To Everything There is a Time?
June 16, 2008
Dear Friends,
One of the most famous passages in the Bible is found in the book of Ecclesiastes. It starts as follows:
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up. (Ecc. 3:1-3)
These verses were made famous to even the non- Bible reading public by the musical group, the Byrds, in their 1965 hit “Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season).” These verses are typically taken to mean that there is a time and a place for everything. The author John Grisham wrote the bestselling book A Time to Kill in 1989 whose title was taken from these verses. The book is about a man who kills two men who had raped and tortured his daughter. The implication of the book’s title and storyline is that there is, in fact, a time for men to justifiably kill other men. Other portions of this passage have used to justify all sorts of things including hate and war.
I would offer that this list of things here in Ecclesiastes 3 is, more times than not, completely misunderstood. I would suggest that the implied author, Solomon, and the understood author, God, are not making an endorsement of these activities. The key phrase which we must understand in the context of the book of Ecclesiastes is “under the heaven” or as it is more often found in the book – “under the sun.” Whenever this phrase “under the sun” arises in the book, it is telling us that the things we are looking at are from a carnal, perishing godless perspective. This is in direct contrast to things “above the sun” which are in a spiritual, eternal Godly perspective.
So what exactly are we being told in the famous passage in Ecclesiastes 3 if not an endorsement of these activities? We are being told in poetic form what happens under the sun. This is life. It is simply what the human being can expect to see while living on this cursed planet. God is not putting His Divine seal of approval on these activities; He is simply telling us what those activities are “under the sun.”
He finishes this poem with the following commentary which we now can understand.
What does the worker gain from his toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on men. 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. I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil-this is the gift of God. (Ecc. 3:9-13)
Our life is toil under the sun. However, if our life includes the eternal perspective, we can appreciate everything in its time. Even the things in this list such as war, hate and mourning can be appreciated in their proper context of working toward the Kingdom of God. This again doesn’t mean that the believer should participate in them. We can, however, put them in the right context. We have a framework in which we can faithfully endure them and may even thrive in them as Paul and Silas thrived in their beating and imprisonment in Philippi. A man then, with this eternal perspective, can enjoy life, but not just the so- called blessings of life, but all things in life.
This unique perspective is put together very cleverly in the last phrase in the passage quoted – That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil-this is the gift of God. We don’t typically associate satisfaction with toil. In this case, the toil he is referring to is not our vocation per se, but our toil through all of this life. We can enjoy it if we realize that this is not all there is. We can enjoy it if we keep all things under the sun within the perspective of godliness. It is only when our perspective remains solely “under the sun” (we do not see God working in our life) that we find that all of these things are meaningless.
“Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.” What does man gain from all his labor at which he toils under the sun? (Ecc. 1:2,3)
Have a great week,
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