Slices
Prepare
Read verse 11. How does it affect your view of life?
Bible passage
A time for everything
3 There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
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,
5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
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.
9 What do workers gain from their toil? 10 I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. 12 I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. 13 That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil – this is the gift of God. 14 I know that everything God does will endure for ever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him.
15 Whatever is has already been,
and what will be has been before;
and God will call the past to account.
16 And I saw something else under the sun:
in the place of judgment – wickedness was there,
in the place of justice – wickedness was there.
17 I said to myself,
‘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.’
18 I also said to myself, ‘As for humans, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals. 19 Surely the fate of human beings is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: as one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath; humans have no advantage over animals. Everything is meaningless. 20 All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return. 21 Who knows if the human spirit rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?’
22 So I saw that there is nothing better for a person than to enjoy their work, because that is their lot. For who can bring them to see what will happen after them?
Explore
Chapter 3 has three sections. Verses 1 to 8 explore ‘seasons’ of life. Verses 9 to 15 show that God is in control. Verses 16 to 22 remind us of our mortality.
The ‘seasons’ of life in verses 1 to 8 are pairs of opposites covering every aspect of life. How do these verses fit your life experience? The phrase ‘under the heavens’ is used to hint that God is in control. What difference does that make to you?
Verses 9 and 10 return to the theme of work being meaningless (see 2:17–23). However, verses 11 to 15 put our work in the context of our Creator God. Our work is temporary and meaningless when we try to control it to get the most profit out of it (vs 9,10). In contrast, work set in the context of God’s eternity, seen as a gift from him (v 13), is satisfying.
The teacher explores judgement, justice and mortality in verses 16 to 22. The wicked and the righteous will be judged by God (v 17). Humans and animals are alike: both will die (v 19). The difference is that if humans see their lives and labour as gifts from God (v 13), they die having drawn satisfaction and joy from them. That, says the teacher, should be enough for us (vs 13,22).
Respond
Think of someone you know who struggles with life. Pray for them to discover that with God their life has value and meaning.
Deeper Bible study
‘To everything (turn, turn turn), there is a season (turn, turn, turn)’.1
The poem in verses 1–8 has been an important hymn in Jewish, Christian and even secular culture. It is often used at funerals, even as part of the funeral for Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022. It resonates with us because it rhythmically speaks about human life. As with the cyclical patterns of nature and time in chapter 1, the Teacher reminds us that as human beings we are caught in the cycles of opposing experiences. It is important to note that the Teacher is not making moral judgements at this point. The wording in Hebrew can mean ‘a time for …’ as much as ‘a time to …’. We are not being told that killing, war or hatred are morally admissible. Instead, the Teacher is acknowledging the reality that life contains all these contrasting components. This is an antidote to a rose-tinted view of life. In difficult times, it connects our personal experience to a universal human reality.
The chapter ends with one of the most beautiful statements of human inability. It has always resonated with me pastorally when I struggle to understand tragic events such as why someone is diagnosed with terminal illness. Verse 11 is a statement of trust, that even though we are unable to comprehend what God has done from beginning to end, God will make everything beautiful in its time. This really could be the central message of Ecclesiastes: that we can strive after understanding or finding meaning in life as much as we want, but in the end we are incapable of achieving these things. The only conclusion we have left is to trust that God will make things right, despite our ignorance.
Think about a part of your faith that you struggle to understand. Bring that to God in prayer and ask for his peace, that you may trust in his faithfulness.
1 Pete Seeger, ‘Turn, turn, turn’
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Jeremiah 19,20; John 8
Pray for Scripture Union
Ask God to give wisdom and discernment to all those involved in the Hybrid Mission pilot and research, so they are able to clearly identify the key lessons coming out of it. (This week's prayers relate to this story)
Fancy some training?
Led by our mission experts we have a mixture of local and national training opportunities both online and in person.
Coming up on the 16th October 2023 we’ll be hosting our online Introduction to Schools Ministry training and we’d love you to get involved!
