those decrees of God which determine human fate (Ecc 3:12-15); b, with reference to the secret ways adopted by Divine justice, in rewarding the good and punishing the evil in this world, and. still more in the world beyond (Ecc 3:16-22).
2. First Division, first strophe.
Ecc 3:1-8. Every human action and effort are subject to the law of time and temporal change.To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven.Every thing, namely, every thing that man undertakes or does on earth; a very general expression, more clearly defined by the following every business, every undertaking, but more clearly illustrated in the subsequent verses in a number of special examples. lit., precision, limitation, indicates in later style (Neh 2:6; Est 9:27; Est 9:31), a certain period, a term for any thing, whilst tho more common [lime) signifies a division of time in general.
Ecc 3:2. A time- to be born and a time to die.This is the original text, as is the same turn until the 8th verse.1 The Sept. and the Vulg. express this construction genitively [ tempus nascendi, etc.) The word does not stand for the passive to be born (Vulg., Luther, Ewalt, Gesenius, Elsies.),, but like all the fol-lowing infinitives, is to be taken actively: to bear. The constant usage of the Old Testament favors this rendering with reference to the verb and also the circumstance that with, an undertaking (), a conscious and intentional action or business is to be named, which can only be said of the maternal part of the act of human birth, and not of that of the child. Death fittingly follows closely to birth. By this juxtaposition of the acts which mark the entrance into life and the exit from it, the whole arena within which the subsequent actions are performed, is from the beginning marked by its fixed limits (Hitzig). A time to plant and a time to pluck up that which is planted.For the affinity between these two ideas and that of birth and death, comp. Pro 12:12; Ps. 1:37; 37:35 f.; Psa 92:13 f.; Psa 128:3; Dan 4:11; Dan 4:20; Mat 3:8-10; Mat 7:17 f.; Mat 15:18. probably from Chald.2 root, means originally to root out, to unroot, but is always elsewhere in the o. T. used metaphorically, e.g., of the destruction of cities (Zep 2:4), of striking down horses or oxen, and making them useless by severing the sinews of their hind feet. (Gen 49:6 :).
Ecc 3:3.A time to kill and a time to heal.A negative thought here precedes, as also in the subsequent clauses, till the first of Ecc 3:5, after which, until the end, the positive or negative idea alternately precedes. To kill ( lit., cut down, or stab) indicates the inflicting of the very wounds whose healing the following verb points out.
Ecc 3:4 : A time to weep, etc. appears only on account of similarity of sound to be placed immediately after as in the following clause: to leap, to danee, appears to be chosen on account of its like sounding ending as a contrast to to lament ( plangere).3Ecc 3:5. A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together.In this first expression there is, of course, no allusion to the destruction of the temple, of which, according to Mar 13:2, not one stone shall remain upon another (as Hengstenberg and others think), and quite as little to the stoning of malefactors, or to the throwing of stones on the fields of enemies, according to 2Ki 3:19; 2Ki 3:25 (Hitzig, Elster, etc. But is here identical with to free from stones, Isa 5:2; Isa 62:10, and alludes therefore to the gathering and throwing away of stones from the fields, vineyards, etc.; whilst the latter expression naturally means the collecting of stones for the construction of houses (as Vaihinqer justly observes).__A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing.Whether the connection of the preceding expressions with to embrace, is really effected by the fact that one embraces with the hand the stone to be cast, as Hitzig supposes, is very doubtful. At all events, however, means the embrace of love (Pro 5:20), and-the intensive in the second rank is purposely placed there to indicate that every excess of sexual intercourse is injurious.
Ecc 3:6. A time to get, and a time to lose. as a contrast to must clearly here mean to lose (or also to be lost, to abstain from getting, Vaihinger) although it every where else means to destroy, to ruin; for in all the remaining clauses of the series, the second verb asserts directly the opposite of the first. In contrast to the unintentional losing, the corresponding verb of the second clause then indicates an intentional casting away of a possession to be preserved (2Ki 7:15; Eze 20:8).A time to rend and a time to sew.One might here suppose the rending of garments on hearing sad tidings (1 Sam. 1:11; 3:39; Job 1:20; Job 2:12; Mat 26:63), and again the sewing up of the garments that had been thus rent as a sign of grief. And also by the following to keep silence one would first think of the mournful silence of the sorrowing (Gen 34:5; Job 2:13)
Ecc 3:8. A time to love, etc.Love and hatred, war and peace, forming an inter-relation with each other, are now connected with the contents of the preceding verse by the intermediary thought of the agreeable and disagreeable, or of well and evil doing.
3. First Division, second strophe
Ecc 3:9-11. In consequence of the temporal character of all worldly action and effort, human knowledge is also especially ineffective and feeble in presence of the unsearchable ruling of the Eternal One.What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth?That is, what profit do all the various, antagonistic actions, of which a number has just been quoted (Ecc 3:3-8) bring to man ? The question is one to which a decidedly negative answer is expected, and draws therefore a negative result from the preceding reflection: There is nothing lasting, no continuous happiness here below.
Ecc 3:10. I have seen the travail, etc.Comp. Ecc 1:13. This verse has simply a transitional meaning; it prepares us for the more accurate description given in Ecc 3:11 of the inconstant, transitory and feeble condition of human knowledge and effort, in the presence of the unsearchable wisdom of God.
Ecc 3:11. He hath made every thing beautiful in his timeThe principal emphasis rests on the word in his time, as the connection with the foregoing Ecc 3:1-8 shows. God has arranged all things beautifully in this life (comp. Gen 1:31), but always only in his time, always only so that it remains beautiful and good for man during its restricted time, but after that becomes an evil for him; therefore always only so that the glory of this earth soon reaches its end.Also he hath set the world in their heart.(Zcklers rendering, eternity in their heart).That is, in the hearts of men; for the suffix in refers to the children of men in Ecc 3:11, whilst in the subsequent clause the individual man is placed opposite to the one God. This clause clearly holds a rising relation to the contents of the preceding: God has here below not only arranged all things well for man in this temporal period; He has even given them eternity in their hearts. This is clearly the authors train of thought. With eternity given to the heart cf man, he also means the knowledge of Gods eternal nature and rule, innate even in the natural man, that notitia Dei naturalis insita s, innata, which Paul, Rom 1:19 f., describes as an intellectual perception of Gods eternal power and divinity, peculiar as such to man, and which develops itself in the works of creation. It appears as well from the word (heart, here in the same sense as Ecc 1:13-17, etc.)i as from the following: So that no man can find out, that it is substantially this natural knowledge of God, namely, something belonging to the realm of human conception, a moral good from the sphere of intellectual life,that the author means by the expression (consequently not simply the character of immortality)although he must have considered this closely connected with the natural conception of God, according to Ecc 7:7. For this restrictive clause clearly expresses a restriction of human nature in an intellectual sense, an inability to find, which is equal to an inability to know. But as certainly as this inability to know refers to the extent and limits of Divine action, so certainly will also the knowledge of the human heart, expressed by be a religious knowledge referring to God and Divine things. Therefore we would reject as opposed to the text those explanations of which give to this expression the sense of world (Vulg., Luther, Umbreit, Ewald, Ulster, etc.), or worldly-mindedness (Gesenius, Knobel), or worldly wisdom, judgment (Gaab, Spohn); also Hitzig, who, however, contends for instead of And besides the connection, the style of the entire Old Testament and of this book is opposed to this rendering; according to them is always eternity (comp. Ecc 1:4; Ecc 1:10; Ecc 2:16; Ecc 3:14; Ecc 9:6; Ecc 11:5) and first receives the signification of world macrocosmos in the literature of the Talmud.So that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.That is, this one restriction is laid on this human conception of the Eternal One, that it can never obtain a perfect and truly adequate insight into the Divine plan of the world, but rather, is only able to perceive the unsearchable ways and incomprehensible decrees of God, fwgmentarily and in a glass darkly (Rom. 2:32; 1Co 13:12). is here clearly in the sense of only that, except that, therefore synonymous with formerly used for this (Amo 9:8; Jdg 4:9; 2Sa 11:14). Comp. Ewald, Lehrbuch, 354 b. The deviating significations Vulg., Gesenius: ita tit non; (Sept., Herzpeld : in order not, Knobel: without that; Hitzig, Umbreit, Hahn: without which, etc.) are not only inconsonant to the text, but without suflicient linguistic authority, so far as regards the signification of 4The author is here silent in respect to the profoundesfc reason why man cannot thoroughly know and comprehend the works and reign of God, that is the interruption of the original pure harmony of his Spirit by means of sin; he is so because he would seem rather, as it were, purposely to presuppose this fact than emphatically to express it.
4. Second Division, first strophe. Ecc 3:12-15. Human happiness is temporally restricted, consisting mainly in the cheerful enjoyment and proper use of tfte moment, because it depends on the immutable decrees qf divine laws, claiming fear and humble submission, rather than bold hope and effort.I know that there is no good in themnamely, in the children of men, (Ecc 3:10) to whom the Ecc 3:11 already referred. in them with them,5 is mainly synonymous with for them; comp. Ecc 2:24. is literally, I have perceived, and I know in consequence thereof; it means the past, in its result reaching into the future, here also as in Ecc 3:14.But for a man to rejoice and do good in this lifeTogether with the gratefully cheerful enjoyment of lifes goods, the doing good is here named more distinctly than in Ecc 2:26, as a principal condition and occupation of human happiness. Anil therewith is also meant, as that passage shows, and as appears still more definitely from the parallels in Psa 34:14; Psa 37:3; Isa 38:3, etc., not merely benevolence, but uprightness, fulfilment of the divine commands (comp. Ecc 12:13). For the meaning of in the sense of be of good cheer, to be merry (Aben Ezra, Luther, de Wette, Knobel, Hitzig, etc.) there is not a single philological proof; for in chap, Ecc 2:24; Ecc 3:22; Ecc 5:7, etc., there are similar phrases, but still materially different from this one, which express the sense of being merry. 6 lit., in his life refers again to the singular Ecc 3:11, so that in this verse the singular and the plural use of this verb alternates as in the preceding.
Ecc 3:13. And also that every man should eat and drink, etc., it is the gift of God. Clearly the same thought as in Ecc 2:24-25. The particle introducing still another object of perception to besides that named already in Ecc 3:12, refers to the whole sentence. As to the peculiar construction of the first conditional clause without or other particle, see Ewald, 357, c.
Ecc 3:14. I know that -whatever God doeth it shall be forever. Herein it appears that all human action is dependent on the eternal law of God, and that especially all cheerful, undisturbed enjoyment of the blessings of this life, depends on the decrees of this highest law-giver and ruler of the world. Comp. the theoretical description of the ever constant course of divino laws in Ecc 1:4-11.Nothing can be put to it, nor anything taken from it. To it () namely, to all that everlastingly abiding order which God makes, to all those eternally valid enactments of the Most High. for the construction Comp. Ewald, 237, c. For the sentence: Sir 18:5; Rev 22:18.And God doeth it, that men should fear before Him.And this by those very immutable laws of his world-ruling activity, on which men, with all their deeds and destiny, depend; comp. Ecc 9:12; 2Co 5:11; and for the construction: Eze 36:27; Rev 13:15. As in those places, so also here, the expression doeth it that, does not mean in order that, but effecting that making it to be so, accomplishing. By to fear, Koheleth does not mean a feeling of terror and horror, but rather that sacred feeling of holy awe which we call reverence; but nevertheless he here considers this reverence not as a beneficent blissful sensation, but rather as a depressing feeling of the yanity of man in contrast with the boundless fulness of the power of God, as an inward shudder at the bonds of the divine decree, which envelop him, and by which, in his conception, every spiritual movement is restricted in advance to a certain measure, (Elster).
Ecc 3:15. That which hath been is now, and that which is to be hath already been.( ) i.e. already long present, comes of old (not exactly; is something old, as Hitzig translates, turning the adverb into a substantive). The second clause containing says, literally, as in the English rendering: that which is to be. For the sentence comp. Ecc 1:9; Ecc 6:10, and especially Job 14:5; Psa 139:15, where still more clearly than here, is expressed the predestination of all the destinies of man by God.And God requireth that which is past. (Lit., and God seeketh that which was crowded out). He again briags forth that which the vicissitudes of time had already crowded out, or pushed back into the past; Deus instaurat, quod abiit (Vulgate). This signification alone of is in accordance with the context not that given in the Sept. Syridc, Targ., Heng-stenberg, etc., according to which the allusion here would be to the divine consolation and gracious visitation of the persecuted, (Mat 5:10; Luk 19:10, etc.).
5. Second Division, second strophe. Ecc 3:16-22. The restriction of human happiness appears especially in the numerous cases of.unsatisfactory, indeed, apparently unjust, distribution of happiness and unhappiness, according to the moral worth and merit of men, as this mundane life reveals it, as well as in the uncertainty regarding the kind of reward in the world beyond, which ever exists in this world below. And moreover I saw under the sun.The moreover () refers to Ecc 3:12, and therefore introduces something which comes as a new conception to the one there described (and also in Ecc 3:14 f.), and which holds the same relation to that as the special to the general.The place of judgment, etc. Lit., at the place of judgment; for here, and in the subsequent clause is strictly taken, not as the object of I saw, but, as the accents indicate, is an independent nominative (or locative)an abrupt construction which produces a certain solemn impression well adapted to the excited feelings of the poet. and judgment and righteousness, differ materially as objective and subjective, or as the judgment that must serve the judge as the absolute rule for his decisions, and as the practical judgment in the life of the normal man; the latter expression is, therefore, largely synonymous with innocence, virtue. In contrast to both ideas, Koheleth calls the evil, the crime, thinking of course, in the first place, of objective, and in the second place of subjective wrong, or, the first time, of crime as a wicked judge practices it, the second time, of the wantonness of the wicked in general.
Ecc 3:17. God shall judge the righteous and the wicked.He will appoint to them, therefore that judgment which, according to Ecc 3:16, is so frequently in human life, either not to be found at all, or not in the right place; comp. Ecc 5:7; Deu 1:17; Psa 82:1 ff.For there is a time there for every purpose, and every work.That is, in heaven above, with God, the just judge, there is a time to judge every good and every evil deed of men. pointing upwards, (as in Gen 49:24, ) and here as elsewhere, is the time of judicial decision, the term; comp. Ecc 9:11-12, as well as the New Testament 1Co 3:13; 1Co 4:2, etc. Others read instead of He has set a time for everything, (Houbigant, Van dee Palm, Dderlein, Hitzig, Elster), but which is quite as unnecessary as the temporal signification of =time, in tempore judicii (Hibronymus), or as referring the expression to the earth as the seat of the tribunal here meant (Hahn), or as the explanation of according to the Talmud, in the sense of appraising, taxing (Furst, Vaihinger: And He appraises every action), or, finally, as Ewalns parenthesizing of the words whereby the sentence acquires the following form: God will judge the just and the unjust (for there is a time for everything), and will judge of every deed.7
Ecc 3:1-8.Concerning the sons of men, that God might manifest them. As the introductory words: I said in my heart, connect the verse with the preceding one, it assumes the same relation to Ecc 3:16 as to that, and to and, therefore, the principal thought of this 16th verse is to be thus supplied: On account of the sons of men, does this unfinished toleration of wrong on earth exist, in order that God may manifest (try) them, i. e., grant them their free decision for or against His truth (comp. Rev 22:11). For , to test, prove, compare chap, Ecc 9:1; Dan. 9:35, as well as the Rabbinic style, according to which this verb means to sift, to winnow (Schebiit, 5, 9). is lit.
for God proving them, a somewhat harsh construction, but which has its analogy in Isa 29:23.That they might see, namely, the sons of men, for whose instruction the test is indeed instituted; since God, for His part, needs not to see it, for He knows in advance of what men are made, (Psa 103:14).That they themselves are beasts. Men are here declared to be beasts, that is, not better than the beasts of the field, not on account of their conduct (as Psa 73:22), but on account of their final dissolution, and their inevitable sinking under the dominion of death; comp. Ecc 3:19 f.; Ecc 9:12, and also Hab 1:14; Psa 49:20. Therefore, not the brutal disposition, and the lawlessly wild conduct of the natural mind (Hitzig, Elster, etc.), but his subjection to the rule of death, and the curse of vanity (Rom 5:12 ff; Rom 8:19 ff.), furnish the reason for this placing our race on a level with the brutes (as Luther, Hengstenberg, Vaihinger. correctly assume).They themselves, i.e., apart from Gods redeeming influence, Which can finally secure to their spirit eternal life and blessedness notwithstanding the subjection of the body to death (Ecc 12:7; Ecc 12:13). casts the action back on the subject, and serves to bring out this latter with special emphasis, comp. Gen 12:1; Amo 2:14; Job 6:19, etc. According to Ewald, 315, a. is a playful intensity of the sense something like the Latin ipsissimi; but Bwald can quote no other proof than this very passage.
Ecc 3:19 affords a still further illustration of the comparison between men and beasts, which extends to Ecc 3:21 inclusive, with the view of forcibly expressing the uncertainty of the destiny of the former in and after their death.For that which befalleth the sons of men, befalleth beasts. [Lit. Ger. For chance are the sons, of men, and chance the beasts); this because they are both equally under the dominion of chance (, as chap, Ecc 2:14-15), because the lot of both is inevitably marked out for them from without, (Hengstenbebg). But it is arbitrary to refer this appellation chance, simply to the beginning of life in men and beasts, as the issues of a blind fate, (Hitzig) and it is in opposition to the remark immediately following: (in the German) and one fate, or chance, overtakes them all; which shows that the end of both is death, striking them all the same inexorable blow; on which account it is, by a bold metaphor, called chance.As the one dieth, so dieth the other, that is, in external appearance, which is authoritative for the authors present judgment; for he is now disregarding that life which exists for man after death, as ho simply wishes to call attention to the transitory character of the earthly existence of our race.Yea, they have all one breath, so that man has no pre-eminence above a beast, is here as in Ecc 3:21, not spirit, in the stricter sense, but breath, or force of life, the animating and organizing principle in general, and is therefore, in that more extended sense, applicable to men as well as beasts, as in Gen 7:21 f.; Psa 106:29, and Ecc 8:8, of this book. On account of the broader latitude of the conception , breath, the following remark, that man has no preeminence () over the beast, is meant not in the sense of an absolute, but simply of a relative equality of both natures; the poet will place both on the same level only in reference to the external identity of the close of their life (and not as Knobel supposes, who here thinks materialism openly taught).8 Comp. also the dogmatical and ethical section.
Ecc 3:20. All go unto one place, i.e., men and beasts; for they both alike become dust, as they were formed of dust. The following clause shows that by the one place, is meant the earth as a common burial place for the bodies of men and beasts; and not Scheol, the house appointed for all living, (Job 30:23).All are of the dust, and all turn to dust again. Comp. Gen 3:19; Psa 104:29; Psa 107:4; Sir 40:11; Sir 41:10. All these passages, like this one, regard man solely as a material being, and, in so far, assert a perfect likeness in his death to that of beasts. The question whether the spirit of man shares this fate, is yet unanswered. The following verse refers to that, not to afford a definite answer, but to affirm the impossibility of an answer founded on sense-experience.
Ecc 3:21. For who knoweth the spirit of man that gosth upward?The interrogative form of this and the following clause, is unconditionally required by the structure of the sentence and the context. Therefore is not, as in the masoretic text, to be written with the articuli, but with the interrogativum, (thus, ) and the same way in the following, or . That construction is therefore not, as in Joe 2:14, that of an affirmative question, but rather that of a doubtful one, expressing uncertainty. As in Psa 90:11, or above in Ecc 2:19, points out that the matter is difficult of conception, not, at first view, clear and apparent, but rather eluding the direct observation of sense. This verse does not, therefore, assert an absolute ignorance (as Knobel. supposes), but rather some knowledge regarding the fate of the spirit in the world beyond, though wanting certainty and external evidence. Concerning the return of the spirit of man to its Divine Giver, it maintains that no one, in this world, has ever seen or survived it, just as emphatically, and in like manner, as John [Ecc 1:18; Ecc 1:1 Epist. Ecc 4:12] asserts of the sight of God, that it has never been granted to any man. A denial of the immortality of the spirit of man, as an object of inward certainty of faith [as later testimony from this standpoint of faith shows, Ecc 12:7], is as little to be found in this passage as in the assertion of John, no one has ever seen God, is to be found a doubt of the fact, certain to faith, of the future beholding of God (1Jn 3:2). Ignoring this state of the case, the Masora, in order to destroy the supposed skeptical sense of the passage, has punctuated the twice repeated , before and before as articles, and so reached the thought maintained by many moderns (Geier, Dathe, Rosenmueller, Hengstenberg, Hahn): Who knoweth the spirit of man, that which goeth upward? and the spirit of the beast, that which goeth downward to the earth? The only just conception, according to connection and structure, is that given by the Sept., Vulg., Chald., and Syr., which not only the rationalistic exegesis, as Hengstenberg supposes, but also Luther, Starke, Michaelis, Elster, and many others, have adopted, who are very far from attributing to the Preacher skeptical or materialistic tendencies.9
Ecc 3:22. A return to the maxim already given in Ecc 3:12, that one must cheerfully and joyously seize the present as now offered by God, and use it to get a sure path into the future.Than that a man should rejoice in his works, i.e., in his labor and efforts in general, in his works as well as in their fruits; comp. Ecc 5:18. This rejoicing in his own works, is not materially different from the passage in Ecc 2:24, that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labor [Hitzig thinks otherwise], nor from the expression (Ecc 3:12-13) to rejoice and do good, etc.For that is his portioni.e., for nothing farther is allotted to him here below, comp. Ecc 2:10.For who shall bring him to see what shall be after him?That is, not into the condition after death, into the relations of human life in another world, but, as shown by the parallel passages, Ecc 6:12; Ecc 2:19 : into the future conditions of human life, into the relations as they shall be on earth after his departure from life (especially in his immediate surroundings and sphere of activity, comp. Ecc 2:19). This sentence involves, therefore, neither a denial of the personal continuance of man (Hitzig), nor an authorization of the Epicurean principle: Enjoy before death, that you may not go out empty (Knobel), nor, indeed, any reference to the world beyond, but simply an exhortation to profit by the present in cheerful and diligent occupation, without being anxious and doubting about the future, which is indeed inaccessible to our human knowledge. Hengstenberg justly observes: Man knows not what God will do, Ecc 3:11. Therefore, it is foolish to chase after happiness by toilsome exertion, or to be full of anxiety and grief, Ecc 3:9-10; and quite as foolish (chap, Ecc 6:12) to engage in many wide reaching schemings, to chase after the (1Ti 6:17) to gather and heap for him to whom God will give it, Ecc 2:26; but, on the contrary, it is rational to enjoy the present. Properly understood, therefore, this verse draws its practical consequence not from the verses 1921 immediately preceding, but from the contents of the entire chapter.
APPENDIX TO THE EXEGETICAL
[Interpretation of Verses 11, 14, 15; the Inquisition of the Ages, Ecc 3:15, This remarkable language is rendered, in our English Version, God requireth that which is past, or, as given in the margin, that which is driven away.Zckler has das Verdrngte, that which is pushed away, crowded out. None of these give the exact force of , nor do they seem to. recognize the very peculiar figure which is so strongly suggested by. and when thus taken together. Pursued, the true rendering, is something different from being driven away, or crowded out. The expression does, undoubtedly, refer to time past, but not after the common representation of something left behind U3, but rather of something sent before, or gone before, which is chased and shall be overtaken. It is more like an idea very frequent in the Koran, and coming undoubtedly from the ancient Arabic theology, that the lives of men, and especially their sins, are all gone before to meet them at the judgment. The flight of time is a common figure in all languages, and especially its great swiftnesssed fugit interea fugit irreparabile tempus. The representation of the ages driving away their predecessors, and taking their places, is also a familiar one, as in Ovid Met. XV. Ecc 181:
ut unda impdlilur unda,
Urgeturque prior venienti, urgetque priorem,
Tempora sic fugiunt pariter pariterque sequuntur.
The figure here, however, although presenting this general image, has something else that is both rare and striking. We know it from the words and which, as thus used, immediately call, up the idea of the flying homicide with the avenger or the inquisitor [] behind him. See how is used in such passages as Deu 19:6; Jos 20:5 [ ], and denoting inquisitor (pursuer or avenger), in places like 2Sa 4:11 [ ], Eze 3:18; Eze 3:20; Eze 33:8, and, without [blood], 1Sa 20:16, besides other places where this old law of pursuit is referred to. They all show that the words [and especially ] had acquired a judicial, a forensic, or technical sense. The figure here, however strange it may seem, can hardly be mistaken: God will make inquisition for that which is pursued, that which has gone before us, seemingly fled away, as though it had escaped forever. They are not gone, these past ages of wrong; they shall be called up again. They shall be overtaken and made to stand up in their lot, at some latter, day of judgment and inquisition. There can be no severance of times from each other; ;
What was is present now;
The future has already been;
And God demands again the ages fled.
The thought is closely allied to the cyclical idea so prominent elsewhere in this book (see Ecc 1:9-10; Ecc 6:10), and the idea of the olam as the unity of the cosmos in time. As each power or thing in space, according to an old thought existing long before Newton, is present dynamically and statically in every other part of space, so is every time present in every other time, and in the whole of olamic duration. The cosmos is one in both respects. It is the of God to which nothing can be added (Ecc 3:14) and from which nothing can be diminished. But besides this cyclical idea, which would seem like asserting an actual reappearance, it may be said, with equal emphasis, that the ages come again in judgment, and as really, too, in one sense, as when they were here, in the events to be judged. God shall arraign these homicidal centuries; He shall call to them and they shall stand up, and say here we are (Isa 48:13; Job 38:35). It is the same great idea of judgment that seems to pervade all the writer says, and which comes out so clearly, and so solemnly, at the close: For God will bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil. It is that great thought which has ever been in the souls of men, and, which they cannot get rid of. It appears in the Old Testament, Psa 1:5 [ , the wicked shall not stand in the judgment]; Daniel 12,; Ecc 12:11; Job 21:30 [ ]; Proverbs and Prophets sparsim. How prominent the idea, though indefinite as to time and manner, in the Greek dramatic poetry: there must be retribution for wrong, however it may take place, and however long delayed,retribution open, penal, positive, and not merely as concealed in blind physical consequences. It presents itself more, or less in all mythologies; but its deepest seat is in the human conscience. If there is any thing that may be called a tenet of natural religion, it is this, that there will be, that there must be, a righting of all wrongs, and a way and a time for its manifestation. It holds its place amid all speculative difficulties; it rises over all objections that any philosophy, or any science, can bring against it in respect to time, place, or manner; it remains in the face of all doubts and questions arising out of any doctrine of eschatology, so called. Deeper than , any speculative reasoning lies in the soul the feeling that tells us it must be so. We cannot bear the thought that the worlds drama shall go on forever without any closing act, without any , reckoning, or winding up, whether final, or preparatory to some higher era. We cannot read a poor work of fiction, even, without feeling pain if it does not end well,if right is not made clear, and wrong punished, even according to our poor fallen standard of right and wrong. The worst man has more or less of this feeling. We have all reason to fear the judgment; but when the mind is in something of a proper state, or when reason and conscience are predominant, the soul would rather suffer the pain arising from the risk and fear of the individual condemnation, than obtain deliverance from it by the loss of the glorious idea.
This doctrine of judgment is not only in harmony with that cyclical idea which is strongly suggested by the general aspect of the passage, and especially by what immediately precedes in this same verse, but may be regarded, in some respects, as identical with it. If any choose so to view it, the ages past may be said to be judged in the ages that follow, though still in connection with the thought of some general and final manifestation. Such, is the view which, is most impressively given by Rabbi Schelomo in his comments on the passage. He deduces from it a notion similar to one that is now a favorite with some of our modern authorities. It is, that history repeats itself; the events in one age being types of succeeding events on a larger scale in another. The Jewish writer has the same thought, though he gives it more of a retributive aspect, as though these types came over again in judgment. As we should expect, too, he draws his examples from the Scriptural history, or from traditions connected with it. Thus Esau pursues Jacob. It is the same thing coming over, on a larger scale, when Egypt pursues the children of Israel. Other examples are given from other parts of the Jewish history, and then he says, generally: that which is going to be in the latter day is the exemplar [, it should be , a Rabbinical word formed from the Greek , ] of what already has been; as in the first, so it is in the last [ ]. He means that the first event is the , the , or paradigm, to which the latter is adapted, either retributively, or for some other purpose, and taken, generally, on a larger scale.
The commentary of Aben Ezra on the passage is also well worthy of note. His general remark on the whole verse is that Gods way is onethat is, that the world, whether regarded in space or time, has a perfect unity of idea, , and then he thus proceeds to explain the verse: What was (or is), already had there been like it, and that which is to be, of old there had been the same; and that which is pursued (), or the past, is that which is present, and that (the present) lies between the past and the future. The meaning of it is that God seeks from time that it shall be pursued, time pursuing after time, and never fail; for the time that is past again becomes the present [ that which stands], and the time that is to be, shall be again like that which was, and So it is all one time. If we divide time into the future and the past, then, in the course of things ( the wheel, or mundane orbit), it becomes clear that every portion ever pursues after one point (or towards one point), and that is the centre, so that the portion that was in the East appears again in the West, and conversely; and to the place of the worlds revolution there is no beginning from which such motion commences; for every beginning is an end, and every end a beginning, and that which is pursued, that is the centre, and so it is clear to us that all the work of God is on one way,or, as we would say, on one idea, ever repeating itself. See something like this in the Book of Problems, ascribed to Aristotle, Vol. XIV., Leip.; Prob. XVIII., Sec. 3, on the question, How shall we take the terms Before and After? (on the supposition of an eternal repeating cycle).
It is the idea in Ecc 3:14 which seems mainly to have influenced Aben Ezra, and other Jewish commentators [such as Levi Ben Gerson, in his profound book entitled Milhamoth ha–Schem], in the interpretation of these words of the 15th: I learned that all which God made is for eternity [or the world time, ]; to it there is no adding, and from it there is no diminishing, and God made it that men might fear before him. This, in their view, would seem to refer not merely to the amount of matter in the cosmos, or the amount of force, or motion, or even to the amount of space and time assigned to it, but to the amount of eventualities making up the olam,or, as we might rather say, the amount of historical action, as one great drama, having a perfect unity, both of movement and idea, so that any change would be a diminution or an addition, out of harmony with the one great spiritual thought to whose manifestation it is devoted. This is shown, that men might fear before him, , in the presence of such a God; as though there was something more awful in such an exhibition of the eternal thought, than in any display of mere power, whether in the matural or the supernatural. See remarks on the Divine constancy in the greater movements of Nature, and the quotation from Cicero in Note on the Olamic Words, p. 61.
Some modern writers who dogmatize about the supernatural, and deny its possibility, might, perhaps, regard the philosophizing author of Koheleth, especially when thus interpreted by these Jewish doctors, as being of the same opinion. Thus, in Ecc 3:14, he would seem to say, that there is no change out of a fixed law and fixed idea of the universe, whatever may have been his conception of the worlds extent. There is no addition, no diminution, and this would seem to exclude every thing that was not provided for in the original arrangement of forces, and in the system of causation which it embraces, with all its machinery, great and small. Now we may say that these venerable Rabbis, although sincere and devout believers in the supernatural, understood the nature of this argument as well as any of its modern, English, French and German propounders. No where has it ever been more profoundly discussed than by Levi Ben Gerson in the Sixth book of the work before referred to, where he treats of Miracles and Prophecy,although written nearly a thousand years ago. If by the supernatural is meant any departure from the system of things which God arranged from the beginning, or any change in the great series of causes and effects, antecedents and consequents, which constitute the sum of things, including the Divine will, thought, and action, among them,then is there no supernatural. But this would be reducing the whole great question to a trifling play upon words, If, however, by the words supernatural, or miraculousthough they do not mean exactly the same thingthere be intended the changes which God Himself may introduce into the visible nature, according to the counsel of His own will, but which are physically connected with no prior working of cosmical dynamical agencies, then there is a supernatural, although this supernatural belongs as much to the one great idea, or I system of things, as the most seemingly regular causation, or most familiar sequence of antecedents and consequents ever presented to our senses. Far more than thisit is not merely a part of that one great idea, but truly constitutive of it, as its very essence. The supernatural, as differing from the merely miraculous, is something eternal, lying above nature, upholding nature in its origin, regulating its creative days, sending into it new creative words to raise it to higher and still higher planes, deflecting, if need be, its general course, and, at times, interrupting its movements, thus producing what we call miracles, prodigies, signs, etc. These, however, in distinction from originating or creating acts, must be regarded as belonging to a world, or to a department of the world, where evil, or moral irregularity, predominates. We may feel warranted in saying, that in a state sinless in the beginning, if God had so willed to secure it, or which had continued sinless, if God had so willed to keep it, or in one which had reached a sinless condition, and where the moral order was unbroken, there would be no miracles, so called, no interruptions in the constant harmonious series of things and events. There would be no need of them; for nature itself would be religious, ever manifesting instead of hiding God. In such constancy of movement there would be, for holy souls, no dimming of the Divine glory, no deifying of second causes, no veiling of a personal Deity under the sheltering name of natural law. There would be sublimity, admiration, exalted contemplation, reverence never lowered, adoring study never tiring, wonder never diminished by familiarity,all miranda, yet no miracula, as we now use the term, no prodigies, portents, , , arresting signs, startling displays of power, such as may be demanded in the regulation of that lower sphere where moral and spiritual disorder have their mirrored counterpart in a dark and refracted nature. In such a fallen world, however, miracles, signs, etc., may be parts of the Divine plan, having their proper place, and to be brought in at such intervals of time, with such intermissions, and in such ways, as the eternal wisdom may decide. They are all in the great idea, together with all such means, if need be, for their bringing out in time. If not regular, in the sense of calculable recurrence, they are all regulated. They belong to , the world, or whole (Ecc 3:14), which cannot be added to nor diminished. God hath done it that men may fear before him. To a fallen race there is ground for fear both ways. There is something awful for them, both in the constant and in the portentous. To such a moral state there is something terrible in this fixedness of nature; it so shows us our impotence, our dependence, notwithstanding all our boasts of what our reason, or our science, are going to achieve; it gives us such just reason to fear, if we have no higher faith to allay it, lest we may perchance be crushed in some unknown and unknowable turning of its mighty wheels,and this, too, notwithstanding the petty victories which we now and then seem to obtain over it, but which may be only a deflecting of its resistless movement, into some more destructive channel. On the other hand, there is the dread of the portentous, the coming out from his (hiding) place of the spiritual power that men would so gladly forget, or veil from themselves under the deification of nature and natural law.
It is thus that Rabbi Schelomo interprets the language as referring to the fear of the portentous: The Blessed One, in the beginning of His work, had purposed how the world should be, and no change can take place in it either by way of increase or diminution. When it is changed (or appears to be changed) it is God that does it. the commands and effects the change, that men should fear before him. That is, the belief in the supernatural, or in some higher power and will that can, and does, change the visible course of nature as presented to our sense and our experience, is, for us, the ground of all religionthat is, of all fear of the Lordthe term being the Hebrew name for religion in its essential definition, as (the way of the Lord) denotes its practical action. And then he proceeds: Thus it was that Oceanus broke its bound in the generation of Enosh, and inundated one-third of the world; and this God did that men might fear before Him. Again, for seven days the course of the sun was changed in the generation of the flood, and this was that men might fear before Him. After these semi-scriptural, semi-traditional instances, he mentions the turning back of the ten degrees in the days of Hezckiah. All this was done that men might fear before Him. And then he concludes, as the Jewish writers generally do, that it is not good for man to engage in useless physical disputation (), or to study any thing but the commands and ways of God, and thus to fear before Him. See Job 28:21-28.
In rendering the 15th verse, the Vulgate presents the idea of cyclical renovation: quod factum est ipsum pcrmanct; qucefutura sintjam fuerunt, et Deus instaurat quod abitGod renews what is past. The LXX. seems to have in view the idea of retribution in its very literal rendering, , where there would appear to be an allusion to the fleeing homicide. The Syriac: That which was before is now, and all that is to be has been, and God seeks for the pursued that is pursued. The tautology arose, perhaps, from some dim perception of the idea, but in the attempt to make it clear, the Syriac has only made it the more obscure.
It would seem to have been an old Rabbinical fancy to represent one world, or thus following another, or one cycle of events making way for another, by the birth of Jacob with his hand upon Esaus heel. We have this imagery of the idea in, a strange passage from the Apocryphal book of 2 Esdras Ecc 6:7 : Then answered I and said, what shall be the parting asunder of the times; or when shall be the end of the first and the beginning of it that followeth ? And lie (the angel) said unto me, from Abraham unto Isaac, when Jacob and Esau were born of him, Jacobs hand held fast the heel of Esau; for Esau is the end of the world [the ] and Jacob is the beginning of it that followed. The hand of man is betwixt the heel and the hand. Other question, Esdras, ask thou not. The book is apocryphal, but it shows the reasoning of its day, and how some of the old language was understood.T. L.]
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
(With Homiletical Hints.)
The two halves of this section, of which the one (Ecc 3:1-11) presents the reason for the temporal restriction of earthly happiness, and the other (Ecc 3:12-22) the nature of this earthly and temporal happiness, are to each other as the theoretical and practical part of a connected series of reflections on the theme of the temporal nature of all human efforts and deeds. The clause, that to every thing there is a season, or the theoretical principal part of the reflection, is subservient to the clause, rejoice and do good in thy life, as a foundation sustaining the practical. The illustrations of the immutability of the eternal decrees of God (Ecc 3:14-15), of the ever just distribution of human destinies in the next world (Ecc 3:16-17), and of the total uncertainty of the fate of the spirit of man after death (Ecc 3:18-21), are but subsequent glances from the practical to the theoretical portion, whereby is specially shown, in various ways, the necessity of a joyous and diligent use of the present, in order thus to lend more emphasis to the final exhortation to rejoice in the works of this life. The entire contents of the chapter are therefore, substantially, of an exhortatory character, a referenceto the eternal rule of the Highest, that insures to the man, who walks in His paths, happiness in the next world, if not in this, and thus encourages him to grateful and cheerful enjoyment of present blessings, and to unalloyed confidence in the benevolent and assisting hand of God. The theme of Koheleths present section, according to the just observation of Hengstenberg, is mainly in unison with the expression of Jeremiah (Jer 10:23): I know, O Lord, that the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps, or, with the ground thought of the hymn of consolation in affliction,
I know, my God, that all mine acts,
And doing rest upon thy will,
or of the verses,
Why, then, should I repine,
And on the future think?
or this,
On Heavens blessing, and its grace,
Is all my care reposed,
and others similar. Only in this text there is no necessity of referring the consoling tendency of the section specially to the people of Israel as an Ecclesia pressa, suffering amid stern persecutions and ill treatment on the part of external enemies. For if the chapter presents also some allusions to sufferings and wrongs as prevalent occurrences in the epoch and surroundings of the author, (Ecc 3:16-18, and comp. also for the impossibility of the origin of these descriptions from the Solomon of history: Int. p. 13) nothing at all can be discovered in illustration of these sad events, from the stand-point of the theocratic and redemptive pragmatism of the prophets. The descriptions in question maintain, rather, a very general character, and nowhere reflect on the individual position, or the redemptive calling of the people of Israel. For which reason, also, these must be condemned as forced and artificial that allegorical conception of the introductory verses 18, by virtue of which Hengstenberg and some predecessors would discover here special allusions to the changing destinies of the people of God, and explain to be born, and to die, in the sense of Isa 54:1; Hab 1:12; and to plant, and to pluck up, in the sense of Psa 80:8; Psa 80:12; to kill, and to heal, in the sense of Hos 6:1; to break down and build up, in the sense of Jer 24:6; Jer 31:6; Jer 52:10. In the practical treatment of this section, this specific redemptory reference, together with others, may certainly have its due influence, but it can lay no claim to exclusive attention.
In the practical and homiletical treatment of this chapter, we are to give special care to the consideration of the very characteristic assertions regarding the world that is set in the hearts of men, (Ecc 3:11), and the equality of the final destiny of men and beasts in death (Ecc 3:18-21). On the basis of the former passage we should develop the elements of the doctrine of the knowledge of God, to be derived from nature, and the eternal nature and calling of man, (comp. Fabri, Time and Eternity, already quoted,, especially pp. 60 ff.). In connection with the second part, on the contrary, we demonstrate that double character of human nature, belonging in the body to time, but in the Spirit to God and eternity, and point out the practical consequences resulting therefrom for the feelings and the conduct of the children of God. In addition to the homiletical hints quoted below from Tauler, Melanohthon, etc., comp. especially Kleinert, on the Old Testament doctrine of the Spirit of God (Annual for German Theology, 1807, No. 1, p. 13): The enlivening and elevating truth, that our flesh lives through the Spirit of God. (Gen 2:7), becomes in Koheleth a two-edged sword, that turns against its own rejoicing; since all life is from God, that of man as of beast, (Ecc 3:19-20); our life is that of something foreign to us, and belongs not to us (comp. Ecc 8:8), but must again give up its substance at anothers behest, to become what it wasdust, (Ecc 3:20; Ecc 12:7).
To treat the unity of thought in a comprehensive and homiletical style, one might most fittingly take up Ecc 3:11-12, and make a formula of them, something in tire following manner: As a citizen of the world, and an heir of eternity, man should thankfully enjoy the pleasures of this life, and by a conscientious performance of its duties gather fruits propitious for eternity. Or, Live nobly in time, and eternity will crown thee. Or, Seek in time to live thy eternal life; then will it, in the future, certainly be thine. Comp. also these lines of Bhme:
From conflict ever freed is he,
To whom the eternal is as time,
And time is as eternity.
HOMILETICAL HINTS ON SEPARATE PASSAGES
Ecc 3:1. Brenz: Solomon condemns in the beginning of this chapter all anxious reflection and care concerning earthly things, above all, useless worldly anxiety. For this is so deeply rooted in the minds of many, indeed of most men, that it can scarcely be eradicated. This is a torment not only of a very painful, but of an entirely useless character. Nearly all other trials and troubles can be easily borne, and oppress only the body; but anxiety ruins both body and soul.Therefore Solomon here says: Act ever so justly or unjustly, and torture thyself with care till death, thou wilt travail in vain before the completion of the time fixed by God. For, everything occurs according to His divine arrangement, in His own time, without our intervention.
Luther: That nothing occurs before the hour arrives which has been determined by God, Solomon proves by examples drawn from all human affairs, and says: There is a time to build up and a tune to break down, etc., and concludes therefrom that all human resolve in thought, reverie, or effort, is simply a phantom, a shadow, an illusion, unless it be first resolved in heaven. Kings, princes, lords, may hold their councils and resolve what they will; the thing whose hour has come, will occur; the others stand still and hinder and impede each other. And although it may seem that the hour is now come, nothing will take place till the hour does come, although all men on earth should tear themselves to pieces. God permits neither kings, princes, lords, nor wise men on earth to set the dial for Him. He will set it; and we are not to tell Him what it has struck. He will tell us. Christ says in the gospel: My hour is not yet come, etc.Hamann: We find here a series of contradictory things and actions which occur in human life, but which cannot possibly exist together, and hence each has its special time. That moment is fixed for everything which is the best and the most fitting for it. The beauty of things consists in this moment of their maturity which God awaits. He who would eat the blossom of the cherry to taste the fruit, would form a faulty judgment regarding it; he who would judge of the cool shade of the trees from the temperature of winter, and their form in this season, would judge blindly. And we make just such conclusions regarding Gods government and its purpose !
Ecc 3:2-8. Geier (Ecc 3:2): Plants and trees are set and tended on account of their fruits, and the unfruitful are rooted up. Art thou then, O man, planted in the garden of the Lord, but unfruitful, beware, and reform, else wilt thou also be rooted up? Luk 13:6 ff.
Starke (Ecc 3:3; Ecc 3:1 st clause): God is so gracious that He wounds and lacerates the hearts of men for their own good, but heals them again by the assurance of His grace, and the pardon of sins, Hos 6:1.
Hengstenberg (Ecc 3:3, second clause): The people of God have the advantage therein that the destructive activity is ever a means and a preparation for the constructive, and that the final purpose of God is ever directed to the latter. Therefore one can tie cheerful and consoled in the kingdom of God, during the momentary activity of destruction.(Ecc 3:8): The epoch in which this book was written, was mainly a period of hatred, as the faithful learned it by daily and painful experience. But they were assured by the word of God that, in some future time, a period of love would come, such as they had not seen (Isa. 59:23; Isa 60:16; Isa 66:12), and while hoping for this it was more easy for them to accept the seeming hatred from the same dear hand that would dispense the love….. The whole finds its end in the sweet name of peace, which is so engraven on the heart of the church militant. Peace, peace, to him that is far off, and to him that is near, saith the Lord, Isa. 56:19.
Ecc 3:9-10. Luther: Before the hour comes, thought and labor are lost. But we are, nevertheless, to labor, each in his sphere and with diligence. God commands this; if we hit the hour, things prosper; if we do not, nothing comes of it, and thus no human thought avails. They, therefore, who would anticipate Gods hour, struggle, and have nothing but care and sorrow.
Starke (Ecc 3:10): Sin causes man to have many cares, dangers, and vexations in the employments of life, Gen 3:17. It is not the active but the permissive will of God, that permits sinful men to experience these various evil results of their sins.
Ecc 3:11. Brenz:Although God has created all things in the best and wisest way, and fitted them to our needs, our own will, and our shortsighted earthly wisdom nevertheless prevent us from deriving the profit and enjoyment therefrom which the beasts find in the works of God.
Geier:In searching out the works and ways of God be careful not curiously to seek things hidden of God, and on the contrary to neglect His revealed will to the injury of our souls.
Starke:The indwelling desire of the human soul to live eternally is a remnant of the divine image. O that we would endeavor to calm this feeling in the right manner, how happy then would we be!
Elster:The ability of man to reflect in himself the harmony of the world ( ? more correctly, the eternal power and divinity of the Most High mirrored in the things of the world) is indeed a power in whose perfect exercise the individual is impeded by individual weakness. Because the original, pure harmony of the spirit, is obscured in the inner man, he cannot comprehend that which exists without him in its full purity and truth; and that which is highest he is only able to comprehend imperfectly, namely, the eternal, divine, creative thoughts which form, the innermost essence of things.
Ecc 3:12-15. Melanchthon (Ecc 3:12-13):These words are not intended satirically to illustrate the principles of a man of Epicurean enjoyment, but to express the seriously meant doctrine that the things of this world are to be used and enjoyed according to divine intent and command, and also to impart directions for the happy and temperate enjoyment of them. We must, therefore, look in faith to God, perform the works of our calling, implore and await Gods help and blessing, bear patiently the toils and burdens that He sends, and then certainly know that, so far as our labor is crowned with success, this comes from the guidance and protection of God.
Luther:Because so many obstacles and misfortunes meet those who are diligent and mean to be faithful and upright, and because there is so much unhappiness in the world, there is nothing better than cheerfully to employ the present that God gives to our hand, and not to worry and grieve with cares and thoughts about the future. But the skill lies in being able to do it; that is the gift of God.
Osiander, (Ecc 3:14-15): God acts immutably that we may therein perceive His majesty and power, fear Him, and serve Him with piety and highest reverence. However God deals with us, we must accept it, and consider it good, Job 2:10.
Berleburg Bible:You must not hesitate and let yourself for that reason (by sorrows and tribulations) be drawn away from the highest good. For God will not let the injustice and violence that are done to the pious, go unpunished.
Ecc 3:16-17. Hansen:As there is here a certain period When men follow their inclinations, so there is, beyond, a fixed time when they will be summoned before a tribunal.
Hengstenberg:The sentence on the wicked may be expected with so much the more confidence, when they have assumed the place of judgment and justice, and from thence practised their iniquity, thus abusing magisterial power.
Ecc 3:18-21. Tauler:Man is composed from time and eternity; from time as regards the body, from eternity as regards the spirit. Now everything inclines towards its origin. Because the body is composed from earth and time, it inclines to temporal things, and finds its pleasure therein. Because the spirit came from God, and is composed from eternity, it inclines therefore to God and eternity. When man turns from time and creatures to eternity and God, he has an in working in God and eternity, and thus makes eternity from time, and from the creature God in the godly man.
Melanchthon:Solomon speaks thus of external appearances. If one questioned only the eyes and the judgment, without listening to the word of God, human life would appear to be governed by mere chance, to such an extent that men would seem to be, as it were, like a great ant-hill, and like ants to be crushed. But the revelation of the divine word must be placed in contrast with this appearance.
Starke:As thou desirest, after death, a better state than that of beasts, see to it, then, that in life thou dost distinguish thyself from the beasts by a reasonable, Christian demeanor, Psa 32:9.
Ecc 3:22. Wohlfarth:Only the moment that we live in life, is our possession. Every hour lived sinks irrevocably into the sea of the past: the future is uncertain: therefore is he a fool who lets the present slip by unused, wastes it in vain amusement, or grieves with useless lamentations.
Hengstenberg:See the exegetical remarks on this passage.
Footnotes:
[1][Zckler renders its time to burn and its time to die, making it all dependent (this and the following verses) on the first. every thing has its time. On see Text notes.T. L.]
[2]The root, though not frequent, is common enough in Hebrew for this purpose; why go to the Chaldaic?
[3][All such infinitives as rekodh and sephodh have a like rhyming. The fact that accounts for the choice here is rather the similarity of primary sense which is found in verbs of daucing and mourning. All passions in early times were expressed by a violence of outward action, such as beating the breast rending the garments, rolling on the earth, etc., that in these colder days of the worlds old age would be deemed utterly extravagant. Thus. in the Greek mentioned by Zckler. Homers , Iliad XXII. 221, Hebrew primarily to smite the breast. We still find traces of it in modern words, though almost worn out. Thus our word plaint is but a feeble echo of the Latin plangere. In the Syriac this same root, here rendered to dance, is used in the Aphel conjugation for mourning Thus in that childrens ditly, or play upon words, recited by our Saviour, Mat 11:17, the word, in the Peschito Version, for mourning is , for dancing , in Roman letters, arked, raked. A play upon words of this kind is proof that the gospel (of Matthew at least) in its oral form before any writing. was Aramac, and that our Saviour spoke it. Such childrens ditties are very tenacious, and it must have been of long standing. The play upon words that it gives could not have been original in the Greek, though afterwards early translated.T. L.J
[4] [Ecc 3:11. The strong objection to the interpretation of Gesenius, De Wette, and Knobel, is that the New Testament use of the word world for worldliness, love of the world, is unknown to the Hebrew Scriptures. Equally unwarranted are Hitzig and Stuart in first transforming into (not found in Hebrew in any such sense, but supposed to be equivalent to the Arabic ( and then rendering it Knowledge, without, etc. The Arabic sense of the verb to know, is later than the primary Hebrew, to be hidden or obscure, though coming from it by a seeming law of contraries peculiar to the Shemitic tongues; it is Knowledge as discovery, or science strictly, or the hidden found. It is only in the Arabic mundus, equal to , that the old Hebrew primary appears. Besides, this view of Hitzig and Stuart is at war with the which they have no right to render without which. The proper way of expressing that, in Hebrew, would be by placing first, and following it with the personal suffix and a different particle, (which without it they cannot, etc,). A plansible rendering is, he hath put obscurity in their hearts; but this, though agreeing with the primary sense of the verb, never occurs as a sense of the noun. The view of Zckler, substantially agreeing with one given by Geier, that here, or eternity regarded as in the heart of man, refers to the natural human recognition of the eternal power and Godhead, as spoken of by Paul, Rom 1:20, presents an admirable meaning if it can be sustained. It may be said that it is giving too much of an abstract sense, but it is certain that the writer intends here no common thought, and, therefore, the word employed may be fairly extended, philologically, to its utmost limits. It can hardly be reconciled, however, with the which Zckler, without any other warrant than his own assertion, makes equivalent to and then renders it nur dass nicht, only that not, thus turing it into a mere exceptive limitation, as is also done by Tremellius and Grotius: excepto quod non. There are no Scriptual examples of such use of or , and this would be enough, even if every reader did not feel that there is something in it at war with the whole spirit of this profound declaration. In this compound particle the is negative, implying hinderance, and intensifying the negation in the other part. The LXX. have, therefore, properly rendered it . that not, or rather, in such a way that not (, in distinction from , referring to the manner of accomplishing, rather than to the purpose itself). He hath so presented it to their minds, that they cannot, etc. So the Targum the Syriac , Rashi , Aquila , Vulgate, Pagnin. Drus. Merc. ut non.
That other idea, however, of the word as world, worldtime, world plan (see Ecc 3:14), which has been so fully dwelt upon in the Excursus on the Olamic Words, p. 40, harmonizes perfectly with the immediate context, and the whole tenor of the deeper reflections contained in this book: The world-problem hath God so put into their hearts (literally, given in their heart, )presented to their minds,or, as the Vulgate well expresses it, tradidit disputationi eorum, that, etc. Whether we take it in the cosmical or olamic sense, what a comment upon this is furnished by the ancient schools, Greek, Egyptian, Persian, or Oriental generally, in their endless cosmogonical disputations on the world, its first matter, its first moving principles, its origin,on the question of its duration, whether it had a beginning or would ever have an end, whether it had any thing immutable ( ) or was ever phenomenal and flowing,whether there were more worlds than one, either in time or spacein short, whence it came, how it existed, and what was it all for, or what did it truly mean. These disputations were much older than Thales, and Solomon must have heard of them, at least, even if unacquainted particularly with all, or any, of the theories held. Let any one see, especially, how these disputations of the early ante-Socratic Greek schools are summed up by Xenophon, Memorabilia, 1.Ecc 14: . . ., and he will well appreciate the force of the strong language: so that they cannot find it out to the end from the beginning,especially as confirmed by the still more striking declaration, Ecc 8:17 : yea, though a wise man (a philosopher) say that he knows it, yet shall he not be able to find it out. In the time sense, or the olamic sense of the word world, it is still more clear, especially when regarded as the great olam, or world period, or world idea (Ecc 3:14), compared with that list of brief passing times mentioned before as belonging to things beneath the sun. The writer had presented special seasons belonging to the chief occupations and events of human lifea time to plant, a time to love, a time to hate, to mourn, to rejoice, etc. The fitness of these man could study and perceive, but the great all-containing time, the encircling eternity or world time, who could understand.God had so presented this to the human thought, the human mind, that though it could reason well of passing events, it could not find out the end from the beginning. It could not discover the world idea (Ecc 3:14), that higher wisdom than the natural from which it all depended, nor that deeper wisdom than nature to which it was all as a means to an end. Even in its highest state, taking the form of the most lauded science, it was only the study of links (see remarks, Int., Met. Ver.), of adaptations to adaptations, among which it could never find beginnings nor ends. Something greater might be divined by faith, but otherwise, it was as unsearchable as the wisdom so anxiously inquired after, Job 28.: The deep saith it is not in me, etc. It was true even of physical knowledge, that it could not find out its own limits, when taken comparatively. The individual man occupies but a point in the great world cycle. As things go round, he sees, or may see, how they are all fair in their season, each fitting to the one next, and so on, as far as he may carry his researches; but what it is all about, or what it all means, that no science of nature can reveal to him. His angle of vision, even with the mightiest aid it has ever had, or may expect to have, is too small to take in more than a very few degrees, or a very few seconds of a degree, in the mighty arc we are traversing, or have passed during the longest known times that either history, or the observation of nature, has revealed to us. The thought is not beyond what may be ascribed to Koheleth, with his grand cyclical ideas, and nothing could be in better harmony with the contexts, or the peculiar particles by which they are united. There are some rich homiletical thoughts arising from such a view of verses 11th, 14th, and 15th, but they belong in another place.T. L.]
[5][It is by no means clear that the the pronoun in refers to persons. The most natural connection would be with the things mentioned above, and all summed up in the of Ecc 3:11 : No good in these things except to rejoice, etc. The in would not, grammatically, server this, since it does not belong to the main assertion.T. L.
[6] , has not here, as zckler well says, the sense of being merry; neither can it be taken as denoting beneficence; or even good conduct (doing the divine commands), in a general moral sense. It strictly means to do well, in the sense of prosperity, to have successcorresponding to the Greek , rather than to , or T. L.]
[7] [, ver.17, there. This little word coming in such connection is most suggestive. The thought presented through so unobtrusively expressed, is, in reality, one of the modulating key notes of this singular book. The connection between this verse, 17th, and the commencement of the chapter is unmistakable. In contrast with the particular times and occasions there mentioned, there is here placed the great time, the great olam, to which all the particular times have reference, and in which they are all to be judged. For there, too, unto every purpose, and for every work, there is an , a time appointed. It immediately leads the mind away from this subsolar state ( ) to that higher world that more remote state, or world beyond (Jenseits) to which all has reference and which seems to be constantly in the writers mind as an idea, but without locality, or specific manner, or any assigned or assignable chronology,as though it were something he firmly believed, but could not define, or even distinctly conceive. It is the basis of all his contemplation, the ground on which he so firmly rests in the concluding declaration of the book. may mean any great occasion, crisis, or eventuality, as well as place. Comp. Gen 9:9; Psa 133:3. As used here, it strongly calls to mind the Greek , and the manner in which the poets employ it to express a similar indefinite contrast with the present state or world in like characteristic manner styled , here, Diesseits (this side of time). Thus Medea (1069) says to her children, , as though giving them the usual maternal blessing, and then suddenly checks herself with the thought of what is coming
but there: all here your Fathers hand has taken quite away. There in that other world, or time, or state. The expression seems to have little or no direct, connection with their mythology, or the fabled regions of Hades, but rather to have come from this innate idea of the human soul, or the moral necessity that gives birth to the thought of some other world and time than this, but without known chronology or locality. Things must be balanced; somehow, and somewhere, and at sometime, the equation must be completed. For a similar use of and , compare schylus Iketides 230, Pindar Olymp. II:105, and especially, Plato Repub., 330 D., where both terms are used, with my thological reference indeed, but carrying the same general and most impressive thought of an after world, or time of judgement, as a correspondence to this; , . . . :For the myths that are told us respecting Hades (or the unseen), how that the wrong doer here must make compensation there,myths once derided,now disturb the soul with fear lest they be true. This striking passage, taken in its remarkable connection, shows that there was, in the old Greek mind, the same fear of a judgment to come, of something awful after this world, that is now felt by the common modern mind. It was before Christianity. It created myths, and was not created by them.It is the voice of conscience, independent of all mythologies, but showing itself in all their varied forms, as though, without some such idea, religion would have no existence.T. L.]
[8] [The key to the right interpretation of the whole passage, Ecc 3:18-21, together with a complete defence to the charge of materialism which knobel brings against Koheleth, is found in the phrases , , and , in verse 18 above. The first is rendered in our version, on account of; Vulgate has simply de (de filiis hominum); 70. (concerning the talk of men); So the Syriac (according to the speech of the sons of men)that is speaking after the manner of men, speaking humanly, or more humano. The other rendering, on account of, or by reason of (which is nearer to the sense of the phrase elsewhere, comes to very much the same thing, or expresses the same general idea. See Psa 110:4, where it is rendered after the manner of. It is an intimation that the language of the following verses is hypothetical, or adapted to a supposed state of things, such as Koheleth had called up before his own mind, that is, said in his heart. It is the language of human action. The Arabian rhetoricians and critics have a peculiar phrase for it. the tongue of the condition, or the case speaking. See Rabbi Tanchum, Arabic Commentary on Lamentations, Lam 3:36; also marg. note Genesis, p. 361. This they get from the Rabbinical grammarians and interpreters who have a similar Hebrew phrase, , for such cases as this. All the language following, which seems to represent man as having no supremacy over the beast, is affected by this hypothetical impression. It is mans judgment upon himself, as pronounced by his own conduct. The writer, in this talking to his heart, takes men as they are, as they appear, fallen, worldly, sensual, animal. It is the language of their lives. It is all that could be gathered by one who confined himself to this view, or who had nothing to go by but the observation of the general human conduct,the way of the world. Such an interpretation is fortified by what follows in the same verse: that God might prove them, , make it clear to them by their own experience, their own ways, how much like beasts they are, or rather, how much like beasts they live and die, though He had created them in His own image. It calls up Ps. 49:12, 29: Man that is in honor, and understandeth it not, is like the beasts that perish. In both cases it may be said: this their way is their folly, and we have no more right to charge Epicureanism, or materialism, on the one passage than on the other. The same impression of hypothetical speaking is produced, and, perhaps, still more strongly, by the pronouns , at the close of that verse. Zcklers opinion that this is simply an intensive phrase equivalent to ipsissimi is not satisfactory. The Rationalist Hitzig comes nearer to the true view of these pronouns. He connects them with , to prove them, to try (or test them), to let them see (zur Einsicht zu bringen) how like beasts they are. So Stuart: That they might see for themselves As is often the case, however, in Hebrew, the sense is best brought out by the most literal interpretation the words will bear: Themselves to themselves, or, to let them see that they are beasts, themselves to themselves; not in their treatment of one another, as Geier and some others take it (homo lupus homini), but rather in their own estimation (see Metrical Version), as they are, or as they must appear, to themselves, in the light of their own general conduct,the speaking of their own lives. This view at once clears Koheleth himself from Knobels charge of materialism; though we see not how, in any other way, it can be denied. It is so far from materialism that, to the devout reader, it immediately raises the opposite thought. What Koheleth says in his heart, throughout this passage, is a mournful rebuke (we will not call it by the heartless name of satire) of the worldly, sensual, beastlike life of man; whilst, by this very aspect of it he points to a higher destiny which the animal life of mere sense so directly contradicts: Who knows it, who thinks of it (see the next marginal note) ? and yet the bare thought of such super-solar destiny, though carrying with it no knowledge of condition, lifts man above the earth and the beasts who descend wholly into it. There is, also an evident paronomasia, here, of with the two words , just preceding; and this also furnishes some reason for the peculiar style of expression, making it all the more forcible to the Hebrew ears addressed.
Thus also must we render Ecc 3:22, by giving , the sense of judgment (as in many other places) instead of sight as a fact. It is the same hypothetical judgement, founded on human action, or what one must conclude as to the supposed good, and the human destiny, if determined from such a standpoint of human conduct.T. L.]
[9] [Ecc 3:21. , who knows, etc. Zckler disposes of this important passage too easily. From the Hebrew text as it stands there can be made no other translation than that given in our English Version. The in and in [that goeth up, that goeth down] is the article. This cannot be overthrown, as Stuart and others attempted to do, by examples of interrogative having patach with dagesh, every one of which, if not wholly anomalous, depends on peculiar conditions that do not here exist. The old Jewish grammarians, who have never been surpassed in their thorough knowledge of these minuti of their language, have reduced the matter to rules by an exhaustive induction that leaves no doubt. One of these rules is, that every or he kamezatus, to use their technics [or with ] before , is every where the article of specification [ ], never the interrogative. It might have been so said in respect to the gutturals generally, with a very few exceptions having their peculiar reasons not here found. But in the case of there are not exceptions. This settles the question for the word even if it had stood alone. But there is the participle presenting a still stronger case for the article. Here cannot be interrogative. The attempt to make it so would only interfere with another rule which is settled without exception, namely, that interrogative may cause dagesh in a radical following if it has schewa [], but never without it, so that the in [the radical having its vowel cholem] must be the pronominal article (that which goeth down). This is confirmed by Aben-Ezra, Rabbi Schelomo, Ben Melech, Kimchi, and others. In fact, the best Jewish authorities are here all one way. But then, it is gratuitously said, the authors of the Masora changed the punctuation. There is neither reason nor authority for such an assertion. The LXX. indeed has (if it ascends), but this Version was made from unpointed Hebrew, and, on such a question, settles nothing against the better understanding of the Masorites. The Vulgate follows the 70. [si ascendat], and the Syriac has every appearance of having been here conformed to the Greek, as in many other places. Besides the 70 and Vulgate rendering would not correspond to the interrogative, but rather to the particle (if), which would be the best word in Hebrew if such a doubt were to be expressed: .
If we look at the internal evidence, the case for the article will be found still stronger. Taking the passage as Stuart does and Hitzig; or as it is somewhat qualified by Zckler, we find ourselves involved in terrible difficulties. We cannot rest with ascribing to Koheleth merely ignorance, or non-recognition, of the doctrine of the souls survival. That might, with some reason, be said of an Old Testament writer generally, namely, that he says nothing about it, and seems to have no knowledge of it. This is not, however, the case with Koheleth. He had doubtless heard an echo of the old belief, held, beyond all doubt, by nations cotemporary, and so curtly expressed in the Grecian Drama, as something that had come down from ancient days:
,
.
He shows his knowledge of the dogma, as a belief existing, and then denies its truth, or attempts to throw doubt upon it. This is certainly strange, unexampled, we may say, in the Old Testament. Worse than all, he not only denies it, but scoffingly denies it, as though it were an absurd thought, should it even chance to occur to one of these poor creatures whose vain condition he is so graphically describinga foolish hope, itself a vanitas vanitatum. He sneers at it as something which might be vainly held by a fewsome early Essene dreamers perhapsbut was wholly contrary to sense and experience. No one knows any thing about it. It would be something like the sneer that used to be heard from the coarser kind of infidelswho ever saw a soul? This cannot be the serious Koheleth, the man, too, who so expressly, so solemnly says, Ecc 12:7, that the spirit does go up to God who gave it.
How then shall we take the question ? There is but one way, and that seems conclusive of the view presented in the note page 71. It does not express the disbelief even doubt of Koheleth, but is, in fact, his reproof of men in general, as he sees them living and acting in his day. Their lives are a denial of any essential difference between man and the brute. Who among them knowswho recognizesthis great difference? Moreover, the expression must be taken as an universal or a partial negation, according to the ideas that necessarily enter into the context; as in Ecc 2:19, it is equivalent to no one knows. So in Psa 90:11, who knoweth the power of thine anger,a thing most real, yet hard to be appreciated. Compare also Joe 2:14; Jon 3:9, where it expresses a hope, who knows but he may turn and repent. In Isa 53:1, a precisely similar expression, who hath believed our report, denotes what is most rare. So in Psa 94:16, who hath known the mind of the Lord, Rom 11:34 ( , cognovit recognovit). This, says S, Basil, significat non quod absurdum est, sed quod rarum. So here: How few, if any, recognize the great truth, the great difference between man and beast? The context, the general aspect of the passage, together with what the writer most seriously affirms in other places, must all be considered; and it would show, we think, that in uttering this complaining query, he was only the most strongly expressing his individual opinion, or feeling rather, of the mighty, yet unheeded difference. There must surely be for man something better than all this dying vanity, if he would only recognize it. That may have this sense, is shown by the use of the verb in many places, and especially by the infinitive noun , which often means belief, opinion, tenet, etc. Zcklers reference to Joh 1:18 : No man hath seen God at any time, we cannot help regarding as containing a fallacy of interpretation, and as being, in reference to this passage, quite irrelevant.T. L.]
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
CONTENTS
Under several very interesting representations, the Preacher continues in this Chapter to follow up the same subject, as in the former. The mutability of all things here below, is strikingly set forth; and the unchangeableness of God’s purposes clearly established.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: (2) A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which 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 together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; (6) A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; (7) A time to rend, 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.
I cannot but be led to suppose, that the Holy Ghost had some special design in what is here said respecting times and seasons; and, especially, as it is set forth under so great a variety of terms. If we consider what the Preacher here saith, spiritually, there is indeed to everything in grace a season, and a blessed season it forms, when the sinner is born of God, and to God; and dead to sin, and delivered both from the guilt and dominion of sin. Blessed Jesus! what a sweet thought is it, that my times are in thy hands. Psa 31:15 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Ecc 3:1
How for everything there is a time and a season, and then how does the glory of a thing pass from it, even like the flower of the grass. This is a truism, but it is one of those which are continually forcing themselves upon the mind.
Borrow’s Lavengro, xxvi.
He is a good time-server that finds out the fittest opportunity for every action. God hath made a time for everything under the sun, save only for that which we do at all times to wit, sin.
Thomas Fuller.
References. III. 1-8. R. Buchanan, Ecclesiastes: its Meaning and Lessons, p. 92. Bishop Harvey Goodwin, Parish Sermons (3rd Series), p. 334.
Ecc 3:2
The second of these may describe the times of analysis which often succeed periods of creation. They are not necessarily bad, for they may detect things evil and hollow; but they are times of distrust and unsettlement, and they easily go to excess. Everything is doubted, and in some minds this leads to universal scepticism. We are in such a period now, and it gives the feeling as if the ages of faith were past, and bare rationalism lord of the future. This would resolve everything into dust and death.
Dr. John Ker’s Thoughts for Heart and Life, p. 153.
Compare J. S. Mill’s Autobiography, p. 137.
References. III. 2. J. M. Neale, Sermons Preached in Sackville College Chapel, vol. i. p. 57. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture Ecclesiastes, p. 323.
Ecc 3:4
Men thin away to insignificance quite as often by not making the most of good spirits when they have them, as by lacking good spirits when they are indispensable.
Thomas Hardy.
If cheerfulness knocks at our door we should throw it wide open, for it never comes inopportunely; instead of that we often make scruples about letting it in. Cheerfulness is a direct and immediate gain the very coin, as it were, of happiness, and not, like all else, merely a cheque upon the bank.
Schopenhauer.
‘Don’t tell me,’ William Pitt once cried, ‘of a man’s being able to talk sense, every one can talk sense; can he talk nonsense?’
A sense of humour preserves all who have it from extremes. It warns away from the confines of the petty and ridiculous, and produces very often the same tolerant effects as magnanimity, revealing through laughter that reasonable line of thought which was obscured by logic.
Spectator, 27 May, 1905, p. 778.
Ecc 3:4
Last July, at an evening concert in the Kursaal of Sestroretz, a fashionable seaside resort near St. Petersburg, a number of the audience loudly insisted upon funeral music being played in memory of those who had perished in the St. Petersburg massacres of 22 January. The demonstrators shouted,’ This is no time for pleasure’.
References. III. 4. W. C. Wheeler, Sermons and Addresses, p. 56. W. Brock, Midsummer Morning Sermons, p. 118.
Ecc 3:7
Luther begins the dedicatory letter to Amsdorf, prefixed to his epoch-making ‘Appeal to the Christian Nobility of the German Nation,’ with these words: ‘The time for silence is gone, and the time to speak has come, as we read in Ecclesiastes.’
It was this treatise which, in 1520, first gave voice to the conscience of the nation
Ecc 3:7
When hearts are overfull they seldom run to speech. When sorrow has broken in on love, love left alone again, is hesitant and shy, more prone to look and kiss and hold than to mend his wounds with words.
Katherine Cecil Thurston in The Circle.
Thoughts on Silence
Ecc 3:7
‘Speech is silvern, silence is golden,’ saith the proverb. But there are many kinds of silence. There is a silence that is trying, and another that is fearful: as also there is a silence that is wholesome, one that is acceptable, one that is instructive, and still another that is blessed.
I. There is a Silence which is Good and Wholesome, viz. when a man sets a guard over his tongue and keeps silence from idle, vain, hurtful words. It has been well said that he who would speak well must speak little. Silence is a most wholesome restraint, a most helpful discipline, especially for those who are much pressed with engagements and have little time to themselves.
II. There is a Silence that is Acceptable to God and Well Pleasing in His Sight . When things go wrong; when people are careless, or stupid, or perverse; when we feel irritated or annoyed; when the cutting speech, or the angry word, or the impatient exclamation rises to our lips; then ‘the prudent shall keep silence in that time; for it is an evil time’. Or when we are blamed unjustly; when our actions are misjudged, and our intentions misconstrued; when we have laid to our charge things that we know not; when we are maligned, insulted, or reviled; then is the time to keep silence. At such times let us strive to imitate our Blessed Lord, ‘Who when He was reviled, reviled not again; when He suffered He threatened not’.
III. There is a Silence which is Sweet, Comforting and Blessed, and of which we read ‘there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour’. As though in the midst of the songs and praises and rejoicings of the Holy Angels the Lord God Almighty ordered silence, and bid them pause awhile that the prayers and cries and tears of men might the better rise up to heaven, and enter into His ears. Not that God is deaf or can ever be distracted. His piercing eye takes in everything at a glance. His loving ear is attentive to the faintest whisper of His children. But He condescends to our weakness and ignorance by speaking to us in the language of men. God hears the faintest whisper of His servants’ hearts. His ear is always open day and night unto their prayers; nevertheless, at the crisis of a life, as in the last great crisis of the world’s history the opening of the Seventh Seal silence is kept in heaven, that there may be help upon earth.
‘A time to keep silence.’ Whilst at times we keep silence before men, let us talk unceasingly to God and pour out our hearts before Him. Let us tell Him our wants, our weakness, our hopes, our fears, our desires, and never fear of wearying His all-loving, all-sympathizing ear.
Ecc 3:8
‘Ah, Sam!’ said Carlyle once to Froude, apropos of Bishop Wilberforce, ‘he is a very clever fellow; I do not hate him near as much as I fear I ought to do.’
Compare Newman’s lines on Zeal and Love. ‘I believe,’ said Prof. W. K. Clifford upon one occasion, ‘that if all the murderers and all the priests and all the liars in the world were united into one man, and he came suddenly upon me round a corner and said, How do you do? in a smiling way, I could not be rude to him.’
Reference. III. 9-22. R. Buchanan, Ecclesiastes: its Meaning and Lessons, p. 107.
Ecc 3:11
‘What we mean to insist upon is, that in finding out the works of God, the intellect must labour, workmanlike, under the direction of the architect Imagination….” He hath set the world in man’s heart,” not in his understanding, and the heart must open the door to the understanding. It is the far-seeing imagination which beholds what might be a form of things, and says to the intellect, “Try whether that may not be the form of these things “.’ So George Macdonald writes in his essay on The Imagination, which he concludes by quoting Ecc 3:10-11 , over again as ‘setting forth both the necessity we are under to imagine, and the comfort that our imagining cannot outstrip God’s making. Thus,’ he comments, ‘thus to be playfellows with God in this game, the little ones may gather their daisies and follow their painted moths; the child of the kingdom may pore upon the lilies of the field, and gather faith as the birds of the air their food from the leafless hawthorn, ruddy with the stores God has laid up for them; and the man of science
May sit, and rightly spell
Of every star that heaven doth show,
And every herb that sips the dew;
Till old experience doth attain
To something like prophetic strain.’
Ecc 3:11
So might we sum up the spirit of Israel. But the Jewish ideal simplified life by leaving half of it untouched. It remained for Greece to make the earth a home, ordered and well equipped for the race, if not indeed for the individual. Greece supplied the lacking elements art, science, secular poetry, philosophy, political life, social intercourse…. Hebraism and Hellenism stand out distinct, the one in all the intensity of its religious life, the other in the wealth and diversity of its secular gifts and graces.
Thus the sharp contrasts of the Sculptor’s plan
Showed the two primal paths our race has trod;
Hellas, the nurse of man complete as man,
Judaea pregnant with the living God.
Butcher, Harvard Lectures on Greek Subjects, pp. 42, 43.
Ecc 3:11
‘Within me there is more.’ So runs the fine device inscribed upon the beams and pediment of an old patrician mansion at Bruges, which every traveller visits; filling a corner of one of those tender and melancholy quays, that are as forlorn and lifeless as though they existed only on canvas. So too might man exclaim, ‘Within me there is more’: every law of morality, every intelligible mystery.
Maeterlinck
The Judgment
Ecc 3:11
I. Some idea of ‘Judgment’ is practically universal. The reasons seem to be:
a. The intrinsic incompleteness of life.
b. The fact that character continues to grow after faculties decline.
c. The imperious clamour of the affections.
II. The prominent place of the idea in the teaching of Jesus.
d. Its immediate expectation by the early Church.
e. Chiliasm ‘Millenarianism’ ‘ Second Adventists,’ etc.
f. The popular notion that the record is incomplete for each individual at death.
III. Christ sets it much farther forward.
g. The things which must first occur.
h. That it will be a humane judgment
i. A perfectly correct judgment. ‘The books opened’ all relevant facts exposed. If arbitrary this would not be emphasized.
IV. Whom He condemns and approves.
Ecc 3:11
‘The woods,’ says Ruskin in Prterita, ‘which I had only looked on as wilderness, fulfilled, I then saw, in their beauty the same laws which guided the clouds, divided the light, and balanced the wave. “He hath made everything beautiful in His time,” became for me thenceforward the interpretation of the bond between the human mind and all visible things.’
Ecc 3:11
The tree of life is always in bloom somewhere, if we only know where to look.
Havelock Ellis.
All Things Beautiful in Their Season
Ecc 3:11
The sentiment of the beautiful is universal. The beautiful is much more than a mere gratification of the senses.
I. God’s manifest delight in beauty. Beauty is essentially inwrought into God’s works; every little flower, every blade of grass, every fitful shape, every vagrant twig, exemplifies it Beauty is God’s taste, God’s art, God’s manner of workmanship.
II. Beauty is the necessary conception of the Creator’s thought, the necessary product of His hand; variety in beauty is the necessary expression of His infinite mind. Even decay, disorganization, feculence, have an iridescence of their own.
III. Beauty is part of our human perfection also. Unbeautiful things are defective things. Beauty is not intended to minister to a mere idle sentiment It is a minister to our moral nature. It is the deeper, more pervading sense of God; it is the religious sentiment of the soul.
H. Allon, Harvest and Thanksgiving Services, p. 17.
References. III. 11. A. Maclaren, Sermons Preached in Manchester (3rd Series), p. 209. W. Park, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxviii. p. 259. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture Ecclesiastes, p. 334. III. 16-22. T. C. Finlayson, A Practical Exposition of Ecclesiastes, p. 87. III. 14, 16. J. C. M. Bellew, Christ in Life: Life in Christ, p. 237. III. 15. W. R. Owen, A Book of Lay Sermons, p. 73. III. 19-21. W. L. Alexander, Sermons, p. 238.
Ecc 3:20
After all it comes to the same thing in the end, how we make our grand tour be it afoot, or on horseback, or on board ship. We all arrive at the same hostelry at last the same poor inn, whose door is opened with a spade and where the appointed chamber is so narrow, cold, and dreary; but there we sleep well, almost too well.
Heine.
Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson
The Works of the Lord
Ecc 3
Coheleth saw that, notwithstanding the confusion which so broadly marked all human life, there was a partially-discovered method underlying everything. Things that seemed to come by chance really came by arrangement, and all the topsyturvy was only on the outside:
“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven” ( Ecc 3:1 ).
It is very marvellous, too, how little control man has over the coming and going of things, though he fusses and fumes as if the law were in his fingers and authority in his nod. This is God’s method of keeping everything in his own hand, and yet allowing man the gratification of thinking that he has something to do with the boundaries and order of society. How to control man without submitting him to utter humiliation was God’s problem, and he works it out every day. Man struts and shouts as if he were master, yet he is but a scullion in God’s household, and there is more iron than glass in the window which lights his little cell. From the second to the eighth verse we have God’s time-bill; indicating times of change, of direction, of progress, and no man can touch the clock on whose lofty dial these times are marked. We have our little watches which we wind up and set as if we were keeping the time, forgetting in our petty self-complacency that God is timekeeper, and that his sun tells how the hour moves.
There is a time to dance as surely as there is a time to die. It is not a dial of cloud on which the hands move; it is now and again bright like the very sun. Every man dances must dance; every man cries in bitterness of soul must cry, for his sorrow is very great. Is it right to dance? You may as well ask, Is it right to breathe? It is not a question of right or wrong, it is a question of necessity. Whether you will turn dancing into an art or not, please yourself, but you must dance when joy blows her trumpet and sunshine warms the blood. There is a time to cast away stones, to uproot, abolish, tear down, and destroy; and there is a time to construct, to build, and to make strong. The great thing is to know the time, and to say the right word at the right moment. There is a time to dance, but he who would dance in the house of mourning is a foolish man and one not to be endured. There is a time to mourn, but he who would mourn at a wedding would be as one that shut out the sun and shortened the road to the grave. We are not to mix the seasons. We are not to pluck sour fruit for our eating. If possible, we are to meet the conditions that are around us. “Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.” If we are not in wedding mood, then turn aside from the wedding banquet, lest a cloud fall on the bride’s gladness; if we are lifted up with great joy, then escape from the path of the mourner, lest we grieve him with unseasonable mirth. “To every thing there is a season,” and he is the wise man who puts away his sickle in seedtime, nor makes the wedding-bells clash when the heart is made poor by death. The turning of one season into another is often the direct work of God: “Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness.”
We are to understand, then, that there is a spirit of Order in creation, and that God wishes our life to be rhythmic and musical, not tumultuous and self-disappointing: a place for everything and everything in its place; a time for everything and everything done in its time. This is not mere machinery, it is not stiffness or pedantry; it is the very perfection of ease and enjoyment: it entails the least possible waste, it divides all burdens equally, it makes the wheels of life go steadily and correctly. We have lost the spirit of Order. The human race has lost its marching step, and we now go each at his own pace, wildly, confusedly, blindly. Our march is no longer a piece of music: it is an ungainly waddle; it is a jerk and rush, as if the spirit of panic had displaced the spirit of peace.
Punctuality is morality. Punctuality is not a mere excellence of habit; it is an honest and true disposition. To be unpunctual is to take liberties with other people’s rights; it is to be selfish under pretence of being only eccentric. Again and again let us say, There is a law of time, there is a philosophy of order, there is a science of procession. All this goes down much further than it seems to go. Our habits are no longer timely and seasonable, because our hearts are no longer right with God. We cannot be right with one another until we are right with our Maker. Morality is the practical side of religion. “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart… and thy neighbour as thyself.” When we take our time from the Sun of Righteousness, our hands will point men to the right time of day. We must be right fundamentally before we can be right incidentally.
In this procession and reaction of times and seasons, Coheleth saw that he was the truly wise man who enjoyed the day that was passing over him:
“Every man should… enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God” ( Ecc 3:13 ).
Try to find the sweetness that is in your food. Do not eat as mere animals, but eat and drink sacramentally. “It is the gift of God.” Do not put off your enjoyments, but realise them now. You are going to be a happy man in some far off future; why not be happy at this very moment? Instead of merely going to heaven as a distant and unknown land, begin your heavenly enjoyment and service now. Do not waste the sunshine. It was meant to make glad, therefore be glad, and quote the sunlight as authority and justification. But there is trouble in your heart, you say, and you cannot be glad. Such a condition of life must always be broadly and sympathetically recognised. Give that trouble its right name, and you will find that its name is Sin. You know the mighty power of sin over human life: it frightens away the birds of paradise; it scares the angels of God; it calls together the wandering clouds, and forms them into one intense and infinitely awful storm; it drops poison into the choicest wine; it starts up like a spirit in the darkness of the bad man’s chamber, and shakes that darkness as if it were a curtain, and fills the air with a ghostly noise. Sin is a shadow that kills the flowers; it is a spectral hand on the gilded and pictured wall; it is a tug in the crowd; it is a mocking laugh in the churchyard; it is a touch of fire; it is hell! No wonder, then, that men cannot enjoy the day as it passes over them, and that though they rise to conquer in the morning, they fall back at night with arrows quivering and rankling in their hearts. All order, all rhythm, all proportion, must go down before the destructive influence of sin. This is true in the individual character, and true in all social and national relations. There can be no peace on the surface until there is rest at the heart. Come, thou Saviour of the world, and bruise the head of the cruel serpent! Thou only canst work this great miracle of reconciliation, and the recall and re-establishment of order. All things are out of course: the foundations are shaken, the cornerstones are displaced, and utterest confusion reigns. Come, thou Spirit of peace, walk over the troubled sea of our storm-tossed ship, and bring to us the joy and the hope of a great calm!
Coheleth well says that there is a secret in the works of God:
“No man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end” ( Ecc 3:11 ).
No man can find out the secret of things. God allows man wide liberties and privileges, but he keeps back one key which never passes into mortal hands. “The works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein.” “Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection? It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell; what canst thou know? The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea.” You work your way down to the molecule, but what is it? Who made it? You dissect and analyse and test by steel and fire, but what is that which escapes you at the last? It hovers above you, it glances at you, it thrills you; what is it? Lo! no man can catch that subtle thing and make it give up its secret. We have read many pages, yet we cannot finish the book. There is one chapter wanting, perhaps only a paragraph, perhaps only a word; but it is wanting! So again and again we come upon the inquiry just quoted “Canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection?” Rightly understood, it is this missing Secret which keeps the world moving. We think we can get at it if we travel faster, so we mount the quickest runner and fly after the Secret; and lo! when we come to the journey’s end, we find we have been set down nowhere, and there is no way back again! We think we might telegraph for it, and we telegraph, but no one answers us from the other end, except a man who knows nothing and can tell nothing! We may get it, though, if we bore a tunnel under the sea; and behold, when we get a mile on the road we are choked and stifled, and the depth says, It is not in me. Still that Secret keeps the world in perpetual movement. We should sink into somnolence if it were not for a Voice in the wind that says, Try again, you may find me next time. Find the echo! Find the starting-point of the wind! When you have found these you will be as far from God as ever. And yet he is always looking on, always feeding us, always holding us up in his arms. “In him we live and move and have our being.”
Of God, it may be said “He hath made every thing beautiful in his time” ( Ecc 3:11 );
“And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there. 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” ( Ecc 3:16-17 ).
Among all the sights that Coheleth saw there was none so discouraging and saddening as this, wickedness in the place of judgment! When the lips of the judge are sealed by flattery, and the hand of the executioner is stayed by a bribe, what is the security of life? The testimony of Coheleth goes directly to an error which appears to have taken hold of our own times; we seem to think that ignorance is the parent of all crime, and that to live in a poor neighbourhood is to have poor morals. The poor and the untaught have to bear many an unreasonable and unjust reflection. It would not be difficult to show that the crimes of the ignorant are not to be mentioned with the crimes of the instructed, for turpitude and for range of mischievous influence. Look at the law reports of any civilised country: who are the criminals? The men who cannot read and write may have committed many petty misdemeanours, but it will be found that it is the educated and the gifted who have done most to bring dishonour upon civilisation, and to threaten society with insecurity and ultimate ruin. Are they the crimes of the poor and the ignorant that stain the pages of history? How are political intrigues conducted? Who arranges all the network of statecraft? How are wars plotted, and how is oppression carried out? By the poor, the unlettered, the pickpocket? Such an inquiry needs no reply in words. We know that perverted education, and misdirected shrewdness, and calculating self-regard can do more in the way of troubling and degrading nations than can be done by poverty, illiterateness, and the desperation of weakness. Let us therefore understand that sinfulness is not peculiar to any class. It is not a class question at all; it is human nature that has fallen, and not some particular men representing an exclusive class.
In the seventeenth verse Coheleth shows a manifestation of what may be called natural religion. His better instincts now come to his aid, and he says in his heart,
“God shall judge the righteous and the wicked.” ( Ecc 3:17 )
Even the man who does not formally and professedly believe in God feels in his heart of hearts that there must be a last appeal to him. When man is true to his instincts and intuitions he sends out a cry to the living God in the day of sore trouble and utter helplessness. Human nature does not disclose itself wholly and absolutely under ordinary circumstances. The man who will quietly ignore the existence of God will call out for him when trouble darkens the window, and when the rock melts into a bog under his uncertain feet We all are aware of circumstances which almost necessitate the existence and beneficent rule of God. When we see the strong oppressing the weak, and the rich tormenting the poor, and the bad man throwing down all signs of virtue, we feel within us a testimony which we cannot repress to the existence of an Authority which must ultimately put down all such crime. Under such circumstances the heart tells its own tale. This is one good that comes out of the very wickedness of human nature. In a state of average respectability and decency, the very idea of God might drop out of human thinking. With excellent health, plentiful income, happy families, who would care for God? It is when life reaches the tragic point that men cry out for the living Father. The same is true on the better side of our nature. In our highest moments we think of God. When the soul is inflamed with pure love, and life is lifted far beyond the seductions and mockeries of earth, God is our supreme joy, and he is our infinite satisfaction. It is the middle or commonplace line of life that is full of danger. It is in the lull that our sails cling to the mast. We need to be shaken, roused, scourged! Herein it is true to say of man, “Cry aloud, for he has a God!” In the Cross of Christ all this is made to appear in its right light. There we find the throne of judgment, and every man standing before it, giving an account of himself unto God. What is begun in the Old Testament is completed in the New. “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.”
“I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts. For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity. All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again. Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?” ( Ecc 3:18-21 ).
The psalmist says. “I was as a beast before thee.” Our life is so short and our vision so dim and contracted that we are comparatively as little able to measure the scope of God’s government as are the beasts which perish. The circle is so vast that any line we can lay upon it appears to be straight. Is it not even so with the earth itself? Who can see where the line curves? You think it curves at yonder point; go to it, and you will find it stretches away as direct and unbent as before. We mistake the part for the whole. We sit in our little village, and think it is the whole universe. We miss the philosophy of proportion and relationship. Given a circle of half an inch in diameter, and the glow-worm is a great sun; a circle of a foot in diameter, and the candle is a blazing planet; a circle of fifty feet radius, and the candle is barely visible. It is so with the two periods which we know as Here and Hereafter with time and eternity. When we stand at the foot of the mountain the mighty hill rises right away to the clouds huge, solemn, over-towering; at a distance of half a mile that same mountain is robbed of its magnificence; or, viewed from the summit of another hill, it becomes but a gentle slope. One day we shall see it so with earth itself: what is now great to us will become little, and what is now distant and speculative will become the eternal and satisfying reality. Why are we not convinced by what is patent to our own observation? Give a religious application to these things that are earthly, and you will see life in its proper measure and relationship. Viewed within narrow limits there seems to be no difference between the death of a man and the death of a beast: they breathe the same air, they are warmed by the same sun, they are buried in the same earth. Yet there is something in us, apart from revelation, which tells us that the spirit of man goeth upward. You know that the child does not die as the dog. Perhaps you cannot explain why; but who can explain the deepest things and the highest? Your own consciousness, especially in its highest moods, is a perpetual mystery. We know many things for which there are no words; even the words we use have meanings much beyond the letter. We know otherwise than intellectually that there is something in us that death cannot quench
“Else whence this pleasing hope, This fond desire, this lingering after immortality?”
A certain part of the way we undoubtedly go side by side with the beast: we are flesh and blood, we eat and drink, we live on the same earth; yet there is a point of departure at which man leaves the beast at an infinite distance even the poorest and commonest men; man thinks, plans, advances, reads, writes, speculates; and as here and now there is so great and manifest a distance, it is simply impossible that beast and man can be one at death, except in the mere act of physically expiring. There is some difference between an exhausted candle and a setting sun; there is some difference between the rotting wood and the slumbering root. So there is some difference between the breath that is in the nostrils and the inspiration that moves and elevates the soul.
“Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion: for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him?” ( Ecc 3:22 ).
Thus Coheleth comes back to self-enjoyment. Eat the grapes as you grow them; put nothing into the earth that you cannot eat in your own lifetime. Oh, foolish wisdom! Give to the poor if you would be rich; leave something for the gleaners if you would have plenty for yourself. “He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord.” Said one Christian philanthropist who took the right measure of things, “I have nothing but that which I have given away.” The Book of Ecclesiastes is best interpreted by the teaching of Jesus Christ. Immediately after reading this book read the Sermon on the Mount, and all its narrow philosophy and contracted outlook will be counteracted as to their vicious influence. We feel in listening to Coheleth that we are listening to a man who has seen one world only, and who is measuring all things by its standards and customs. He is only good so far as he goes. We have to take him with innumerable qualifications and drawbacks. When we peruse the Sermon on the Mount from end to end, and see what Jesus Christ’s conception of man really is, and what is the relation in which he sets man to God and God to man how he holds time in contempt, as a thing that is self-contained, and regards it as of value only as it bears upon the unseen and the eternal, we instinctively and gratefully exclaim, “A greater than Solomon is here!”
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
XXVI
THE PROLOGUE AND THREE METHODS APPLIED
Ecc 1:2-5:9
“Vanity of vanities” (Ecc 1:2 ) is a Hebraism and means the most utter vanity. Compare “Holy of holies” and “Servant of servants” (Gen 9:25 ). This does not mean that all things are vanity in themselves, but that they are all vanity when put in the place of God, or made the chief end of life instead of a means to an end.
The meaning and purpose of the question in Ecc 1:3 is to inquire as to the profit of all labor and worry which we see about us as touching the chief good, but does not mean that labor is not profitable in its proper place. (Cf. Gen 2:15 ; Gen 3:19 ; Pro 14:23 ).
There is a beautiful parallel to Ecc 1:4 in modern literature, viz: “The Brook” by Tennyson. The stanza that sounds so much like this is as follows: And out again I curve and flow To join the brimming river, For men may come and men may go, But I go on forever.
The sun, wind, and rivers in their endless courses (Ecc 1:5-7 ) are illustrations of the meaning of the text from the material world. The monotony of all this is expressed in Ecc 1:8 , thus: “All things are full of weariness; man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.”
The meaning of Ecc 1:9-10 is that there is no new source of happiness (the subject in question) which can be devised, the same round of pleasures, cares, business, and study being repeated over and over again; that in the nature of things, there is no new thing which might give us hope of attaining that satisfaction that hitherto things have not afforded.
Ecc 1:11 is an explanation of Ecc 1:9-10 and means that some things are thought to be new which are not really so because of the imperfect records of the past. This seems to hedge against the objection that there are many inventions and discoveries unknown to former ages by showing that the records do not preserve all these inventions for the present generation and therefore they are only thought to be new. The methods applied in this search for the chief good are wisdom, pleasure, great works, riches, and a golden mean. The author claims for himself in Ecc 1:12-17 that he was king over Israel in Jerusalem and that he had applied himself in search of all that was done under heaven, to find that it was a sore travail which God had permitted the sons of men to be exercised with; that he had seen all the works done under the sun and found them all vanity and a striving after wind; that he had found many crooked things and many things wanting; that he had attained to greater wisdom than all others before him in Jerusalem and had applied it to know madness and folly, to find this, too, to be a striving after wind. The final result of it all is given in Ecc 1:18 , thus: “For in much wisdom is much grief; and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.”
The experiment described in Ecc 2:1-3 is the test of worldly pleasure, with the result that it, too, was vanity. Then in Ecc 2:4-11 he gives his experience in the pursuit of great works; he built houses, planted vineyards) made gardens and parks, planted trees, made pools of water, bought servants of all kinds, gathered silver and gold, provided a great orchestra for his entertainment, in fact, had everything his eyes desired and tried to find in them joy and comfort, but upon due reflection, he found this, too, a striving after the wind and to no profit under the sun.
In Ecc 2:12-17 we have his comparison between wisdom and folly, with the result that wisdom far excels folly or pleasure, yet the same thing happens to the fool and to the wise man, viz: both die and are forgotten. So he was made to hate life because his work was grievous and a striving after wind. There is ground for the hatred of labor because he must die and leave it to another (Ecc 2:18-23 ). The reference in Ecc 2:19 is to Rehoboam; Solomon evidently suspected his course. Therefore, the conclusion of Ecc 2:24 is that there is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink) and to make his soul enjoy his labor, but the thought (Ecc 2:24-25 f) that it is all from God and that it is all subject to God’s disposal, knocks it over.
In Ecc 3:1-5:9 we have the elements that limit:
I. The Divine Elements are,
1. The law of opportunes (Ecc 3:1-8 )
2. The eternity in our hearts (Ecc 3:9-11 a)
3. The finiteness of man’s nature (Ecc 3:11 b)
4. The laws of God are infrangible (Ecc 3:14 )
II. The Human Elements are,
1. Iniquity in the place of justice (Ecc 3:16 )
2. The oppression of the poor (Ecc 4:1 )
3. Labor and skill actuated only by rivalry with the neighbor (Ecc 4:4 )
4. The elements of weakness in human worship (Ecc 5:1-7 )
On the law of opportunes, will say that we have to work under this law all the days of our lives. Things must be done in their time or they are a failure.
“God hath put eternity in our hearts” (Ecc 3:11 ) is a great text. This means -that money and worldly things cannot satisfy the yearning of the human heart, which is for eternal things. Therefore, the conclusion in Ecc 3:12 is the same as in Ecc 2:24 , but the God thought knocks it over (Ecc 3:13 ): “Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness.”
Ecc 3:14-15 mean that the laws of God are infrangible, i.e., cannot be broken with impunity, and that whoever breaks the laws of the divine limitations him will God break.
It is an awful observation the author cites in Ecc 3:16 . The observation is that iniquity was in the place of justice; that unjust men in court block the way of the righteous if they appeal to them. This is like the parable of the widow and unjust judge. A modification of this thought is found in the divine element, that God will judge the righteous and the wicked (Ecc 3:17 ).
A serious question arises in Ecc 3:18-21 . This is not a proposition but a heart question: Is there a distinction between man and beast? Bunyan represents Pilgrim in this condition when he had advanced far into his pilgrimage: a darkness on either side of the road; here evil spirits would whisper to him and so impress him that he would question as to whether he did not originate the thought himself. Spurgeon found himself in this condition once. The sin of Solomon doubtless was the cause of his questioning; even so it is with us. The conclusion of Ecc 3:22 is a most natural one. If man dies like a beast and that is the end of all for him, then he can do no better than to make the most of this life.
The author records an observation in Ecc 4:1 and a question which arose therefrom. The oppression of the poor and the question arising was a temporary one, as to whether it would not be better to be dead or never to have been born (Ecc 4:2-3 ). following that is an observation with respect to labor and a question which arose from it. The observation was that a man’s labor and skill were actuated only by rivalry with hia neighbor (Ecc 4:4 ) and the question arising from it is this: Is it not better then, just to be a sluggard? (Ecc 4:5-6 ).
Then in Ecc 4:8 we have an illustration of a miserly bachelor who is never satisfied with -his acquired wealth, notwithstanding that there is no one to whom he might leave his wealth at death. I once knew a man in Austin who had no relatives and owned a great deal of Austin, yet he would go across the street to his neighbor’s to warm rather than buy coal. Ecc 4:9-12 is a contrast with the condition of the bachelor and is a wonderful gem of literature, expressing the advantages of co-operation. Two are better than one because they can be mutually helpful to each other. This is the foundation principle of all partnerships, whether for business, war or the home. “A threefold cord is not quickly broken.” In Ecc 4:13-16 we have an illustration of the same principle in the vanity of kings in acquiring great dominion to be turned over to an ungrateful son. There is doubtless a reference here to Solomon himself and his son, Rehoboam. Solomon foresaw the coming of Rehoboam and his people who would not rejoice in their heritage.
The elements of weakness in human worship as noted in Ecc 5:1-7 are lack of due consideration which results in the sacrifice of fools and rash vowing and then not paying the pledge. Here I give an observation: often let their mouths go off half-cocked and then when settlement day comes say before the messenger, “It was an error.” This principle applies in all our general work. For many years I was an agent for different phases of denominational work and handled thousands of dollars for the kingdom enterprises. On many occasions in our conventions pledges were made for some kingdom interest and when I took the matter up with the different ones for collection many of them would not even answer my letters. Then these same ones would come into the convention again and make another pledge and refuse again to pay it. This led me to go through my list of pledges when they were first made and write after each one of these the German word, nix. One would be astonished to go over these lists because of the great number on the list with nix after the name and also because certain ones are in the list whom a credulous person would not suspect. This experience of mine led me to emphasize very strongly this passage in later years: “Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God.”
Another observation is recorded in Ecc 5:8-9 . This relates to the matter of injustice so often wrought in governmental affairs, but we are admonished to remember that the One who is over all regards, and that his purpose in human government is to secure equal rights to all, since the earth is for all, and all, including the king, must be fed from the field.
QUESTIONS
1. What is the meaning of “Vanity of vanities,” in Ecc 1:2 ?
2. What is the meaning and purpose of the question in Ecc 1:3 ?
3. What is parallel to Ecc 1:4 in modern literature, and what stanza especially fits the teaching here?
4. What are the illustrations of the meaning of the text from the material world?
5. How is the monotony of all this expressed in Ecc 1:8 ?
6. What is the meaning of Ecc 1:9-10 ?
7. What is the meaning of “no remembrance” in Ecc 1:11 ?
8. What are the methods applied in this search for the chief good?
9. What claims does the author make for himself in Ecc 1:12-17 and what is the result as expressed in Ecc 1:18 ?
10. What experiment described in Ecc 2:1-3 and what is the result?
11. What experiments described in Ecc 2:4-11 and what is the result?
12. What comparison is in Ecc 2:12-17 and what are the results?
13. What is his reasoning in Ecc 2:18-23 and to whom does the author refer in Ecc 2:19 ?
14. What is the conclusion of Ecc 2:24 and what is the knock over in Ecc 2:24-26 ?
15. In Ecc 3:1-5:9 we have the elements that limit. What are they?
16. What can you say of the law of opportunes?
17. What great text is here and what its meaning?
18. What is the conclusion in Ecc 3:12 and what the knock over in Ecc 3:13 ?
19. What is the meaning and application of Ecc 3:14-15 ?
20. What awful observation does the author cite in Ecc 3:16 and what is the modification in Ecc 3:17 ?
21. What question arises in Ecc 3:18-21 , what parallels to this in modern times, and what is the real cause of this questioning by Solomon?
22. What is the conclusion of Ecc 3:22 ?
23. What is the observation in Ecc 4:1 and what question arose there from?
24. What is the observation with respect to labor and what question arose from it?
25. What is the illustration given in Ecc 4:8 , what is the author’s observation illustrating this verse and what is the author’s reasoning of Ecc 4:9-12 ?
26. What is the illustration of Ecc 4:13-16 and who the persons primarily referred to?
27. What are the elements of weakness in human worship and what is the applicant?
28. What is the observation in Ecc 5:8-9 and what is the divine element that helps again?
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
Ecc 3:1 To every [thing there is] a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
Ver. 1. To everything there is a season. ] A set time, such as we can neither alter nor order. This is one of those keys that God carries under his own belt. Act 1:7 To seek, to do, or get anything before the time, is to pull apples before they are ripe, saith a father, a which set the teeth on edge, and breed stomach worms. They labour in vain that would prevent the time prefixed by God, as those hasty Ephraimites in Egypt 1Ch 7:22 Psa 78:9-10 those heady Israelites in the wilderness. Num 14:40 Moses would be acting the judge before his time, Exo 2:12 he is therefore sent to keep sheep in Midian. Exo 2:15 David stayed God’s leisure for the kingdom, those in Esther for deliverance – they knew that God would keep his day exactly, as he did with the Israelites in Egypt. “Even the self same day,” when the “four hundred and thirty years” foretold were expired, God’s people were thrust out of Egypt. Exo 12:40-41 So in Dan 5:30 . In that night was Belshazzar slain; because then exactly the “seventy years” were ended. And as God fails not his own time, so he seldom comes at ours, Jer 8:20 for he loves not to be limited. We are short breathed, short sighted, apt to antedate the promises in regard of the accomplishment. Hab 2:2 And no less apt to outstand our own markets, to let slip opportunities of grace which are ever headlong, and once past, irrecoverable. “Oh, if thou hadst known at the least in this thy day,” “How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?” Heb 2:3 “Therefore shall every one that is godly seek thee in a time when thou mayest be found.” Psa 32:6 There is a certain time set for men to come in and be saved; as Alexander set up a taper when he besieged a town; as Tamerlane hung out first a white flag and then a red. Many a man loseth his soul, as Saul did his kingdom, by not discerning his time. Esau came too late; so did the foolish virgins. If the gale of grace be past over, the gate shut, the draw bridge taken up, there is no possibility of entrance. “Let us, therefore, fear lest a promise being left us,” and an overture made us “of entering into God’s rest, any of us should seem to fall short” , Heb 4:1 or come late, a day after the fair, an hour after the feast. God, who in his eternal counsel hath appointed things to be done, hath also ordained the opportunity and time wherein each thing should be done, which to neglect is such a presumption as he usually punisheth with final hardening. Eze 24:13
a Poma importuni tempore decerpunt. – Tertul.
Ecclesiastes Chapter 3
Ecc 3:4 The next division of the book embraces chaps 3, 4. Whatever be the misery of man as such, and no creature under the heavens is so exposed or so sensitive to sorrow, with the awful dawning on his guilty conscience of what may and must be after death, he cannot but also perceive that he is under a system that orders providentially all that affects most nearly the changing life that now is. This is drawn out in what follows, comprehensively and clearly.
“To all is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heavens: a time to he born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace” (vers. 1-8).
Man’s anxious toil can alter none of the facts. God’s hand arranges man’s place is to bow. Cain rebelled and gained nothing but bitter loss; and many another has taken the way of Cain with the same issue invariably, no doubt. Man likes to rule, and none the less since he is fallen, sinful, and wilful; but as creatures, none can rule aright, who does not serve One Who is over him, over all persons and all things. To fear Him is the beginning of wisdom; to forget and above all to deny Him is folly, ruinous now and evermore.
Hence the question asked in ver. 9, and negatived in what follows.
“What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth? I have seen the travail which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised therewith. He hath made everything beautiful in its time: also he hath set the world in their heart, yet so that man cannot find out the work that God hath done from the beginning even to the end. I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice, and to do good so long as they live; and also, that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy good in all his labour, is the gift of God. I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor anything taken from it; and God hath done it, that men should fear before Him. That which is hath been already; and that which is to be hath already been; and God seeketh again that which is passed away” (vers. 9-15).
It is wholesome for man to feel how little he can find out from the beginning to the end the working that God works. Of Himself we can only receive what God reveals; but this is not the question here discussed. The Preacher accordingly speaks his conviction that there is nothing better for them – nothing good in them – but to rejoice and to do good; as He had shown in His work (whatever man or Satan had done to the contrary) only what is excellent and appropriate. Man should in Him confide, endowed as he is, yet in a scene altogether beyond him; and then what must the Maker be? As man, he is to receive what his nature needs, provided ungrudgingly for him to see or enjoy good in all his labour. What could man’s toil have availed, unless it were God’s gift? Then he enlarges beautifully on “whatsoever God doeth.” How indeed could it be otherwise? As our Saviour said, “There is one good, even God”, nor would He be called good by one who did not confess Him to be God: if not God, not good in the real absolute sense of the word; yet became He man in the fullest dependence on God, as He calls us to be.
From ver. 16 the Preacher shows that God’s judgment is the key to all the present confusion. So it is for man, till the Son of God came and brought in grace and truth which gives the light of God fully.
“And moreover I saw under the sun, that in the place of judgment wickedness was there; and in the place of righteousness wickedness was there. I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time for every purpose and every work. I said in mine heart, It is because of the sons of men that God may prove them, and that they may see that they themselves are but as beasts. For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; and man hath no pre-eminence above the beasts: for all is vanity. All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again. Who knoweth the spirit of man whether it goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast whether it goeth downward to the earth? Wherefore I saw that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his works; for that is his portion: for who shall bring him back to see what shall be after him?” (vers. 15-22).
How vivid the picture revelation even then drew, when only the first man stands before us, not as now the Second man in Christ risen and glorified! The world was not so old in wickedness when the wise king reigned and preached; nor was it of heathen only he spoke, but of the favoured people too. Alas! Christendom has only brought in more subtilty in impiety and unrighteousness for all professors who are not born anew. Outwardly, and this is what he speaks of here, the same end of death awaits men and beasts. It is avowedly but what is under the sun. The veil is not removed. Yet he takes care to raise the question: who knoweth the spirit of the sons of men that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth? If man knows not with certainty, and hence is prone to vain discussion, God not only knows but has revealed fully by and in our Lord Jesus, Who brought life and incorruption to light through the gospel. If man is bad, and he surely is, God is good beyond all creature measure; and as this was always true, so it is now proved perfectly in Christ.
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Ecc 3:1-8
1There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven
2A time to give birth and a time to die; A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted.
3A time to kill and a time to heal; A time to tear down and a time to build up.
4A time to weep and a time to laugh; A time to mourn and a time to dance.
5A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones; A time to embrace and a time to shun embracing.
6A time to search and a time to give up as lost; A time to keep and a time to throw away.
7A time to tear apart and a time to sew together; A time to be silent and a time to speak.
8A time to love and a time to hate; A time for war and a time for peace.
Ecc 3:1 There is an appointed time for everything The appointed time (lit. for everything a season) seems to refer to the common events of human life. The appointed time does not speak of the advantageous human time, but of the divinely appointed time. The emphasis of this chapter is on divine appointment. It speaks of the mystery of human effort (under heaven) as it is compared with the sovereignty of God. In Wisdom Literature appointed time is often appropriate time.
NASBevent
NKJVpurpose
NRSV, LXXmatter
TEVhappens
NJBoccupation
REBactivity
The Hebrew word (BDB 343) means delight or pleasure, but here it has the added connotation of activity that brings joy (cf. Ecc 3:17; Ecc 8:6; Pro 31:13). Enjoy life each day! Smell the roses along the path!
under heaven See Special Topic below.
SPECIAL TOPIC: HEAVEN
Ecc 3:2-8 Almost all English translations see Ecc 3:2-8 in a poetic structure. Within each line there is a contrast, but the relationship between lines is not completely clear.
Ecc 3:2 A time to give birth, and a time to die There is a series of events which refer to the cycle of human development.
Ecc 3:2 A time to plant, and a time to uproot what is planted There is a grammatical connection between the efforts of the sinner (Ecc 2:26, two Qal INFINITIVE CONSTRUCTS) and that of Ecc 3:2-9 (a series of 27 INFINITIVE CONSTRUCTS).
This speaks of the annual harvest.
Ecc 3:3 A time to kill, and a time to heal Since war is mentioned in Ecc 3:8 the killing referred to here seems to have another focus. Some have assumed that it refers to capital punishment within the nation of Israel or to the defense of one’s home, or person, in the event of an attack.
Ecc 3:4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; A time to mourn, and a time to dance Some believe these lines refer to both funerals and weddings or to other regular social events.
Ecc 3:5 A time to throw stones, and a time to gather stones Many have assumed that this is an agricultural metaphor of one removing stones from a field. However, this could be a construction metaphor of using stones for a rock fence or a home. It has been the consensus among Jewish commentators that this has sexual connotations (cf. TEV making love). This is stated specifically in the Mishrash. The context of Ecc 3:5 b seems to reinforce this understanding. This would mean that there is time, Levitically speaking, when men could have sexual relations and a time when they could not because of a woman’s menstrual cycle or their military commitments.
A time to embrace, and a time to shun embracing This could refer to (1) sexual love within marriage (cf. Son 2:6); (2) sexual love outside of marriage (cf. Pro 5:20); (3) a family’s caring love for each other or (4) friends kissing one another on the cheek, which was common in the Near East.
Ecc 3:6 A time to search, and a time to give up as lost The first term search (BDB 134, KB 152, Piel INFINITIVE CONSTRUCT) means to seek after something. However, there comes a time in life where it becomes obvious that that something or someone cannot be obtained! One must get on with life!
Ecc 3:7 A time to tear apart, and a time to sew together This may refer to one of the mourning practices of the Jews. They would rip the front of their robe at the neckline about five inches (e.g. 1Sa 4:12; 2Sa 1:2; 2Sa 13:31; 2Sa 15:32; 2Ki 18:3; 2 Kings 7; Jer 41:5); when the mourning was over they would sew it up again.
A time to be silent, and a time to speak This may also refer to the mourning rites.
Ecc 3:8 A time for war, and a time for peace Most Jewish commentators understand Ecc 3:1-8 as referring to national Israel (cf. appointed time in Psa 75:2; Psa 102:13). However, it seems that Ecc 3:9-11 define these verses in light of a personal, rather than corporate, emphasis.
a season = an appointed time. Hebrew. zrman. Compare Ezr 10:14. Neh 2:6. Est 9:27. A word is not necessarily a “later” word, because there has not been occasion for it to be used, or needed before. See App-76.
a time = a season. Note the 28 “seasons” (= 4×7. See App-10.) In Hebrew Manuscripts these are set out in 14 lines; 2 in a line, with a space between each pair.
purpose. Hebrew. hephez. Alleged to be later Hebrew. See App-76.
under the heaven. See note on Ecc 1:3.
Chapter 3
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 )
What profit do you get out of your labor?
I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it. He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he has set the world in their heart ( Ecc 3:10-11 ),
Now the word translated world there in the Hebrew is eternity or the ages. God has actually set the ages in every man’s heart. There is a consciousness within every man of the eternal. Now some men seek to sublimate that consciousness. Some men seek to deny that consciousness. They seek to deny God. But there is within every man, God has placed it in the heart, eternal, the eternity in the heart of every man that is seeking out after that which is more than just a part of this monotonous routine of life. I’m grasping and reaching for that which is eternal. God has placed the awareness of the eternal in the heart of every man. And that’s that deep, spiritual drive that every man has that can only be filled by coming to Jesus Christ and drinking of the water that He gives.
so that no man can find out the work that God makes from the beginning to the end. I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life. And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of his labor, it is the gift of God. I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be added to it, nor any thing taken from it: for God does it, that men should reverence him ( Ecc 3:11-14 ).
Now I know this about God. My works are going to pass away. My works are going to be forgotten. But whatever God does, that’s forever. And you can’t add to the work of God. You can’t take away.
Now I love this because I think of the work of God in my life of imputing the righteousness to me through my faith in Jesus Christ. I can’t add to it. I can’t get a set of rules and start doing all these nice little things and be more righteous. Nor can you take away from that righteousness that I have, that perfect standing that I have before God in Jesus Christ. You can’t add to it; you can’t take from it. The work of God is complete. The work of God is eternal. And God has worked in me His righteousness by my faith in Jesus Christ.
Now one of the problems that we often have is our endeavor to add to God’s work. If I could only, you know, read ten chapters of the Bible everyday, then I could be more righteous. If I’d only pray for four hours a day, then I’d be more righteous. No, no, you can’t add. You are righteous, the righteousness of Christ which is through faith. You are righteous in God’s sight. “Oh, I got so angry today and screamed at the kids. I’m so unrighteous.” No, you can’t take away from that righteousness that is yours in Christ Jesus. You can’t diminish. God accounts you righteous in His sight. The work of God in imputing righteousness to me.
So I don’t need to go around hanging my head, “Oh, I’m so miserable today. I’m such a sinner. I’m so horrible. And I’m so this and that.” God is counting me righteous because I am trusting and believing in His work in Jesus Christ. And I can’t go around and say, “Well, I’m so righteous, so much more righteous than you, you sinner, you know. I saw what you did. I wouldn’t think of doing that,” and I can’t go around in a self-righteous mold because I have these spiritual gifts or I have done this or that. It doesn’t make me any more righteous. You can’t add to the work of God. It’s complete. It’s full. And I’m so glad.
That which ( Ecc 3:15 )
Verse Ecc 3:15 is an interesting verse because it is sort of a definition of eternity. And if you have had trouble understanding eternity before, you’ll really have trouble now. You see, we live in a time continuum on this planet Earth. Because the planet rotates on its axis about once every twenty-four hours, we call it a day. We measure the time in hours. Because the earth is in an orbit around the sun every 365 days and nine hours and fifty-six minutes and 4/100’s of a second, we call that a year. We live on this earth and thus we are spinning around in our days and orbiting around in our years in the time continuum.
Now, if you get outside of the earth, and you begin to accelerate your speed, time no longer is moving in this but it begins to stretch out into a plane according to this speed to where if you can accelerate to this speed of light, time stands still. Now, if we could hop on a ray of light, turning into the energy, get out in this long plane, you could take off on a ray of light in what? One in a quarter seconds, tip your hat to the man on the moon; seven and a half minutes, race past the sun; fourteen minutes, button up your coat as you go past Pluto, so cold–fourteen hours, rather, Pluto. Hundred thousand years you could leave the Milky Way galaxy. One million five hundred thousand years, you could arrive at Adromeda. Make a U-turn, head back to the earth. And in three million years, you could return to the earth on that ray of light and you would be about a day older. But the earth would have gone through three million orbits around the sun, which those who are living upon the earth would have counted as years. So you’d go to look for the house that you used to live in and the cities and the people, and what’s going to be in three million years, you see? But you’ve escaped the time zone. You’re into the eternal where there is no time. As you get into the eternal, it is the now zone. God said, “I am.” That is expressing His eternal nature. You’re no longer within, you’re no longer bounded by time, beginning and end; you’re now in the eternal. Now. So when you can escape the time zone.
That which has been is now; and that which is to be has already been ( Ecc 3:15 );
That’s weird. God is outside of our time dimension. God is in the eternal dimension. So with God, “a day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years is as a day” ( 2Pe 3:8 ). In other words, there is no time. You’re in the eternal now. So that any event that will ever take place is taking place. Any event that has ever taken place is taking place. That which has been is now; that which shall be has already been.
and God requires that which is past ( Ecc 3:15 ).
You can’t escape it. You say, “Well, I don’t understand that.” Well, join the crowd. You see, not only are we living in this time continuum, but we are also living in this finite existence and it is impossible that the finite can understand the infinite. Time deals with the finite aspects. Eternal deals with the infinite. And you can’t cross the gulf. It’s too great. You can only make childish illustrations, but you can’t cross the gulf from the finite to the infinite.
Moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there. 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. And I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts ( Ecc 3:16-18 ).
Now this is life under the sun, that man might see himself that he’s an animal. But this is not true. Man is more than an animal. Man is made in the image and likeness of God. He’s looking at man from the purely humanistic standpoint.
For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth the beasts; even one thing befalls them: as one dies, so dies the other ( Ecc 3:19 );
Not true.
yea, they have all one breath ( Ecc 3:19 );
The word breath in Hebrew is ruwach which is also translated spirit. There are some who say that man and animals have one spirit.
so that a man has no preeminence above the beast: for all is vanity ( Ecc 3:19 ).
That is not true. That is looking at man from a humanistic standpoint. Man under the sun. That is not looking at man as God looks at man as a divine creation with eternity in his heart. The animal, of what animal can you say God has put eternity in his heart?
All go to one place ( Ecc 3:20 );
False.
all are of the dust ( Ecc 3:20 ),
Our bodies, yes.
and all turn to the dust again ( Ecc 3:20 ).
Our bodies, yes.
But who knows if the spirit of man goes upward, and the spirit of the beast goes downward to the earth? ( Ecc 3:21 )
Well, the Lord Jesus Christ knows, and He declares it to be true.
Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion: for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him? ( Ecc 3:22 )
Who knows what’s going to happen after him? So just live for now, rejoice in your works now. This is the purely human view of life. And God has recorded it in His Word, inspired by the Holy Spirit that you might see the view of life from the human standpoint, that it is empty and frustrating, because you don’t see man any more than just an animal. And that’s why the world around you is so filled with frustration and emptiness today, because it views man as an animal. “
Ecc 3:1-15
MORE SUPPORT FOR SOLOMON’S THEORY OF THE FUTILITY AND VANITY OF LIFE
Ecc 3:1-15
“For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace. What profit hath he in that wherein he laboreth? I have seen the travail that God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised, therewith. He hath made everything beautiful in its time: also he hath set eternity in their heart, yet so that man cannot find out the work that God hath done from the beginning event unto the end. I know that there is nothing better for them, than to rejoice and do good so long as they live. And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy good in all his labor, is the girl of God. I know that whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor anything taken from it; and God hath done it that men should fear before him. That which is hath been long ago; and that which is to be hath long ago been; and God seeketh again that which has passed away.”
“The works of men are subject in their results to another will (God’s) than that of the doer. Therefore, every human project should be initiated and pursued under the perpetual banner, “Deo Volente” (Jas 4:15).
This amazing list of fourteen opposites must be interpreted in the light of Ecc 3:9. These opposites are cited for exactly the same purpose and in support of the same conclusion that marked Ecc 1:1-11. “In Ecclesiastes 1, he contemplated what he called the futility and vanity of life in the light of the repetitive cycle in the natural world; but here he supports the same conclusion by a reference to that fixed order of events (ordained by God) into which all human activity must be fitted.” The argument is that no matter what man attempts to do, the final result will be determined by events and conditions over which he has no control whatever. This, of course, is a basic fact of life on earth; and lies behind the apostolic warning that, “Having food and raiment let us be therewith content” (1Ti 6:8).
Regarding these fourteen opposites, Scott quoted an ancient saying that, “The works of the Most High … are in pairs, one the opposite of the other.
“These verses indicate that today’s positive act will eventually be balanced by tomorrow’s negative. As surely as we are born, we must one day die, etc.
What actually determines the issues of human life? A countless list of things over which man has no control are, in the final analysis, the true determinators: (1) the age into which one is born; (2) the place of his birth; (3) the ability, wealth, or even the health of his parents; (4) their religion (or lack of it); (5) whether there prevailed war or peace, social, climatic, or geographical conditions; (6) the presence or absence of physical or mental handicaps; and (7) all kinds of accidents which may either enhance or hinder one’s efforts to succeed. All such things are determined by the will of God.
“What the author was affirming here is that man’s success, wealth, happiness, etc., are not finally in the hands of any man, but that the will of God in every case is a vital and determining factor.
“What profit hath he in that wherein he laboreth?” (Ecc 3:9). “As frequently in Ecclesiastes, the positive question here is actually a negative statement.
Scott described the argument here as; “Since everything must happen at the right moment, according to God’s plan, nothing man can do makes any difference.” Of course, the argument is false. What man can do makes all the difference between his eternal destiny, either for joy or for sorrow.
“I have seen the travail which God hath given unto the sons of men” (Ecc 3:10). The redeeming element in this pessimistic passage is the mention of God no less than six times in these five verses. In spite of the ridiculous things which Solomon said in these chapters, he was not an unbeliever. He was just a gross sinner, experiencing the inevitable doubts and fears that overwhelm every apostate from his duty.
“He hath set eternity in their heart” (Ecc 3:11). This world-shaking fact is one that no infidel can deny. There is in every human heart a longing for eternal life and the instinctive certainty of it. No matter how primitive any tribe of mankind ever was, that inherent conviction that the “Great Spirit” lives eternally and that man may indeed hope for another life of eternal joy through His blessing – that conviction has invariably appeared in worship and sacrifices instinctively offered. As Augustine stated it, “Our hearts, Oh God, were made for Thee, and never shall they rest until they rest in Thee.”
This eternity which God has set in our hearts is there by Creation, not by evolution. Even the crooked theory of evolution never was foolish enough to postulate the development of some faculty or ability that was useless. This points squarely to Creation as the origin of that eternity which burns in every human heart; and the corollary of that is that God placed it there because it is true, and that he would never have done so had it been impossible for man to attain it through the blessing of his Creator. “It is God who has placed within the inborn constitution of man this capability of conceiving of eternity, and his struggling after the everlasting, this longing after eternal life.” “Man can find that Forever, even in the prosaic business of Today, by his gratefully accepting the gifts of God, the wonders of his revelation, and by doing his commandments.
“Yet so that man cannot find out the work that God hath done from the beginning even unto the end” (Ecc 3:11 b). The lament here is that man’s intelligence is useless in those great areas that most concern him, life, death, the hereafter, eternity, etc.; and the reason for this lies simply in the fact that God’s revelation through his Word is the God-appointed means by which man may acquire vital and truthful information in those areas. “This limitation frustrates evil men and makes their proud heart despair.” The faithful servant of God through Christ has the consolation that, “All things work together for good,” unto them that are called according to God’s purpose; but for the man who is trying to live his life in rebellion against God, no such consolation is available.
“I know that whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor anything taken from it; and God hath done it, that man should fear before him” (Ecc 3:14). In this verse, Solomon comes very near to the ultimate truth with which he finally closed out the book (Ecc 12:13-14). Note particularly the fact that the fear of God on man’s part is the basic element of true wisdom and that God binds it as a pre-condition of all the blessings he may give to men.
In this section the reader is confronted with seven parallel passages demonstrating the theme that God, the Creator, is in control of His world. More than this, it illustrates the various activities which take place in the lifetime of one generation. The Preacher has observed that one generation passes away while another generation moves in to take its place (Ecc 1:4). Here he gives a detailed account of the activities of each generation from birth to death.
Parallelisms were popular with the writers of the Old Testament. One is tempted to be carried away with the poetic beauty of the passage and possibly miss the message which it contains. This popular passage from Ecclesiastes has made its way into the forms of art, poetry and song in our present generation. It should be emphasized once again, however, that the theme discussed in chapter two is still under consideration. Some have written that this is an unrelated insertion of material without appropriate relationship to the context of the discussion, but a cursory reading of the two chapters together would dispense with such an argument. The lesson is that God controls through orderly laws and principles. Man may run contrary to Gods appointed times and seasons, but if he does, he will experience frustration and failure. The good man of the preceding chapter attempts to live in harmony with Gods order, while the sinner has little regard for it.
Certain qualities mark the comparisons. (1) The list is rather extended. This may serve the purpose of demonstrating that the many sides of life are under Gods control, or it may have been Solomons intention to show the various activities of man from the time of his birth until the time of his death. (2) Nothing evil is included in the list. Some of the activities are difficult to interpret as to exact meanings, but nothing needs to be placed in the category of immoral behaviour. This is very clear. The contrary is actually true. Since the second line of the couplet partially explains the first line, the meaning of each line interprets the meaning of the other. The meaning of the event must be in harmony with the parts of the comparison. Nothing in any of the descriptions suggests evil activities. Hate, kill, rend and war are all extreme in nature, but are approved by God under qualifying circumstances. (3) Some events are inevitable. It is obvious that no one has control over the time of his death (Ecc 8:8). We are also subjected to a time to give birth, to weep and to heal. These circumstances of life are beyond our control. God controls them in the sense that His laws are active in His world. It is improper to read predestination into the passage. (4) Some events can be experienced at ones own discretion. Man controls such activities as loving and refraining from love, deciding what to keep and what to cast away. Even in these areas, however, there are times and seasons within Gods order when good judgment dictates policy. (5) Sometimes one works contrary to the seasons. One may keep silent when he should be speaking. He may laugh when he should be mourning. The wise man interprets the times and adjusts his activities accordingly.
Jeremiah stated this truth when he said, I know, O Lord, that a mans way is not in himself; nor is it in a man who walks to direct his steps (Jer 10:23). Solomon himself had written, The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord (Pro 16:33). He has also written that he sees the activities of life as coming from the hand of the Lord (Ecc 2:24).
Ecc 3:1 The arrangement of mans activities as he lives out his life is now under consideration (cf. introductory remarks for this section). This verse is not intended to suggest that all things are predetermined or that man has no choice in arranging certain times or events. If this were true, the distinction between the good man and the sinner would be inappropriate. In addition, there would be little meaning given to admonition and rebuke found throughout the book. (Ecc 5:1 ff; Ecc 11:1 ff; Ecc 12:1 ff are but examples.) This verse acknowledges what has previously been taught: there is nothing new under the sun, and God seeks that which is past (Ecc 1:9; Ecc 3:15). The events peculiar to every generation are set forth. No intention is made for chronological order or arrangement. Each generation may experience different events at varying times, but generally speaking each generation will experience all the events.
Ecc 3:2 The Hebrew word rendered be born is passive and would best be translated give birth. This idea is more in harmony with the parallel time to plant and therefore comes close to the original idea. The purpose is to illustrate the beginning and end of a thing. Everything else happens between these two events. While birth represents the animal kingdom and plant represents the vegetable kingdom, the intention is not to be comprehensive of all things, but rather representative of beginnings and ends.
Ecc 3:3 Both Deu 32:39 and Hos 6:1 suggest that it is Gods prerogative to tear, wound, smite and kill, even as it is His prerogative to heal, to bind up, and to make alive. Man is also involved in these activities as he exacts judgment and pursues justice. The term kill here will not allow cutting but does allow capital punishment. Both the execution of criminals, and killing necessitated by the need to protect the innocent, would be allowed. Killing which results from war would probably be excluded as it is specifically mentioned in verse eight. The verse suggests the necessity of judgment and appropriate punishment if there is to be a time of healing and building up.
In the spiritual relationship the principle is also valid. Pauls rather lengthy discourse on this subject in I Corinthians chapter five clearly illustrates the necessity of tearing down before there can be a season of restoration.
Ecc 3:4 One doesnt live long before he experiences both laughter and weeping. These human emotions are common to all men in every age. Mourning suggests a deeper sorrow than weeping, while dancing may be thought of as the sheer physical display of inner joy. Jesus spoke to both of these activities when he said, But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the market places, who call out to the other children, and say, We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn (Mat 11:16-17). Dancing in the Bible times should not be confused with the modern-day dance. Biblical dancing was the unrehearsed, spontaneous exuberance resulting from a great physical victory, or some festive occasion.
Ecc 3:5 An attempt to escape or skirt the obvious has led to far-fetched and varied conclusions concerning the first part of this verse. Since the verses are couplets, and each line parallels the other, then the clear statements of a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing, would suggest that a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together, is a euphemistic description of sexual love. The fidelity of a monogamous union finds proper expression and fulfillment in such acts of love. God has placed natural desires within both men and women which result not only in the propagation of the race, but also in the holy mystery of oneness that exists between husband and wife. Such an interpretation as this does not appear to meet with any difficulty. This makes the first part of the couplet harmonious with the second part. It speaks to a vital and major part of lifes experience which is not discussed elsewhere in this section. Finally, the absurdity of most interpretations necessitates a clearly defined and logical explanation of the verse.
Some of the more popular but unacceptable interpretations of gathering and casting stones are listed: (1) building or demolishing houses, walls, cisterns and similar works made from stones; (2) marring an enemys field by casting stones upon it (2Ki 3:19; 2Ki 3:25); (3) stoning as a form of capital punishment; (4) clearing land or vineyards of stones (Isa 5:2).
Ecc 3:6 Easy come, easy go, is an idiom which may speak to part of the lesson of this verse. The first section appears to refer to that which man acquires either through his own ingenuity or by his good fortune. In like manner he may find his possessions slipping away from him in a manner beyond his control. The latter part of the couplet suggests that man sometimes decides what he keeps and what he chooses to discard. Earthly wisdom enables one to take advantage of both situations. He will take advantage of the opportunities offered through Gods providence, and he will also exercise discretion in the wise use of that which he has gathered or collected.
Benevolent acts could be under consideration. They are part of the Preachers message (Ecc 11:1-6), and Solomon had written, There is one who scatters, yet increases all the more, and there is one who withholds what is justly due, but it results only in want. The generous man will be prosperous, and he who waters will himself be watered (Pro 11:24-25). This principle is also taught in many of the New Testament books. An example is found in 2Co 9:6-15.
Ecc 3:7 Since the tearing of garments was commonly associated with mourning among the Jews, it is easy to see such an application of this verse. Also, the tear was to be mended after an appropriate period of mourning depending upon the nearness of the relationship of the deceased person. However, mourning and weeping have previously been included in the listing of events, and it isnt likely that such would be the intention in this verse. What then is the category of activities to which he speaks? Once again the second comparison offers a clue. Wisdom dictates the practical value, or lack of it, of many things possessed in life. We finally give up on certain garments while others are mended or patched. Clothing was of great value (2Ki 5:5; 2Ch 9:24). In like manner, wisdom is manifested in the ability to know when to keep silent and when to speak. There were occasions when Jesus chose to remain silent (Mar 14:60-61; Mar 15:4-5). There were other times when His words were like apples of gold in settings of silver (Pro 25:11). How penetrating is James sermon on the control of the tongue (James 3). (Cf. Pro 17:28; Pro 15:23) Solomon is speaking to a vast area of life in which the daily events are of major significance.
Ecc 3:8 Unlike verse five, love here has as the opposite hate, and the comparison is peace. It is unlike the conjugal love of the former verse and should be understood as more comprehensive of the affairs of men. In times of peace, all of mans activities should be expressions of love, as he moves about in his relationship with his family and his fellow man. However, when war is necessary, there should be foundational issues which require the hatred of just men. The seriousness of war speaks to the issue of life and mans ability to distinguish between that which is to be loved and thus defended, and that which should be destroyed because it is the recipient of mans justifiable hatred.
The infinitives represent a more personal, individual activity, while the preposition for speaks in each instance to general categories which involved multitudes at the same time.
We have refrained from giving the couplets an unwarranted spiritual or Christian interpretation, as this would be out of character with the purpose of the book. We have also withstood the temptation, to which many others have yielded, to see Gods activities with Israel or the church in each of the events. The greater context of the passage assures that Gods laws are in effect in Gods world. He is very much in control. However, the emphasis is undoubtedly on the activities of men. Solomon is giving us an overview of the total life of one generation. He stated it clearly in the beginning that there is a time for everything and every event under heaven (Ecc 3:1). His objective, at this point in his book, is to bring man to see that there is nothing better than to resign himself to the work and pleasures of the day, recognizing that this is a gift to man from the hand of God. It is not the activity of God but of man that is foremost in his mind. His very next question substantiates this contention: What profit is there to the worker from that in which he toils?
Ecc 3:9 In this verse, we see a return to the original question of the book (Ecc 1:3). It is not necessarily introducing the material which is to follow, although this basic proposition is still under consideration, but it reflects on everything that has been stated previously. For the use of profit or advantage, see the comments on Ecc 1:3. That in which he toils refers to all of mans activities which are mentioned in Ecc 3:1-8.
Ecc 3:10 Solomons personal experience was very comprehensive. One need only review the details of his life, as referred to in chapters one and two, to be convinced that he is correct in saying that he has viewed the activities of men. He has called attention to the major areas of mens interests, and demonstrated how each generation finds itself engaged in the same activities. He calls it an evil (grievous, sorry) task (Ecc 1:13; Ecc 2:26), that has occupied men in each generation. He declares that God has given the task to the sons of men, and in the next verse he explains what he means by saying that God gave it.
Ecc 3:11 The song writer picked up the theme of this verse with the words, Everything is beautiful in its own way. Solomon declares that God made everything beautiful (appropriate) in its time. To say God set eternity in the heart, is another way of saying that God gave men the task of occupying themselves. The meaning of the Hebrew word is widely debated. The context leads one to believe that it is speaking to a desire that God has placed in the heart to search out and to know. Hengstenberg writes that the word is never used except for unmeasured time. Some translate the word world while others prefer the idea of a sense of the infinite. One translation (The Anchor Bible) uses the term enigma to convey the idea intended. Every man does have the desire to explore the meaning of all the events of life, but it is not within him to discover the answers. A sense of awe does come to the mind when one thinks of the Creator (the Infinite One), but this only compounds his frustrations. An awareness of the differences that exist between men and the rest of Gods created beings only intensifies the desire to probe and discover more and more. Yet, it is clearly stated that man will not find out the work which God has done. For additional study on mans desire to know and discover, study the following passages from Ecclesiastes: Ecc 7:23-24; Ecc 7:29; Ecc 8:7; Ecc 8:17; Ecc 9:1; Ecc 11:5.
The beginning and end of Gods work probably refers to the work which God does in relation to ones lifetime. This would be in harmony with the next verse as well as with Ecc 3:1-9. Some do explain it as the work of God that extends from eternity to eternity, but this appears to be out of harmony with the obvious purpose of the Preacher in this section. Because the task is grievous, one should not attribute the task itself to God. It is not Gods fault that man does not have success in his investigation.
Ecc 3:12-13 The five-point exercise suggested here is at least a key to deriving some profit from life even if it is very meager. Man is instructed to (1) rejoice, (2) do good, (3) eat, (4) drink, and (5) see good in his labor. This same message is emphasized in Ecc 2:3; Ecc 2:24; Ecc 3:12-13; Ecc 3:22; Ecc 5:18; Ecc 6:12; Ecc 8:15; Ecc 9:7. This reward is called a gift from God. Sometimes it is spoken of as coming from the hand of God (Ecc 2:24; Ecc 5:19). God is recognized as the One who provides. Whatever one includes in his enjoyment of life, it should be with the approval of God. Two clear statements undergird this truth. They are: Go then, eat your bread in happiness, and drink your wine with a cheerful heart; for God has already approved your works (Ecc 9:7). And, Rejoice, young man, during your childhood, and let your heart be pleasant during the days of young manhood. And follow the impulses of your heart and the desires of your eyes. Yet know that God will bring you to judgment for all these things (Ecc 11:9).
Ecc 3:14-15 Not only is everything God has made beautiful, good and appropriate, but all that He does is perfect. God is a complete Being, and therefore has complete order in all His creation. When one realizes this, and looks beyond it to see the nature of God, he stands in awe of Him. Each of the admonitions and challenges the Preacher sets forth in the book is based on the true nature of God. For example, he admonishes his audience when they go to the temple to worship God, that they should remember God is in heaven and they are upon the earth (Ecc 5:1-2). In other words, they are the created beings while God is the Creator. Men should recognize that God is the perfect, complete and authoritative Governor of His world. Men should learn to fear God (Ecc 12:13).
Because of this, the Christian appreciates the completeness of God. He says with the author of Hebrews that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, yes and forever (Heb 13:8). We place our trust in the complete work of Christ (Heb 9:28) which was offered but once for our sins. We trust the complete sovereignty of God (Act 17:24). We abide in His complete wisdom set forth in the act of saving grace. But to the reader of Ecclesiastes in Solomons day, nothing of the blessings we have in Christ were realized. The context of this passage must be explained in the light of the frustration expressed in verses ten and eleven. As man routinely experiences the events of life, he sees that Gods laws are in complete control of the times and the seasons. He learns to respect God because of His consistency and power, but he does not share in the knowledge that belongs only to God.
Some events appear to contradict Gods sovereign control and completeness of order in His world. However, the statement, God seeks what has passed by assures the reader that any violation of the rules is only temporary, and in due season everything will return to proper order as it has always been.
It is precisely to this problem that the Preacher now speaks. He is primarily concerned through the remaining section of this chapter with one very apparent inequity: wickedness in the place of righteousness and justice. He then draws numerous observations concerning this. In the first section of chapter four, he is concerned about another problem. This time it is the oppression of innocent people with the authority on the side of evil men. He illustrates the violation of Gods rules through two more examples. One has to do with an inordinate desire for earthly riches, while the other speaks to the fickleness of the citizens of the land. In each situation, he admits to the futility of the whole affair, and in view of the fact that God works out the times and seasons of justice, he resigns himself to the fact that nothing is better than that man should be happy in his activities, for that is his lot (Ecc 3:22).
The obvious corruption in both places high and low throughout the world does not disturb the inner peace of the Christian. He has the advantage over the Preacher in Ecclesiastes for he knows Him who brings peace (Joh 14:27). He is not limited in his understanding to the message preached through nature, but has the final word from God in the person of Jesus Christ (Hebrews 1).
The vanity of life under the sun is evidenced not merely in the experience of the preacher himself, but in the wider outlook which he has been able to take. He now gives us some of the results of that learning in the process of which he had found no personal satisfaction. And first he speaks in greater detail of that mechanism of the universe to which he had referred at the opening of his discourse. There is everywhere a ceaseless routine. Though we have often read some parts of his description as though they were the words of wisdom, there is no doubt that his ceaseless reiteration of the words, “A time . . . a time . . . a time,” are intended to indicate his sense of the monotony of things, rather than of their variety. Through all experiences men have to pass because the time comes for them so to do. The doctrine of God deduced from such a conception of the universe is of a Being who is absolutely inexorable, and from whom there can be no escape. He is One who has set eternity in the heart of man, that is, created deep and passionate longings there, and yet has given to man no capacity for finding the thing for which he seeks; and, moreover, there is no escape from this inexorable order. The issue of all this is confusion rather than order. In the place of judgment and of righteousness wickedness exists; and the conclusion is that, after all, man is no better than the beasts.
It must be remembered that all this is absolutely true in the case of men who have no commerce with God through revelation. To discover Him in the universe, and recognize Him is not to be at peace with Him; but to be filled rather with the sense of the vanity of all things, and the impossibility of escape.
Ecc 3:1-15
I. Not only has God made everything, but there is a beauty in this arrangement where all is fortuitous to us, but all is fixed by Him. “He hath made everything beautiful in its time,” and that season must be beautiful which to infinite love and wisdom seems the best. “Known unto God are all His works from the beginning of the creation;” and, so to speak, each day that dawns, though its dawning include an earthquake, a battle, or a deluge-each day that dawns, however many it surprises, is no surprise to Him who sees the end from the beginning, and who in each evolving incident but sees the fulfilment of His “determined counsel”-the translation into fact of one other omniscient picture of the future.
II. The works of God are distinguished by opportuneness of development and precision of purpose. There is a season for each of them, and each comes in its season. All of them have a function to fulfil, and they fulfil it. To which (Ecc 3:14) the Preacher adds that they are all of their kind consummate, so perfect that no improvement can be made; and left to themselves, they will be perpetual. How true is this regarding God’s greatest work: redemption! In doing it, He has done it “for ever.”
III. There is a uniformity in the Divine procedure (Ecc 3:15). There are certain great principles from which infinite wisdom never deviates. Through all the operations of nature, providence, and grace “that which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past.”
J. Hamilton, The Royal Preacher, Lecture VIII.
Reference: Ecc 3:1-8.-Bishop Harvey Goodwin, Parish Sermons, 3rd series, p. 334.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-5:20
A profound gloom rests on the second act or section of this drama. It teaches us that we are helpless in the iron grip of laws which we had no voice in making; that we often lie at the mercy of men whose mercy is but a caprice; that in our origin and end, in body and spirit, in faculty and prospect, in our lives and pleasures, we are no better than the beasts that perish; that the avocations into which we plunge, amid which we seek to forget our sad estate, spring from our jealousy the one of the other, and tend to a lonely miserliness, without a use or a charm.
I. The Preacher’s handling of this subject is very thorough and complete. According to him, men’s excessive devotion to affairs springs from “a jealous rivalry the one with the other;” it tends to form in them a grasping, covetous temper which can never be satisfied, to produce a materialistic scepticism of all that is noble and spiritual in thought and action, to render their worship formal and insincere, and in general to incapacitate them for any quiet, happy enjoyment of their life. This is his diagnosis of their disease.
II. But what checks, what correctives, what remedies, would the Preacher have us apply to the diseased tendencies of the time? How shall men of business save themselves from that excessive devotion to its affairs which breeds so many portentous evils? (1) The very sense of the danger to which they are exposed-a danger so insidious, so profound, so fatal-should surely induce caution and a wary self-control. (2) The Preacher gives us at least three serviceable maxims. To all men of business conscious of their special dangers and anxious to avoid them he says, (a) Replace the competition which springs from your jealous rivalry with the co-operation which is born of sympathy and breeds goodwill. (b) Replace the formality of your worship with a reverent and steadfast sincerity. (c) Replace your grasping self-sufficiency with a constant holy trust in the fatherly providence of God.
S. Cox, The Quest of the Chief Good, p. 140.
References: Ecc 3:2.-G. Dawson, Sermons on Daily Life and Duty, p. 277; J. M. Neale, Sermons in Sackville College, vol. i., p. 57. Ecc 3:4.-J. H. Newman, Parochial and Plain Sermons, vol. iv., p. 334; W. Braden, Christian World Pulpit, vol. ix., p. 81; G. Rogers, Ibid., vol. xxviii., p. 91. Ecc 3:6.-S. Baring-Gould, One Hundred Sermon Sketches, p. 107. Ecc 3:7.-A. A. Bonar, Contemporary Pulpit, vol. i., p. 123. Ecc 3:9-22.-R. Buchanan, Ecclesiastes: its Meaning and Lessons, p. 107.
Ecc 3:11
I. This truth becomes more manifestly true in things in proportion as their nature rises. Everything in the world must be in its true place and time, or it is not beautiful. That is true from the lowest to the highest, only with the lowest it is not easy to discover it. It does not seem to matter where the pebble lies, on this side of the road or on the other. It may indeed do sad mischief out of its place, but its place is a wide one. The things of higher nature are more fastidious in their demands. This law holds between different kinds of men. The highest natures are most dependent upon timeliness and fitness. They must act at the right moment. When the great feast was ready at Jerusalem, and the brethren of Jesus were going up from Nazareth, as they went every year, they urged Jesus to go with them; and His answer was, “My time is not yet come, but your time is always ready.” There was something so sad and so noble in His words. They, with no recognised mission, might go when and where they would. They, with no burden on their shoulders, might walk freely over the whole earth. But He, with His task, His duty-His Father’s name to glorify, His brethren’s souls to save, the kingdom of heaven to set up-He must wait till the door opened. He could walk only where the way was wide enough for Him to pass with His burden.
II. All the events of. life, all of God’s dispensations, get their real beauty, or ugliness from the times in which they come to us or in which we come to them.
III. There are continual applications of our truth in the religious life. Each experience of Christian life is good and comely in its true place, when it comes in the orderly sequences of Christian growth, and only there, not beautiful when it comes artificially forced in where it does not belong.
IV. This truth is at the bottom of any clear notion about the character of sin. We say that we are sinful, but really we are always passing over the essential sinfulness into the things around us. It is these wicked things that make us wicked. But here comes up our truth that there are no wicked things; that wickedness is not in things, but in the displacement and misuse of things: and there is nothing which, kept in its true place and put to its true use, is not beautiful and good.
Phillips Brooks, Twenty Sermons, p. 244.
I. The difference between the splendid world of vegetation, with its myriad colours and its ever-changing life, between the animal world, with its studied gradations of form and of development, and man, is this: God hath set eternity in our hearts. All creation around us is satisfied with its sustenance; we alone have a thirst and a hunger for which the circumstances of our life have no meat and drink. In the burning noonday of life’s labour man sits-as the Son of man once sat-by well-sides weary, and, while others can slake their thirst with that water, he needs a living water; while others go into cities to buy meat, he has need of and finds a sustenance that they know not of.
II. The truer and the nobler man is, the more certainly he feels all this, the more keenly he realises eternity in his heart. There are none of us, however, who do not feel it sometimes. Try to crush it with the weight of mere worldly care; try to destroy it with the enervating influences of passion or of pleasure; try to benumb it with the cold, calculating spirit of greed: you cannot kill it. God hath set eternity in our hearts. He has given us a hunger which can be satisfied only with the Bread of Life, a thirst which can be quenched only by the living water from the Rock of Ages.
III. Eternity is in our hearts; and there is a strange contrast between it and the world in which we all are, for which alone some of us are living. To do our duty here, to trust calmly in a future with God, where all our higher cravings shall be satisfied-that was the conclusion at which the Preacher arrived as the sustaining power amid the wrongs, and weariness, and inequalities of life. We stand with that great teacher in the twilight, but our faces are turned towards the rising Sun. God hath set eternity in our hearts. Are we living worthy of it? The only way of doing so is by clinging close to Him, by dying with Him to all that He died to save us from and living worthy of that life and immortality which He hath brought from out of the mists of speculation unto the light of truth by His Gospel.
T. Teignmouth Shore, The Life of the World to Come, p. 23.
Ecc 3:11
The word rendered “world” is a very frequent one in the Old Testament, and never has but one meaning; and that meaning is eternity. “He hath set eternity in their heart.” Here are two antagonistic facts. There are transient things, a vicissitude which moves within natural limits, temporary events which are beautiful in their season; but there is also the contrasted fact that the man who is thus tossed about, as by some great battledore, wielded by giant powers in mockery, from one changing thing to another, has relations to something more lasting than the transient. He lives in a world of fleeting change, but he has “eternity” in his heart.
I. Consider eternity set in every human heart. This may be either a declaration of the immortality of the soul, or it may mean, as I rather suppose it to do, the consciousness of eternity which is part of human nature. We are the only beings on this earth who can think the thought, or speak the word, eternity. Other creatures are happy while immersed in time; we have another nature, and are undisturbed by a thought which shines high above the roaring sea of circumstance in which we float. The thought is in us all, a presentiment and a consciousness; and that universal presentiment itself goes far to establish the reality of the unseen order of things to which it is directed. By the make of our spirits, by the possibilities that dawn dim before us, by the thoughts “whose very sweetness yieldeth proof that they were born for immortality “-by all these and a thousand other signs and facts in every human life, we say, “God has set eternity in their hearts.”
II. The disproportion between this our nature and the world in which we dwell. Man, with eternity in his heart, with the hunger in his spirit after an unchanging whole, an absolute good, an ideal perfectness, an immortal being, is condemned to the treadmill of transitory revolution. “The world passeth away, and the lust thereof.” It is limited; it is changeful; it slips from under us as we stand upon it: and therefore mystery and perplexity stoop down upon the providence of God, and misery and loneliness enter into the heart of man. These changeful things-they do not meet our ideal; they do not satisfy our wants; they do not last even our duration.
III. These thoughts lead us to consider the possible satisfying of our souls. The Preacher in his day learned that it was possible to satisfy the hunger for eternity, which had once seemed to him a questionable blessing. He learned that it was a loving Providence which had made man’s home so little fit for him, that he might seek “the city which hath foundations.” And we, who have a further word from God, may have a fuller and yet more blessed conviction, built upon our own happy experience, if we choose, that it is possible for us to have that deep thirst slaked, that longing appeased. Love Christ, and then the eternity in the heart will not be a great aching void, but will be filled with the everlasting life which Christ gives and is.
A. Maclaren, Sermons Preached in Manchester, 3rd series, p. 209.
References: Ecc 3:11.-Homiletic Quarterly, vol. iv., p. 426; H. J. Wilmot-Buxton, Waterside Mission Sermons, 1st series, p. 38; W. Park, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxviii., p. 259; G. Matheson, Moments on the Mount, p. 184.
Ecc 3:12-13
Even in the days of his vanity, Solomon saw that there would be more happiness if there were less hankering. Are the cases not numberless where, for all purposes of enjoyment, labour is lost because coupled with the constant lust of farther acquirement, or because of a strange oblivion of his own felicity on the part of the favoured possessor?
I. One great source of our prevailing joylessness is our inadvertency. We need to meditate on our human happiness. There is for our meditation, daily, hourly, lifelong, God’s chief mercy-that largess of unprecedented love which is not the envied distinction of some far-off world, but is God’s gift unspeakable to you, to me.
II. Another source of depression is distrustfulness. Let us rejoice in the present, and let us trust for the future. Let us pray and strive till our frame of mind is more in unison with the Lord’s kindness; and in every gracious providence and in every spiritual mercy bestowed on ourselves or others dear to us let us recognise the merciful kindness of the Lord, and let us acknowledge what we recognise.
J. Hamilton, The Royal Preacher, p. 206.
Ecc 3:14
It is a thought worthy of Almighty God that everything He touches partakes of His own immortality; that He cannot lay to His hand in vain; that what has once lain in His counsels must one day, sooner or later, stand out into the light, and that which once has taken form under His power must go on for ever and ever.
I. The heavens which God made at the first and the earth which God made at the first-they were and they are eternal. This world, or at least part of it, was made a paradise. Think you that man’s rebellion has put God away from His first design? Nay, it has confirmed it; it has secured it. The sin brought the Cross, the Cross brought the throne of Jesus, and the throne of Jesus shall restore, and restore ten-thousandfold, the forfeited Eden.
II. From time to time God has opened His mouth and made known to man the future. And so it comes to pass that we have the “sure word of prophecy.” And what is a prophecy? A thing for ever, with manifold intent. And the whole Bible-what is the Bible but one mind once revealed? And yet all the things which are transacted upon this globe-all that men say, and think, and do, all joys and sorrows, all good and evil-are only verifications and transcripts of that book; and constantly we meet God’s word in our everyday life. And as I trace that strange harmony, that response between God’s word and God’s world, “I know that whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever.”
III. These curious bodies of ours-they are God’s masterpiece. And when these bodies, spiritual, but the same, come up like the flower from the seed, what is this but “I know that whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever “? And if so with the body, how much more with the soul. “The gifts and calling of God are without repentance.”
J. Vaughan, Sermons, 1868, p. 44.
Ecc 3:15
I. God requireth the past throughout the universe. What are our sciences but memories of the past? Astronomy is the memory of the universe; geology is the memory of the earth; history is the memory of the human race. There is nothing forgotten or left behind. The past is brought forward into the present, and out of the past the future grows. The reproduction of long-overpassed forms, the striking lack of varieties, and the recurrence of hybrids into the mother-species are all familiar illustrations of the persistency of memory in the organic world. Nature never forgets. Nothing perishes without leaving a record of it behind. The past history of the universe is not only preserved in the memory of God, but is also inscribed upon its own tablets.
II. God requireth the past for our present consolation. He takes up all we have left behind in the plenitude of His existence. The friends who have gone from us live in Him; the days that are no more are revived in Him. The successive periods of our existence, like lights and shadows on a sunny hill, have not perished in the using; their fleeting moments and impressions have been laid up for ever in the storehouse of the infinite mind. In converse with Him in whom thus all our life is hid, upon whose mind the whole picture of our existence is mirrored, we feel that, though lonely, we are not alone; though the perishing creatures of a day, we are living even now in eternity.
III. God requireth the past for its restoration. As the context indicates, it is a law of the Divine manifestation, a mode of the Divine working in every department, that the past should be brought forward into the present, the old reproduced in the new. God never wearies of repeating the old familiar things. He keeps age after age, generation after generation, year after year, the same old home-feeling in His earth for us. And is not this a strong argument that He will keep the old home-feeling for us in heaven; that we shall find ourselves beyond the river of death in the midst of all the former familiar things of our life, just as when we get out of the winter gloom and desolation of any year we find ourselves in the midst of all that made the former springs and summers so sweet and precious to us?
IV. God requireth the past for judgment. It is an awful thought that the indictment of the impenitent sinner at the bar of Divine justice has been carried about with him unconsciously all his life in his own bosom, that he himself is the strongest witness against himself. “Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked and slothful servant.”
H. Macmillan, Two Worlds are Ours, p. 286.
Ecc 3:19-21
Has man, then, no real pre-eminence over the beast? Apparently, if we grant the assumption of the Epicurean, this is the conclusion to which we must come. If man have merely an animal existence, if he have no relations to a spiritual world, if when he dies he perishes, then in what respects is he better than the beasts?
I. To this it may be replied by pointing to man’s intellectual and moral endowments as conferring upon him an undeniable superiority over the brutes. There is no need to deny or question the worth and preciousness of the qualities which man thus possesses. But the more costly a machine is, so much the more is it an evil if it fail of the end for which it has been constructed. In such a case we are ready to mourn over the useless expenditure, the misapplied ingenuity, the worse than wasted power, which such a splendid failure exhibits, and are constrained to say, Whatever may be the apparent superiority of this structure over the humbler structures by its side, in which no such deficiency or failure appears, in reality the latter is to be preferred to the former; the latter, to all intents and purposes, is better than the former. It is just to such a conclusion that we shall be forced to come concerning man if we leave out of view his spiritual relations, his relations to God and to a future state of being. If we confine our view of man to his mere earthly state and animal being, what can we make of it but that he is a great mistake, a contrivance that cannot obey its master-power without frustrating the very end for which that power was placed in mastery over it? so that it would seem as if it would have been better for him to have been made as the sheep or the ox, that have no understanding, than to be endowed as he is only to be less happy and less orderly than they.
II. From so gloomy and so revolting a conclusion there seems to be but one way of escape, and that is by assuming that man’s earthly being is not his whole being or the most important part of it. Man’s real dignity and supremacy lies in this, that he is made for immortality; that he is capacious of the Divine; that he has relations to the infinite and the eternal; that his present state is but the vestibule of his being; and that when his journey through this toilsome and hazardous waste of earth shall have been accomplished he shall, provided he have worthily achieved his probation, reach the proper home and resting-place of his spirit in heaven.
W. Lindsay Alexander, Sermons, p. 238.
References: Ecc 3:16-22.-T. C. Finlayson, A Practical Exposition of Ecclesiastes, p. 87. Ecc 3:18 -iv. 4.-J. H. Cooke, The Preacher’s Pilgrimage, p. 44. Ecc 3:22.-J. F. Stevenson, Christian World Pulpit, vol. ii., p. 296. 3-C. Bridges, An Exposition of Ecclesiastes, p. 48; G. G. Bradley, Lectures on Ecclesiastes, p. 66.
2. Further Results of the Search
CHAPTER 3
1. The times of man under the sun (Ecc 3:1-11)
2. When then is the good? (Ecc 3:12-15)
3. Concerning judgment and the future (Ecc 3:16-22)
Ecc 3:1-11. There is a time for everything. Twenty-eight times are mentioned, beginning with the time of birth and ending with the time for peace. Everything has a fixed time: Life-death; seeding-harvesting; killing-healing; breaking-down building-up; weeping-laughing; mourning-dancing, etc. These are the times of the entire race; that is what human life is. All moves and changes; all appears unto him profitless. What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboreth? What is the gain of it, to be born and to die, to plant and to pull up, to weep and to laugh, to mourn and to dance, to get and to lose, to love and to hate? But he advanced a step. He recognizeth that all this travail must be of God, who has produced these never ceasing changes, so that mens hearts might be exercised thereby. I have seen the travail which God has given to the sons of men to be exercised in it. Yeah, there is something which is in man. God hath set the world in their heart, the correct rendering is, God hath set eternity in their heart (Ecc 3:11). Man has the sense of the infinite in his heart.
All that time offers, all these changes cannot satisfy, nor can man with eternity in his heart find out the truth about it by himself. He may feel but cannot understand.
Ecc 3:12-15. What then is the good? To what can man in such condition, with such constant changes, and with an unsatisfied feeling of the infinite in his heart resort to? The searcher gives his results. Let man rejoice and do good in his life. Let him eat and drink and enjoy the food of all his labor. But let him also do so fearing God in view of Gods judgment, for God requireth that which is past. This is about as far as the natural man can see.
Ecc 3:16-22. The thought of judgment expressed in verse 15 is now more fully taken up. It seems as if a ray of light now breaks in. There must be from the side of Gods judgment. Under the sun he saw in the place of judgment wickedness, and in the place of righteousness, wickedness was there also. Then he said in his heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked. He draws the conclusion that the present injustice must be dealt with by God. But here he stops short. He may surmise, but certainly he has not. Instead of advancing in his searchings as a natural man he comes back to his old wail of vanity. I said in mine heart, it is because of the sons of men that God may prove them, and that they may see they themselves are but as beasts. For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; and man hath no pre-eminence above the beasts: for all is vanity. It shows that as far as life beyond the present is concerned all is darkness for man. He may have eternity set in his heart, but he has no light. Death comes alike to man and beast; they die and are gone, hence the conclusion, man hath no pre-eminence above the beast. But man has, as the revelation of God teacheth. But here we do not listen to Gods revelation but to the searchings and observations of man only. The natural man knows, all men and beasts go to one place, all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again. Then there is just a faint suggestion of something which might be beyond the grave. The correct rendering of Ecc 3:21 is, who knoweth whether the spirit of man goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast goeth downward to the earth? Man and beast share the same being, draw breath in the same way, spring from the dust, return to the dust, but who can give assurance that the spirit of man really goeth upward? Who knoweth if this is really true. Who has come back and told us the truth about it? Who knoweth? Such is still the cry of the natural man with all his boasted discoveries and research. Finally he reacheth the same goal as Koheleth–all is vanity. Oh! blessed truth as given by revelation and above all in the person of our Lord and His precious gospel! Man indeed has the pre-eminence and is not like the beast that perisheth. Redeemed by Him who became man, to die for our sins, not only the spirit of the redeemed goeth upward but in its time the body will leave the dust and be changed like unto the glorious body of Him, who as glorified man sits at the right hand of God.
Returning to the wise king with his search, in view of all this, which he has brought forth in this chapter he gives his counsel as to what man is to do under these harassing circumstances. Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better than that a man (the natural man) should rejoice in his own works, for that is his portion; for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him? (See also Ecc 6:12).
every thing: Ecc 3:17, Ecc 7:14, Ecc 8:5, Ecc 8:6, 2Ki 5:26, 2Ch 33:12, Pro 15:23, Mat 16:3
under: Ecc 1:13, Ecc 2:3, Ecc 2:17
Reciprocal: Exo 9:5 – a set time Lev 23:37 – every thing Psa 31:15 – My times Dan 2:21 – he changeth Mar 4:28 – first Joh 2:4 – mine Joh 7:6 – My time 1Co 16:12 – when
What Is Good in This Life
Ecc 2:24-26; Ecc 3:1-14
INTRODUCTORY WORDS
We come now to the second great question in the Book of Ecclesiastes. It is expressed in chapters 6 and 12: “Who knoweth what is good for man in this life?” The same question is asked in several other Scriptures. We have considered Solomon’s conclusions about the labors of this life, and now we are to consider more of his conclusions as to the pleasures of this life. Here is a theme that should grip every young man and every young woman with solemn attention.
By way of introduction we want to ask every Christian if he thinks that it pays to follow after the phantom of pleasure? Should not the Christian rather, with Moses, turn his back upon the wealth of Egypt, and its pleasures in order that he may suffer with the children of God? Not Moses alone made this wise choice. Saul of Tarsus threw everything of the world behind his back, and counted it but loss.
We trust that before this study shall have finished, every Christian will be able to say with the poet,
“Fade, fade each earthly joy, Jesus is mine!
Break ev’ry tender tie, Jesus is mine!
Dark is the wilderness,
Earth has no resting place,
Jesus alone can bless,
Jesus is mine!”
What do we care for the pleasures of earth? There are greater pleasures for us. The Apostle Paul found more joy in a Philippian jail, than the most ardent theatergoer can find in a show. With his feet bound in the stocks and his back beaten with many stripes, he was singing praises unto God.
The man of the world centers his joy on the things “under the sun.” His joy, therefore, comes or goes as he is prospered, or as he suffers loss in worldly things. The Christian may remain happy when everything on earth is fading around him. This is the way Habakkuk put it: If “the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls.”
He who lives above the sun can say: “Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.”
Madam Guyon in prison could write,
“A tittle bird I am
Shut from the fields of air.
Here in my cage I sit and sing
To Him who placed me there-
Well pleased a prisoner to be,
Because, my God, it pleaseth Thee.”
I. SHUT UP TO A WORLD OF PLEASURE (Ecc 2:24-25)
Our verse states definitely that there is nothing better for a man than that he should eat, drink, and have his soul enjoy his labor.
1. The pleasure of eating and drinking. The evangelist who says from the pulpit that there is no pleasure in eating and in drinking is missing the mark. There is much of pleasure around the table. There is the pleasure of friends; there is the pleasure of satisfying the appetite.
However, the man “under the sun” was certainly shut up to an earthly vision when he thought there was nothing better “under the sun” than to eat and drink. They are good so far as they go, but there are joys which so far exceed the pleasures around the feasting table that the latter seem to fade away in insignificance. There is something far better.
The fruit of the Spirit is joy. Christ said, “These things have I spoken unto you, that My joy might remain in you.” Surely His joy did not center in eating and drinking. It centered in the smile of His Father’s face.
2. There is pleasure in one’s own labor. The man of the world, and even the Christian, finds great delight in successful undertakings. No matter to what we turn our hands, when the work of our hands proves to be good, we are happy. The work that we do for ourselves, and the successes which we attain, is nothing comparable to the joy which will be ours by and by, in the work we have done for Him. There is much that is better.
II. THE PORTION OF THE ONE “UNDER THE SUN” (Ecc 3:13; Ecc 3:22)
Ecc 3:13 says, “And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God.” Verse 22says, “Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion: for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him?”
Think of it! What is the portion of the man “under the sun”?
1. What is the longing of his body? It is to eat and to drink. It is physical satisfaction. Is this, however, the height of our ambition? Even Solomon himself acknowledges that the purpose of man is to glorify God, and to keep His commandments. There is something far better than the satisfying of the body.
2. What is the longing of the heart? To be merry? Why, certainly! Where is he who does not want to be happy and glad, filled with rejoicing?
A clown in a circus one day is reputed to have cried out, “I know what you all want: you want to be happy.” Then he began to crack his jokes and to cut up his antics to make the people laugh. Does not the heart have something better to seek than being merry?
3. What is the longing of the soul, or the mind? Solomon says that it is making the soul enjoy good in his labor. Certainly, this is true in part. Who is there who does not delight in walking over his estates? his gardens of flowers, his acres of fruit trees? Who is there who does not enjoy demonstrating some invention of his hands? But is there nothing beyond this? nothing better? Is this our portion?
We have already found that Solomon built houses, and planted vineyards. He had a paradise of his own. He had servants in his houses, and cattle in his fields. He had his own theatricals, and his own singers. Yet, with all of this, Solomon acknowledged that he hated life.
There is nothing else we can say than this: everything “under the sun” which lives without the spiritual and the Heavenly, is “vanity and vexation of spirit.”
III. SOME STRANGE CONCLUSIONS (Ecc 3:20-22)
We will now begin to understand some of the things which Solomon discovered “under the sun.” Ecc 3:22 says, “I perceive that there is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his own works.”
There is a reason for this conclusion. Let us bring it to you in this way.
1. The man “under the sun” has no knowledge of a future life. Ecc 3:20 reads, “All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.” The man, however, “under the sun” knows there is spirit indwelling the body of dust, therefore, he cries, as in Ecc 3:21, “Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?”
It is because of this warped vision of the future, this ignorance on man’s part in God, and Heaven, that Solomon through human wisdom confessed such strange conclusions.
2. The man “under the sun” discusses only the present life and what that life can give us. If he has any conception at all of a future life, he feels at least that “a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.” If he knows anything of the future it is expressed with a question mark. Who knoweth?
There is no new Jerusalem coming down from God out of Heaven, no streets of gold, no gates of pearl, no river of the water of life, no trees bearing twelve manner of fruits: there is nothing like these in the future to the man “under the sun.” There is nothing that is certain; nothing that is felt; nothing that is real or tangible. He knows nothing of the resurrection body, of the meeting with Christ in the air; nothing of the Marriage Supper, nothing of the Reign.
For this cause the man “under the sun” gives himself wholly to the life “under the sun.” He never expects to move above the sun. So far as he knows his spirit, and the spirit of the beast are the same, and he admits that man has no preeminence over the beast. Shall we wonder that he cries, “All is vanity”?
IV. SOME STRANGE CONTRADICTIONS (Ecc 5:16-18)
1. A man’s labor is all wind. This is the expression in Ecc 5:16. “What profit hath he that hath laboured for the wind?” Wind represents everything untangible, everything passing, everything ethereal. It represents nothing lasting, nothing material, or vital.
2. A man eats in sorrow and sickness. This is in Ecc 5:17. “All his days also he eateth in darkness, and he hath much sorrow and wrath with his sickness.” According to this the man “tinder the sun” may be sometimes up, but more frequently down. He may have something of song, but more of sorrow. He may know health, but he is soon to know sickness. He may eat in the light, but he oftener eats in darkness.
3. Ecc 5:18 acknowledges that it is good and comely for one to eat and drink, “and to enjoy the good of all his labour that he taketh under the sun all the days of his life, which God giveth him: for it is his portion.”
Peculiar, is it not? That a wise man should put a question mark over a man’s labor and call it wind, and then tell him that he should enjoy it because it is his portion. It is not strange that the wise man should demonstrate that a man eats in darkness, in sorrow, in sickness, and yet tell him to eat and drink, and to enjoy it all, as his portion?
We agree that there is nothing good “under the sun” that makes a man permanently happy, rested, satisfied, and contented. We certainly agree. Then why this continued corroboration that there is nothing better? that this is the portion of man?
The reason for these statements, and this urge, is because God is compelling the wise man to show everything that the man “under the sun” (who has no Christ, and no covenant relationship with God) may have.
V. SOME STRANGE COMMENDATIONS (Ecc 8:15-17)
We grant that what we are saying seems repetition, and yet the Book of Ecclesiastes gives these repetitions. God is pressing Solomon to wisdom’s final conclusion concerning everything that there is for the man “under the sun.”
1. In the verses before us we are commended to eat, drink, and be merry, and yet we are reminded that the wise man wrote his own admission when he said that these things would vanish. He acknowledged that laughter was mad, and of mirth he said, “What doeth it?”
Still in the verses before us he continues to urge men “to eat, and to drink, and to be merry.”
2. Eat, drink, and be merry? and yet the verses before us acknowledge that the sleep left Solomon’s eyes. The verses acknowledge that even the wise cannot know the reason for the things “under the sun.” He may behold the works of God, yet he seeks to know them, and cannot.
3. Eat, drink, and be merry. Yet God plainly said to the rich man, who said (in Luk 12:1-59) that he would eat, drink, and be merry, that he was a fool. Yes, every man is a fool who is rich toward himself, and poor toward God. Every man is a fool who thinks that life must be builded around the things which we possess. Every man is a fool who thinks that the summum bonum of life is in the harvests which overflow his barns. We may lose all of wealth and worldly pleasures and yet be supremely happy.
Thinkest thou my joy is gone
Just because my wealth has flown?
I have treasures in the skies,
And great wealth in Paradise;
I have laid up coin on high
Where my riches never die.
Things of earth may round me fail,
Deep depression may prevail;
What care I, Christ is my store,
Having Him, what need I more:
He will all my needs supply,
And my heart will satisfy.
VI. THE FULL SCOPE OF PLEASURE’S REALM (Ecc 9:7-9)
God knows the full scope of pleasure and He tells you through Solomon. Hear Him!
“Eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; * * Let thy garments be always white; and let thy head lack no ointment. Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity: for that is thy portion in this life, and in thy labour which thou takest under the sun.”
What will you add to this? What more have you to say? You who know not God, you who are living after the flesh-what find you “under the sun”? Come, take your count. Cast forth the debits and the credits of your life. What is good for man? What is better? What is the very best?
The good, the better, and the best are all by wisdom’s acknowledgment included in this: in eating and drinking, in a man’s dress, in the wife of his love, and in his labor under the sun; yet, all of this, at the last, is “vanity.” Soon, full soon, the shadow may fall athwart your path, and you can eat and drink no more. Soon your garments will be folded and laid aside. Soon, alas, full soon, the dear one may be dead. Your labor, too, will fail. Life will be swept with winter’s storms. The leaves will fall and all will be “vanity.”
Who knoweth what a day will bring forth? Men are living with trembling hearts looking forward to the things that are coming to pass on the earth. Air castles will fall; fondest dreams will vanish in wakeful despair. O men and women, in the turmoil and the strife, in a world where all is “vanity and vexation of spirit,” we beseech you, get you under the sheltering arms of a once crucified, now living, and soon Returning Lord. Look to Him, and be ye saved.
VII. PLEASURE’S MESSAGE TO THE YOUNG MAN (Ecc 11:9)
“Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes.”
1. We ask why such advice was given to a young man? Is it safe to tell any young man who has a heart of sinful flesh, that he should walk in the ways of his heart? Is it safe to tell any young man whose heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked, that he should walk in the ways of his heart? If out of the heart there comes fornication, lasciviousness, uncleanness, may men walk in its way? Is it right to tell a man to walk in the sight of his eyes when his eyes will naturally seek after those things which are carnal? Should we not rather tell him to let his eyes look straight before him, and that he should ponder the path of his feet?
Did not Adam and Eve fall because they walked in the sight of their eyes? Why then should the wise man have said to the young man: “Rejoice, * * in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth,” etc.?
It was because this is the usual advice given by the man “under the sun.” Solomon is not giving us God’s conclusion; he is giving us the conclusions of the man “under the sun,” and God is impelling him to write everything there is for a man “under the sun.”
Job made a covenant with his eyes. Jesus said, “If thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness.” John speaks of the “lust of the eyes.”
2. Solomon’s advice to the young man is both preceded and followed by warnings. Even the man “under the sun” would tell his son that he should enjoy himself, have a good time, and yet he would add, “Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth.”
We will understand all these things far better when we study the next Scripture: The Religion of the Man “Under the Sun.”
AN ILLUSTRATION
Did you ever hear the story of the great bell of Moscow, the largest bell in the world? It was cast more than two hundred years ago, and has never been raised, not because it is too heavy, but because it is cracked. All was going well at the foundry when a fire broke out in Moscow. Streams of water were washed in upon the houses and factories. A tiny stream found its way into the bell metal at the very moment when it was rushing in a state of fusion into the great bell mold, and so the big bell came out cracked and all its capacity for music was destroyed.
Many a young life has had a Divinely given impulse, like soft and molten metal, just flowing into a noble and steadfast decision, when the insidious love of this world’s goods has been allowed to trickle in at that vital moment, breaking the resolve and hushing the music of a life which should have been given out for others.-Expositor.
MANS TIMES (Ecc 3:1-11)
These are orderly and seasonable, but bring no permanent profit, because man is still ignorant of Gods purpose in them all. He does not know how to fit his work into Gods work. The conclusion is in Ecc 3:12-15.
GODS TIME (Ecc 3:16-22)
There is a suggestion in verse 17 that this is long. It will be a time, too, of judgment and manifestation (Ecc 3:17-18). Yet, and perhaps because of this, mans death is not different from the beast (Ecc 3:19-21); conclusion (Ecc 3:22).
SUNDRY WRONGS AND VANITIES (Ecc 4:1-16)
Oppression (Ecc 4:1-3); envy (4:4-6); the lonely miser (Ecc 4:7-12); political disappointment (Ecc 4:13-16).
Ecc 3:1. To every thing, &c. Solomon having mentioned Gods overruling providence in the latter end of the foregoing chapter, proceeds in this to illustrate the imperfection of human wisdom, which is confined to a certain season for all things that it would effect, which if we neglect, or let slip, all our contrivances signify nothing. He then shows that the utmost perfection at which our wisdom can arrive in this world, consists, 1st, In being contented with this order in which God hath placed all things, and not disquieting ourselves about that which it is not in our power to alter. 2d, In observing and taking the fittest opportunity of doing every thing, as the most certain means to tranquillity. 3d, In taking the comfort of what we have at present, and making a seasonable and legitimate use of it; and, lastly, in bearing the vicissitudes which we find in all human things with an equal mind; because they are ordered by a powerful, wise, and gracious Providence. These were the things he had suggested in the conclusion of the former chapter, and this may be considered as having a relation to every one of them. See Bishop Patrick. There is a season A certain time appointed by God for its being and continuance, which no human wisdom or providence can alter. And by virtue of this appointment of God, all vicissitudes which happen in the world, whether comforts or calamities, come to pass; which is here added to prove the principal proposition, that all things below are vain, and happiness is not to be found in them, because of their great uncertainty, and mutability, and transitoriness, and because they are so much out of the reach and power of men, and wholly in the disposal of God. And a time to every purpose Not only things natural, but even the voluntary actions of men, are ordered and disposed by God. But it must be considered, that he does not here speak of a time allowed by God, wherein all the following things may lawfully be done, but only of a time fixed by God, in which they are actually done.
Ecc 3:1. To every thing there is a season. The seasons of the year are four. But the Zodiac, Job 9., divides the times into twelve signs. In a similar manner are the labours of the husbandmen, the shepherds, and the gardeners divided: the text refers to the actions of men.
Ecc 3:11. He hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh. Que l homme puisse comprendre l uvre que Dieu a faite, that man may comprehend the work that God hath made, from one end to the other; yea, that they may see the wisdom, love, and power of the Creator in all his works. This reading is preferable to the English version.
Ecc 3:14. I know that whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever. He will preserve the plants in the vegetable kingdom; the birds, beasts and fishes in the animal kingdom, with unremitting care: none of them shall want his mate. It is nevertheless a fact, we must confess, that many plants and living beings existed in the world before the flood, which now are nowhere to be found.
Ecc 3:21. Who knoweth the spirit of [the sons of] men that goeth upward: whether it return or ascend to God, as it descended from him at first. Gen 2:7. This is a point the brutish man could not define, though Solomon himself had no doubt. He says in Ecc 3:17, that God shall judge the righteous and the wicked. He also affirms that the spirit returns to God who gave it: Ecc 12:7.
REFLECTIONS.
The natural or animal man, receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God. 1Co 2:14, He talks here of births and deaths, of sorrow and joy, of gain and loss, without any regard to God, or providence, or a future state. He sees no moral connection between the actions of men and their Maker. But Solomon draws a just conclusion, in advising a man to be happy in studying such works as are open to contemplation; to be happy in his labour, in his food, and family enjoyments, and to receive with hallowed delight the good things of the present life. While Solomon was contemplating the character of the brutish man, he saw in the bottom of his heart a source of wickedness which excited his indignation. I saw, he says, in the place of judgment, wickedness, bribery, and corruption. I saw in the place of righteousness, where equity should be done, iniquity defiling the hands of the judges. Therefore I said in my heart, God will judge the judges; that he would open out and make manifest their wickedness. My estimate was, that the sons of men are themselves but brutes, and shall perish like the beasts of the earth.
Ecc 3:1-15. From one point of view this section may be entitled In Praise of Opportunism, from another Human Helplessness. Every action in which man can engage has its allotted season, but who can be sure that he has found this season? Gods plan can be known only in part, hence mans efforts to succeed are always liable to fail; nothing remains but to enjoy the present.
Ecc 3:1. purpose: read business or affair. In the Heb. the antitheses that follow are in parallel columns like a Greek sustoichia or Table of Contrasts.
Ecc 3:2. Untimely birth and untimely death are both abhorrent; human entrances and exits have their parallel in the agricultural operations of sowing and reaping. There is no need to compare Jer 1:10, Zep 2:4, though the Heb. word is the same.
Ecc 3:3 finds particular application in time of war.
Ecc 3:4 reminds us of Jesus parable of the children in the market-place and the contrast between Himself and John the Baptist.
Ecc 3:5 a. The best comment is 2Ki 3:19-25 and Isa 5:2; others make it synonymous with Ecc 3:3 b. To take the casting as referring to the custom of throwing stones into a grave at a burial leaves the gathering unexplained.
Ecc 3:5 b has to do with the marital (or an illicit) relationship (cf. 1Co 7:29-31).
Ecc 3:6. The first clause refers to the acquisition (and loss), the second to the protection (and rejection) of property.
Ecc 3:7. rend may betoken sorrow and mourning or perhaps schism (1Ki 11:30; cf. Mat 10:34 f.); sew would then mean the return of joy or of unity (cf. Isa 58:12); silence and speech may also have to do with sorrow and joy.
Ecc 3:9. As often in this book, the positive question is a negative assertion. Man has to go the round of all these activities and experiences, yet he wins nothing from them.With Ecc 3:11 cf. Gen 1:31; the word rendered beautiful will bear the translation fitting or appropriate.he hath set the world in their heart: for world mg. reads eternity; the Heb. word is that which is usually translated for ever. If we adopt this we must understand it of the souls yearning after a larger, fuller, and clearer life than is possible on eartha yearning which does not amount to a belief in subsequent existence but only adds to the burden of present experience. But by reading the word with other vowels, elem for olam, we get the more intelligible meaning of something hidden or concealed, and may render it ignorance. God, jealous lest man should rival Him, has set ignorance in his heart (cf. Gen 2:16 f., Gen 3:5). Another slight change makes the word mean wisdom, but this is unlikely.
Ecc 3:12. Cf. Ecc 2:24; to do good: to enjoy life (cf. mg.).
Ecc 3:13 depends on the I know of Ecc 3:12. Gods one good gift to man is the bit of healthy animal life which comes with the years of vigour (Barton).
Ecc 3:14. If this is Qoheleths it means that there is no escape for man from the scheme of things, he wins no gain from the course of life, nothing except Epicurean enjoyment with the dread of God as a shadow in the background. But it may be from the hand of a pious annotator who make Gods unchanging purpose the ground of mans trust in Him.
Ecc 3:15. Man is bound to the wheel of life; events pursue each other and repeat themselves (cf. Ecc 1:9), and he is but a puppet in the hands of the master showman.
3:1 To every [thing there is] a {a} season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
(a) He speaks of this diversity of time for two causes first to declare that there is nothing in this world perpetual: next to teach us not to be grieved, if we have not all things at once according to our desires, neither enjoy them so long as we would wish.
As is customary in Ecclesiastes, the writer began this section by stating a thesis (Ecc 3:1). He then proceeded to illustrate and to prove it true (Ecc 3:2-8). "Event" (Ecc 3:1) means human activity that one engages in by deliberate choice. Each of these events has its proper time and duration.
"Qohelet now raises a subject characteristic of ancient Near Eastern wisdom literature-the proper time. After all, it is the wise person who knows the right time to say or to do the right thing (Pro 15:23). . . . In the final analysis Qohelet powerfully expresses that everything is frustratingly out of the control of human beings." [Note: Longman, p. 111.]
Ecc 3:2-8 are a poem in which the preacher listed 14 opposites.
"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 poetic device called merism-suggests totality (cf. Psa 139:2-3)." [Note: Donald R. Glenn, "Ecclesiastes," in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: Old Testament, p. 983.]
The casting of stones (Ecc 3:5) probably refers to the ancient custom of destroying a farmer’s field by throwing many stones on it. The gathering of stones describes the clearing of stones from a field. [Note: Hubbard, p. 103.] The fact that there are proper times for expressing love and other times for refraining from love reminds us that there are standards for sex, though this is not the only application.
"Verses 1-8 have an important connection with the theme of the book and relate closely to what precedes and to what follows. Man is to take his life day by day from the hand of God (Ecc 2:24-26; Ecc 3:12-13), realizing that God has a fitting time for each thing to be done (Ecc 3:1). The significance of this section is that man is responsible to discern the right times for the right actions; and when he does the right action according to God’s time, the result is ’beautiful’ (Ecc 3:11)." [Note: J. S. Wright, "Ecclesiastes," p. 1160. Cf. Ephesians 2:10.]
2. Labor and divine providence 3:1-4:3
In this section, Solomon expressed his conviction that in view of God’s incomprehensible workings, all human toil is without permanent profit.
And the Conviction that it is opposed to the Will of God as expressed in the Ordinances of his Providence,
Ecc 3:1-8
This is one help to a wise content with our lot; but he has many more at our service, and notably this, -that an undue devotion to the toils of business is contrary to the will, the design, the providence of God. God, he argues, has fixed a time for every undertaking under heaven, and has made each of them beautiful in its season, but only then. By his kindly ordinances He has sought to divert us from an injurious excess in toil. Our sowing and our reaping, our time of rest and our time for work, the time to save and the time to spend, the time to gain and the time to lose, -all these, with all the fluctuating feelings they excite in us: in short, our whole life, from the cradle to the grave, is under, or should be under, law to Him. It is only when we violate His gracious ordinances, -working when we should be at rest, waking when we should sleep, saving when we should spend, weeping over losses which are real gains, or laughing over gains which will prove to be losses, -that we run into excess, and break up the peaceful order and tranquil flow of the life which He designed for us.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: William Kelly Major Works (New Testament)
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible
Fuente: The Sermon Bible
Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Neighbour’s Wells of Living Water
Fuente: James Gray’s Concise Bible Commentary
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Expositors Bible Commentary