a time for everything eccl 3:1-13. a time for everything six monthssitting at stoplights eight...

A TIME FOR EVERYTHING

Eccl 3:1-13

A TIME FOR EVERYTHINGA TIME FOR EVERYTHING

Six months Sitting at stoplights

Eight months Opening junk mail

One year Looking for misplaced objects

Two years Unsuccessfully returning phone calls

Four years Doing housework

Five years Waiting in line

Six years Eating


Time escapes us at an alarming rate.


Time escapes us at an alarming rate. “We master our minutes, or we become slaves

to them; we use time, or time uses us.”



to them; we use time, or time uses us.” In tonight’s text, Solomon wonders where the

time has gone.




time has gone. Solomon has observed a generation of people.




time has gone. Solomon has observed a generation of people. “A generation goes, and a generation comes, but

the earth remains forever” (1:4, ESV).


“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven. A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a


“time to keep, and a time to cast away; a 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; a time for war, and a time for peace. What gain has the worker from his toil? I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I perceived that there is nothing better for them


“than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God’s gift to man” (Eccl 3:1-13, ESV).


These are beautiful, poetic words.


These are beautiful, poetic words. But, we can’t get so caught up in the poetry

that we forget the truth God has inspired.


These are beautiful, poetic words. But, we can’t get so caught up in the poetry

that we forget the truth God has inspired. GOD’S ADMINISTRATION. MAN’S ABANDONMENT.


God’s Administration


These verses demonstrate God’s Administration of the universe.


These verses demonstrate God’s Administration of the universe. Throughout this book, Solomon demonstrates

God’s control of all things.



God’s control of all things. “I applied my heart to seek and to search out by

wisdom all that is done under heaven. It is an unhappy business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with” (1:13, ESV).





“There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God” (2:24, ESV).





“There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God” (2:24, ESV).

“To the one who pleases him God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he has given the business of gathering and collecting, only to give to the one who pleases God” (2:26, ESV).


Solomon now turns his attention to demonstrating God’s governance in every day life.


Solomon now turns his attention to demonstrating God’s governance in every day life. This list of activities were quite common in the

ancient world.


Solomon now turns his attention to demonstrating God’s governance in every day life. This list of activities were quite common in the

ancient world. Planting & plucking; war & peace would have

been life-and-death matters in antiquity.


These verses show God’s total control of the universe.


These verses show God’s total control of the universe. Solomon gives a list of seven polar opposites.



Seven signified completeness.



Seven signified completeness. The use of polar opposites indicated totality.




The point is that nothing happens without the governance of God.




The point is that nothing happens without the governance of God. “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not

one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father” (Mt 10:29, ESV).




The point is that nothing happens without the governance of God. Mt 10:29. “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn

of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” (Col 1:15-17, ESV).


We must not, however, think in terms of predestination.


Muslims teach total predestination.


Muslims teach total predestination. If a mudslide destroys a house, “allah” has willed it so.



Ecclesiastes teaches quite differently.



Ecclesiastes teaches quite differently. “I saw that under the sun the race is not to the

swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all” (9:11, ESV).





“The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man” (12:13).





“The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man” (12:13). If I have no control over whether or not I fear God, why instruct me to do so?


If this text doesn’t teach predestination, what does it teach?


God has established an order for the universe.


God has established an order for the universe. Solomon says that there is “a time to plant,

and a time to pluck up what is planted” (v 2, ESV).


God has established an order for the universe. Solomon says that there is “a time to plant,

and a time to pluck up what is planted” (v 2, ESV).

“While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease” (Gn 8:22, ESV).



Even time & circumstances work toward the purposes of God.



Even time & circumstances work toward the purposes of God. “This Jesus, delivered up according to the

definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men” (Acts 2:23, ESV).




definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men” (Acts 2:23, ESV). God had a plan, but the Jews used “the hands of

lawless men” to carry it out.




definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men” (Acts 2:23, ESV). God had a plan, but the Jews used “the hands of

lawless men” to carry it out. God used the freewill of the Jews to accomplish his

purpose.




definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men” (Acts 2:23, ESV).

“We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son” (Rm 8:28-29, ESV).


In his governance, God has given time to man.


In his governance, God has given time to man. At the Creation, God created time.



“God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day” (Gn 1:5, ESV).



“God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day” (Gn 1:5, ESV).

“God said, ‘Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years’” (Gn 1:14, ESV).


In his governance, God has given time to man. At the Creation, God created time. Because God created time, man needs to be

careful how he uses time.



careful how he uses time. “Teach us to number our days that we may get a

heart of wisdom” (Ps 90:12, ESV).



careful how he uses time. “Teach us to number our days that we may get a

heart of wisdom” (Ps 90:12, ESV). “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise

but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil” (Eph 5:15-16, ESV).


Are we carefully using the time God has given?


In his governance of the world, God has established the right time for man’s activities.


“He has made everything beautiful in its time” (v 11, ESV).


“He has made everything beautiful in its time” (v 11, ESV). “God saw everything that he had made, and

behold, it was very good” (Gn 1:31, ESV).


“He has made everything beautiful in its time” (v 11, ESV). “God saw everything that he had made, and

behold, it was very good” (Gn 1:31, ESV). Just as the physical creation of God was good,

the orderliness of that creation is beautiful.


But, many of these activities don’t seem beautiful at all.


But, many of these activities don’t seem beautiful at all. How can death & war be beautiful in their

time?


But, many of these activities don’t seem beautiful at all. How can death & war be beautiful in their

time? Let’s think about these two “activities” to

illustrate how all can be beautiful.


How can death be beautiful?


God never intended man to die & death is the last enemy of God (1 Cor 15:26).



However, for the Christian, death is a beautiful event.



However, for the Christian, death is a beautiful event. “Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death

of his saints” (Ps 116:15, ESV).



However, for the Christian, death is a beautiful event. “Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death

of his saints” (Ps 116:15, ESV). “I heard a voice from heaven saying, ‘Write

this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’ ‘Blessed indeed,’ says the Spirit, ‘that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!’” (Rv 14:13, ESV).


For a Christian, death is likely seen as more beautiful than is war.


For a Christian, death is likely seen as more beautiful than is war. How many families have suffered untold terror

in the wars since 2001?



in the wars since 2001? Gen Dwight Eisenhower: “I hate war as only a

soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its stupidity.”





Why is there war on this earth?





Why is there war on this earth? “What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, because you do not ask” (Js 4:1-2, ESV).


How can such destruction be beautiful?


How can such destruction be beautiful? War serves the purposes of God.


How can such destruction be beautiful? War serves the purposes of God. The war of the Conquest, allowed God to fulfill

his purpose of giving Canaan to Abraham’s descendants.


How can such destruction be beautiful? War serves the purposes of God. The war of the Conquest, allowed God to fulfill

his purpose of giving Canaan to Abraham’s descendants.

The war in 1 Ki 22 served the purpose of God’s judgment upon Ahab.


God’s purposes cannot be thwarted, for he has made everything beautiful in its time.


Man’s Abandonment


Man has abandonment in light of God’s Administration of the universe, for man has no such control.


Man can do so very little in light of all that God can do.


Man can do so very little in light of all that God can do. There is a time to be born & a time to die.


Man can do so very little in light of all that God can do. There is a time to be born & a time to die. We

can’t decide when we’ll be born or when we’ll die.




Not even expectant mothers can decide when the child will be born.




Not even expectant mothers can decide when the child will be born. “While they were there [in Bethlehem], the time

came for her to give birth” (2:6, ESV).




Not even expectant mothers can decide when the child will be born. “While they were there [in Bethlehem], the time

came for her to give birth” (2:6, ESV). How many babies have been born in cabs or

airplanes?





Neither do we have any control over our deaths.





Neither do we have any control over our deaths. “No man has power to retain the spirit, or power

over the day of death” (8:8, ESV).





Neither do we have any control over our deaths. “No man has power to retain the spirit, or power

over the day of death” (8:8, ESV). With medical technology, we can delay death, but

it’s going to come & we don’t know when.


Man can do so very little in light of all that God can do. There is a time to be born & a time to die. There is a time to plant & a time to pluck.



Man has no control over the seasons of the earth.



Man has no control over the seasons of the earth. With technology, we can grow much inside all

year long, but not outside.


Simply because God has established a set time doesn’t make men follow that time.


Simply because God has established a set time doesn’t make men follow that time. The placement of this poem makes that point.


Simply because God has established a set time doesn’t make men follow that time. The placement of this poem makes that point. These verses are an extension of chapter 2.



“To the one who pleases him God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he has given the business of gathering and collecting, only to give to one who pleases God” (2:26, ESV).



“To the one who pleases him God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he has given the business of gathering and collecting, only to give to one who pleases God” (2:26, ESV).

The one who is righteous tries to live in light of God’s appointed time & the sinner doesn’t.


There is a time to keep silence & a time to speak.


There is a time to keep silence & a time to speak. How many speak when they should keep silent

or vice versa?



or vice versa? Job’s friends spoke when they should have kept

silent.




silent. For a week, Job’s friends kept silent (Job 2:13) & it was

then that they did the most good.





then that they did the most good. They then began to speak & to accuse Job of suffering

because of evil.





then that they did the most good. They then began to speak & to accuse Job of suffering

because of evil. “When words are many, transgression is not

lacking, but whoever restrains his lips is prudent” (Prov 10:19, ESV).


Man also does not understand the ways of God.


Man also does not understand the ways of God. God “has made everything beautiful in its

time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from beginning to end” (v 11, ESV).




Is there any way to comprehend what God has done?





We have absolutely no idea how God has used his providence to accomplish his purposes.





We have absolutely no idea how God has used his providence to accomplish his purposes.

We do not know all the purposes of God.


We do not know all that God does to accomplish the final purpose of the glorification of Christ.


We do not know all that God does to accomplish the final purpose of the glorification of Christ. “At the name of Jesus every knee should bow,

in heaven an don earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil 2:10-11, ESV).


We do not know all that God does to accomplish the final purpose of the glorification of Christ. “At the name of Jesus every knee should bow,

in heaven an don earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil 2:10-11, ESV).

Are you ready to confess that truth at this appointed time?

a time for everything eccl 3:1-13. a time for everything six monthssitting at stoplights eight...

Documents

yearseating slide

gods administration

alarming rate

solomon wonders

gods administration

gods gift

tonights text

poetic words