To all members of PaRD.
Grace and peace to you from CPK001. Tonight is the fourth series of the book of Ecclesiastes that we are studying at Church. I have been taking notes and I am going to try and portray what I heard at Church onto here.
When we think of the book of Ecclesiastes what do we think it is about? "Vanity of vanities/everything is meaningless". We shall look into this book and ask: What's the point of TIME?
Ecclesiastes 3:1-22 ESV
A Time for Everything
There 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.
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[c]; 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?
A dramatic week
We've had a dramatic week this week. We've had the Titan Submersible that had 5 billionaires inside as it imploded. What was meant to be a treat ended up being a tragedy.
We've also had Russia invading Russia, the Wagner fighters.
Who would have written that script for this week? Certainly not me.
Time; seasons change and we have so little time. We are all subject to time. There are known sayings: saving time, wasting time, spending time, using time and making time.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-4
Time and Season are synonyms. Pairs and opposites. A time to be born and a time to die.
We rejoice in a new birth, we celebrate milestones: 21st Birthday, marriage, new children but finally we mourn at funerals.
Ecclesiastes 3:5-8
A time to scatter stones and a time to gather may be related to farming.
If someone has a wound with a tear in their shirt you could tear off part of the shirt to use as a bandage. Whereas if you see a tear in a shirt you bring out the sewing kit. Depends on the circumstance.
Bear in mind these times are Descriptive and not Prescriptive. It is not good that there is a time for hate and a time for war. These are all described as opposites in pairs.
It seems the path of wisdom is to know the time.
We do not dance at funerals and we do not weep at weddings.
What is true wisdom? Fear the LORD.
Ecclesiastes 3:9-11
Life under the sun is not frustrated by accident. God made it frustrating. We have little to no control over what happens.
We have plans but things change on us.
Who keeps a diary of appointments, be it physical or digital?
Wouldn't it be great if God were to share his diary? Well, unfortunately we do not get a sneak peek into his diary. We have no control over what happens.
God is sovereign and we are not.
Ecclesiastes 3:12-15
Yet there are days when we enjoy our work.
Everything that God does will endure forever. God is in control of the times and history.
Ecclesiastes 3:16-17
We can see that justice is a mess. Is there such thing as perfect justice?
What is that saying, "Beyond reasonable doubt"?
There has been times when the innocent have served time behind bars for crimes they did not commit. While there are those who did commit crimes and did not serve time behind bars..
There are those who are meant to uphold the law but instead they uphold profit. In this world we see that justice is perverted.
Have you read the book of Job?
What does God say to Job through the thunder, "Where were you when..." The sun first shone? The Stars burst into life?
Yet here we read that God will bring judgement. Have we really escaped justice?
Ecclesiastes 3:18-21
We all have the same destination. One day we are in good health but the next day the Doctor delivers the bad news. We try to put it off for as long as we can, diets, exercise, skin cream etc. However, we will all die one day.
Ecclesiastes 3:22
The coffin is what shapes our world.
Read Luke 12, the parable of the rich fool.
Is the rich fool in control?
In Luke 12:25-26 we read that we cannot add a single hour to our life by worrying. We can't do this little thing, why worry about the rest?
Conclusion
Yet we can go to the one who is in control of time. We are not God but there is a God who is LORD of all time. He gives our time here a meaning and a purpose. He will put an end to frustration under the son.
Next week we will explore and ask: What's the point of RELIGION?