Beautiful Karamursel
Beautiful Karamursel
Biblical Time
WHAT TIME IS IT? – The wise person stewards time, realizing God controls all things.
ECCLESIASTES 3:1-15
MEMORY VERSE: ECCLESIASTES 3: 11 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.
Both Ecclesiastes and Job teach us important lessons about life. While Ecclesiastes may be at times disturbing because of the themes explored, it presents the often harsh realities of living in a broken world. Job caused people to reconsider their assumptions about God’s ways and His outworking of justice in the universe. In the end, the majesty and sovereignty of God loomed much larger than the questions we may ask. There are mysteries approached in these books that are not fully answered, and just like in our lives, these unresolved tensions force us to simply trust and depend on the wisdom and mercies of God.
Time is one of our most valuable possessions. Once it is gone, we can never get it back. In this busy world something is always fighting us for time. Being busy can be a status symbol, but overlooking more important matters is destructive. Ecclesiastes 3 reveals that time is a gift from God. Instead of being slaves to time, time is meant to give us the freedom to enjoy God and glorify Him in the opportunities He gives us as we move from one season of life to the next.
THE CONTEXT (ECCLESIASTES 3:1-4:6)
Chapter 3 contains one of the most famous poems in the Bible. Solomon outlined the truth that there is a time for everything – birth and death – peace and war. Knowing that God has ordered His creation within seasons with its proper times, encourages and gives hope to believers. God exists beyond time and His purposes are eternal. Many times we don’t understand, but He wants us to trust. God has established eternity in the hearts of all men and women, but few grasp that fact. He wants us to be thankful and enjoy the good gifts of life that He has granted to all.
Chapter 4 provides a reminder to those who might view the pursuit of the good things in life as an end in itself. All people are bent toward a sinful desire to make good things the ultimate things. Solomon urged people to recognize the momentary gifts that God grants. He warns that some would be motivated by envy and greed. He states that “two are better than one” (4:9). People can work together to accomplish more and can take care of one another in times of need. Working selfishly to gain all the pleasures of the world, rather than properly enjoying them as God intended, is vanity.
The reality of divine justice and worldly injustice serves as a fence to curb the sinful leanings of people to reach for more than they are granted. Some people are given more than others, and that is a choice of God. Some suffer more than others, and that is a choice of God. Some are born in a free country, some are born in an oppressive land. Some have many opportunities, others few. God builds different character traits in humans who are each one unique. Rather than becoming bitter because of what God has not granted, one should enjoy the gifts God has given. Remember the song, “Count your many blessings, count them one by one, count your many blessings and see what God has done”. We can control some parts of our lives, but not all! Human justice is not always complete and lacks the full perspective of God. According to Solomon, God will be the One to reward the righteous as well as punish the guilty.
TIME AND PLACE (ECCL. 3:1-8)
3:1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:
Solomon emphasized the completeness of life. He listed a series of opposites, pointing out that each has a time and place in life.
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,
We are born and we die, both of these times are out of our control. Birth and death are times ordained by God. He has numbered our days.
Plants grow, and they die. For the most part, these things are out of our control. For example, we cannot plant flowers in the dead cold of winter, so this activity is dependent on the appropriate seasons, which are ordained by God.
In times of self-defense or national defense, we react to things that threaten us. Again, these are things that we do not necessarily control.
We tear down, and we build. These things have their time and wear out, break down, and decompose – all part of God’s creation order. Leave land to itself for a hundred years, and there will be little trace left of any wooded structure and the people who lived there.
There are times of joy, sadness, and disappointment. There are times in our lives that we react to and do not necessarily control when they come.
5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
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.
Buildings and fences used stones for construction materials, especially in past times. Stones would outlast wood, but gathering and scattering depended on the project. Everyone in ancient times was involved in some way with stones. This poem touched so many of the seasons in our lives.
People mature at different times under different circumstances. Some seem to never reach reality. We have little say in the seasons of life we face, so how we face them is important. Life is 10% what happens to us, and 90% our attitude in dealing with it. We have input into our lives, but not total control. The sooner we realize that we are not God and we cannot control all aspects of our lives, the sooner we can trust God because we know we need Him and that He loves us. If we trust God in our circumstances and believe in His love, we can be an over comer and work constructively toward our future. If we view the experiences of our lives as oppressive, we will take the stance of a helpless victim and become bitter toward God and destructive to those around us. If we view our experiences in this life as opportunities to bring God glory in how we respond and act, it changes everything.
Every season of life is designed to be used by God. It can be learning patience and faith in times of suffering. Paul encouraged us in Eph. 5:15-17 to make the best use of our time by understanding what the Lord’s will is. God intends for us to redeem our time for His purposes. Believers must use time as God made it to be used, doing the right things at the right time.
ENJOY LIFE (ECCL. 3:9-13)
9 What does the worker gain from his toil?
10 I have seen the burden God has laid on men.
11 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.
It is God in His sovereignty who has set the times. He has made everything appropriate in its time. God has also put eternity in the hearts of mankind. In other words, in every situation we are called to look beyond the here an now to eternity. There is a divine, eternal, design for our lives. We cannot fully understand God’s design from beginning to end from our limited perspective. There are seasons in our lives that will shape how we become what we become, and most of that is out of our hands, it is in God’s. This is why Solomon said that no one can discover the work God has done from beginning to end.
We don’t need to understand the seasons of life to live faithfully. God’s sovereignty over time makes us aware of our helplessness; we cannot control all aspects of our lives. His sovereignty over time makes us aware of our dependence on Him. We do not know what will come or when it will come. Therefore, in light of our helplessness and our dependence, our only response is to stand in awe of God and live according to the directions He has given us for a life of faith. We are dependent on Him. He has authority and we are subject to Him. He controls the seasons and we are subjects who should respond in time.
12 I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live.
13 That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil--this is the gift of God.
Because God has planted eternity in our hearts, we realize that life under the sun is not all there is. We should make the most to enjoy the time God grants us on earth, knowing that eternity awaits us. Time is a gift, and believers should make the most of the time granted to them by God. Here Solomon answered the question that was asked in verse 9, “What does a worker gain from his toil?”
If one cannot fully understand the time that God has set, if we are ultimately dependent on God and not in control, then isn’t it best to enjoy the present for what it is? Solomon urges the reader to consider the hand of God in the world around them. God has given us a sense of past and future, a sense of enjoyment of food and drink in our toil. We are to view life – the good and the bad – as a gift from God.
GOD WORKS (ECCL. 3:14-15)
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 men will revere him.
15 Whatever is has already been, and what will be has been before; and God will call the past to account.
There was a Scottish minister (Alexander Whyte) who was known for his uplifting prayers in the pulpit. He always found something for which to be grateful. One Sunday morning the weather was so dark and gloomy that one church member thought to himself, “Certainly the preacher won’t think of anything good to thank the Lord on a wretched day like this.” Much to his surprise, Whyte began by praying: “We thank Thee, O God, that it is not always like this.” This perspective on life is rooted in the goodness of God and on the good gifts He has given us to enjoy in this life. In spite of our current situation, there is a sense in which we know there is nothing better for us than to rejoice and enjoy the good life as best we can.
God is involved in the everyday affairs of His creation – in sustaining all things and working all things toward His perfect goals. In that security, we can enjoy life as a gift as we eat, drink, and labor. It is good to actively pursue good things in life. It is all about perspective. Though life can sometimes feel like a dark and gloomy day, God has given us good things that break through the clouds like the morning sun. There are still rainbows in our fallen world. They are often the simple good things that we overlook every day and take for granted. How we view time affects how we live our lives. In God’s providence, His joy is offered to us in the lives that we live.
The question is, “Do we trust God? Our lives are full of broken promises, unexpected joys, jarring interruptions, unexplained contradictions, unanswered questions, and unfinished chapters. We will not always be in the season we are in, but it is being used by God to prepare us for the seasons and eternity we have yet to experience. It is only God who knows exactly where and how everything is meant to go, in which order, at what time and why.
The fear of the Lord is a deep-seated respect and reverence and awe for God that causes men to want to please Him at all costs.
ECCL. 12: 13 Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.