By Jay T. Robertson, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Christian Studies, University of Mobile
What time is it?
Ecclesiastes 3:1–15
Regardless of our birthplace, age, occupation or religious persuasion, we all have at least one thing in common — time. We all have 24 hours each day, but we cannot credit any of today’s hours to tomorrow’s account. Furthermore, we get only one opportunity to use each minute we have. The teacher realized the importance of time and the central role it plays in human life.
Time and Place (1–8)
Verses 1–8 have an important connection with the theme of the book and relate closely to what precedes and follows. Man is to take his life day by day from the hand of God, recognizing that God has a fitting time for each thing.
These verses are important because they teach us that man is responsible to discern the right times for the right actions. And when he does the right action according to God’s time, the result is beautiful.
In these verses, Solomon set forth 14 pairs of opposite events, each of which are to occur at appointed times. The fact that he mentioned them in a multiple of seven and began his list with birth and death is highly significant. The number seven suggests completeness, and the use of opposites indicates totality. Although not every conceivable event of life was listed by Solomon, the whole of life was in view.
Enjoy Life (9–13)
Two questions arise out of this text. First, what is the profit? When life is examined and reduced to its essentials, what gain or value is there in a person’s endeavors? The answer is none.
Solomon indicated this in his list of opposites with each pair containing a positive and a negative that seem to cancel out each other. The net result, therefore, is zero. Human life has its endless cycles just as nature does (1:3–11). Man’s existence is empty and profitless.
Second, what is the purpose? Where is life going? As the pairs of opposites suggest, human life is going nowhere. We experience birth and death and have no control over either. Why should we think there is any value to be found in between these events?
All we discover are ceaseless cycles of love and hate, planting and reaping, building and destroying, laughing and weeping.
How can we find profit and purpose “under the sun”? We must transcend our human perspective by developing a Christian worldview.
God has placed eternity in our hearts. We have an innate sense that life continues beyond this present existence, but we are unable to discover the work God has done from beginning to end. The word “discover” has the sense of figuring out or comprehending by study. The teacher realized that both his desire to understand all of life, as well as the limitations on his ability to do so, have been ordained by God.
When we lift our eyes from earth and begin to see life with a heavenly perspective, we are enabled to acknowledge that God has made everything appropriate or beautiful in its time. As we mature in Christ, we come to understand that God gives believers the ability to rejoice and enjoy life. The “good life” is to treat others with the dignity and respect they deserve as human beings created in the image of God.
Rather than becoming embittered by what God has not granted human beings, we should enjoy the gifts God has given us.
This radical change in focus points the way toward meaning and deliverance from despair.
God Works (14–15)
God’s works are permanent and His deeds are thorough and complete. His works endure and never lack anything. The short-lived vanities of this world reveal all the more clearly the enduring work of God.
The sovereignty of God and His purposes are meant to bring us to a sense of humble reverence and awe before Him.
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