Chapter 3
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.
What does the worker gain from his toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on men. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil—this is the gift of God. 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 men will revere him.
Whatever is has already been, and what will be has been before; and God will call the past to account. And I saw something else under the sun: In the place of judgment—wickedness was there, in the place of justice—wickedness was there. I thought in my heart, “God will bring to judgment both the righteous and the wicked, for there will be a time for every activity, a time for every deed.”
I also thought, “As for men, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals. Man’s fate is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath; man has no advantage over the animal. Everything is meaningless. All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return. Who knows if the spirit of man rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?” So I saw that there is nothing better for a man than to enjoy his work, because that is his lot. For who can bring him to see what will happen after him? (NIV 2004)
A Bible study on Ecclesiastes 3:
Questions to answer in a small group (or even alone)
- What stands out to you in this chapter?
- Who determines the appropriate time for everything?
- Why does God set these times?
- How is the present “time to refrain” appropriate? (We can only partially answer this).
- Can you think of appropriate times for each thing on the list? Is anything on the list never appropriate to you? Why is that? Who is it appropriate for?
- What insight does this give us into people?
- Who knows if the spirit of man rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth (vs 21)? What does the New Covenant reveal to us that was still a mystery to them?
- How is this related to God’s judgment?
- Summarize the chapter from memory (without looking).
- Where is the Gospel implied in this chapter?
- Read Ecclesiastes 1:2 (Meaningless, meaningless…). What actually is meaningful?
- What is one thing you can do as a result of this study?
God put “eternity into the hearts of men” (vs 11); God’s existence and perfection is intuitively true yet beyond the grasp of human wisdom. Contrast this with what the philosopher Kant wrote as the title of his most famous book, Critique of Pure Reason, if you are familiar with that. Contrary to his claim, human beings cannot derive purely from logical reasoning all that they need to actually live a moral life. A person can only know God through what He reveals to us in the Bible and in the person of Jesus. God has revealed enough in nature and reason for us to know that He exists. Yet no one can reason his/her way into God’s Kingdom, no matter how brilliant s/he is. It’s not that God is beyond our apprehension altogether; it’s that He is beyond figuring out by ourselves, without His help.
There is a book by Don Richardson, Eternity in Their Hearts, that draws out the principle that people everywhere and at all times had elements of eternal truth in their cultures that bridge them to understand the Gospel of Jesus. One outstanding example is that of the Karen people of Burma, together with several other “peoples of the lost book” (chapter 2 of his book) in the region of Burma, Southwest China, and Eastern India. The Karen people had preserved traditions for centuries through hymns describing the Almighty, eternal Creator God Y’wa. According to their tradition, two persons had been deceived and ate of “the fruit of trial,” leading to sickness and death. (This correlates with the story of Adam and Even in Genesis 3). They knew to avoid idols and repent of sins to rely on God’s mercy. But due to neglect, the Karen people had negligently lost God’s book, which their tradition said would be restored to them by white foreigners. Subsequently, in the Nineteenth Century when European missionaries proclaimed the Gospel of Jesus and introduced them to the Bible, the majority of Karen believed. They in turn proclaimed the Gospel to neighboring peoples of the lost book. My wife and I have a dear friend who is a Karen from Burma and a precious believer. It is a joy to know a living witness to this true fact of history.
“Everything is beautiful in its time.” God made it thus. Obviously, in human interaction, there is no one-size-fits-all. We need wisdom to know the appropriate actions to take each day—God’s spiritual manna. There is a time for pestilence and plagues. Times such as these are decided by God alone; vs 1-8 do not instruct us toward a time to kill. The current pestilence is a time for us to abide more deeply and invest in existing relationships, marriage, children, and followers of Jesus (and those who are interested but not yet committed) who we began investing in before the lockdowns.
“So I saw that there is nothing better than for a person to enjoy his work because that is his lot. For who can bring him to see what will happen after him?” Ecclesiastes generally limits its scope to this life on the earth, “under the sun.” Heaven is beyond its scope. Even within the scope of life under the sun, we derive meaning from enjoying what God has gifted to us. Enjoy God’s gifts of wholesome pleasure (vs 12), good works, and accomplishment at work. You can’t understand everything; so be content with uncertainty in some areas of life. God’s work lasts forever—demonstrating and revealing Himself to people so that they will fear Him.
God will judge everything people do (vs 15,17). We often read about God’s judgment on America for slavery. How can America prosper even though it has such a sordid past? For those who repent of sin and appoint Jesus as Lord to rule over their lives, their judgment has been laid upon Jesus. Their sin will not be paid for two times, by men and by Jesus, but only once by Jesus if they accept it. But for those who are unwilling to receive the gift of His payment, they will endure judgment upon themselves forever. Judgment will be entrusted to Jesus (Matthew 25:31-46), even though He did not know the timing of it while he lived on earth (Matthew 24:36). Yes, people, like animals, will die (vs 18-21), though God alone determines the timing. God determines the timing for everything, because he is Sovereignly in control, orchestrating events “so that people will fear Him” (vs 14).
Beyond the scope of Ecclesiastes, Jesus revealed to us that there is eternal life in Him. The eternity that God placed into people’s hearts has its fulfillment in Jesus. We can freely enjoy work and its fruit (vs 13,22) in this short life which is both to be enjoyed and endured. But the ultimate home of those purchased by Jesus is in heaven. So our ultimate purpose is to fear Him and live for eternity.
Entrust all events to God. He knows what He is doing. Sometimes He brings sorrow to people so that they will repent. But usually, we do not know the reason for hardship. There is nothing wrong with being humble enough to admit that we don’t know. Trust Him and praise Him for His Sovereignty. Gently point out impending judgment to people so that they will fear Him. Warn faithfully, and offer salvation in Jesus. Remind people that a “time for everything” (vs 1-8), including judgment, is appointed by God—not a time for human beings to judge each other (not our job), nor an excuse to use coercion to bend other people to our will. God alone judges. Our role is to bear the Good News of grace, forgiveness of sin given freely through Jesus.
Meaningless, everything is meaningless! 