A TIME FOR EVERYTHING
INTRODUCTION
This is the most widely celebrated passage in the entire book of Ecclesiastes. Many musicians and songwriters have latched on to it to explain the seasonal nature of life. Unfortunately, many have also missed the main point: God is sovereign and in control of all the seasons of our lives. His timeliness in our lives is perfect.
DISCUSSION
Imagine and discuss what life would be like without seasons of grief, struggle, or pain.
EXPLANATION
• God is sovereign over every season of our lives.
• Merism – a figure of speech in which two polarities make up a whole.
In addition to the use of merism, the number of pairs – 14 (2 x 7) indicates the fullness or perfection of the poem covering all of life.
This poem may remind us of the poetry of chapter 1 talking about “seasons” in creation – the sun, the wind, the streams & seas. And the question of v. 9 (what gain has the worker from his toil?) reminds us of verses 2 & 3 in chapter 1 – all is vanity, the worker gains nothing. So in looking back to the pairs in this poetry, they all essentially cancel each other out – you're born and you die, and there's nothing left, a tree is planted and uprooted, it's gone; stones are scattered, stones are gathered as if they were never scattered, a garment is torn and a garment is sewn like new. But we're only left with vanity “under the sun," i.e. without God.
The Teacher goes on to say that although we see these things happening all around us, and we have no control over most of them, God controls them and uses them for His purposes, making them beautiful. He has even put eternity into our hearts, an awareness of past & future, even though we cannot completely figure them out or comprehend them. We can no more know the distant past than we can the future.
• The eternal longing in our hearts is at odds with our present mortality. C.S. Lewis explains it this way in Mere Christianity:
“If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. If none of my earthly pleasures satisfy it, that does not prove that the universe is a fraud. Probably earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it, but only to arouse it, to suggest the real thing.”
• 3:12 and 3:14 (NIV) begin with the verb ‘I know’ and reveal Solomon’s two conclusions:
- Rejoice and do good. Once more we see a repeated theme, this time in verse 12. Despite our lack of understanding of the times, we can see God's gifts to us, and “rejoice and do good,” taking pleasure in them.
- God’s sovereignty inspires reverential fear of Him. But why does God work this way, when we cannot “find out” all that He does? Verse 14 holds the answer – God has done all this, God sovereignly controls all things & times so that people fear Him. Though we cannot see God, we come to see how He works things at certain times to accomplish His plans. This was not only true in the days of ancient Israel, but we see this throughout the Bible and can trust that God is no less sovereign today. Consider the “times” mentioned in the New Testament:
- Galatians 4:4-5 - “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” (ESV)
- When Jesus began his ministry, he said in Mark 1:15 - “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
- When Mary comes to Jesus at the wedding at Cana to tell Him they ran out of wine, Jesus initially tells her, “My hour has not yet come.” (John 2:4)
- At one point when people were seeking to arrest Jesus, “but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come.” (John 7:30)
- Before the Last Supper, John writes that “Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father” (John 13:1)
- Romans 5:6 - “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.”
- The time that Christ would be in the tomb was set. In Mark 8:31, Christ taught His disciples that after three days He would rise again.
- Jesus talked about the timing of His return - “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.” (Matthew 24:36)
- Again, Jesus tells His disciples just before His ascension, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.” (Acts 1:7) – This sounds a lot like Ecclesiastes 3:11, that man cannot find out what God has done from beginning to end
- Just as Paul wrote to the Galatians that Christ first came “when the fullness of time had come,” he wrote to Timothy that Christ's return will be “at the proper time” (1 Timothy 6:15)
- And when Christ returns, He will usher in the new heaven and new earth that John saw in the revelation he received from God.:
[3] And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. [4] He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
[5] And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
(Revelation 21:3-5, ESV)
- Listen to how the poem from Ecclesiastes 3 is turned on its head. Tears are wiped away, and there is no more death, mourning, crying, or pain. And remember from Ecclesiastes 1:9, that there is nothing new under the sun? Well, under the sun, without God, there is nothing new. But the Creator of all will re-create all as a part of His (& His people's) eternal kingdom. Like the people to whom the Teacher wrote Ecclesiastes, we are called to consider God's sovereignty and stand in awe. Let us join in the heavenly chorus praising our great God and the Lamb who was slain.
APPLICATION
• Share your stories of experiencing the sovereignty of God in each of these seasons of life.
• How does knowing that God is sovereign over time help you to wait on His timing in your life?