The Book of Ecclesiastes - Part 3

Today I wanted to continue on the series I was giving on Ecclesiastes. I wanted to first of all ask if you have the outline. Does anybody have the outline? Because I don't have that many up here, that's what I was wondering. Does anybody have still the outline that I gave on Ecclesiastes, like folded up and tucked away in your Bible or something? If you do, then that's fine. If you don't, I have like five. I can hand them out to Rose if you want to look around at them.

Do you have one there? Do you want to look at that? You guys want to take that one?

I'll give you that one. Don can look up for that one. You guys can have that one.

I'll give this one to Kurt. Sorry, I didn't make a lot more copies. I probably should have, knowing that I already had that. We won't be going to that very much. I just wanted to give you that to kind of refresh your minds of where we are and what we've covered a little bit before we continue on. That outline that I just gave you, of course, again, was from one that was created by Walter Kaiser, who's a respected Bible scholar and commentator. I believe he's done a good job of breaking down the book of Ecclesiastes into these different sections.

And of course, we remember just by way of review that the book in Hebrew is called kohalet, which means gatherer, essentially. And it could be, in this context, is probably somebody who gathers an assembly to address it. That's why he's called the preacher, because he's preaching to an assembly. So sometimes you'll see the book called the preacher. And the Greek word for that is ecclesiastes. So that's where we get this word that we call the book today. It's basically someone who addresses an assembly. And that is, again, a preacher. But some people use another word they'll use teacher instead of preacher, because they consider it as somebody who's addressing this crowd for the purpose of instruction. And that's certainly true. There's a lot here that has to do with instruction.

And, of course, the preacher is unnamed, but it is very apparent that the preacher is Solomon. That Solomon is the one who has written this book. And there are many questions about when this book was written and exactly what the purpose was. It seems like it was probably written late in his life, as he describes events later in the book about old age and what happens at that time.

And we would like to think that is the case. If this was written by Solomon in his old age, it seems like he finally got it. After all this wayward life of doing bad things, he started out very good, very strong, with the instruction that his father David gave him. But then he went off the rails because he was led astray by the many wives that he married. And, of course, he had wealth. He had everything. He had so much wisdom on a human level. And he had access to divine wisdom. But he went on this life of experimenting and checking everything out, other alternative ways to find joy and happiness, trying to search for purpose, search for meaning.

And it took him to some dark places. And by the time he got to Ecclesiastes, he had seen it all, he had done it all, and he was miserable. Except for the fact that then if he finally got it together, he realized where to find joy in life. It wasn't in all these vain pursuits that he was involved in. Joy is to be found really in one place, in one focus. And then also in pursuing the gifts from that one source, and not for the gift's sake, you pursue the person who gave all these things, and all these things work out. So that's what we see in a lot of the book as we go through. Just getting into, again, some of the structure of this book, and some of the structure of the argument, we already went through the first part. And of course, the book is introduced by this phrase, vanity of vanities. All is vanity. And the word there for vanity is hevel. Sometimes spelled with a B, sometimes with a V, but hevel is a word that basically means a breath or a vapor, nothing basically. And so when you see that, then hevel, you know, of hevel, heveline, that is basically saying that the thinnest of vapors, really, the thinnest of vapors, it's just a nothing. But then there's a question of what exactly does that mean in the context of the book?

And some people have the idea that it means, well, it's just very, life is very transitory, it's just barely there, and then it's gone. And certainly that is an aspect that's brought out in the book of against the backdrop of these monotonous processes of the world that go on and on and on that life is very short, it's just barely there, and then it's gone. There's nothing to hold.

Another idea that some people have is that it's just the sense of meaninglessness. It's that it's all meaningless. It doesn't mean anything. But that doesn't seem to fit all the occurrences of this, and maybe there's a few different uses of the term. You know, we sometimes will have words that have slightly different meaning in different contexts, and that may be the case here with this term through the book. But one thing that seems to apply quite a ways through it as you look at the various instances of it is that the sense is, is vanity not in the sense of a person is vain and conceited, you know, really taken with themselves, of course, that but that it's futility, that it's not going to get you anywhere. And of course, that is true of being conceited in that sense of vain.

That sense of vanity is vain. It's futile. It doesn't get you anywhere. It's nothing.

And then another sense of that is another word that could mean that and that's used, I think, in the NIV is frustration, that it's all frustration. And the reason that they translate it that way is because the idea is that you'll see the phrase vanity of vanities, you know, all is vanity and chasing after the wind. Like it's like you're trying to grab hold, but there's nothing to hold. And it's a frustration. It's because it's something you want to grab hold. You want to understand this. You want to experience something, but it just slips through your grasp. You just cannot hold on to it. It's a nothing. It's the thinnest of vapors. And it's a frustration. And that that's what we're talking about through this whole book.

So that's a very powerful theme. I would say there's really three themes in my mind that run through this book, and that's one. And it's a big one. I mean, it's that life under the sun, and that's another thing we've seen a number of times, is vanity. Life under the sun, as opposed to life in eternity with God, who is in heaven right now. Of course, he'll come down later, but right now under the sun means this world in our existence today, and that this is what we are contending with now, the circumstances of this world. And it's also, another term is used in here a few times, is under heaven. Under the sky, basically on earth today. While God is above, He is up there, and we are down here. In this time where we are apart, and God's up there, we are on this earth, humanity is subject to vanity, to frustration. And in fact, we looked at that, you remember in Romans 8, where it said that, where Paul wrote, how the entire creation has been subjected to futility, to vanity. It's basically the same word in Greek that's used in Ecclesiastes for vanity, that the entire creation has been subject to that futility, but not forever. It's for now, for this time period, as we prepare for the future ahead. But there's a lot in Ecclesiastes that looks very dim, grim, and that would cause people to be despondent and despairing if they dwell too much on the negative. And some people think this book is very dour, and very negative, and very, you know, making you think that it's not worth living, that this is some kind of, like, almost like a suicide note or something. That's what some people think this book is, or that it's very existential, and it really is meaningless, and the only meaning you find is what you create, you know, this kind of thing. That is not what the message of the book is at all, because that's one theme is vanity. But another theme, as we've seen, is in what is called the refrains of the book, and in the refrains of the book, you see statements like, and so I commended gladness, I commended enjoyment, and that there's nothing better for a man than to enjoy the fruit of his labor, to work and do the work he's been given, but enjoy the fruit of that labor. Which sounds like a contradiction in some senses to some other statements of the book, because it talks about toil and mirth and being folly and being, again, vanity and nothing.

And so what is going on here? Why? We have this, in one sense, it's all vanity, but in another sense it's something that we should enjoy. But it has to do with the focus. It has to do with putting it in the right context. If you just are pursuing these things for their own sake, or just trying to have a good time, you won't ultimately have a good time. It will be miserable. That's what the conclusion will be. And so what you have to realize is these things are gifts of God, what we have. If we enjoy them in the context that God has given us, in the context of everyday life, just living out everyday life and taking the simple joys and pleasures of life as they come, we'll find happiness in that. Because, you know, happiness is not something... You would talk about the pursuit of happiness, but happiness is only pursued indirectly. If you directly try to pursue happiness, you will not be happy ever. But if you pursue the right things, then happiness comes as a byproduct of that. And that's part of the lesson of the book. And of course, that is the other overriding thing. So I mentioned basically three things here. Vanity of vanities, yes, for life under the sun. And then we have the fact that to get through all this, we need to be looking for the joys of everyday life that God gives. That's another thing. And another overriding principle is what we find at the very conclusion of the book. And it's mentioned a few times in there in between, which at the very end... And this is one of those books where, you know, it's kind of confusing. So you've got to look at what the conclusion of the matter. It says, here is the conclusion of the matter. So that's what the whole argument of the book is building to. And you get to the end and it says, here is the conclusion of the whole matter. Fear God and keep His commandments, it says at the end of the book. For this is man's all. This is what it's all about. This is everything. If you do this, if you put this in the right context, you have the proper respect and reverence and obedience to God and are following His ways, if you're striving to do that, in a balanced way of also trying to enjoy the things God has given you along the way.

That's where true happiness is. It's not in all these great things that somebody might try to do, that Solomon did try to do. And again, he did it all. He did a lot of bad things. He did a lot of things that aren't bad of themselves as well, but they just were not fulfilling because they weren't put in the right context. And that's what we need to follow as we go along here. So we saw in the first section that we see that the first section here is chapter 1 verse 1, up through chapter 2 verse 26, is that we're talking about enjoying life as a gift from God.

And we're given an introduction now. Everything is vain and vanity in verses 1 through 3 of chapter 1. And then, as you see, I'm following on the outline here if you want to look along. Then we had the first part of that was the restlessness of life illustrated. And you see all these natural processes going on and on, how the waters fall into the, you know, go through the rivers and into the sea, and it goes back to where it came from, and it just all goes on and on.

And it seems this incessant process of, and history moves along, and people are forgotten as time moves along, and it just goes on and on and on and on, and there's a great monotony to it, and it's very boring in one sense, the whole matter of existence. But that, again, is life under the sun.

You have to focus on this in a different way. These things are not bad of themselves. It's not a bad thing that the sun comes up every morning. We can be very thankful for that. You think, well, it's kind of boring. The sun comes up every morning. Well, that's good, though. You know, it's a matter of how you look at that. Oh, same old same old. Yeah. You might not be breathing, you know, if the sun didn't come up very much.

So these are things we have to put them in perspective. Then he talks about the pleasures of life tested. That's in 1 verse 12 through 2.11. That's where he started trying out all these different things. He did all these great works. He built all these things. He tried wine, women, and song.

He tried all of these things. And he had a lot of women. We know that. He had a thousand women. He was married, you know, 700 wives, 300 concubines. It's unbelievable this situation that Solomon was in. And, of course, the kings of Israel were warned not to be multiplying wives to themselves. They were also warned not to be multiplying horses. And Solomon had lots and lots of those.

He was very powerful. He's the wealthiest man alive. He's the wisest, in a sense, man alive. He was certainly the pinnacle of human wisdom. None like him. But he blew it in big ways. We know he went off the rails and did bad things that he should not have done in this pursuit.

And, as he kept saying, well, I did this and this, but my wisdom remained with me. We think, what is he talking about? My wisdom remained with me. But, again, as we saw before, this is really talking about his analytical sense of things and the way he could evaluate this. He didn't give himself to just wild dissipation and go crazy. He was always evaluating and thinking over these things and evaluating their worth. And, you know, it took him a long time, it seems, before he finally figured out that that's not where it was. Then the purposes of life examined in chapter 2, going through the rest of that, where he evaluates what he had done.

The first part of that was telling us all the things that he had done. And then he gets into this, you know, what it came to, and it wasn't worth anything. But then you come to chapter 2, verses 24 through 26, and we looked at this before, and I'll look at this again real briefly before we move on. In chapter 2, we see the first instance here of the refrain where it says, sorry, I thought I had my marker in here, but I had it in a different spot.

Let me get to where I need to be. In Ecclesiastes chapter 2 and verses 24 through 26, which is apparently not translated correctly in most Bibles, but it says, nothing is better for a man that he should eat and drink, and that his soul should enjoy good in his labor. But that is the way that that phrase does exist in a later refrain, that there's, you know, nothing is better than to do this. And by the way, that doesn't mean, well, that's the best you can do because it's so bad. That's even in those cases where it does say that, what it's really talking about is there's nothing better.

That's the best thing is to do this. That's why it's saying this is how it is. But right here, it's not even saying that. This is a little bit different because what it's really saying here is better is a comparative.

What it's really saying is good is the word that should be here. And really what this is saying is there is nothing good in man is what we looked at here is what this really should be translated, that he should eat and drink and his soul should enjoy good in his labor. It is not in us to be able to do that.

All these things, we have all these wonderful gifts from God, but to be able to enjoy it, it's not in us to be able to enjoy it. And that's why he said, this also I saw was from the hand of God. It's from the hand of God, not just the gifts that are given and not just the jobs that we're given to do and the work we have and the fun times that we're able to enjoy. Not just that, but the ability to enjoy it. That comes from God because without that, without God giving us that ability, we would not be able to enjoy these good things. So there we have this refrain again, and we also said, for who can eat or who can have enjoyment, again, more than either is the confusion in the translation there. That may mean that. That could be Solomon saying, that who can have enjoyment more than I can because I'm like this person who can do an experience at all. It may mean that. That's one translation. Another possibility, though, is what it's really saying is, who can have enjoyment apart from him is what another way to read that is. And that would fit the context there, I think, even better. For God, and it doesn't say God there, so that again makes me think it's really talking about God in the previous sentence in verse 26, gives wisdom and knowledge and joy. He gives the joy, you see, God does, to a man, notice, who is good in his sight. And so this idea, there's two general ideas. I mentioned a while ago that one of the big ideas of the book is that it's this dour sense of awfulness, that everything is so bad and we should just despair and, you know, it's all miserable. Let's just cry about it. That's one idea. But the other idea is that, since life is meaningless, we just, let's have a big party. Let's just enjoy it. Let's just be hedonist. Let's just absolutely go wild and have as much fun as we want to have and do whatever.

And that's all the enjoyment you'll get out of it. But that's not what this says at all. It says, God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy to a man who is good in his sight. And that's not just talking about who's doing fun things, it's talking about who is morally good, because the contrast is, but to the sinner, the person who's disobeying God, he gives the work of gathering and collecting that he may give to him who is good before God. And it says, this also is vanity. But really, what it's talking about is, because some people think, well, that just means there's no difference. There is a difference. We just read the difference. What it's saying is, this really is vanity and grasping for the win, that you as a sinner are just storing up all these things to give to somebody to give to the righteous, ultimately. That's really vain that you're going to live this evil wicked life thinking you're going to get all this stuff, but all you're doing is you're hoarding all this stuff so that you can give it to those who are good. Because ultimately, those who are good before God will inherit all things. The universe, everything, and all the things that have been hoarded up by the wicked will be given to the righteous. That is a wonderful picture that this book is giving. It's not a bleak perspective at all. It is giving the ultimate overall perspective, but then trying to fit all the problems of this life into that overall perspective. That's what we're doing. So we'll continue on right now, and hopefully we'll get through another couple chapters here in the book. The next part we see here on this outline is understanding the all-encompassing plan of God. This extends from chapter 3, verse 1, up until chapter 5 and verse 20.

The first part of this on the outline is, as you can see here in chapter 3, verses 1 through 15, the outline here is, the principle, God has a plan that embraces every man and woman and all their actions in all times. So I want to look at this really more deeply. Let's turn to Ecclesiastes chapter 3, and we will start reading this amazing poem at the beginning of this chapter.

And you know it from a song to the birds, I think, say, or the, you know, it's been popularized, to everything there is a season. A time for every purpose under heaven. A time to be born, a time to die, a time to plant, a time to pluck what is planted, a time to kill, a time to heal, a time to break down, a time to build up, a time to weep and a time to laugh. A time to mourn, a time to dance, a time to cast away stones, a time to gather stones, a time to embrace, a time to refrain from embracing, a time to gain and a time to lose, time to keep, time to throw away, time to tear, and a time to sew, a time to keep silence, and a time to speak, a time to love, and a time to hate, We'll continue here to verse 15, and then we'll go back through this in just a minute. Verse 9, what prophet has the worker from that in which he labors? We've seen that question asked before. What is the benefit? We think about life in that terms. We invest into it. What do we get from this? I have seen the God-given tasks with which the sons of men are to be occupied. Sometimes that looks very... some people interpret that very grimly, like it's toil. In other words, God has given us this bad business, basically. It almost looks like this is a bad business. He has also made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from the beginning to end.

I know that nothing is better for them than to rejoice and to do good in their lives. Also, that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor. It is the gift of God. I know that whatever God does, it should be forever. Nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it that men should fear before him. That which has already been and what is to be has already been, and God requires an account of what is past.

So basically, that is giving us this idea about the times of life and what it means in an ultimate sense. I've titled this part, these 15 verses here, Our lives are in God's hands. Really, that's what this is saying. It may sound bleak in some sense, but it's actually very encouraging.

This section of the book, to once again see what Solomon is aiming at, we should consider the section's conclusion. I have to hold your place here and flip over to chapter 5, verse 18. Because if you look at the end of this major section in chapter 5, verse 18, here's what all of this argument of this section is building toward. Solomon says, Okay, that is what we're leading to in this section. So let's think about that. This is not, again, just to be some bleak picture, it's putting it in the right perspective. And if you have the right perspective, you will not be in this miserable state, he says. You won't be reflecting unduly on all the days of your life and the bad sense of all this.

You'll be thinking about the enjoyment that you're having and the ultimate purpose that God gives. And we see that even starting out here. So it would appear that a problem addressed in this section is people dwelling unduly on the days of their lives, lamenting over life's monotony or negative experiences, trying to comprehend the point of it all.

And that sheds light on the beautiful masterful poem that opens the section concerning the times and circumstances of life. The fact that man is subject to his circumstances is often a source of great consternation. Especially for those who have not learned to commit themselves to God's providential care, come what may. The poem here is not a digression, because some people think, well, where did this poem come in here? What is this talking about?

It is not a digression, but it continues Solomon's exposition of man's plight during this life. Under the sun, here it says, under heaven, to every purpose under heaven, it says, and of the way to find happiness. One commentator says this.

This is the Tyndale commentary. It says, events and characteristics, seasons of time, are imposed upon men. No one chooses a time to weep. This is talking about what happens to you. Equally, the events of life that come our way undermine our confidence that our endeavors will have any permanence. Whatever may be our skill and initiative, our real masters seem to be these inexorable seasons. Not only those of the calendar, but the tide of events which moves us now to one kind of action which seems fitting, now to another which puts it all into the reverse.

You know, a time to weep and a time to laugh. These are opposing things. We are not sure, continuing the commentary, we're not sure they will have any total meaning, and we cannot stand outside the events of life and view them from the beginning to the end, as it says in verse 11.

All this puts mankind in his place, far from being master of his fate and captain of his soul. You know that poem. You know, in that sense, we're not really. The new American commentary notes on these verses, this is a quote, Life is composed of joy and sorrow, building and destroying, and living and dying. Each comes at the proper time. This reminds us that we are creatures of time, and not yet able to partake of the joys of eternity.

No one can be happy who has not come to grips with the reality that life is full of changes and sorrows, as well as continuity and joy. We must accept that we are mortal and governed by time. Now, some commentators believe that the poem here is pessimistic, or that it's a protest, bemoaning the fact that we must resign ourselves to fate. That that's what this is saying. All these things happen, and we just kind of have to roll with it.

Yet this is not the message of the passage at all. Quite the contrary. In the various circumstances, it is still our choice whether to respond to the given situation appropriately. I mean, there's a time to do this, a time to do that. Is that what you're going to do? Moreover, accepting that we are not in control of circumstances is meant to bring peace of mind, comfort even, when we realize who is in control, and that there is a purpose behind it all. Look at verse 17. It says in verse 17 here that God shall judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work. I mean, that's a similar wording there to the beginning, time for every purpose and work, but it says it's going to be brought into God's judgment.

So God will judge the righteous and the wicked. This demonstrates that the times and seasons for events are part of the great plan that God is working out. We can see this in other verses here, too. In 10 and 11, we just saw that nobody can figure out what God is doing from one end to the other. And in verse 14, I know that whatever God does, it will be forever.

This should not be taken to imply that the various times of the poem in verses 1-8 are all fixed beforehand with God having faded all the details of people's lives. I mean, some people think that, but that's not what we're to take away from that. Ecclesiastes 9 and 11 says, time and chance happens to all. Time and events.

Things just happen to people. It happens to everybody. Nevertheless, God remains in ultimate control. So whenever some chance event happens and it proceeds, it is only because God allows it. That's what we remember. He could always intervene in any circumstance. And He does where His great plan is concerned. And in answer to people's prayers. God intervenes in circumstances. They don't just run their course. Solomon's assessment of the times of life in this poem in chapter 3 verses 9-15 is a hopeful one, as we will see.

Now, as to the specifics of the poem itself, the first pairing of contrast concerns life's beginning and ending. Time to be born, time to die. But some say that time to be born there should actually be rendered a time to bear or a time to give birth. So it would be a time to bear, any time to die. It's not really clear. So it could be either of those.

But in either sense, you're looking at it sort of a beginning and ending. The second pairing that you see in the poem here on planting and reaping may also correspond to life and death. Because these, you know, as you go through this poem, you see what looks like two pairings appear to be a single verse through the poem. Like there's each two things seem to go together.

So there's two pairs as you follow it down. And that's the way that the verses have been numbered. So it makes seven verses of two pairs each. Planting and plucking up is also figurative in Scripture of creative and destructive acts, as are the verbs in the next two pairs in verse three. To kill and heal, to break down and to build up. These are go together. And besides their literal meanings, Tyndale says these may be figuratively used for establishing or undermining, which I think that's very possible. That these are broad terms. They're meant to encompass a lot.

The actions mentioned in the poem are often understood in a moral sense. For instance, verse three is thought to mean there's a time when it's right to kill. And there was a time to kill. God told Israel to kill people at times. We get in the issue now of should Christians kill? I don't even get into that in this message. But we definitely are to kill our old simple selves. I mean, that's the mission of Christians today. Our warfare is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities.

And we are to put to death the old man. But on the other hand, other commentators contend that these verses are not about proper behavior, considering that everything in verse one, where it says there's a time for everything, to include immoral acts of others. That's to say there is a time and season for evil. And indeed, God has allotted the present age for that with great purpose, though he doesn't approve of evil. But still, it seems best to read the verses here as representative of everything that could confront an individual over the course of a lifetime, rather than things various people might do or experience, you know, just anything that happens.

So if the reader is in mind in each verse, then the responses mentioned would seem to be morally permissible at appropriate times. In other words, what this is saying is everybody is confronted by these things, and there's a time for you to do one of these things. You know, not that there's a time for you to go murder a crowd of people. That's not what we're talking about here. We're talking about that these are things that will confront you, choices that you have to make, how you respond to the circumstances.

Now, the next two pairs of the poem in verse 4 bring in human emotions. The first is private, you know, to weep and to laugh, and then public, to lament and to dance. So again, you see how these things go together, these little pairings go together. Now, the following two pairs in verse 5 deal with friendship and enmity, and it's sort of a weird statement here.

It says, a time to cast away stones, a time to gather stones, a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing. There are four major views that have been held of to throw stones and to gather stones.

The Tyndale commentary lists these. The Aramaic Targum of Ecclesiastes saw a reference to scattering stones on an old building, preparing to build a new one, because they would build a new, you know, polystones for a new foundation. Others see a reference to rendering fields unproductive by covering its surface with stones.

A 19th century commentator saw here an old Jewish practice of flinging stones or earth into the grave at a burial in the first phrase and preparations to build a house in the second. More recent scholars have seen a sexual reference following a Midrashic interpretation.

In fact, the Good News Bible actually says here in verse 5, there is a time to make love and there is a time to refrain from making love, there is a time for kissing and a time to refrain from kissing. That's the way they interpret that. Now, the first three possibilities have often been rejected on the ground that they leave the second half of the verse without any logical connection. In other words, these seem to go together. So what are casting away stones and gathering stones have to do with embracing and refraining from embracing. What is the connection here? But the second half does not have to have this exclusively passionate meaning. Possibly, that is the embracing here, possibly it alludes to showing friendship or enmity. If so, then it's likely that the first pair puts the same point in national or military terms. Gathering stones together would refer to preparing the way for a military conqueror. We see that in other Bible verses like, gather the stones, make way, prepare the way of the Lord. In other words, heap it up. In other words, for this processional of a conqueror to come in. We see that in Isaiah 62. And casting stones would refer to military aggression by ruining an enemy's field. So, it's time to gather these up or to cast them out. And then, in that sense, embracing or refraining from embracing would just have to do with a show of friendship or not showing friendship. You know, on national relations in that sense. So, again, it's not entirely clear, but we can speculate on what some of these mean. The next two pairs in verse 6 concern possessions and our resolutions concerning them. And instead of a time to gain and a time to lose, the NIV has a time to search and a time to give up as lost. So, either look for it or you let it go. And I think that's probably correct. Nothing in this world is ours forever. We have to realize that. Now, in the next two pairs, tearing and keeping silent may allude to... This is from the New American commentary... may allude to mourning and funerals. Mourners tore their clothes and the comforters kept silent during times of grief, but people were free to repair clothes and freely converse at other times. So, is this a time of mourning? You see, you tear the clothes, you keep silent versus a time of people are sitting together sewing and talking to each other. That would have happened quite frequently in that day, and it often still does. Now, the last two pairs of contrasts in the poem in verse 8 are arranged chiasstically. We've talked about this before, concentrically. In a poem like an ABBA pattern, or ABCD CBA, basically, you're talking about arranging these things where you've got common things on different ends. And so what we see here in these last two is a time to love and a time to hate. A time of war goes with hate, and a time of peace goes with love. So it's an ABBA. You see that on there.

The two pairs are often differentiated by classing the first as personal feelings and the latter as international conditions. We're talking about love and hate and war and peace. But love and hate can exist on a national level, and war and peace can exist on a personal level. These are not necessarily that different. Individually, Christians today must love all people and hate evil. We must war against dark spiritual forces and our own human nature.

Yet the ultimate goal in life is peace. While we do experience times of peace, perfect lasting peace does not yet exist on earth. In placing peace last, Solomon transitions back to the point of the book. The Hebrew word for peace is shalom, and it means more than the absence of conflict. It includes the sense of contentment and fulfillment, which is what the whole treatise is pointing people toward. That's very interesting. You think about all these things he lists out here. And at the end, he finds a time of war and all this conflict and a time of peace, which we think, oh, that just means not fighting. No, it means a time of total fulfillment and contentment, which is what people are searching for in this book.

That's what it's all about. So that's what there's a time for that. And the ultimate time for that is yet ahead. It will come. But we can experience it today. The Bible also talks about finding the peace of God, which surpasses understanding. Even in our lives today, we're able to do that to certain measure. Now, verses 9 through 15 we looked at, Solomon proceeds to evaluate and deal with what he's just presented.

Now, that there is a dilemma in what he's laid out in his poem is clear from verse 9, which is essentially a restatement of the seemingly hopeless questions in 1.3 and 2.22, asking again, what benefit does one derive from his work in this life? What is the point? In other words, what is the point of all of this? Man and his work are subject to time and circumstances as part of the limitations of mortal life. And in the scheme of things that God has arranged, people have the task of navigating life according to changing conditions over which they have no real control, including the time of their deaths.

That's the first one that's listed. There is a time to die. You don't know when that's going to be. You think, well, it's at the end of a long lifespan. Maybe. Maybe it's two days from now in a car accident. We don't know when it is. It could be any time. We are subject to mortality. But we're not alone in this. That's good. An optimistic qualification is offered at the beginning of Ecclesiastes 3.11. It says, God has made everything beautiful in its time.

Now, the Hebrew word rendered beautiful could also be translated fitting, as it is in chapter 5 and verse 18. There it's saying, you know, it's fitting, but beautiful will actually work there as well. We'll look at that later. Now, some take this chapter 3 verse 11 here to mean that each incident is appropriate at its given time.

And that could be, but I don't think so. The everything here, tying back to verse 1, would seem to indicate the whole. Notice this. God is... think about it in this sense. It says, He has made everything beautiful in its time. And remember the beginning of the poem said, to everything there is a season. So, in other words, the everything is all. So, what I think is really being saying is, tying back to verse 1, that we're talking about the whole, and that Solomon is likely saying that when all is said and done, God's ordering of circumstances, even the negative ones, leads to a beautiful work in the end.

It's all a great, big, beautiful picture, ultimately. God's plan. We find a New Testament parallel in Romans 8, 28. Probably many have it as their favorite scripture. And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. Notice that again, according to His purpose. This is the purposes that are working out here in life. To everything, there is a time, a season, to every purpose under heaven.

And here, it's saying to those who are the called according to His purpose is going to work out for good. Now, let me say that we think, well, that's just as people in the church. It is, in one sense. That is, you're not going to be able to benefit from that, except unless you're in the church now. But ultimately, this includes circumstances before one's calling. You can say, bad things happened to me before I was called, but God was able to use those bad things that happened to me for a good purpose in my called life now.

And the verse here will eventually apply to the human race as a whole, because ultimately, everybody is going to be called to be part of God's family.

Solomon intends by his qualification here to tell us that if we can accept our lives as ultimately the work of God, aiming toward a meaningful and beautiful result, that even the difficult parts will be bearable. I'm going to read that statement again, because I think that is huge.

If we can accept our lives as ultimately the work of God, aiming toward a meaningful and beautiful result, even the difficult parts will be bearable. That's what you have to go on. But, okay, we say, well, that sounds good, but then he presents a counter-qualification in the second part of Ecclesiastes 3.11.

God is put within people's hearts a desire for eternity. It says here he's put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end. It's in our hearts for comprehending all the reasons for life's twists and turns, but we can't figure it out. So we can't be content with just accepting life as it is. And I don't mean us in this room, I mean humanity. The new American commentary notes this on the verse. 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 our grieve 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. Maybe this sounds familiar, because God said something very similar in Isaiah 55, verses 8-9. He said, For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are my ways your ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, and remember we're talking about the purposes under heaven being worked out. But God says, For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. We just cannot grasp all of the reasons for everything that God brings about or allows to happen. We will never understand that until we are changed into the same kind of things He is.

We do not have the abroad overview that God has. Seeing all of the interrelations that He sees and understanding all of His manifold intents in any given circumstance that happens. We don't know why He's doing it. And we can become unduly focused on all this and end up distressed, which is a facet of the problem referenced in the conclusion of the current major section we just looked at in chapter 5, verse 20.

Or we could embrace the solution Solomon presents in this section conclusion in chapter 5, as well as this subsection conclusion here that we looked at in chapter 3, verses 12 through 15. Both contain the refrain about eating and drinking and enjoying the good of one's labor as God's gift. As in the previous instance of the refrain at the end of the former section, which we read at the beginning in chapter 2, this implies a life of faith in and acceptance of God's providential care and blessing. This comes down to faith and trust in God.

The point is certainly not that we should forget our eternal longing through profligate living, as some contend. Yeah, we can't grasp eternity. We only live for now, so let's just forget about all that. Don't worry about that, and just have fun right now, as much as you want.

To do good in chapter 3, verse 12, because it says, I know that nothing is better for men to rejoice and to do good in their lives. It refers to engaging in enjoyable pursuits. That's part of it.

To do good things, to do fun things even is part of that. But it also has to do with living morally, to do right things.

Parallel to being among the good in the previous section, conclusion, which we just looked at at the beginning again. The good are those who follow and do what God says. Now, some object to the focus of the refrains, thinking that they're very selfishly oriented. They think, all these refrains are just telling you, well, just have a good time, enjoy what God gives you, that it's not telling you to go help people or do anything helpful in that sense.

But look, doing good, as the whole of Scripture shows, includes obeying God in helping and serving others. And we'll consider more about the notion of selfishness when we come to the current section's conclusion in chapter 5. We looked at it. We'll look at it a little bit more. But look, this isn't just saying, go party it up, have a good time. It's saying, enjoy the things God gives you. And yes, do good. Do good means do good, have fun with your family, do fun things, do good, but also do what's right, help people, be a light, and provide for people as you're able to do these. But again, do you have to expend away your whole life in providing for others? Do you have to get rid of all your possessions and be a hermit somewhere? No, or go into some kind of a monk somewhere. It's not saying you need to do that. It's saying just live a normal life, have enjoyment, do the good things. But yes, you want to be a help to others as well, as you're able, as is reasonable. You could expend your whole life away. You could give everything away. It'll be gone in two minutes. You'll have nothing. And then you'll become a burden to other people. That's not what it's telling you to do. Now, note that Solomon began his conclusion to this subsection in verse 12 here with, He said, He followed with the refrain about enjoying life. Yet he has more to say in regard to coping with life's changing circumstances.

In verse 14, he again begins with, Notice that in beginning in verse 14, showing there is more to his conclusion. You want to read this very carefully, by the way. These statements mean something. When he says, Well, I saw this, and I saw this, and then I saw, or then I know, and so I did this, and I know, and now I know.

There's a pattern to the wording here and to the logic. And so he said in verse 12, So this, but that's not it. It's not, it doesn't end in verse, verses 12 and 13.

Verse 14, I know there's more. Here's what else I know. Okay, he's giving more of the conclusion. He explains that here that God's work will last forever, and that no one can alter it. And this refers back to the work that God does from the beginning to the end. In verse 11, to God's overall plan and purpose. Remember that if you look at it in context, remember, He has made everything beautiful in His time. That's what it said in verse 11, but nobody can figure out the work God does from beginning to end. In verse 14, I know that whatever God does, it will be forever.

This work of God, this plan that He's working out through all of human history, particularly as it unfolds in the circumstances expressed in the poem about the times of life. Now, listen, Solomon, this is great, by the way, Solomon turns the dilemma of the poem on its head. The same poem that can appear to represent a bleak and hopeless entrapment in time.

That's what it looks like. But he reassesses it as representing the surety of the overall direction of life by God. A fact that we can have great confidence in. So it looks like it's bleak and hopeless, and we're just subject to all of this, but he says, this is in the providence and plan of God.

And He's the one that's working this. So continuing in verse 14, Solomon says, God does it. I know that whatever God does, it should be forever. Nothing can be added to it. Nothing is taken away from it. God does it. God does it. That's what he's saying. This isn't some hopeless existential book.

This is saying this is working out the plan of God. God does it. That is, He works out His great plan through circumstances far beyond human ability to grasp. So that, notice this, so that men should fear before Him. That points to the conclusion of the book.

It is all intended to humble man and lead him to submit to God and His ways. Why is this life crazy like this? Because God doesn't want us to get a big head. He wants us to be humble before Him as the Creator, the one who is running the show. We're just here to be doing what He tells us to do, but for a good reason. God doesn't, you know, He doesn't have this hatred for us. He loves us. Remember, God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. He wants to redeem us and save us and make us part of His family forever, but He's doing it by this plan.

And He wants to make us the kind of people that we're going to be by allowing us to go through all of the stuff that we go through now. That is what it is about. In verse 15, Solomon takes things a step farther. That which has already been, and what is to be has already been, and God, but then he says, and God requires an account of what is past. The first part of the verse acknowledges that time marches on incessantly and cyclically, just as was stated in chapter 1 and verse 9, to illustrate the brevity and monotony of life against this backdrop.

Now, the latter part of verse 15 here in chapter 3 is variously translated. But it seems to mean that God seeks what has been passed by. That's why I think this is actually saying the wording, that God seeks what has been passed by. And in context, and you'll see some that translate it that way, in context this could mean that God will ultimately recall and restore the lives that have been left behind by the march of time.

In other words, time marches on. All this stuff goes on. But God is going to seek that which has been left behind. Or it could refer, as in the NKJV, to God's recalling of past events for the purpose of judgment. That may be what it is. So what you read here about God requires an account of what is passed.

That's the issue in question. Is this talking about a judgment, or is this talking about just recalling what has been passed by? If it's the latter about judgment, then this would serve as a warning to those who would respond to the ups and downs of life by living immorally. And as a reinforcement of the point above about the fear of God. We just saw in verse 14. It would also introduce what Solomon presents at the beginning of the next subsection, which we'll get to the next time, verses 16 through 17.

Either way, the end of this subsection in 3.15 points us to the time beyond the toil of this life. To the time of the kingdom of God. Just as the end of the previous major section did in chapter 2 and verse 26. Embracing life with this focus is the way to happiness in the here and now.

That's the only way. You go after these things, you try to comprehend it. You try to comprehend it, you try to think about all the bad things, you just get miserable. Unless you think about it in this context, that it's all working out a great plan.

This isn't in my notes, but I'll just mention this. I think about Job, what he went through. He went through terrible stuff. I mean, unbelievable things happened to him. He didn't know what was going on behind the scenes.

He didn't see this thing where God had kind of elbowed to Satan and said, well, have you considered my servant Job? Nobody like him. And he'd think, why did God go to Satan into doing these bad things to Job? Job seemed to be such a great guy. But as I've mentioned before, I think about Job. We don't know that Job would have stayed a great guy.

We don't know, but God did. And God had a plan and a purpose for Job's life. And God had a plan and purpose for what role Job would play in the kingdom in the future. And he knew what would be the best things to happen in Job's life to bring that about.

And, brethren, he knows the same things that will happen in your life to bring that about. This is what God does. God does it. But we can't figure out the work he does from the beginning to the end. But one day we will. We will understand it. It's going to be a great day. We look forward to that very much. I'll continue this at a later date.