A Study of the Book of Ecclesiastes:
Finding Satisfaction In Life
Sermon # 5
The Problem Of Time!”
Ecclesiastes 3:1-15
Solomon (Koheleth) begins with a parallel series of fourteen opposites. The preacher uses a series of contrast to picture the total human experience. The whole point seems to be for man to realize that God, not man controls time. Someone has said, “Life is like a coin. You can spend it any way you want to, but you can only spend it once.”
First, Recognize God’s Sovereignty Over Time. (3:1-8)
“To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven:”
Chapter three of Ecclesiastes is the world’s most famous poem on the subject of time. Peter Seeger set it to music in the 1950’s and “The Byrds” made it popular with their hit song “Turn, Turn, Turn” a decade later.
• 1st -Time For Being Born and Dying. (2a)
“A time to be born, And a time to die…”
Solomon describes the boundaries of life “under the sun” first; birth and death. The first thing that we must understand about God’s sovereignty over birth and death they are not human accidents; they are divine appointments, for God is in control. While we may foolishly hasten our death, but we cannot prevent it when our time comes. Scripture reminds us that our days are numbered!
Ps.139:16 “Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them.”
Ps.31:15 “My times are in Your hand;”
Ps.37:18 “The LORD knows the days of the upright, And their inheritance shall be forever.”
Ps. 90:10-12 “The days of our lives are seventy years; And if by reason of strength they are eighty years, Yet their boast is only labor and sorrow; For it is soon cut off, and we fly away. Who knows the power of Your anger? For as the fear of You, so is Your wrath. So teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom.”
Even for Christ there was a time to be born (Gal. 4:4) “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law.” and a time to die (Rom. 5:6) “For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.”
• 2nd -Time For Planting and Plucking. (2b)
“A time to plant, And a time to pluck what is planted;”
The people of Palestine were an agricultural people. And they understood that a successful farmer knows that nature works for him only when he works with nature. There is a natural time for planting and a natural time for harvesting. This is also the secret of a successful life – learn God’s principles and cooperate with them!
• 3rd - Time For Killing And Healing. (3a)
“A time to kill, And a time to heal;”
Interestingly the Hebrew word for “kill” is not the word reserved for murder (lahrogh¬). Therefore this probably refers not to war or even self-defense but to sick-ness and disease. Within God’s plan sometimes people get ill and die and other times He grants an extension and the people are healed. Sometimes God permits man to have a part in the healing (doctors and medicine) but other times the healing is entirely a God thing. But truth is that we do not understand why one is taken and another is left.
• 4th -Time For Tearing Down and Building Up. (3b)
“A time to break down, And a time to build up;”
This may bring to mind “urban renewal” and there is a time when the old must be removed in order the new to take place. Not just in the sense of old building but also old ways of doing things, but also of old habits and attitudes.
• 5th- Time For Weeping And Laughing. (4a)
“A time to weep, And a time to laugh;”
There is a time in life for both weeping and rejoicing (laughing) both are a natural part of life. Some Christians wrongly maintain that is somehow wrong for Christians to mourn. But the command recorded by the Apostle Paul in (1 Thess. 4:13) was not that Christian should not mourn, but rather that we should not mourn “as those who have no hope.”
• 6th - Time For Mourning and Dancing. (4b)
“A time to mourn, And a time to dance;”
I think of this in conjunction with worship. There are times when the presence of God will move us to deep mourning for our sins. But there are other times when the spirit of God should move us to exuberant worship as it did David (2 Sam. 6:20) when he returned the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem.
• 7th - Time For Throwing Stones and Gathering Them. (5a)
“A time to cast away stones, And a time to gather stones;”
The land in Palestine is very rocky and farmers had to clear their land before they could plow and plant, If you wanted to hurt your enemy you filled his field with rocks (2 Kings 3:19, 25). I have mentioned before that there was a feud in my father’s family between my grandmother’s family and my grand-father’s family. The feud started over the fact that one side of the family was clearing their land and throwing the rocks over on the other family’s fields. This lead to hard feeling, harsh words and ultimately resulted in one man being killed. People also gathered stones to build walls and houses. The better approach is if your neighbor throws rock on your field, don’t throw them back, build some-thing with them.
• 8th- Time For Embracing and Refraining From Embracing. (5b)
“A time to embrace, And a time to refrain from embracing;”
Charles Swindoll explains it this way. “There are times when we need the embrace of a friend who pulls our head close and whispers in our ear words of under-standing encouraging us not to quit, reminding us that life will go on…we will make it. Such embraces put steel in our bones. They help us make it through the night.
And then there are times when that same person may take us by the shoulders, hold us at arm’s length and confront us with the hard truth, ‘Now listen…. I can’t agree with you…I think you are doing wrong.’ That is not a time for embracing.” [Charles Swindoll. “Living On the Ragged Edge.” (Waco: Word Books, 1985) p.73]
• 9th -Time For Searching And Giving Up. (6a)
“A time to gain, And a time to lose;”
This is a problem that every rescue operation faces. How long do you hold out hope and keep searching for people in the middle of disaster. It is not too hard to know when to start but difficult to know when to stop. When to move a rescue operation to a recovery operation the point at which you no longer hold out any hope that anyone will be recovered alive.
• 10th -Time For Keeping and Throwing Away. (6b)
“A time to keep, And a time to throw away;”
Warren Wiersbe calls this verse a “biblical auth-ority for garage sales.” [Warren Wiersbe. “Be Satisfied.” (Wheaton, victor Books, 1990) p. 46] There is a time that we need to throw away things- clean out the attic, the garage and empty our closets of the clothes that we cannot or will not wear. But as Pastor Ray Stedman also points out this is also “true of habits and attitudes. Resentments need to be thrown away. Grudges and long-standing hurts need to be forgiven and forgotten.” [Ray Stedman. “Is This All There Is To Life? Answers From Ecclesiastes.” (Grand Rapids; Discovery House, 1999) p. 48]
• 11th -Time For Tearing Apart and Sewing Together. (7 a) “A time to tear, And a time to sew;”
This probably refers to the Jewish practice of tearing one’s garment during times of grief or repent-ance ( 2 Sam. 13:31. Ezra 9:5). There is a time for repentance but there is also a time to get up put the new resolutions into practice.
• 12th -Time To Keep Silent And Speak Up. (7b)
“A time to keep silence, And a time to speak;”
Every intelligent person understands that they are times to speak out and other times to remain silent, but the problem is knowing exactly when to do each. We all have experience times when we which we had spoken out but did not and other times that we have said something that we which we could take back.
Scripture commends silence when the writer of Proverbs warns, “If you wake your friend in the early morning by shouting “Rise and shine!” It will sound to him more like a curse than a blessing.” (Prov. 27:14- The Message)
James warns, “Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless.” (James 1:26- NIV)
The Psalmist request of the Lord that He, “Set a guard over my mouth, LORD; keep watch over the door of my lips.” (Psalm 141:3 -NKJV)
And yet Scripture also says that there are times that we are to speak up. One of the Proverbs reminds us
“A person finds joy in giving an apt reply—and how good is a timely word!” (Prov. 15:23- NIV) And later says, “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold In settings of silver.” (Prov. 25:11- NKJV)
• 13th - Time To Love And To Hate. (8a)
“A time to love, And a time to hate;
Are there things we should hate? (of course -senseless killings, abortion, foolish wars, children starving, when our God dishonored, and most impor-tantly we should “hate the sin in our own lives!”) But what is a Christian to hate? The same thing that God hates - evil. The Psalmist wrote, “You who love the LORD, hate evil!” (Ps. 97:10)
In Proverbs we are given a list of things God hates,
“These six things the LORD hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him: (17) A proud look, A lying tongue, Hands that shed innocent blood, (18) A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that are swift in running to evil, (19) A false witness who speaks lies, And one who sows discord among brethren.” (Prov. 6:17-19)
• 14th - Time For Making War and Making Peace. (8b)
“A time of war, And a time of peace.”
Sometimes in the course of history war will be inevitable, there are times when tyranny must be resisted, but afterward there will a time of healing and rebuilding. Such is the nature of the life of man.
Second, Drawing Conclusions Concerning Time. (3:9-11)
“What profit has the worker from that in which he labors? (10) I have seen the God-given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied. (11) He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.”
We may not understand His time and purpose now, until we step out of our time (under heaven) and into His purpose(eternity)!
•God’s Timing is Always Appropriate. (v. 11a)
“He has made everything beautiful in its time….”
Song - In His Time
In His time, In His Time
He makes all things beautiful in His time.
Lord please show me every day
As You're teaching me Your way
That You do just what You say
In Your time.
In Your time, In Your Time
You make all things beautiful in Your time.
Lord my life to You I bring
May each song I have to sing
Be to you a lovely thing
In Your time.
['IN HIS TIME' BY DIANE BALL - Top 10 Gospel Songs: 2012 Edition · Maranatha Music:]
Rather than being frustrated when things do not seem to be running according to our own schedule, we need to learn to trust in god’s timing.
• God Has Put Eternity In Their Hearts. (v. 11)
“…Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.”
The KJV translates this verse “He hath set the world in their heart.” The word translated “heart” (Olam) is used more than 300 times to indicate indefinite continuance into the future and therefore better understood as “eternity.”
The missionary and author Don Richardson Richardson describes his work among the Sawi tribe of headhunters in the Dutch New in his book “The Peace Child.” While there he discovered that although this tribe which prized treachery as the highest virtue they had a very unusual custom when reconciling with another tribe after war. The chief’s own son would be offered to the tribe as a “peace child.” In this Richard-son saw a parable of the gospel in which the Chief of all Chiefs made peace with the lost tribe of humanity by offering his own son! Later he wrote another book taking the title from this verse in Eccesiastes entited “Eternity In Their Hearts” in it he describes the pheno-menon of redemptive analogies that he had discovered in most of all the aboriginal cultures. God really did put eternity in the hearts of man.
I have used this illustration before but I don’t think anyone has explained this concept better than C. S. Lewis in his book, “Mere Christianity” when he wrote, “If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. If none of my earthly pleasures satisfy it, that does not prove that the uni-verse is a fraud. Probably earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it, only to arouse it, to suggest the real thing.” [C. S. Lewis. “Mere Christianity.” (New York: MacMillan, 1952) p. 120]
Third, Perceptions Concerning Time. (3:12-15)
• What God Gives. (vv. 12-13)
“I know (I perceive) that nothing is better for them than to rejoice, and to do good in their lives, (13) and also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor—it is the gift of God.
So how can know humans are above the animal world? This truth is certainly being attacked today, by individuals crying out that killing any animal, even as food is murder. And yet those same individuals have no qualms when comes to the killing of human babies by abortion.
God gives us the ability to enjoy life.
God gives the ability to do good.
God gives the ability to enjoy food and drink.
One of the things we take for granted is our ability to enjoy our food, to have an appetite. But the truth is it is a gift from God. In the last few years of his life John D Rockefeller, one of the world’s richest men, could eat very little. Just one or two bites of food and a sip of water might be all that he consumed in a day. I am told that he once walked down a New York City street and seeing a beggar eating a hot dog said, ‘I would give a million dollars to be able to eat that hot dog.” [Ed Young. “Been There Done That Now What?” (Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 1994) p. 113]
• What God Does. (vv. 14-15)
“I know that whatever God does, It shall be forever.Nothing can be added to it, And nothing taken from it. God does it, that men should fear before Him. (15) That which is has already been, And what is to be has already been; And God requires an account of what is past.:”
God’s works are permanent. (v. 14a)
“…whatever God does, It shall be forever.”
Solomon assures us that what we do in this life for God matters. The work of God endures forever, including whatever good we do in the name of Jesus, Therefore our lives and our labor are not in vain. As the Apostle Paul admonishes us in the New Testament, “Therefore my beloved brethren, be steadfast, unmov-able, always abounding in the work of the Lord, foras-much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 15:58)
God’s works are complete. (v. 14b)
“Nothing can be added to it, And nothing taken from it.”
The writer of the old hymn says it so well,
“Why should I feel discouraged, why should the shadows come,
Why should my heart be lonely, and long for heaven and home,
When Jesus is my portion? My constant friend is He:
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.
“Let not your heart be troubled,” His tender word I hear,
And resting on His goodness, I lose my doubts and fears;
Though by the path He leadeth, but one step I may see;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.
Whenever I am tempted, whenever clouds arise,
When songs give place to sighing, when hope within me dies,
I draw the closer to Him, from care He sets me free;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.
[“His Eye Is On The Sparrow.” Words: Ci¬vil¬la D. Mar¬tin, 1905. Music: Charles H. Gab¬ri¬el]
Conclusion
• Wait For God’s Time.
• Live Like Your Dying. (Hebrews 9:27)
• Wisely Use Your Time Today. (Ephesians 5:16) “redeeming the time, because the days are evil.”
The Problem of Time!”
Ecclesiastes 3:1-15
First, Recognize God’s Sovereignty Over Time. (3:1-8)
• Time For Being Born and Dying. (2a) (Psalm 139:16)
• Time For Planting and Pulling Down. (2b)
• Time For Killing And Healing. (3a)
• Time For Tearing Down and Building Up. (3b)
• Time For Weeping And Laughing. (4a)
• Time For Mourning and Dancing. (4b)
• Time For Throwing Stones and Gathering Them. (5a)
• Time For Embracing and Refraining From Embracing.(5b)
• Time For Searching And Giving Up. (6a)
• Time For Keeping and Throwing Away. (6b)
• Time For Tearing Apart and Sewing Together. (7 a)
• Time To Keep Silent And Speak Up. (7b) (Prov. 27:14, James 1:26, Ps.141:3 – Prov. 15:23, 25:11)
• Time To Love And To Hate. (8a) (Prov. 6:17-19)
• Time For Making War and Making Peace (8b)
Second, Drawing Conclusions Concerning Time. (3:9-11)
• God’s Timing is Always Appropriate. (v. 11a)
• God Has Put Eternity In Their Hearts (v. 11)
Third, Perceptions Concerning Time. (3:12-15)
•What God Gives. (vv. 12-13)
God gives us the ability to enjoy life.
God gives the ability to do good.
God gives the ability to enjoy food and drink
• What God Does. (vv. 14-15)
God’s works are permanent. (v. 14a)
God’s works are complete. (v. 14b)
Wait For God’s Time.
Live Like Your Dying. (Hebrews 9:27)
Wisely Use Your Time Today. (Ephesians 5:16)
"The Problem of Time!”
Ecclesiastes 3:1-15
First, Recognize God’s _______________ Over Time. (3:1-8)
• Time For Being Born and Dying. (2a) (Psalm 139:16)
• Time For Planting and Pulling Down. (2b)
• Time For Killing And Healing. (3a)
• Time For Tearing Down and Building Up. (3b)
• Time For Weeping And Laughing. (4a)
• Time For Mourning and Dancing. (4b)
• Time For Throwing Stones and Gathering Them. (5a)
• Time For Embracing and Refraining From Embracing.(5b)
• Time For Searching And Giving Up. (6a)
• Time For Keeping and Throwing Away. (6b)
• Time For Tearing Apart and Sewing Together. (7 a)
• Time To Keep Silent And Speak Up. (7b) (Prov. 27:14, James 1:26, Ps.141:3 – Prov. 15:23, 25:11)
• Time To Love And To Hate. (8a) (Prov. 6:17-19)
• Time For Making War and Making Peace (8b)
Second, Drawing ________________ Concerning Time. (3:9-11)
• God’s Timing is Always _______________. (v. 11a)
• God Has Put _____________ In Their Hearts (v. 11)
Third, ____________________ Concerning Time. (3:12-15)
• What God Gives. (vv. 12-13)
God gives us the ability to ________ life.
God gives the ability to do _________.
God gives the ability to enjoy _________ and ________
• What God Does. (vv. 14-15)
God’s works are __________________. (v. 14a)
God’s works are ______________. (v. 14b)
Wait For God’s ___________.
Live Like Your ___________. (Hebrews 9:27)
____________ Use Your Time Today. (Ephesians 5:16
