All in Good Time
Ecclesiastes 3: 1-15
All in good time DIG: In the list of opposites (verses 1-8), is the Teacher describing what is, or suggesting what one should do? Why do you think so? What is “the task God has given humanity to keep us occupied” (verse 10)? How does God give us an awareness of eternity (verse 11)? What is meant by “God seeks out what people chase after” (verse 15)?
REFLECT: What “time” is it for you? At what “times” in verses 1-8 do you doubt that God is in control? Would you rather spend your time comprehending God’s work (verse 11), doing good (verse 12), or eating and drinking (verse 13)? Why? How do you differentiate enjoying yourself and going too far? Does belief in God’s sovereignty free you to enjoy life? How so?
Yeshua Messiah is the Lord of time; we must learn to ask Him what time it is.
After everything else he has said about the pointlessness of our existence, we probably expect the Solomon of Ecclesiastes to say something discouraging about time also. He might say that the time is short, for example, and thus we never have enough time to do all the things we want to do. Or he might talk about the tyranny of time – the way it controls our lives down to the last millisecond. Or he might say that time is fleeting and we are running out of time. Or he might say that lost time can never be recovered.
A time for this, a time for that: These are all things that the Teacher might have said, but he decided not to. Instead, under the inspiration of the Ruach Ha’Kodesh, he celebrated the orderliness of ADONAI by writing the world’s most famous words about the subject of time. And long before 1965 when the Byrds, sang their hit single “Turn, Turn, Turn,” (to hear that song click here), Solomon’s lyrics had struck a responsive chord in the human heart:
For everything there is a season, a right time for every intention under heaven. To explain this, Solomon uses a merism, a figure of speech in which polar opposites are chosen to indicate a totality: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to throw stones and a time to gather stones, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to discard, a time to tear and a time to sew, a time to keep silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace (3:1-8). Remember that Chapter 2 ended with a declaration of the enjoyment we find where God is present and we receive life’s blessings as a gift from Him. Notice as well the strong statement in verse 11: He has made everything appropriate in its time. Far from being a fatalist, the Teacher has come to praise God’s sovereignty over time and eternity as a thing of beauty.
Father time: Notice that the Teacher locates all the times of life under heaven, which is more positive than his usual phrase, under the sun, cutting God out of the picture. Everything in this time-bound universe is under the authority of God in heaven. The sovereign God rules over time and over what happens for every intention under heaven. Nothing happens outside the will of ADONAI.
Solomon’s words emphasize the scope of the LORD’s sovereignty with pairs of related opposites. Each pair forms a merism – a figure of speech in which two polar opposites make up a whole. Taken together, birth and death comprise the whole of human existence; weeping and laughing cover the full range of human emotion, and so on.
There is also something comprehensive about the entire list. There are fourteen pairs, which is twice the biblical number of perfection and completion (see the commentary on Genesis, to see the link click Ae – The Number Seven). Furthermore, the pairs themselves take in the whole sweep of human experience, from birth to death, from war to peace, and everything in between.
ADONAI rules all our moments and all our days, and there is a definite orderliness to what He does. His sovereignty has a chronology. In the divine economy there is a right time for every intention under heaven . . . a suitable occasion or an appropriate opportunity for everything that happens. There is a time to enroll and a time to graduate; a time to start a job and a time to retire; a time to stay and a time to go home. Such a perspective is far from fatalistic. The Teacher is not saying that there is nothing we can do about what happens. We still have choices, God has not taken away our free will. But Solomon’s point is that the Sovereign LORD does everything at just the right time.
Dear Heavenly Father, Thank You for the gift of time! You are so loving! You delight in giving great gifts to Your children. You gave a huge gift of rescuing sinners from sin’s shame and punishment (Romans 10:9-10), another gift of living within those who love and fear You (John 14:23). You have graciously given so many wonderful gifts! One gift is the gift of time that can be given back to You when we use our time wisely for You. It is a gift that can bring a reward. You will give for all eternity, a reward for a godly attitude when we use our gift of time to serve You. For no one can lay any other foundation than what is already laid – which is Yeshua the Messiah. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear. For the Day will show it, because it is to be revealed by fire; and the fire itself will test each one’s work -what sort it is. If anyone’s work built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward (First Corinthians 3:11-14). Thank You for giving the gift of time that we may give our time back to You from a loving heart! In Yeshua’s holy name and power of His resurrection. Amen
People usually think of the actions in Ecclesiastes 3 as things that people do, which, of course, they are. We could demonstrate this from the life of Solomon, who built great buildings, planted magnificent gardens and gathered many proverbs. But the activities listed in his words here are also things that God does. They are divine actions before they become human activities. Consider birth and death – to appointments that every person must keep. Both the cradle and the grave follow Ha’Shem’s timetable. A person’s days are fixed in advance, said Job, the number of his months is known to You, and You have fixed the limits of which he cannot pass (Job 14:5). The LORD of life has sovereign power over death. The whole of our earthly existence is under His divine authority.
Ecclesiastes 3 gives us the complete picture: to know God and to understand our place in His world we need to accept that both halves of each pair tell us the truth about His character. ADONAI makes a time for every intention under heaven because at the right time everything in his words are fully in keeping with who He is: birth and death, weeping and laughing; love and hate; a time to embrace and a time to refrain; war and peace.267
The Teacher continues to draw out the implications of what he has just said. The main point up to now has been that God has established periods, moments or times for a wide diversity of emotions and activities. Is the world a wonderfully ordered and varied place for us to enjoy? His initial reaction reveals that he would answer that question negatively. No. What does the worker gain from his efforts? But as we read on, we discover why. I have seen the task God has given humanity to keep us occupied. He has made everything appropriate in its time; also, he has given human beings an awareness of eternity. There may indeed be appropriate times for everything, and ADONAI knows these times, but in speaking in human terms, we can’t fully comprehend, from beginning to end, the things God does (3:9-11).268
Solomon reaches another conclusion based on his observation in verses 1-8, and he begins it again with the familiar I know. In essence the Teacher-king comments that whatever YHVH does, no one can change His mind. I know that whatever God does will last forever; there is nothing to add or subtract from it; and God has done it so that people will fear him. That which was here already; and that which will be has already been. The clamor of human activity is guaranteed and secure because ADONAI watches over it all each and every moment with divine concern (3:14-15).269
Perfect timing: The place where we see God’s timeliness most clearly is in the person and work of Yeshua Messiah, who is the Lord of time. And as we witness His life in the Gospels we see a Savior who always knew what time it was. There was a time for Him to be born – just at the right time, in fact. The Bible says that when the appointed time arrived, God sent forth His Son, born from a woman (Galatians 4:4). At just the right time – when the Gentiles were tired of serving the old pagan gods, when the Jews had corrupted the Torah into works righteousness, when the Greeks had given the world a common language, and when the Romans had established relatively safe travel across the Mediterranean Sea – Yeshua came with a message of salvation for the whole world.
There was also a day appointed for Yeshua to die. He died on Pesach, not the day before, or the day after. For years Pharisaic Judaism had plotted against Him, trying to kill Him as soon as they could; however, His hour had not yet come (John 7:30). When the hour did come, Messiah was crucified and suffered for the pointlessness of all our sin. The Scripture says: At the right time, Messiah died for the ungodly (Romans 5:6). He rose at the right time also; on the festival of First Fruits, on the third day, as the Scriptures had promised (Hosea 6:2; Luke 24:45-46; First Corinthians 15:4). From His birth to His death and then on to His resurrection, Yeshua did everything timely in His saving work. He was never late and never early, but always right on time.
Our times, God’s hands: Yeshua still knows what time it is. Do you believe that? He knows the time to love, showing mercy to needy sinners who ask Him to be their Savior. He knows the time to hate, standing against evil and injustice. He knows the time for war, as His Church does battle against Satan and the enemies of God. Soon it will be time for peace, when He will make wars cease to the end of the earth (Psalm 46:9), when He will set creation free from its bondage to the pointlessness of our sin (Romans 8:20-21) and we will never suffer again from the futility of life under the sun.
In the meantime, the Lord calls us to make the best use of every moment. His lordship over time is not just for the big events of world history, but also for our own everyday experiences. One of the best ways to avoid life’s frustration is by knowing what to do with our time. The way we spend our time is the way we spend our lives. Since we follow Yeshua Messiah, then we need to know what time it is, not measuring time merely in terms of hours and days but viewing it as an opportunity for the service of God and the use of our spiritual gifts. There are at least three practical ways to apply these verses to our lives.
First, wait for God’s time. Since it is true that our Savior has perfect timing, then we should trust Him to know the right time for everything. King David was able to bless ADONAI at all times (Psalm 34:1) because he knew that whatever time it was, God was still in control. Most of us would prefer to manage our own agenda, which makes us quick to criticize God’s timing. Instead of insisting on keeping our own timetable, we ought to hurry up and wait for God, as David did when he said: I trust in You, ADONAI; You are my God. My times are in Your hand (Psalm 31:14-15a).
Are you willing to put your time into God’s hand? Writing sometime in the fourth century after Messiah, Didymus the Blind used a vivid example why we should believe that God is in control. Didymus compared us to passengers on a large sailing vessel who have never met the captain, yet still believe that he is steering the ship. He wrote, “God Himself manages the cosmos and looks after it . . . when you see a ship that is piloted and holds its course, you perceive the idea of a helmsman even if he is not visible. Likewise, the Creator is known by His works and the order of His creation.”
Second, live your whole life knowing that there is a time for you to die. The Bible says: It’s appointed for people to die just once, and after that to face the judgment (Hebrews 9:27 CJB), which is also appointed by God. But believers never face judgment because Yeshua has paid for our sins on the cross (see the commentary on Revelation Cc – We Must All Appear Before the Bema Seat of Christ). Are you ready for eternity (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Ms – The Eternal Security of the Believer)? When it comes to receiving the free gift of eternal life in Yeshua Messiah, there is no time like the present.
The Bible says that Messiah died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures (First Corinthians 15:3b-4). If you believe this? Nothing else matters.
Salvation = faith + nothing (not baptism, not good works, nothing means nothing). Without faith it is impossible to please God because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him. Now is the day of salvation (Heb 11:6 and Second Cor 6:2c).
Would you like to be saved right now?
Pray this simple prayer in faith. But before you do, I want you to remember that saying a prayer does not save you, trusting in Yeshua Messiah does. God, I admit that I have sinned. I believe Yeshua Messiah died for my sins and I want to trust Him to save me right now. Lord, please come into my heart and make me a new person. I accept your gift of salvation.
If you were to die right now, where would you go?
Why should God let you into His heaven?
That’s right, because Yeshua died to pay for your sins.
If you prayed that prayer in faith see my commentary on The Life of Christ Bw – What God Does for Us at the Moment of Faith.
Finally, make good use of whatever time you have. To use a memorable phrase from Paul, we should always be redeeming the time (Ephesians 5:16). As far as the Teacher was concerned, the best way to use time in that way was to get busy in God-honoring ways. So, in conclusion, he said: I know that there is nothing better for them to do than to be happy and to do good as long as they live. Still, the fact that everyone can eat and drink and enjoy the good that results from all his work, is a gift of God (3:12-13).
It’s not easy for us to use our time wisely. In this time-bound universe, where we are caught between time and eternity, the moments of our days are our most precious commodity. Time is the priceless currency that ADONAI has given for doing the work of His Kingdom. Time also happens to be one of the most difficult things for us to manage. We all have the same amount of time on a daily basis; the question is how we spend it . . . or waste it.
The best way to use our time is for the glory of God and the Kingdom of Yeshua Messiah. This always requires deep spiritual wisdom. Even though we cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end (3:11), we still have decisions to make every day. Later, the Teacher will say that the wise person is the one who knows the right time (8:5). There are different times to start something. But there are also times when something is supposed to come to an end – a project, a relationship, a ministry. Knowing the difference takes wisdom, because they are some of the hardest decisions in life.
If we want to have a heart of Yeshua we need to know when it is time to weep with those who weep or else rejoice with those who rejoice (Romans 12:15; John 16:20). We need wisdom for the timing of our relationships, knowing when it’s time to embrace someone and when it’s time to exclude them from our plans and our priorities. There are times when it’s important to speak up, saying a word in season (Proverbs 15:23; 25:11) or giving a reason for the hope that is in us (First Peter 3:15). But there are also times to shut up – times when silence is golden and it’s better to hold our tongues (Psalm 141:3; Proverbs 27:14; James 1:26).
Who is sufficient in all these things? If there’s a right time for every intention under heaven (3:1), then redeeming the time will require wise decision-making. We must learn to ask God what time it is. Lord, is this a time to break down or build up? Is this something You want me to love or to hate? Am I speaking because I want to say something, or because I really have something to say? Ask God for help, and He will give you the wisdom to know what time it is (James 1:5).
The Bible says that one day soon, Yeshua will come again – a second time (Hebrews 9:28). Indeed, Messiah will come at the right time, at the exact day and hour His Father has appointed (Matthew 24:36). Then, after the thousand year Messianic Kingdom is over (see the commentary on Revelation Fh – The Dispensation of the Messianic Kingdom), time will be no more, and our deep longing for eternity will be satisfied. We will live with God forever and forever. But in the meantime, we are wise to pray the way Moshe prayed: Teach us to count our days, so that we will become wise (Psalm 90:12).270
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