230205 Ecclesiastes 3: The Bible's Answer to Mankind's Existential Crisis

PS 37.4 Delight yourself in Yahweh; And He will give you the desires of your heart

Key Words

Time

All/Every/Everything Contrasted with Nothing

Has (Possession)

Introduction: Defining Our Existential Crisis

the term "existential crisis" refers to a form of inner conflict. It is characterized by the impression that life lacks meaning and is accompanied by various negative experiences, such as stress, anxiety, despair, and depression.

This often happens to such a degree that it disturbs one's normal functioning in everyday life.

The inner nature of this conflict sets existential crises apart from other types of crises that are mainly due to outward circumstances, like social or financial crises. Outward circumstances may still play a role in triggering or exacerbating an existential crisis, but the core conflict happens on an inner level.

The most common approach to resolving an existential crisis consists in addressing this inner conflict and finding new sources of meaning in life

Hedonism - pleasure seeking

Idolatry - worshipping/focusing on anything not God

Suppression through drugs/alcohol

Key Facts for Building my Main Point - Delight Yourself in the Lord and He Will Give You the Desires of Your Heart

God is Sovereign and gives good gifts - Ec 2.24-26 .

James 1.17 “Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.”

Enjoyment of these gifts is limited by time, mortality and injustice Ec 3.1-3.16 .

Understand that there will be a final resurrection and reconciliation - Ec 3.17-22 .

What does God do in Ec 3 .

God’s hand gives that which is eaten and drunk and enjoyed - Enjoyment is impossible apart from God - seeking blessing more than Blessor a recipe for disaster - He gives life

Ec 3.12-13 “I know that there is nothing better for them than to be glad and to do good in one’s lifetime; moreover, that every man who eats and drinks and sees good in all his labor—it is the gift of God.”

Ec 2.24 “There is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and have his soul see good in his labor. This also I have seen that it is from the hand of God.”

Ec 2.25 “For who can eat and who can have enjoyment outside of Him?”

God gives tasks to mankind to occupy themselves

Ec 3.10 “I have seen the endeavor which God has given the sons of men with which to occupy themselves.”

Ec 2.26 “For to a man who is good before Him, He has given wisdom and knowledge and gladness, while to the sinner He has given the endeavor of gathering and collecting so that he may give to one who is good before God. This too is vanity and striving after wind.”

God makes all things beautiful in its time and sets eternity in the heart of man

Ec 3.11 “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end.”

Ec 3.1 “There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every matter under heaven—”

What God does lasts and He has done this so that we might fear and revere Him

Ec 3.14 “I know that everything God does will be forever; there is nothing to add to it and there is nothing to take from it—God has so worked that men should fear Him.”

Ec 3.18 “I said in my heart concerning the sons of men, “God is testing them in order for them to see that they are but beasts.””

God will pursue justice for the oppressed

Ec 3.15 “That which is has been already and that which will be has already been, yet God seeks what is pursued.”

Ec 3.17 “I said in my heart, “God will judge both the righteous man and the wicked man,” for a time for every matter and for every work is there.”

God is the One who will bring all to see what will occur after him Reconcile

Ec 3.22 “I have seen that nothing is better than that man should be glad in his works, for that is his portion. For who will bring him to see what will occur after him?”

Re 20.12 “Then I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds.”

Observations

Joy not self-generated but a gift from God (James 1.17)

God’s sovereignty a fact taken for granted in this text

Is 37.26 ““Have you not heard? Long ago I did it; From days of old I formed it. Now I have brought it to pass, That you should devastate fortified cities into ruinous heaps.”

There are times for when something is appropriate and other times when it is not

If this is all by God’s Sovereignty does it make sense to strive to weary ourselves to achieve - it makes sense to understand that it does not always happen just because we want it to

NOTE: OF COURSE IN HINDSIGHT WE MAY BE ESPECIALLY GRATEFUL IT DIDNT WORK OUT

All labor and striving is vanity Ec 2.22 “For what does a man get in all his labor and in the striving of his heart with which he labors under the sun?”

Ec 1.3 “What advantage does man have in all his labor In which he labors under the sun?”

Time:

How long do we have?

What time is now?

Ecclesiastes 3 |

I. Is it Time (v1-8) | Human Mortality | You are but a vapor \ Limited by time | Limited in Life | Transitory in Time | Limited

1 There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every matter 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 lose; 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.

1 Chronicles 12.32 “Of the sons of Issachar, men who knew how to discern the times, to know what Israel should do, their chiefs were two hundred; and all their relatives were at their command.”

Est 1.13 “Then the king said to the wise men who knew the times—for it was the custom of the king thus to speak before all who knew law and justice”

II. Is it Beautiful (v9-11) | Reflection

9 What advantage is there to the worker from that in which he labors? 10 I have seen the endeavor which God has given the sons of men with which to occupy themselves. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end.

God’s Sovereignty Is 37.26 ““Have you not heard? Long ago I did it; From days of old I formed it. Now I have brought it to pass, That you should devastate fortified cities into ruinous heaps.”

Why are you agonizing - God has made everything beautiful in its time Ec 3.11 .

He has made everything beautiful and we can understand/eternity/World that - another beautiful thing

What about life and its endeavours is difficult or wearisome when considering eternity - considering eternity a comfort

Not only is eternity set in the heart but also the desiderium aeternitatis or desire for eternity

Not meant to be satisfied with the mere temporal - we have an eternal hole in our heart meant only for God and that which lasts

Eternity is unmeasurable and cannot be appeased in this life

v11

Bewildered by time because we cannot understand the pattern

Enjoy what God has provided but understand that eternity is where our true joy lies

III. Is it Joyful (v12-15b) | Purpose and Preferred Joy

12 I know that there is nothing better for them than to be glad and to do good in one’s lifetime; 13 moreover, that every man who eats and drinks and sees good in all his labor—it is the gift of God. 14 I know that everything God does will be forever; there is nothing to add to it and there is nothing to take from it—God has so worked that men should fear Him. 15a That which is has been already and that which will be has already been,

the best part of the temporal is v12 - the enjoyment of life

v13 - the desire to be like God

paradox is that we cannot comprehend our own life and mortality w/o facing God’s Omnipotence and immortality

Genesis 3.5 ““For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.””

Genesis 3.22 “Then Yahweh God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us to know good and evil; and now, lest he send forth his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat and live forever”—”

IV. The Transition (v15c)

15c yet God seeks what is pursued.

v15c in the niphal is reflected in Lamentations 5.5 “Our pursuers are at our necks; We are worn out; there is no rest for us.”

Oppression/Persecution

God seeks justice for the persecuted (NAC)

if we are to enjoy life as recommended in Ec 3.11 “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end.” - what are we to do with oppression and injustice?

V. Are We Glad in Our Works (v16-22) Justice

16 Furthermore, I have seen under the sun that in the place of justice there is wickedness, and in the place of righteousness there is wickedness. 17 I said in my heart, “God will judge both the righteous man and the wicked man,” for a time for every matter and for every work is there.

v17

Eschatological inference with “there” - Ps 14:5 “There they are in great dread, For God is with the righteous generation.”

A connection between death and judgment

Qoholet does not speculate on types of punishment, duration but offers vindication for the oppressed

18 I said in my heart concerning the sons of men, “God is testing them in order for them to see that they are but beasts.” 19 For the fate of the sons of men and the fate of beasts is the same fate for each of them. As one dies so dies the other, and they all have the same breath. So there is no advantage for man over beast, for all is vanity. 20 All go to the same place. All came from the dust, and all return to the dust. 21 Who knows that the breath of man ascends upward and the breath of the beast descends downward to the earth? 22 I have seen that nothing is better than that man should be glad in his works, for that is his portion. For who will bring him to see what will occur after him?

Does Qoholet deny eternal life

God desires people to see that they are in some sense lower in order than Himself - like animals - they die but can be raised to life by the Giver of every good and perfect gift

1 COr 8.6 “yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him.”

Ps 90.10-12 “As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years, Or if due to might, eighty years, Yet their pride is but labor and wickedness; For soon it is gone and we fly away. Who knows the power of Your anger And Your fury, according to the fear that is due You? So teach us to number our days, That we may present to You a heart of wisdom.”

Ec 12.7 “then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.”

Ec 12.13-14 “The end of the matter, all that has been heard: fear God and keep His commandments, because this is the end of the matter for all mankind. For God will bring every work to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.”

The same fate is shared by people and animals - both return to the dirt

Nobody knows if the spirit of a human will rise - the spirit of beasts descends

Enjoy life

Ec 2.24 “There is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and have his soul see good in his labor. This also I have seen that it is from the hand of God.”

Ec 3.12 “I know that there is nothing better for them than to be glad and to do good in one’s lifetime;”

Ec 3.22 “I have seen that nothing is better than that man should be glad in his works, for that is his portion. For who will bring him to see what will occur after him?”

Ec 5.18 “Here is what I have seen to be good, which is beautiful: to eat, to drink, and to see good in all one’s labor in which he labors under the sun during the few days of his life which God has given him; for this is his portion.”

Ec 8.15 “So I laud gladness, for there is nothing good for a man under the sun except to eat and to drink and to be merry, and this will join with him in his labor throughout the days of his life which God has given him under the sun.”

Ec 9.7-9 “Go then, eat your bread in gladness and drink your wine with a merry heart; for God has already accepted your works. Let your clothes be white all the time, and let not oil be lacking on your head. See life with the woman whom you love all the days of your vain life, which He has given to you under the sun—all the days of your vanity; for this is your portion in life and in your labor in which you have labored under the sun.”

Ec 11.9 “Be glad, young man, during your childhood, and let your heart be merry during the days of young manhood. And walk in the ways of your heart and in the sights of your eyes. Yet know that God will bring you to judgment for all these things.”

Mt 5.20 ““For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”