Ecclesiastes 3
Questions answered from Ecclesiastes 3
Chuck Smith on Ecclesiastes 3
Verse by verse, taught on Sunday nights: the C2000 series, 1979 to 1985, and the C3000 series, 1985 to 1999. Permission granted by The Word For Today.
Sunday Nights, 1979 to 1985 (C2000)
Chapter introduction
Now we get into the weary, monotony of life. This has been used poetically as something that is very beautiful. "A time to love," and it's been made very beautiful, but in the Hebrew idea, it was monotony. Life is just monotonous.
Verses 1–5
There is a time and a season, a time and a purpose under heaven to everything: there is a time to be born, a time to die; a time to plant, a time to pluck up that which is planted; a time to kill, a time to heal; a time to break down, a time to build up; a time to weep, a time to laugh; a time to mourn, a time to dance; a time to cast (3:1-5)
And that's the idea of the Hebrew. It's just a monotony. Life seems to be ordered in these things. Just a time, a time, a time, a time. And the Hebrew idea is that of the monotony of life. It isn't, "Oh, the glorious time to love and a time to plant," you know, as we make it very romantic today. It was really being expressed in a very life-gets-so-tedious, don't it? Therefore he concludes.
Verse 9
What profit hath he that works in that wherein he has labored? (3:9)
What profit do you get out of your labor?
Verses 10–11
I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it. He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he has set the world in their heart (3:10-11),
Now the word translated world there in the Hebrew is eternity or the ages. God has actually set the ages in every man's heart. There is a consciousness within every man of the eternal. Now some men seek to sublimate that consciousness. Some men seek to deny that consciousness. They seek to deny God. But there is within every man, God has placed it in the heart, eternal, the eternity in the heart of every man that is seeking out after that which is more than just a part of this monotonous routine of life. I'm grasping and reaching for that which is eternal. God has placed the awareness of the eternal in the heart of every man. And that's that deep, spiritual drive that every man has that can only be filled by coming to Jesus Christ and drinking of the water that He gives.
Verses 11–14
so that no man can find out the work that God makes from the beginning to the end. I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life. And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of his labor, it is the gift of God. I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be added to it, nor any thing taken from it: for God does it, that men should reverence him (3:11-14).
Now I know this about God. My works are going to pass away. My works are going to be forgotten. But whatever God does, that's forever. And you can't add to the work of God. You can't take away.
Now I love this because I think of the work of God in my life of imputing the righteousness to me through my faith in Jesus Christ. I can't add to it. I can't get a set of rules and start doing all these nice little things and be more righteous. Nor can you take away from that righteousness that I have, that perfect standing that I have before God in Jesus Christ. You can't add to it; you can't take from it. The work of God is complete. The work of God is eternal. And God has worked in me His righteousness by my faith in Jesus Christ.
Now one of the problems that we often have is our endeavor to add to God's work. If I could only, you know, read ten chapters of the Bible everyday, then I could be more righteous. If I'd only pray for four hours a day, then I'd be more righteous. No, no, you can't add. You are righteous, the righteousness of Christ which is through faith. You are righteous in God's sight. "Oh, I got so angry today and screamed at the kids. I'm so unrighteous." No, you can't take away from that righteousness that is yours in Christ Jesus. You can't diminish. God accounts you righteous in His sight. The work of God in imputing righteousness to me.
So I don't need to go around hanging my head, "Oh, I'm so miserable today. I'm such a sinner. I'm so horrible. And I'm so this and that." God is counting me righteous because I am trusting and believing in His work in Jesus Christ. And I can't go around and say, "Well, I'm so righteous, so much more righteous than you, you sinner, you know. I saw what you did. I wouldn't think of doing that," and I can't go around in a self-righteous mold because I have these spiritual gifts or I have done this or that. It doesn't make me any more righteous. You can't add to the work of God. It's complete. It's full. And I'm so glad.
Verse 15
That which (3:15)
Verse 15 is an interesting verse because it is sort of a definition of eternity. And if you have had trouble understanding eternity before, you'll really have trouble now. You see, we live in a time continuum on this planet Earth. Because the planet rotates on its axis about once every twenty-four hours, we call it a day. We measure the time in hours. Because the earth is in an orbit around the sun every 365 days and nine hours and fifty-six minutes and 4/100's of a second, we call that a year. We live on this earth and thus we are spinning around in our days and orbiting around in our years in the time continuum.
Now, if you get outside of the earth, and you begin to accelerate your speed, time no longer is moving in this but it begins to stretch out into a plane according to this speed to where if you can accelerate to this speed of light, time stands still. Now, if we could hop on a ray of light, turning into the energy, get out in this long plane, you could take off on a ray of light in what? One in a quarter seconds, tip your hat to the man on the moon; seven and a half minutes, race past the sun; fourteen minutes, button up your coat as you go past Pluto, so cold--fourteen hours, rather, Pluto. Hundred thousand years you could leave the Milky Way galaxy. One million five hundred thousand years, you could arrive at Adromeda. Make a U-turn, head back to the earth. And in three million years, you could return to the earth on that ray of light and you would be about a day older. But the earth would have gone through three million orbits around the sun, which those who are living upon the earth would have counted as years. So you'd go to look for the house that you used to live in and the cities and the people, and what's going to be in three million years, you see? But you've escaped the time zone. You're into the eternal where there is no time. As you get into the eternal, it is the now zone. God said, "I am." That is expressing His eternal nature. You're no longer within, you're no longer bounded by time, beginning and end; you're now in the eternal. Now. So when you can escape the time zone.
That which has been is now; and that which is to be has already been (3:15);
That's weird. God is outside of our time dimension. God is in the eternal dimension. So with God, "a day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years is as a day" (II Peter 3:8). In other words, there is no time. You're in the eternal now. So that any event that will ever take place is taking place. Any event that has ever taken place is taking place. That which has been is now; that which shall be has already been.
and God requires that which is past (3:15).
You can't escape it. You say, "Well, I don't understand that." Well, join the crowd. You see, not only are we living in this time continuum, but we are also living in this finite existence and it is impossible that the finite can understand the infinite. Time deals with the finite aspects. Eternal deals with the infinite. And you can't cross the gulf. It's too great. You can only make childish illustrations, but you can't cross the gulf from the finite to the infinite.
Verses 16–18
Moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there. 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. And I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts (3:16-18).
Now this is life under the sun, that man might see himself that he's an animal. But this is not true. Man is more than an animal. Man is made in the image and likeness of God. He's looking at man from the purely humanistic standpoint.
Verse 19
For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth the beasts; even one thing befalls them: as one dies, so dies the other (3:19);
Not true.
yea, they have all one breath (3:19);
The word breath in Hebrew is ruwach which is also translated spirit. There are some who say that man and animals have one spirit.
so that a man has no preeminence above the beast: for all is vanity (3:19).
That is not true. That is looking at man from a humanistic standpoint. Man under the sun. That is not looking at man as God looks at man as a divine creation with eternity in his heart. The animal, of what animal can you say God has put eternity in his heart?
Verse 20
All go to one place (3:20);
False.
all are of the dust (3:20),
Our bodies, yes.
and all turn to the dust again (3:20).
Our bodies, yes.
Verse 21
But who knows if the spirit of man goes upward, and the spirit of the beast goes downward to the earth? (3:21)
Well, the Lord Jesus Christ knows, and He declares it to be true.
Verse 22
Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion: for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him? (3:22)
Who knows what's going to happen after him? So just live for now, rejoice in your works now. This is the purely human view of life. And God has recorded it in His Word, inspired by the Holy Spirit that you might see the view of life from the human standpoint, that it is empty and frustrating, because you don't see man any more than just an animal. And that's why the world around you is so filled with frustration and emptiness today, because it views man as an animal.
Sunday Nights, 1985 to 1999 (C3000)
Chapter introduction
Let’s turn now in our Bibles to Ecclesiastes chapter three as Solomon the Preacher continues his observations of life from the standpoint of a man who has lived, who has tasted it all, who has found the emptiness of the life under the sun. Now he is reflecting upon the things that he has learned in his observations of life.
Verse 1
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: (3:1).
Our times have been appointed by God. There are seasons and times for every purpose under heaven. It is always exciting when you come to one of those special times that God has appointed for work in your life. Now he puts several things into contrast here, some fourteen of them.
Verses 2–8
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; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; A time to rend, [tear] and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace (3:2-8).
Speaking of everything having a time and a place, he then asks a question.
Verse 9
What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth? (3:9).
Life seems to move in cycles, there are opportune times, there are apt times, for every purpose under the sun.
Verses 10–11
I have seen the travail, which God hath given the sons of men to be exercised in it. He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world [eternity] in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh form the beginning to the end (3:10-11).
He begins to talk now about how that God has given to each of us an awareness and a consciousness of infinity. Years ago, when I was sort of being weaned from the faith that I had received from my parents and the beliefs that they had instilled within me, and was seeking to come to my own understanding and decisions. There came a short space in my life where I began to question the existence of God. I wondered if God really did exist or was this all something that man just made up. That didn’t last for long because I found that it was much easier to believe in God than not to believe in God.
When I tried to sort of take the position of an atheist that there is no God, I found out that there were too many unanswerable things in life, life itself. So I concluded that God must exist and the conclusion largely came from the study of the human body and all of the marvelous facets of the human body. I realized that it could not have just come about through fortunate accidental circumstances, that there was a design; the design declared a designer, the creator. So I concluded that God did exist and that was the first foundation stone of my own faith that I began to build upon. Yes, there is a God.
You can’t just stop there. If there is a God and his existence is proved by his creation then he must have a purpose for creating man. I exist and the fact that I exist by divine creation would indicate that there was a purpose in the mind of the creator when he created me. As I began to deal with that premise, I realized that if he had a purpose in creating me it would be necessary that he reveal himself in such a way as to reveal his purposes for me. I concluded that God, in having a purpose in creating man, would have to reveal that purpose early in the history of man and would have to maintain that revelation to the present time.
I immediately set aside all the religions that have existed in history but have been cast aside as not being of God because God, if he was great enough to create man and have a purpose in it, would be able to maintain the revelation of himself to the present day. I also discounted all of the new religions that have come on to the scene of late because that would be saying that God wasn’t interested in the earlier men that existed, but suddenly he now has an interest in his creation and thus is revealing himself in this new light, new revelation. People are always claiming to have some new revelation of God, new light. That sort of discounts all of those who have lived up till now.
God would have to reveal himself early in the history of man, would have to maintain that revelation to the present time and God would be interested in all men, not just a select few. There would have to be something within that revelation of God that would have sort of a missionary impedance to it so that those who came to the knowledge of God would have a push to share that knowledge with others because I concluded that God would be interested in all of his creation. I was left with basically Judo-Christianity, Mohammadism and Buddhism. Through a process, I eliminated Mohammadism and Buddhism and came to the conclusion that the Bible had to be the revelation of God. The prophecies of the Bible intrigued me, an area that really is not entered into in Mohammadism or Buddhism.
God revealed himself early to Adam. God has maintained that revelation to the present day; the Bible still stands. I became convinced that the Bible was God’s revelation of himself to man.
Here Solomon declares that God has placed eternity in man’s heart. I could not get away from the consciousness that life has to be more than three score and ten years of existence on this earth. There was that sense of the eternal that was just innate within my heart; the awareness of the existence of God. To not believe in God takes a real struggle. You have to work at it constantly. The natural bent is a belief in God; God has put eternity in our hearts. Belief in God is a very natural thing, not to believe in God is unnatural and it takes a lot of effort and a lot of work.
The Bible began to really speak to me at that point. I began to study it to understand it to know God. It became very satisfactory. The more I read it the more convinced I was that it was indeed God’s word to the point that as much as I have studied as I have now I have not the slightest qualm, not the slightest hesitation to declare to you, “I believe that the Bible is the infallible, inherent word of God to man as he has revealed himself to man in the Bible”.
He declares that God has established times and places for all things and that God makes everything beautiful in his time. If we will yield our lives to God, God in working in our lives will bring beauty out of every situation in his time.
The Bible does picture God as a potter and as man as the clay. It’s a rather awesome picture because it teaches the awful sovereignty of God. Awful unless you know him. But knowing the potter, I have no difficulty in surrendering my life to the touch the potter. The potter has sovereign power over the clay to make of it whatever kind of a vessel he wants. The clay has no right to challenge the potter. Clay is very common, one of the most common substances on the face of the earth and in its native state, quite worthless. Yet, through the skill of the potter, that worthless clay can be made into a priceless treasure.
When the potter places the clay upon the wheel and begins his work, there is within the mind of the potter what he desires to make of that clay, the vessel that he is seeking to form. It is in his mind and he begins to work with the clay to express in the clay that, which is in his mind. The clay can only understand what is in the mind of the potter by yielding to the touch of the potter. If the clay resists the touch of the potter then the vessel becomes marred in the hands of the potter. Jeremiah uses that picture, “the Lord spoke to me and said go down to the potter’s house, I’ll speak to you there. So I went down to the potters house” he said, “I watched him as he worked his work on the wheel. The work became marred in the potters’ hand. So the potter took that clay and began to work it again working out the lumps and the stiffness, put it back and made a vessel”. God spoke to Jeremiah and said, “Is not Israel like clay in my hands? I can make of it what I want. The vessel Israel was marred because of its stiffness, its resistance but I am able to work it and still create my purpose”.
“God makes all things beautiful in his time” (3:11). A lot of people have, like the clay, been marred in the hands of the potter because of their resisting or their rebelling against that work of God. People have tried to run from God. They’ve rebelled against God and the purposes of God where thwarted. Many times they can mess up their lives royally until the vessel is so marred, you question whether or not anything could ever come out of that of worth or value.
I love the fact that the potter doesn’t give up, that he takes and reworks that clay to make of it a vessel that will be pleasing to him, useful for him. I see so many lives that have been marred, messed up, and I see how God has begun again a work in them. I see the beauty that God has brought out of messed up lives. “He makes all things beautiful in his time” (3:11), providing we are yielded to his touch.
“He’s put eternity in our hearts, so that no man can find out the work that God makes from the beginning to the end” (3:11). We don’t know what God has purposed, what God has planned. God knows the end result that he is seeking to work out. I don’t know yet, getting some pretty good hints at this point, fully the plan and the purpose of God for my life. As Pedro said, “It would probably take all eternity for us to know it all” or “Through the ages to come, God shall be revealing unto us the exceeding richness of his kindness and his mercy towards us in Christ Jesus”.
“I’ve seen the travail, which God has given to the sons of men” the laborer, the effort, “that they might be developed by it” (3:11). God has a purpose in these trials and in these temptations. The purpose is the developing of character. He has a purpose for the sufferings that we experience. There’s that development that God is working in me and in you.
I have found that character isn’t really developed much in the good times, in the time of prosperity, in the times of ease, in the times of partying, it doesn’t develop much character at all. Character is really developed in the times of suffering, the times of pressure. A person who has endured a lot of pain and suffering is a person usually of great depth of character. It has a way of developing character like nothing else.
“I’ve seen the travail of man, that God has given that he might be exercised in it or developed by it and he’s made everything beautiful in his time and he’s set eternity it their hearts” (3:10-11). You really don’t know what God’s full plan is from the beginning to the end.
Verse 12
I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life (3:12).
We are told by Jesus to rejoice in tribulation. We are told to “count it all joy” by Peter when we are going through trials, knowing that God uses these to develop character and to develop his purpose and his plan in our lives. It is good to rejoice and to do good.
Verse 13
And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God (3:13).
It was a sad day in the church when they thought that being spiritual was being sour and doleful. You would not dare to smile because that was a sign of carnality and a Christian should never be happy or enjoy himself. God wanted us to always be very serious and very doleful. To appear very spiritual, the ministers used to go around with their hands folded and they had sort of a doleful kind of a voice and said, “Good morning brother”. That was to show deep spirituality, the man must have just come from an encounter with God, he’s so serious and sober. You dare not to smile or laugh because surely you’ll be accused of unspiritualness. That was a tragic day in the church. I’m glad that we passed from that and that we realize that it is the purpose of God that you experience the fullness of joy. Jesus spoke of the fullness of joy over and over again. He related that fullness of joy with your prayer life and with your fellowship with God and with abiding in him.
Therefore Solomon came to that conclusion, “Man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all of his labour, it’s a gift of God” (3:13) the enjoyment of the fruit of your labour. The fruit of our labour all depends on what I have been laboring for. If I have been laboring just for myself, the fruit of that labor can be very empty. But if I am laboring for God, the kingdom of God, I know that my labour for the Lord is never in vain, never empty and to enjoy the fruit of our labour for God is a glorious thing.
Verse 14
I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: (3:14).
The work of God is eternal. The work that you do for God is eternal. Jesus said, “Lay up for yourself treasures in heaven where moth and rust cannot corrupt and thieves cannot break through and steal”. That work that I do for the Lord is eternal in its benefits. I know that whatever God does is forever. It is complete.
nothing can be put to it, nor anything taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him (3:14).
That completeness of God’s work, when God is working he does a complete work. I am thankful for that. God doesn’t start something that he doesn’t intend to finish, “He who has begun a good work in you shall continue to perform it”. God didn’t start a work in you just to say, “Ah I tried but no way, just give up. Forget him,” he doesn’t do that. He having begun is going to continue. We may slow the process; we may hinder the process. I, many times, have gotten in the way trying to help, “Okay God, I’ll help you”. I found out that he didn’t need my help that so often only slowed the process because as God works in your life, he wants the glory for that which he has wrought in you. He doesn’t want you going around bragging, taking glory, and taking credit. Be careful when you try to add to what God has done or be careful when you try to take away.
God does it in order that we might worship him, in order that we might reverence him, in order that we might praise him. Paul uses a phrase in Ephesians, the first chapter, “To the praise of the glory of his grace” as he is talking about the work of God in us, having chosen us and having predestined that we should be adopted as his son, redeemed us and accepted us. All of these is for the praise of the glory of his grace. It’s God’s work. He does it so that he might receive the praise and the glory from it.
Verse 15
That which hath been is now; (3:15).
We get into the idea of the eternal nature of God. As we pointed out this morning, it is something that we cannot comprehend. I can understand that God has put eternity in my heart, that is, the capacity to realize that there can be infinity. That puts me above my dog. My dog cannot understand that infinity exists. I can sit all day and try to explain to my dog the distance to the sun and the distance to some of the stars out there. He has no way of comprehending infinity or that infinity could exist. All he knows is that he is hungry at dinner time, he comes to the back window and lets me know. He can’t even understand wait five minutes and I’ll feed you.
God has put eternity in our hearts, that is the ability to comprehend that eternity exists though I don’t understand it and can’t comprehend it. I know that I can accept the concept of infinity. Eternity is infinity actually as far as time goes. Eternity is infinity of time and time past, time future. What ever has happened is happening, eternal. You are outside the time continuum.
and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past (3:15).
Interesting scripture.
Verse 16
And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgement, that wickedness was there; (3:16).
That’s interesting that he made that made his observation in his day. I’ve made the same observation in my day. That even in the place of judgement, within the judicial system, within our courts, wickedness is there. That’s because we have placed men as judges. Many of them, who are lacking the fear of God, believe that they are gods and they begin to act like gods and demand to be worshiped as gods.
Verses 16–17
the place of judgement, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there. I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work (3:16-17).
In observing the wickedness in the places of judgement, in his heart he said, “One day God will judge.” These men who have been in the seats of judgement judging over other men will one day be judged. One day they’ll stand before the judge of the universe and as the scripture says, “It is a fearful thing to fall in the hands of the living God”. I’m glad I’m not going to have to be in the shoes in a lot of people when they stand before God. Sort of glad I don’t have to be in my own shoes, that Jesus will stand in my place. If you don’t have Jesus standing in your place you’re in big trouble; I feel sorry for you.
Verse 18
I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts (3:18).
Man, apart from being born again, is as a beast, is like an animal. There is a great endeavor by man today to relate himself to the animal kingdom. In trying to understand man, we seek to understand animals. In so many of the theories and sociology and psychology have come from the observation of rats. It is interesting to me that man has chosen the rat as more or less the prime creature for which to gain knowledge for himself. I can understand why but Solomon was talking now…Remember we said that the women had turned his heart from God and he is looking at the world from just a worldly viewpoint and he sees man as animals; “that they might see that they themselves are beasts”.
Verse 19
For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity (3:19)
This is true apart from the new birth in Jesus Christ. That is why Jesus said, “You’ve got to be born again if you want to kingdom of heaven.” That which is born of the flesh is flesh and born of the flesh you are born as an animal, you’re a beast, you’re sort of in the same category as an animal possessing a mind and living in a body. It’s not until you are born again that your spirit is alive and that lifts you from the animal kingdom to the divine kingdom. Thus once a person is born of the spirit he begins to relate to God rather than to the animal kingdom. You begin to relate into the eternal realm rather than that which passes, the animal kingdom.
Verse 20
All go to one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again. Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth down ward to the earth? (3:20).
“Don’t know” Solomon says. But we do know, by the further revelation of the scriptures and Jesus Christ. Solomon is saying that no one came back to tell us where there spirit went, so who knows.
Verse 22
Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion: for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him? (3:22).
Who knows what’s going to happen so just enjoy what you got, spend it while you got it because who knows what they’re going to do with it after you’re gone so enjoy yourself is basically what he is saying.