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! Intro
Today we continue our summer study of the book of Ecclesiastes.
Turn a Bible to Ecclesiastes chapter 3.
As a review,[1] we can say that many believe this book was written by King Solomon, the wisest man of his day.
The author is nearing the end of his days, and he’s reflecting on his life – what he has done, what it was worth, and what he can pass on to the younger generations.
The author, in his wisdom, sets out on an experiment of sorts, to figure out what has lasting value.
And after his experiment is over, he is rocked by the realities of life – his life and the lives he has observed.
In the end, the author makes the conclusion that the only hope we have is in God’s enduring presence.
And we therefore are called to acknowledge God’s endurance and follow Him.
This conclusion lines up w/ Proverbs 1:7, which states, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”
In other words, acknowledging our place in the cosmos, knowing that God is God and we are not, knowing we are limited and He is limitless, is the foundation of building one’s life.
Knowing we are limited, yet serve the limitless God, allows us to rest in Him, His character and knowledge.
We can be at peace and enjoy the seasons we are in.
The Outline of Ecclesiastes might look like this:
I-Intro (1:1-11)
II-Wisdom Reflections
A-Accomplishments (1:12-ch 2)
B-Time/Death/Oppression (3-4)
III-Admonitions/Observations
A-Religion/Wealth (5)
B-Future/Uncertainties (6:1-12:8)
IV-Conclusions (12:9-14)
Today we are going to do a simple Bible study on II.B, the author’s reflections on time/death/and oppression.
!
Text
Remembering that Ecclesiastes is a book about reality, I want you to look at the text, in 4 parts.
As you do, I want you to bring your own reality to your reading.
Pay attention to how the reading impresses you or makes you feel.
1st, look at 3:1-15:
3:1There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:
2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
6 a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
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.
9 What do workers gain from their toil?
10 I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race.
11 He has made everything beautiful in its time.
He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. 12 I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live.
13 That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God. 14 I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it.
God does it so that people will fear him.
15 Whatever is has already been,
and what will be has been before;
and God will call the past to account.
Here we see that time and seasons are set by God (3:1-15).
Our work is toilsome.
And, we could say that all our hard work will not change the seasonal patterns set by God.
So what can we do?
We can be happy and do good and find satisfaction in our work.
We can revere God and enjoy and seek the fruit of God’s work.
Here God reveals Himself to us, look at v. 11.
It says, “God makes things beautiful in their time, and He has set eternity in the hearts of men.”
One commentator said it well, he says:
“Beautiful” here means “appropriate.”
If we can accept life as it is, even the hard parts will be bearable.
Yet there is a catch.
We feel like aliens in the world of time and yearn to be part of eternity.
We feel the need for ourselves and our work to be eternal and yet are grieved to be trapped in time.
We also desire to understand our place in the universe against the backdrop of eternity.
But we cannot find out what God has done from beginning to end.
That is, we are not able to discern any plan or pattern to all of this.
God’s purposes are outside our realm of control or investigation.
We thus have a sense of alienation and bewilderment in time.[2]
In other words, God here names a reality we live w/.
We long for heaven, for works that last, to be a part of something bigger.
God has given us that desire, but we are finite, unable to create lasting works.
God here shows us that He is limitless and we are not.
And yet, He places a piece of eternity in us.
Meaning, He desires for us to desire Him.
God desires us to be in relationship w/ Him, to trust in Him and His “infiniteness.”
Look at 3:16-4:3:
16 And I saw something else under the sun:
In the place of judgment—wickedness was there,
in the place of justice—wickedness was there.
17 I said to myself, “God will bring into judgment both the righteous and the wicked, for there will be a time for every activity, a time to judge every deed.”
18 I also said to myself, “As for humans, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals.
19 Surely the fate of human beings is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other.
All have the same breath; humans have no advantage over animals.
Everything is meaningless.
20 All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return.
21 Who knows if the human spirit rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?”
22 So I saw that there is nothing better for a person than to enjoy their work, because that is their lot.
For who can bring them to see what will happen after them?
4:1 Again I looked and saw all the oppression that was taking place under the sun:
I saw the tears of the oppressed—
and they have no comforter;
power was on the side of their oppressors—
and they have no comforter.
2 And I declared that the dead,
who had already died,
are happier than the living,
who are still alive.
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