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Ecclesiastes is the reflection of a teacher, called Qohelet in Hebrew, who looks hard at life under the sun and finds much of it fleeting and hard to grasp. Tradition connects him with Solomon; many scholars think a later writer took up that voice. This chapter begins with a poem of fourteen pairs, times to be born and to die, to weep and to laugh, and then wrestles with what it all means: injustice, death, and the gift of simple joys. Notice how the teacher refuses easy answers yet keeps coming back to God.
1For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven:
2a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
3a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
4a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
5a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
6a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
7a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
8a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.
9What profit has he who works in that in which he labors?
10I have seen the burden which God has given to the sons of men to be afflicted with.
11He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in their hearts, yet so that man can’t find out the work that God has done from the beginning even to the end.
12I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice, and to do good as long as they live.
13Also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy good in all his labor, is the gift of God.
14I know that whatever God does, it shall be forever. Nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it; and God has done it, that men should fear before him.
15That which is has been long ago, and that which is to be has been long ago. God seeks again that which is passed away.
16Moreover I saw under the sun, in the place of justice, that wickedness was there; and in the place of righteousness, that wickedness was there.
17I said in my heart, “God will judge the righteous and the wicked; for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.”
18I said in my heart, “As for the sons of men, God tests them, so that they may see that they themselves are like animals.
19For that which happens to the sons of men happens to animals. Even one thing happens to them. As the one dies, so the other dies. Yes, they have all one breath; and man has no advantage over the animals, for all is vanity.
20All go to one place. All are from the dust, and all turn to dust again.
21Who knows the spirit of man, whether it goes upward, and the spirit of the animal, whether it goes downward to the earth?”
22Therefore I saw that there is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his works, for that is his portion; for who can bring him to see what will be after him?
Meditate
Which season are you in: planting or uprooting, weeping or dancing? Rest in the One who makes things beautiful in their time and set eternity in your heart.
Read it slowly, then sit with the prompt. Free: stillingwaves.com/bible/ecclesiastes/3/
Scripture: World English Bible (public domain).Scripture: King James Version (1769 text), public domain outside the United Kingdom; in the United Kingdom under Crown patent.
The teacher does not tidy up his questions. He looks at courts where justice should live and finds wickedness there instead (verse 16). He looks at death and admits that people and animals return to the same dust. And still, in verse 13, he calls an ordinary meal and satisfying work a gift from God. There is a quiet faith in that: not seeing the whole, yet receiving the small portion in front of you with thanks. Verse 15 adds a mysterious line, that God seeks out what has passed away; nothing, it seems, is lost to him. What part of today could you receive as a gift rather than a task? Which of your questions might simply be allowed to stay open for now? Bring God both your unknowing and your thanks.
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