Transcript Ecclesiastes 3:1-17 3:1 A time for every purpose under heaven: … 3:11 Also He has put eternity in their hearts, …

Ecclesiastes 3:1-17
3:1 A time for every purpose
under heaven: …
3:11 Also He has put eternity
in their hearts, …
Ecclesiastes:
✦ Who am I?
✦ Where did I come from?
✦ Why am I here?
✦ What am I to be doing?
✦ Where am I going?
Ecclesiastes:
✦ The true value of materialism -
“vanity" (occurs 35 times in 29
verses), which means "futility,
uselessness, nothingness“
✦ A key phrase to understanding
the book - "under the sun"
(occurs 29 times in 27 verses), –
Life on earth from a materialist
point of view.
Ecclesiastes:
Life on earth from a materialist
point of view … All labor – i.e.
every thought & effort towards
material reward is ultimately, in
the final analysis, worthless.
Ecclesiastes:
Toil - (1:14; 2:11, 17; 4:4, 7-8),
Wisdom - (2:15),
Doing Right - (8:14),
Wealth (2:26; 5:10; 6:2),
Prestige - (4:16),
Pleasure - (2:1-2),
Youth and vigor - (11:10),
Life - (6:12; 7:15; 9:9),
Ecclesiastes:
The importance of
serving God
throughout life cf. 11:9-12:1, 13-14
Who Is Really In Control?
✦ Earthly experiences have their proper time
& order (Eccles. 3:1-8),
✦ Subject to things beyond our control;
(Eccles. 3:9-10);
✦ God makes everything beautiful in its
season, (Eccles. 3:11).
✦ God wants man to enjoy moderately His
earthly gifts (Eccles. 3:12-13).
✦ God is in control (Eccles. 3:14,15).
✦ Injustice may seem to prevail - but in the
end everything will be made right by God (Eccles. 3:16,17)
There Is A Season
✦ Season – A portion or duration of time – (Spring –
Summer – Fall – Winter; ex. Baseball, football,
basketball),
✦ Time – A particular point in time in which a thing may
be done or begun - (In the season of life their is the
time it begins and the time it ends)
✦ Purpose – (Activity) – That which is done on earth.
There Is A Season
✦ The list contains fourteen pairs of
contrasts, ranging from external
circumstances to the inner affections
of a person’s being.
✦ The number seven suggests the idea
of completeness and the use of polar
opposites suggests totality - (a poetical
device called merism)(cf. Ps. 139:2–
3).
✦ Not teaching that God has
predetermined everything - 9:11
There Is A Season
Ecclesiastes 3:2–8 (NKJV)
2 A time to be born, And a time to die; A time to plant, And a
time to pluck what is planted; 3 A time to kill, And a time to
heal; A time to break down, And a time to build up; 4 A time to
weep, And a time to laugh; A time to mourn, And a time to
dance; 5 A time to cast away stones, And a time to gather
stones; A time to embrace, And a time to refrain from
embracing; 6 A time to gain, And a time to lose; A time to
keep, And a time to throw away; 7 A time to tear, And a time to
sew; A time to keep silence, And a time to speak; 8 A time to
love, And a time to hate; A time of war, And a time of peace.
There Is A Purpose
✦ All that one may labor for is subject
to circumstances over which he has
no control –
✦ The farmer may plant and work his
fields – but then comes the drought –
floods – bugs – fire
✦ There is no satisfaction or security in
our efforts to acquire material
possessions –
✦ Yet we must work – part of the
activity God has appointed for man -
There Is A Purpose
✦ Human labor is appointed by God;
however it cannot bring contentment
or satisfy the cravings of man’s
spirit.
✦ Rather the fruitless struggle is
intended to bring man to the
realization of his own limitations and
of God’s supreme control (3:10).
There Is A Purpose
✦ There is nothing wrong in any
respect as far as God’s
administration of affairs is
concerned.
✦ Everything is actually
“beautiful in its own time.”
(Context determines
everything - not evil itself, but
the things of God - James
There Is A Purpose
11 He
has
made
everything
beautiful in its
time.
✦ Consider the beauty of:
✴ Fall & spring – summer & winter
✴ The grand Canyon – the Ozark’s
✴ A newborn –innocence of a child
✴ Marriage –growing old together
✴ The beauty of death! - Ps 116:15; Rev
14:13
✦ How can these things be
objectively considered without
recognizing God?
There Is A Purpose
11 He
has
made
everything
beautiful in its
time.
11 Also
He has put
eternity in their
hearts, except that no
one can find out the
work that God does
from beginning to
end.
✦ Man has a deep-seated sense of
purpose and destiny.
✴ He is inquisitively a seeker – of the
past and future –
✴ Many squelch this hunger by
drowning it with the timely, i.e.,
temporal pursuits - Also rebellion &
pride seek to silence this powerful
awareness.
✦ We lack the whole picture – must be
content to wait and hope - (3:11; Deut
29:29)
Enjoyment of God’s Gifts (3:12–13)
✦ God wants us to be happy!
✦ By doing good ✴ Use the blessings God has
12 I
know that nothing
given
to
us
in
His
service
is better for them
than to rejoice, and to
do good in their lives, ✦ God wants us to live cheerful –
13 and also that every
charitable
useful
HOLY
lives!
man should eat and
drink and enjoy the
- Acts 20:35; 2 Cor 9:6-12; Gal
good of all his
6:10;
1 Pet 1:13-21
labor—it is the gift of
God
Contentment With What Is - (3:14–15)
✦ God’s will is immutable ✴ His Law – Promises – Nature
✴ Who are we to reply against
14
God – Rom 9:20
I know that
whatever God does,
✴ We cannot add to or subtract
It shall be forever.
Nothing can be
from God’s Word . . .
added to it, And
nothing taken from it. ✦ God wants us to know we are
God does it, that men
not in control of most things
should fear before
Him.
around us!
Contentment With What Is - (3:14–15)
✦ Awareness that God holds the
14
world in his hands creates a
reverential awe for the righteous
government of God, to which we
are all subject.
I know that
whatever God does,
✦ This is also a ground of hope
It shall be forever.
Nothing can be
and
confidence
amid
the
jarring
added to it, And
nothing taken from it.
vicissitudes of life (3:14; Rom
God does it, that men
8:18-38).
should fear before
Him.
Contentment With What Is - (3:14–15)
✦ History repeats itself – 1:9,10
15
That which is has
already been, And
what is to be has
already been; And
God requires an
account of what is
past.
Contentment With What Is - (3:14–15)
✦ History repeats itself – 1:9,10
✴ The orderly and appointed
succession of events is evidence of
the moral government of God Rom 1:20
15
That which is has
already been, And
what is to be has
already been; And
God requires an
account of what is
past.
Gen 1:31; 6:5-7
Deut 30:10-19; 31:29
Acts 20:28
everything Will Be Set Right - (Eccles. 3:16,17)
Ecclesiastes 3:16–17
(NKJV)
16 Moreover I saw
under the sun: In the
place of judgment,
Wickedness was
there; And in the place
of righteousness,
Iniquity was there. 17 I
said in my heart, “God
shall judge the
righteous and the
wicked, For there is a
time there for every
purpose and for every
work.”
✦ The Problem (3:16)
✴ Injustice exists in this world
& even “appears” to be the
controlling element
✦ The solution (3:17)
✴ All human activity will be
brought into judgment
before God - Justice will be
served! (Ecc 12:13,14;
Rom 2:5-10; 2 Cor 10:5)
Who Is Really In Control?
✦ Earthly experiences have their proper time
& order (Eccles. 3:1-8),
✦ Subject to things beyond our control;
(Eccles. 3:9-10);
✦ God makes everything beautiful in its
season, (Eccles. 3:11).
✦ God wants man to enjoy moderately His
earthly gifts (Eccles. 3:12-13).
✦ God is in control (Eccles. 3:14,15).
✦ Injustice may seem to prevail - but in the
end everything will be made right by God (Eccles. 3:16,17)
Who Is Really In Control?
Life on earth from a materialist
point of view … All labor – i.e.
every thought & effort towards
material reward is ultimately, in
the final analysis, worthless. - (cf.
Mat 16:26)
Who Is Really In Control?
The importance of
serving God
throughout life cf. 11:9-12:1, 13-14; Acts
17:30,31
Ecclesiastes:
Note – Many of the transition effects used in this presentation are lost using PPT 2007 Viewer
To view transitions you can download PPT 2010 viewer:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=cb9bf144-1076-46159951-294eeb832823
James 4:8–17 (NKJV)
8
Draw near to God and He will
draw near to you. Cleanse your
hands, you sinners; and purify
9
your hearts, you double-minded.
Lament and mourn and weep! Let
your laughter be turned to
10
mourning and your joy to gloom.
Humble yourselves in the sight of
the Lord, and He will lift you up.
James 4:8–17 (NKJV)
11
Do not speak evil of one
another, brethren. He who speaks
evil of a brother and judges his
brother, speaks evil of the law
and judges the law. But if you
judge the law, you are not a doer
12
of the law but a judge. There is
one Lawgiver, who is able to save
and to destroy. Who are you to
judge another?
James 4:8–17 (NKJV)
13
Come now, you who say,
“Today or tomorrow we will go to
such and such a city, spend a
year there, buy and sell, and
14
make a profit”; whereas you do
not know what will happen
tomorrow. For what is your life? It
is even a vapor that appears for
a little time and then vanishes
James 4:8–17 (NKJV)
15
Instead you ought to say,
“If the Lord wills, we shall live
16
and do this or that.” But
now you boast in your
arrogance. All such boasting
17
is evil. Therefore, to him
who knows to do good and
does not do it, to him it is sin.