As I come to read your Word today, Father, help me to believe what it says and to obey it with all that I am.
Read ECCLESIASTES 3
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
A Time for Everything
3 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[a] 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.[b]
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?
Footnotes
- Ecclesiastes 3:11 Or also placed ignorance in the human heart, so that
- Ecclesiastes 3:15 Or God calls back the past
- Ecclesiastes 3:19 Or spirit
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Meditate
‘To everything (turn, turn turn), there is a season (turn, turn, turn).’1
Think Further
The poem in verses 1–8 has been an important hymn in Jewish, Christian, and even secular culture. It is often used at funerals, even as part of the funeral for Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022. It resonates with us because it rhythmically speaks about human life. As with the cyclical patterns of nature and time in chapter 1, the Teacher reminds us that as human beings we are caught in the cycles of opposing experiences. It is important to note that the Teacher is not making moral judgments at this point. The wording in Hebrew can mean ‘a time for …’ as much as ‘a time to …’. We are not being told that killing, war, or hatred are morally admissible. Instead, the Teacher is acknowledging the reality that life contains all these contrasting components. This is an antidote to a rose-tinted view of life. In difficult times, it connects our personal experience to a universal human reality.
The chapter ends with one of the most beautiful statements of human inability. It has always resonated with me pastorally when I struggle to understand tragic events such as why someone is diagnosed with terminal illness. Verse 11 is a statement of trust, that even though we are unable to comprehend what God has done from beginning to end, God will make everything beautiful in its time. This really could be the central message of Ecclesiastes: that we can strive after understanding or finding meaning in life as much as we want, but in the end, we are incapable of achieving these things. The only conclusion we have left is to trust that God will make things right, despite our ignorance.
Apply
Think about a part of your faith that you struggle to understand. Bring that to God in prayer and ask for his peace, that you may trust in his faithfulness.
Closing prayer
Gracious God, there is every reason to trust in you, to rest in your love and faithfulness. Thank you that you give purpose to my life and are at work, not just in me, but through me.
Last Updated on October 12, 2024 by kingstar
