Seasons
Notes
Transcript
What makes human beings different from every other species of created life, and what points toward or proves that they have greater value and meaning to their existence than other orders? Is man any better than the rest of God’s creatures? Or is he just another animal, like the beasts, the birds, and the fish? An abundance of people—even educated ones—believe that man is just another animal, that there is nothing special about him. What does God have to say on the subject?
4 what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?
5 Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.
6 You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet,
7 all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field,
8 the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas.
God says that man has been created as a higher being than animals. Of God’s created beings, angels are a higher, more powerful order than human beings, and animals occupy a lower order than humans. God has given man dominion—authority, power—over the rest of His earthly creation. In addition, God has crowned man with a glory and honor that animals do not have.
This great fact gives meaning, purpose, and value to human life that no other created species possesses. Finding purpose and fulfillment in life begins with understanding that God has added value and significance to our lives that He did not bestow on any of His other creatures. In Ecclesiastes Ch. 3, Solomon teaches us that God’s ultimate plan for the human race rises above all the disappointments and dissatisfactions that are so common on earth.
1 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
Solomon began this chapter by stating a very basic fact: There is a time or season for everything, and also a time for every purpose or activity in man’s life on earth (his days under heaven). Think about this statement for a moment; it is one that is often quoted, but seldom fully understood.
➢ First, he was saying that man’s life includes a variety of activities and experiences. Our time on earth is marked by diversity and fluctuation; it is not always the same, unchanging, monotonous routine.
➢ Second, the Teacher was emphasizing that the variety of events and experiences in life are ordered and appointed by God. The specific words the author uses in this verse are key to understanding this great truth:
In simple terms, a person’s life is a variety of experiences, activities, and events controlled by God. This means a most wonderful thing: God has a plan for every individual’s life. Things do not happen by chance. Fate does not determine the days of our lives or what occurs in those days. God has a specific purpose and plan, and the events of our lives are in accordance with that plan.
Solomon was speaking of the mysterious, magnificent providence of God. We know very little about God’s providence; neither do we know how our choices affect it. But God knows all and is in control of our lives! “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.”
There is more that we do not know about God’s providence than we do know. Nonetheless, as stated, God has a purpose and plan for every person’s life, and all that occurs in our lives. God works all things out for good to all who love Him. And He works them out according to His timing and plan for us. This great truth brings great meaning to our lives and also sets us apart from every other creature under the sun.
2 a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what 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 seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
7 a time to tear, 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 for war, and a time for peace.
Solomon proceeds to list fourteen couplets of activities that are a part of every person’s life. In presenting these experiences, Solomon used a common literary device of his day by listing two extremes (as in birth and death, mourning and dancing), which includes everything in between as well. Therefore, we understand that he was not only referring to the two specific events in each pair, but also to the entire range of actions they encompass. Some commentators note that the use of multiples of seven (fourteen sets, twenty-eight life events)—the number of completion or perfection—indicates that Solomon was referring to everything a person might experience in life, not just to these events specifically named. Note that in each pair of experiences, the words are opposites: birth and death, weeping and laughing, tearing and mending, for example. Life is a balance of positives and negatives. No human being experiences exclusively one or the other. Solomon is stressing the point that God’s plan for our lives includes ups and downs, mountains and valleys, pleasure and pain. In His infinite wisdom, God knows that we need to face problems and trials that will stir us to pray and draw closer to Him. Through such trials, we grow stronger and learn to trust Him more and more. Therefore, both good experiences and trials are needed for God to complete His purposes for us. For this reason, we must learn to accept both. Job recognized this:
10 But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.
Within the appointed times and seasons, these colorful, thought-provoking pairs paint a collective portrait of the experience of life here on earth.
1) Birth and death (v. 2a): there is an appointed time for every person’s birth and a time for every person’s death. God is the giver of life and the taker of life. Because of our sin, He has appointed a time for us to die. As Scripture says, “It is appointed unto men once to die …” (He. 9:27). We celebrate annually the days our children were born into this world, but we also remember with sorrow the loss of our loved ones, in particular, on the anniversary of their death.
2) Planting and plucking (v. 2b): the yearly cycle of climates declares that we do not sow and reap on our own schedule, but on God’s. When is the time to plant? When is the time to harvest? We plant in the spring and harvest or uproot what we planted in the fall. It is God’s cycle, and He has appointed seasons for both in our lives.
3) Killing (executing justice) and healing (v. 3a): when a person deliberately commits murder, a time is set for the execution of justice—for killing the murderer. God’s Holy Word commands that the murderer be executed. This too has been ordered by the LORD.
Likewise, God has given us the ability to learn more about how to promote the healing of the human body. And He has given our bodies the amazing ability to restore themselves. God’s plan for human beings includes both the taking of life through the execution of justice and the preserving of life through the healing process.
4) Tearing down and building up (v. 3b): from the planning stages of a new building to the grand opening, the progression is an exciting experience. Nevertheless, a time comes when nearly all buildings age and deteriorate to the point that they must be demolished. Great structures, like everything else, have a life cycle. This is another example of God’s process of life.
5) Crying and laughing (v. 4a): these two extremes of human emotion remind us that life is filled with both tears and laughter, both sad and happy affairs. Joy and sorrow, celebrations and solemn assemblies, weddings and funerals—these are all part of the fabric of life.
6) Mourning and dancing (v. 4b): see pt. 5 above.
7) Casting away stones and gathering stones (v. 5a): some projects require the clearing of stones from the land, such as preparing a field for planting or clearing a lot for building. Other jobs require the gathering of stones together, for example, when a person is building a house or a wall. Both projects are an experience of life, a time that God has given us.
8) Embracing and turning away (5b): at certain times, it is appropriate to display affection for others. But there are other times when it is totally inappropriate to do so. Each has its appointed season in every human being’s life.
9) Gaining and losing (v. 6a): whether dealing with personal finances or business transactions, each has its ups and downs. The economy fluctuates, and so do profits and losses. This reminds us that we cannot place our trust in money or investments. There are times when we give and when we suffer loss in life.
10) Keeping and throwing away (v. 6b): in their youth, people generally have few possessions to cling to; therefore, they work hard to accumulate the things they need and enjoy. Years later, however, many choose to simplify their lives. They move to smaller homes and begin to eliminate those same belongings they worked so hard to accumulate earlier on. The end result is the same regardless of which stage of life a person is in: none of us can take anything with us when we die. All these experiences are a part of life—the time and seasons of life—that God has given us.
11) Tearing and mending (v. 7a): there is a time to sew or mend new garments and, when those coverings have served their purpose or worn out, a time to tear them into strips or rags.
12) Keeping quiet and speaking up (v. 7b): one of life’s most difficult lessons is learning when to keep quiet and when to speak up. All of us know the feeling of regretting something we said. At other times we should, and must, speak up and speak out.
13) Loving and hating (v. 8a): evil abounds in this sin-cursed world. When despicable acts are committed, decent people and strong governments should and do take action against the guilty parties. This righteous indignation against such vile and lawless behavior is fitting and is as much a part of life as those things that we embrace and love. God commands us to hate the evil and to love the good (Ps. 97:10; Pr. 8:13; Am. 5:15). Life includes both love and hate.
14) War and peace (v. 8b): our necessary hatred and refusal to tolerate horrendous evil sometimes leave nations and individuals no choice but to go to war against the violator or enemy. However, war should never be launched except for the cause of justice, freedom, righteousness or peace. War and peace are all part of the equation here on earth.
These fourteen contrasts illustrate that God’s plan for our lives involves a collection of diverse experiences. Opposite extremes in life—and everything in between—are controlled by the One who designs our days and years. God takes these dissimilar experiences and works them out for the good of all who love Him (Ro. 8:28). He uses every experience of life to mold us into what God desires us to be. This is the first truth the Teacher imparts to us that elevates us above the rest of God’s creation, that gives meaning and value to human life. Our lives are not controlled by fate, nor do things happen by chance or coincidence. Life is controlled by the One who appoints the activities of our lives and alters their occurrence according to His plan, purpose, and schedule.
God controls all of the above and everything else that we experience. This makes us uniquely valuable, far above all of God’s other creatures.
Thought 1. God has a purpose for our lives and God’s Holy Word tells what His purpose is: that we be conformed to the image of His Son, Jesus Christ.
When we respond to God’s call by faith and repentance, He justifies us—He declares us to be righteous just as if we had never sinned. As we live the Christian life day by day, God chips away from us everything in our nature that is not like Christ. He gloriously shapes us into His perfect image. One day Christ will appear, and God’s marvelous work in us will be complete, and we will be like Him:
Thought 2. God accomplishes His plan for us even when others oppose and do evil against us. When Joseph reached the end of his life, he was able to see how God had worked good from the evil that his brothers had done to him years before. Notice what he said after God’s plan had evolved:
The word meant or intended in the above verse is the Hebrew word chashab, which means to plait or to weave. The word was used of braiding hair or of weaving different threads together to make a fabric. God takes all the events of our lives and weaves them together to make a beautiful tapestry of His design. The negative experiences of our lives—the difficult and often heartbreaking times—are a part of that design. God loves us so much that He even takes the evil that ungodly people do and works the evil out for good. As we grow older and become more mature in Christ, we are able to see more clearly the extraordinary work of God in our lives. We begin to see the glorious things He fashions from our heartaches and heartbreaks. In such times, we are stirred to praise the LORD and worship Him for His amazing plan and power!
LEADERSHIP MINISTRIES WORLDWIDE: Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, The Preacher’s Outline & Sermon Bible. Chattanooga, TN : Leadership Ministries Worldwide, 2011
