Ecclesiastes 3:5-15

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Ecclesiastes 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;”

Season 7 casting away stones and gathering stones together. The casting away of stones would imply a time of peace and safety, clearing fields of stones to be used for crops or for grazing animals, as opposed to gathering them together to be used in times of war or to be used in judgement as the instrument used in public stonings. Very similar to verse 3, a time to kill and a time to heal, God has ordained and commanded both times of reconciliation and times of aggression, and even now, under the new covenant of grace through Jesus, we are both commanded to love our neighbor and hate sin at the same time. To be gentile and loving to all image bearers of God, casting away the stones in our hearts and any prejudices that may have been there from our sin nature, while at the same time gathering stones together to fight against sin, starting with the remnants and pull of sin in our own lives.

Season 8 embracing and refrain from embracing. There are a few ways to interpret the word embrace here, the first is in the context of health and hygiene, as in the laws given to Israel concerning leprosy and ritual uncleanliness. Leviticus 13:45–46 ““The leprous person who has the disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head hang loose, and he shall cover his upper lip and cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean.’ He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease. He is unclean. He shall live alone. His dwelling shall be outside the camp.” Leviticus 12-15 go into great detail concerning the physical and ritual uncleanness for Israel. The other interpretation of embracing is that of a sexual manner, and there are clear and definite times for this, only after marriage and only with your spouse. The Hebrew word translated as embrace and embracing here appear 13 times total in the Old Testament, and of the other 11 occurrences, there are two that can be interpreted as being in a sensual manner. But both of these are also written by Solomon, Song of Solomon 2:6 and 8:3 both are the same words “His left hand is under my head, and his right hand embraces me!”

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Ecclesiastes 3:6 “a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;”

Season 9 seeking and losing. We have all at one time or another have sought after something we’ve lost, keys, wallet, phone, your sanity. Humanly speaking we all know there are times when seeking is necessary, this word is also translated as ask, beg, implore, and demand. This seeking is not just looking for an item you misplaced but earnestly looking for something you need to function. Spiritually we can see this as salvation for an unbeliever, and continued and increased sanctification for the believer. The bible is filled with verses that tells us to seek after God: 1 Chronicles 16:11 “Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually!”, Psalm 14:2 “The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God.”, Isaiah 55:6 ““Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near;”, Amos 5:4 “For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel: “Seek me and live;”, Zephaniah 2:3 “Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, who do his just commands; seek righteousness; seek humility; perhaps you may be hidden on the day of the anger of the Lord.”, Proverbs 8:17 “I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me.”, Matthew 7:7–8 ““Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.”, Luke 12:31 “Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you.” Hebrews 11:6 “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”

Just as there are times and things to seek after, there are times that me should lose, this word is most commonly translated as perish, or destroy.

Season 10 keeping and casting away.

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Ecclesiastes 3:7 “a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;”

Season 11 Tearing and sewing

Season 12 Silence and speaking

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Ecclesiastes 3:8 “a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.”

Season 13 Loving and hating.

Season 14 War and peace.

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Ecclesiastes 3:9 “What gain has the worker from his toil?”

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Ecclesiastes 3:10 “I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with.”

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Ecclesiastes 3:11 “He has made everything beautiful in its time.”

“Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart,”

“yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.”

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Ecclesiastes 3:12 “I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live;”

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Ecclesiastes 3:13 “also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God’s gift to man.”

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Ecclesiastes 3:14 “I perceived that whatever God does endures forever;”

“nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him.”

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Ecclesiastes 3:15 “That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God seeks what has been driven away.”