This is similar to the last phrase we looked at. And let me just say that — yes, dancing is good. David danced. Miriam and the daughters of Israel danced. And that might possibly fit with the next statement about embracing. Others say it has to do with the practice of throwing stones into the field of an enemy to ruin his crops. But, I kind of doubt that Qoheleth is sanctioning that kind of destructive unloving behavior.
Maybe he has in mind the games that kids play. That would fit in well with the cyclical nature of things on this earth — gather them, throw them, and on and on. The only other possibility I could think of is perhaps this is speaking of stoning as a death penalty. There is a time — in ancient Israel, at least — to throw stones at a convicted criminal. And there would be a corresponding time of gathering those stones together — probably in order to use them again as an agent of punishment.
Jesus himself knew what this was like. There was a time when he could rightly embrace each of his disciples. There was a betrayal in his life. And so the one whom he would normally embrace is now one he would not embrace. Our oldest son used a pacifier when he was a baby. And there came a time when we wanted to get him to stop using the pacifier. We planned and prayed about how to get him to stop. Because we had heard how difficult it is for some kids to relinquish the pacifier.
But the thing was that one day my wife was with him at the table. And he was eating. My wife was making some food and had her back turned to him. He had his pacifier and he had taken it out of his mouth and it was in his hand. My wife remembers hearing him throw the pacifier to the ground. We looked for that thing for a while. There was — for us — a time to search for it. Not that we wanted it back — we just wanted to know where it was! We asked our son where it went.
So, hopefully someone since then has found it and put it to good use. I give that as an illustration of the search process and the end of that process when you need to give up on the thing as lost forever.
My wife and I were in rare form on Friday. We somehow were given grace to go into cleaning mode. Oh, we were throwing away stuff left and right. It was great. You might not even know what those are!
And I had just kept them — maybe I could excuse my hoarding instincts as biblical. But there is a time to keep. And you never know when you might want to access them. And so, that was our appropriate event Friday — to throw a bunch of stuff out — magazines, old electronics, papers — it was the appropriate time to throw those things away.
A lot of my old clothing ends up as rags around our house. Sometimes I see pieces of an old shirt and think — oh yeah, I remember that shirt! It was time for it to be rent or torn up. At the same time, I might have a shirt or some pants that have a small tear in them. And it might be more appropriate to sew those back up instead of just automatically rending them and turning them into rags. And we can struggle with this one. When to speak and when to keep silent. Can you imagine a person that speaks all the time?
The Searcher is here referring to the repetition of the lessons of life. We do not seem to learn these very well. I have learned some lessons in life and said, "Lord, I see what you are after. I've got it now. You don't have to bring this one back again.
Some circumstance painfully recalls to mind what I had once seen as a principle in life. I have to come with hat in hand and say, "Lord, I' m a slow learner. Have patience with me. I'm prepared to have patience with you and teach you this over and over and over again until you get it right. The Searcher tells us that he too had to learn this.
That is the Searcher's thesis. God desires us to learn the secret of enjoyment. That enjoyment will not come from a variety of experiences. Those will bring but momentary pleasure, but not the secret of contentment, of continual enjoyment. No thought is worth thinking that is not the thought of God. No sight is worth seeing unless it is seen through his eyes.
No breath is worth breathing without thanks to the One whose very breath it is. Verse 16 of Chapter 3 begins a section which runs through Chapter 5, in which a series of objections to this thesis are examined by the Searcher. I am not going to cover all of it this morning, but will take just one objection which occurs here in Chapter 3. Someone says, "Wait a minute.
You say that God has a wonderful plan for my life, that he is a God of justice, but last week I was seeking justice in a courtroom and I found that the cards were stacked against me; all I got was the rawest injustice. How do you square that with this 'wonderful plan for my life?
Moreover I saw under the sun that in the place of justice, even there was wickedness, and in the place of righteousness, even there was wickedness. Human courts are designed to correct injustice, but they are often filled with wickedness and injustice. Just last week I was a witness in a case in which a man's business was being destroyed by legal maneuverers. Everyone knew this was unjust, but because of certain legalities no one could get hold of the matter to correct it.
That kind of injustice creates anger and frustration in many hearts. People say, "What do you mean, I am to accept that as from the hand of God? I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for he has appointed a time for every matter, and for every work.
Though there is injustice, that is not the end of the story. God may correct it even within time, and if he does not do so "in time," still he has appointed a time when it all will be brought out.
The Scriptures speak of a time appointed by God when all the hidden motives of the heart will be examined, when "that which is spoken in secret shall be shouted from the housetops" Matthew , Luke , and justice will ultimately prevail. That is what this Searcher says. Injustice is limited in its scope. I said in my heart with regard to the sons of men that God is testing them to show them that they are but beasts. In other words, there is a beastly quality about all of us which injustice will bring out.
What is it about a man that makes him prey upon even his friends or neighbors? On the TV program, The People's Court , the other night, one case concerned a young woman who had gotten angry at her friend and roommate, whom she had known for years.
The judge was appalled at the vindictive spirit of this attractive looking young woman who had acted in such a vicious way. There is a beastliness about us all. Put in a situation where we are suffering injury we react with viciousness.
God allows certain circumstances to show us that we all have that quality about us. For the fate of the sons of men and the fate of beasts is the same; as one dies, so dies the other.
They all have the same breath and man has no advantage over the beasts; for all is vanity. All go to one place; [not Hell; he is talking about the grave] all are from the dust, and all turn to dust again. Man is frail, his existence temporary. Like the animals, we do not have very long to live on this earth. Injustice sharpens the realization that we do not have long to live rightly, honestly and truly before God.
We die like an animal and our bodies dissolve like a beast's. From the human standpoint one cannot detect any difference. That is what the Searcher says in Verse Who knows whether the spirit of man goes upward and the spirit of the beast goes down to the earth? That really should not be a question, as it is stated here in this text.
It should read this way: "Who knows that the spirit of man goes upward and the spirit of the beast goes down to the earth. That is something which only revelation tells us. Experience does not offer any help at all here. From a human standpoint, a dead man and a dead dog look as if the same thing happened to both of them. But from the divine point of view that is not the case.
Though we die like beasts, the spirit of man goes upward while the spirit of the beast goes downward. Later on the Searcher states very positively that at death the spirit of man returns to God who gave it, but the spirit of the beast ends in nothingness.
Injustice stems from our beastliness, and God's plan for life will uncover it. So I saw that there is nothing better than that a man should enjoy his work, for that is his lot; [But remember, enjoyment comes only from God.
Then he adds the question] who can bring him to see what will be after him? He does not answer that question here; he leaves it hanging. The answer, of course, is that only God can help us to understand what lies beyond life. The wonderful thing to extract from this passage is the great truth that God wants us to learn how to handle life in such a way that we can rejoice in any and every circumstance, as the Scriptures exhorts us.
Recognize that all comes from a wise Father. Though circumstances bring us pain as well as pleasure, it is his choice for us.
Rejoice that in the midst of the pain there is the possibility of pleasure. Thank you lord for this faithful look at life as it really is. That He has found the way through the conundrums and problems of life, that no man comes to the Father but by Him. Help us to rejoice in that and grow in that experience, we pray in His name. For permission to use this content, please review RayStedman.
Subject to permissions policy, all rights reserved. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. God does it so that men will revere him. There is a time to tear down and a time to build up. We have all likely seen a new building that is built. There is a time to weep and a time to laugh. A time to mourn and a time to dance. Part of being a good friend is to grieve when other people grieve and rejoice when they rejoice.
Jesus wept when He saw the grief others experienced over the death of His friend Lazarus. Jesus wept even though He knew He was about to raise Lazarus from the dead, when there would be great rejoicing John Solomon notes that there is a time to throw stones and a time to gather stones. Perhaps he had in mind the famous episode of his father David, who gathered stones to face Goliath, then threw a stone to defeat him 1 Samuel Next Solomon reflects that there is a time to embrace and a time to shun embracing.
A time to search and a time to give up as lost; A time to keep and a time to throw away. These realities can all be observed through practical applications. Those who have experienced moving to a new house have had to sort through all their things and decide what to keep and what to throw away. There is a time and place for shows of affection. But in some situations, affection is inappropriate. Sometimes we embrace other people to show support or love, other times we shun embracing when we are resolving a conflict, or are giving someone space, or are refusing to let someone manipulate us with physical affection.
Life is full of holding on and letting go. There is a time to tear apart and a time to sew together. The tailor must first rip the pants to adjust the hem, and sew it back together. There is a time to be silent and a time to speak.
Solomon is quite articulate about this in the book of Proverbs. Solomon also notes there is a time to love and a time to hate. Finally, there is a time for war and a time for peace. The Bible is clear that there are just and unjust reasons for war, and that the only moral use of violence is to deter the earth from filling with violence Genesis The proper end to war is peace.
Jesus will execute war on the nations at the end of the age, bringing all the earth to justice, and then initiate a new age of peace Revelation ; Revelation God has appointed the cycles of life. They have a rhythm. A place. But here Solomon celebrates the order and certainty of the cycles. They are appointed by God. That gives them meaning and purpose. This is a stark contrast to observing the cycles from a perspective of human reason and experience, where they just look like a person running on a treadmill.
Trust in Him transcends our uncertainty. God designed creation without death. But God introduced the possibility of death when He gave humans freedom. A choice. He told Adam and Eve not to eat of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, and added a consequence, that if they ate, they would die. Ecclesiastes Comments - King Solomon had embarked upon some of the greatest building projects of the ancient world Ecclesiastes , carving and moving great stones, yet he could not determine the timing of when these projects could be completed.
The king had gathered the greatest accumulation of wealth that had ever been collected upon earth, yet this wealth could not be kept entirely safe and secure. There were times he must give it away, and there were times thieves broke in and stole this wealth.
He determined that riches were in the hands of an Almighty God as to whom He would give it to and whom He would take it away. Ecclesiastes A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;. And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people. Ecclesiastes Comments - King Solomon had gathered the greatest accumulation of wealth that had ever been collected upon earth Ecclesiastes , yet this wealth could not be kept entirely safe and secure.
There is a time in their history for gathering stones and building the glorious Temple, and there will be a time of tearing it down in judgment. In this respect he found himself in the hands of an Almighty God in knowing when to keep silent and let God work things out, and when to intervene and speak his royal judgment. Although King Solomon was the greatest king upon earth during his period of reign, with the divine wisdom to maintain peace over his kingdom, yet he was not able to control love and hate, war and peace upon the earth Ecclesiastes These were things too great for him, things he had to look to God for their outcome.
In all of his judgments, he could not resolve all conflicts. Ecclesiastes A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;. Proverbs Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding. But Jesus held his peace. I sat daily with you teaching in the temple, and ye laid no hold on me.
Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy. Ecclesiastes A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace. I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies.
For example, the nation of Israel enjoyed peace during the reign of King Solomon because David was a man of war. He had subdued all nations surrounding him in order to have peace. Also, in order for a believer to walk in victory and peace in his life, he must first learn to kick the devil out of his life by spiritual warfare.
There can only be peace in a home when a man is armed for war. Unless the United States had gone to war during the First and Second World War, this world would not have enjoyed peace. There are a number of biblical examples where the Lord called for war and failure to execute a war would have been sin.
God told Joshua to go destroy the inhabitants of Canaan so that the children of Israel could possess the land and have rest Hebrews The Lord also told Saul to destroy the Amalekites so that His people would have rest from their wars.
Ecclesiastes Comments - Although King Solomon was the greatest king upon earth during his period of reign, with the divine wisdom to maintain peace over his kingdom, yet he was not able to control love and hate, war and peace upon the earth.
In all of his judgments he could not resolve all conflicts. We call this divine calling, in which we come to realize that God has a redemptive purpose and plan in His creation. We learn that these seasons have been divinely placed within our lives by God Ecclesiastes There are twenty-eight seasons listed in the following verses. It is in these seasons of life orchestrated by God that we find meaning and purpose in our lives.
The closing verses to Ecclesiastes Ecclesiastes will warn us that everything we do in these seasons of life must be undergirded with the fear of God and the keeping of His commandments. The fact that there are twenty-eight is significance. Anytime in historical events the number seven or a factor of seven is used, it serves as a witness of divine intervention. We see these divine seasons and purposes listed in Ecclesiastes We clearly identify with such descriptions of our lives as we recall how we move from birth to childhood to adolescence to adulthood to old age and finally to death.
God's involvement in human affairs leads to the understanding that there will be an eternal judgment Ecclesiastes Therefore, enjoy the goodness that God gives to us in this life, but remember to fear God because His judgment will come upon every man. Each verse in this passage of Ecclesiastes contains two couplets.
Each of these sets of couplets is similar to one another. For example, in verse two birth is contrasted with death. In Ecclesiastes killing and healing are similar to breaking down and building up. In Ecclesiastes weeping and laughter are similar to mourning and dancing.
These couplets appear to represent individual seasons of our earthly lives. Within each season in this life there are both good things and evil things to deal with.
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