Episode 4: Eternity Shapes Time (3:1-22)
Have you noticed the beauty of poetry within the book of Ecclesiastes? We get another famous chunk of poetry in our passage today, and yet there’s a twist to the meaning we so often give it…
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How does this chapter help us to view time?
Why is it a comfort that we are limited creatures?
How does this chapter help you to see the value in the life you've been given?
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The following is an uncorrected transcript generated by a transcription service. Before quoting in print, please check the corresponding audio for accuracy.
Felicity: We're thankful for 10ofthose sponsoring this season. I love biography, and over the years I've gathered favourites that have inspired and shown me what it is to be all out for Jesus. To a Different Drum by Pauline Hamilton is an old one that has been recently republished and has quickly taken place on that shelf of brilliant real life stories. The opening chapter has all the drama, as the author is all set to give up and drive her car off a cliff. But she has a blowout before she can get there. And as the story goes on, we see that the Lord had remarkable plans for her very ordinary life as she ends on the mission field heading to China. I couldn't put it down so good. Grab a copy at 10ofthose.com
Sarah: Welcome to Two Sisters and a cup of tea. My name is Sarah, I live in the UK. This is my sister Felicity. She lives in the States. And today we are in Ecclesiastes chapter three. But before we get there, Felicity, tell us, how is your gluten free biscuit journey going?
Felicity: A good description. A journey indeed. I would say. It's having its ups and downs. The hobnob was a definite high and today I have an underwhelming Jaffa Cake. I'm not sure it merits the name Jaffa Cake, actually, because the cake bits just really skinny and hard and more like a biscuit. More like a biscuit. Maybe this is it. Maybe this is solving the age old debate whether it's a cake or but you need to take the Gluten out. But I think it loses its joy, to be honest. It's a flat jaffer.
Sarah: Is the orange and the chocolate still okay? Would you still eat that separate from the cakey bit?
Felicity: Good idea. I should probably do what my son does, actually, and just scrape off with his teeth that bit. Yeah. So I'm hopeful for some more ups along the way.
Sarah: Okay, well, keep us updated.
Felicity: Thanks. I haven't heard any responses yet, so if anyone wants to point me in the right direction on this journey, I'm happy to take direction. Okay.
Sarah: All right. And how about the Ecclesiastes journey? How are you finding it so far?
Felicity: It is a different book, isn't it? I feel like it is unusual in the way that it's put together. And while we've been talking, we've been talking about this meaningless, the fleeting kind of just not quite able to grasp it nature of life. And I feel like that is a bit how it's been written as well. And so as we're in it, I feel like we sort of circle around getting to the main deal and then we sort of lose it a bit and then we're touching on it and yeah. I don't know. What do you think? How are you finding it yourself over there?
Sarah: Over there? Yeah. I'm finding it quite hard, actually. It is hard, isn't it? And I think, as you say, that kind of elusive nature to it. And we did say that at the beginning, that the form does describe and the content describe what he's seeing in life. And I think that's very clever, but I'm finding it quite hard that there's not no neat. You can't tie up a chapter with a nice neat bow and say, oh, yes, I think it's about that. I just feel like I can't quite grab hold of it, like it's like the breeze, it's like the steaming cup of tea so I'm finding that really quite hard but I am enjoying it. But yeah, it feels like work.
Felicity: Yes, but I do think that every conversation we have, we're beginning to open up a bit more of the substance of it. I think it just rightly. So he spent the first bit kind of getting us into that zone of this kind of fleeting can't quite grasp it and feel like our feet got a bit more firmly on the ground last time around. I'm hopeful that we're going to feel more steady on our feet but I'm pretty sure that's not going to happen.
Sarah: Well, no, we've prayed that will happen and I'm going to now read chapter three and we'll get into it. Let's go. There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under the heavens. 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 scatter stones and a time to gather them a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing. A time to search and a time to give up a time to keep and a time to throw away a time to tear and a time to mend a time to be silent and a time to speak a time to love and a time to hate. A time for war and a time for peace. What do workers gain from all their toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. He's 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. I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. That each of them may eat and drink and find satisfaction in all their toil. This is the gift of God. I know that everything God does will endure forever. Nothing can be added to it and nothing taken away from it. God does it so that people will fear Him. Whatever is has already been, and what will be has been before and God will call the past to account. And I saw something else under the sun. In the place of judgment, wickedness was there. In the place of justice, wickedness was there. 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. I also said to myself, as for humans, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals. 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. All go to the same place. All come from dust, and to dust they all return. Who knows if the human spirit rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth? 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?
Felicity: Thank you, Sarah. I mean, that is a really familiar start, isn't it? I wonder how often we read those beautiful poetic lines in context, though. And I think as we go through this chapter, we'll see kind of what they really mean. But it is beautiful, isn't it? Again, we're back to poetry. I do appreciate the poetry of this man.
Sarah: It is. It's beautiful poetry. It's a summary of all the seasons of life, isn't it? There's real complexity here, there's real joy, there's real sadness. And I think I'm just struck by the verse two, a time to be born and a time to die. I mean, that's all of life, isn't it?
Felicity: Yeah. Encompasses all that there is, but doesn't leave it there. Again, it's a bit like the poetry at the start, isn't it? Through the beauty of it. Then there's more to it than just black and white, birth and death.
Sarah: Yeah, definitely. But the kind of verse nine does then stop you short, doesn't it? Because he kind of just says, well, what's the point of all that? What's the point of verses one to eight? And I think the next bit is then really striking. And I don't think I've ever really thought about this in the context before. So he says he's also set eternity in the human heart, and we've heard that quoted however many times, but the context it goes on to then say, yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. So it's like this, he's set eternity in our hearts, but it's frustrated. We can't grasp it. We're in kind of time now and we can't grasp what's from beginning to end, because we're not God. Our limitedness is meant to point us to the one who is unlimited.
Felicity: I think that's right. And at the start of verse eleven there, when he says he has made everything beautiful in its time, that is kind of the conclusion, isn't it? We think and remember, God is the one who has made everything beautiful in its time. We don't quite get it because we're not God. That seems to be the big message all the way through, isn't it? That we are not God and yet we live in this life, isn't she calls it a burden, which I guess is true, isn't it? The frustrations and the brokenness. But then next to that, the beauty of it.
Sarah: Yeah. And if we don't already feel that, then verse 14 he just makes it really clear, doesn't he? His point, I know that everything God does will endure forever. And that is the opposite to what he's just said in his poetry, hasn't he? That actually none of that will endure. It is fleeting, it is but breath. Yeah.
Felicity: And so it all hangs on God having been the one who's in control and who has made it and who is still in control of it. That can be something which slips from our grasp, doesn't it? I can forget that I'm not in control. I can believe that I am to a degree. But I think what we read here is that it is a gift of God. It is all of God. He's made it. We cannot change anything. He is the one who does it all.
Sarah: Yeah. And so then he is the one who is in the only place to call everything to account as we go on and the one who will bring everything into judgment. And where we read in verse 17, there'll be a time for every activity, a time to judge every deed. He is the only one worthy to do that, isn't he?
Felicity: Yeah. And I think in that sort of calling to account and judgment is a value because everything is seen by God and called to account by Him. There is value in this life that we are living. It's not just invisible in that.
Sarah: Yeah, big time. I think it's also a real comfort that, isn't it? And I think through the book, as we're going to start to see more and more, judgment is a comfort that with all the frailties and all the brokennesses in our world, god will judge, it does not go unnoticed. And that is what it's saying here. But it is also a challenge, isn't it? There is judgment, he sees everything. There is no season that is not seen by the Lord and not ordained by the Lord. And that is a sobering thought as well. Yeah.
Felicity: And I think when we think about injustice and wickedness, that's where the relief comes in, isn't it? And then, as ever with the Bible, we then begin to turn the spotlight on ourselves and realize that we also come under that judgment. But I think that his main kind of drive here is that value that is being given to everything. Like God really does see everything and we see it in verse 22. So I saw that there's nothing better for a person than to enjoy their work, because that is their lot. Like this lot, this work, this life that we're living, because it's given by God, is of value. And I think we need to sort of hear that before we then sort of push it a bit further.
Sarah: Yeah, no, I think you're right. And I wonder, as we hear that, and I don't know whether I'm going too far in this now, but then saying, well, isn't it amazing that the God who is outside of time and the one who is the One who oversees time and it isn't limited by time? Isn't it then extraordinary that he so values every human being and our existence that he would step into time in the form of His Son? Just dwelling on that for a moment. I don't know, am I going too far in that? What do you think?
Felicity: No, I think that's right. So we're getting into how we take this to Jesus, aren't we? Which is always a challenging well, we need to be careful. But I think you're right that seeing that we are New Testament believers, like we do know that that is what happens. And as we see what is being said here and then take it to Jesus, stepping into that, it increases the impact of that, doesn't it? I think the value, as you say, and I think in that when we talk about well, he raises the question here in verse 21, who knows if the human spirit rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth. And as we hear that question, as New Testament believers, we know that there is an answer to that. In fact, you can hear the answer, I think in the Psalms and in Isaiah, we know resurrection, life, Christ himself being risen from the dead is the answer. So we know ultimately there is this glorious happy ending to a degree, isn't there? Is that going too? Like we're always asking each other that question?
Sarah: I don't know, because it's not explicit, is it? But I think we want to we want to glory in Jesus, don't we? And we want to glory. Actually, we come back to these kind of Middle verses that 15 through 17, and you go, wow, that judgment will come and wow that it has been taken by the Lord Jesus as he died for me on that. Cross that actually I can look at this in awe and in fear of the Lord in a right way rather than in terrifying fear that I will be judged for every sin past, present and future. And I think that this does drive us there, doesn't it? So the big kind of command at the end of this book is to fear God. And I feel like as New Testament believers, our fear is driven through the cross isn't it? That we are in awe that this judgment has been taken, but also this just gives us a greater perspective on how to use our time now and how to trust God with our time to enjoy the work we've been given because it's our lot. We don't ordain the seasons of our life, the Lord does. And so can we trust Him?
Felicity: I think that's right. I think that's right. And as we take it to Jesus in that way, we are kind of increasing the way in which this text comes to bear on our hearts. And so we kind of need to cycle back and okay, so where does it sit for us as we read these words in Ecclesiastes? Where does it hit my heart in terms of how am I not letting God be Lord over my time? Or how do I think that God is not Lord over my time? Or how am I challenged or my contentment levels? I think that's something that I've been thinking about and just seeing all of life as seen by God, that in itself ordinary life. It's not just about the extraordinary, but ordinary faithfulness, I think is brought into.
Sarah: View here, and ordinary humanness and I think I don't know. Yeah. You may say I'm going too far now as well, but actually, how many of these things did Jesus do while he was on Earth? As a like it's amazing, isn't it? He did weep, he did laugh, he did dance, he did mourn, he did embrace, he did search, he did mend, he spoke up. He was also silent. He loved. I just think that picture of being human, of being fully human is beautiful, isn't it? And as you said right at the beginning, he didn't have to go past verse two in this poem, did he? He could have just stopped there. There's a time to be born and a time to die. That's the statement, isn't it?
Felicity: Yeah.
Sarah: And yet he doesn't. He goes and dwells on the beauty of being human and kind of coming back to what we were looking at last time, actually find enjoyment as you look to God and the hand of God in your life and kind of just rest in that.
Felicity: Yeah. And I think as we look to Jesus, we see that in action, don't we? It reminds me back of verse twelve. I know that there's nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. And essentially that is it, isn't it? This is what it is to do life under the eye of the Lord, fearing him to be happy, enjoy, satisfied in what God has given us, and do good as Jesus ultimately did.
Sarah: Okay, Felicity, so just as we really drive this home to this week in verse 13, we say that each of them may eat and drink and find satisfaction in all their toil. This is the gift of god, what is it going to look like for you to see your week in view of being a gift from God? So rather than kind of I think it's a contrast between gain and gift. We're kind of getting is starting to kind of thread through this, aren't we? So let's just drive this home.
Felicity: As we close, I think a big part of that is resting in what God has given me. So what does my week hold? What does it look like? How is it going to go? I'm not gauging success, according to Gain by how has life been improved by my week, but actually being in the moment and thanking God for what I have in front of me and that there is good in that, there is satisfaction in that. And I can take what God has given me and I can seek to do good with that and honor Him. Yeah, anything. What about you? How does it come to bear for you?
Sarah: Yeah, I think for me, not kind of trying to rally against the season I'm in. I think sometimes it can be easy to want to fight against the season, to kind of try and strive and toil against the season rather than just go, oh, okay, this is the gift of God. This season, this particular time, actually, just try and kind of just sit in that and rest in that and try and go at the pace that the season probably demands. So whether that's with children fully around my knees and ankles at home, or whether that's and with a bit more time on my hands, or whether that's in a season of caring for dependence or just trying to rest into the time that he has allotted for me a bit more and trusting him, that that's his gift to me in that.
Felicity: Why don't you pray for us, Sarah? In that?
Sarah: Yeah, I'd love to. Our Father, we just thank you so much for this word. We thank you that there is a time for everything, a season, for every activity under the heavens. And Lord, how we so often want to be in charge of our own time, how often we so want to control our time rather than acknowledge that it is all a gift from you and you have given us our lot. And Father, we just pray, please, would you keep sharpening our view on our time and on our reality in this world, that we would see it as you see it, that we would remember that whilst you have placed eternity in our hearts, we cannot fathom what you have done from beginning to end. And that is a good and right thing, that we are limited, but you are unlimited. And so we pray, please, would you help grow our fear and awe of you as we continue to work through this book and seek its treasure and its wisdom? In your name we pray. Amen.
Felicity: Amen. Thank you, Sarah. So do tell other people about this podcast. We would love for others to be listening along, to be getting into the word. So leave a review. That's one way of doing that. Spread the word that way. But also just tell a friend, get someone else listening along with you. We will see you next time.
Sarah: Indeed. See you next time. Bye.
Felicity: Bye. This season is sponsored by Tenabos.com.
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