A Time for Everything - Ecclesiastes 3:1–22

This morning we’re returning again to Ecclesiastes. Just a few reminders of key thoughts in this book: the word hevel, meaning vapour, empty, void, or no substance is repeated over and over again in this book, often translated as meaningless. Ecclesiastes offers a philosophy of life rooted in living “under the sun,” understanding the world from the perspective of humanity rather than through the eyes and plans of God.

I remember a song based on the first 8 verses of our passage this morning, written by Pete Seeger and sung by the Byrds called Turn! Turn! Turn! These first 8 verses are a poem that is based on the theme of time, how there’s a time or season for every activity under the heavens. As you read the poem more slowly and reflectively, it can bring on feelings of unsettledness; there’s nothing permanent. Verses 2-8 bring together opposites without any judgment on whether one is better than the other, only that at certain times one is present, but that at other times, the other is present.

Time is the key word in this text, there is a time for this, and then there’s a time for that, but do we really know which time we’re in right now. It’s spring, planting season, but when exactly will the weather let us get into the field to begin. Same with harvest, it’s not like you can put an exact date on your calendar to begin, it all depends on how the growing season goes. You can say, “Well, we mostly know around when these seasons are,” but how about those in business, can you truly say with absolute certainty that right now is a good time to start a business, or grow your business, or hold firm, or shut down? In all this talk about time, one time cancels out another time, so nothing really changes, hevel, nothingness. We hear an echo to chapter 1:4-6, “Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever. The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises. The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its course.”

We think we have control, we make plans, we work hard, always expecting that everything is going to work out according to our plans, but the reality is when we make plans, then, as James tells us, we should say, “Lord willing.” Who saw a pandemic coming, who saw the war in Iran that is creating economic hardship all over the world coming, who really sees drought or flooding coming; so often we live in ignorant bliss thinking we’re in control, in charge of our lives and decisions; blissful ignorance. When the Teacher wrote this, the people were buying and selling, making fortunes and losing them, thinking that they’re in charge. There’s no awe for God, only ritual performance, doing faith for show, not from the heart or a relationship with God.

They’re living under the sun, without any true concern about God in their daily lives. In our own busyness, we all have times where we think we’re in charge and fail to really consider or think about God until something unexpected, usually something that impacts us in negative ways, that we focus again on God. There are so many things that happen in our lives and all around us that we have no control over; only God is sovereign and is in control of what’s going on. Working hard, even for our own goals, isn’t wrong. God approves of using his blessings, it’s the abuse of his blessings and making them our end goal that he disapproves of.

Solomon then wonders what we actually gain from our work in verse 9, coming to the conclusion that it’s good to enjoy our work because that’s our lot. He goes on to remind us that “everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it.” God’s works, what he’s doing will last into eternity, while what we do doesn’t endure forever; yet Paul does write in 1 Corinthians 3:12–14 about building our lives on Jesus, “If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward.” It all comes back to living life over the sun, looking to live under Jesus, with an eye on who God is calling us to be. Solomon puts it this way, “God sets eternity in the human heart… I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live.”

Verses 9-14 can be seen as the central theme of the entire book; in our limited perspective, it’s simply good to do good, to live with gratitude for all the simple gifts like eating and drinking, of family and friends, of blessing others to build community and society that reflects God’s goodness and will. All of the events, like those in the poem happen when they’re supposed to. All the impermanence and repetition are ordained by God to accomplish his purposes, even if under the sun it can feel like hevel, meaninglessness.

When we think on eternity, we see only a small part of God’s plan and purpose. We’re called to walk in faith because we can’t understand; Romans 11:33, “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!” and Job 26:14, “And these are but the outer fringe of his works; how faint the whisper we hear of him! Who then can understand the thunder of his power?”  and later in Ecclesiastes 8:17 Solomon writes, “then I saw all that God has done. No one can comprehend what goes on under the sun. Despite all their efforts to search it out, no one can discover its meaning. Even if the wise claim they know, they cannot really comprehend it.” Scripture keeps calling us to a humble understanding of the limits of our knowledge of God. God gives us glimpses of who he is and what he’s doing, but we can never know the entirety of what God is doing and what he has done. He tells us enough for us to know who he is and who we are, how he works and how we should work, but there’s so much more to who God is that we need to stand in awe before him.

Even though we’re not in control, we’re still responsible for what we do, especially since we should know good from evil by knowing what’s happened before, obeying how God’s called us to live, which is why Solomon reminds the people, “God will call the past to account,” and, “God will bring into judgment both the righteous and the wicked, for there will be a time for every activity, a time to judge every deed.” This is why we tell the stories of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit over and over again so that we can learn who God is, what he expects, and who he expects us to be as his children. Ignorance is no excuse for doing wrong. 

It's hard living with uncertainty, it creates anxiety or a sense of futility, of hevel. Anxiety leads to fear, to stress, and can impact relationships in negative ways. Solomon reminds us that God sets these times; God made everything beautiful in its time, he’s put eternity in our hearts, a call to look past living for what’s under the sun to living for who has created the sun and everything under and over it. Because we’re creatures created by God, we’re unable to really understand what God has done, is doing, and will do, but we can choose to trust God in uncertainty.

It takes faith to live with peace and hope, placing our trust and future in God’s hands. We grow in faith through regularly studying Scripture and who God reveals himself to be, a God who is invested in his people, a God who has a plan for saving his people and renewing all creation, a God who is in control, omnipotent. We grow in faith when we take time to talk with God regularly instead of only when we need something, we grow in faith when we regularly come together to worship God. The more we grow in our relationship with God, it leads us into a place of awe and wonder, both trusting and knowing that he’s made everything for its time, leading to the fulness of time, choosing to be happy and do good.

Paul reminds the church in Galatians 4:4–5, “But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.” Jesus speaks to the time of his return in Matthew 24, “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.… So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.” The poem in verses 1-8 can give the impression that everything in time simply repeats, God shows that time is flowing towards the fulfillment of his plan of redemption and restoration of all things. As we look forward to Jesus’ return, keep your eyes on God, do good. While our fate is similar to the animals in that we’ll die, we know that God has his purposes for us, that our lives are not hevel because we’re his children, so live in confidence and in awe of our God who holds our times in his hands.