ECCLESIASTES 3
Time for everything in life verse 1- 8
To everything there is a season
AND time to every purpose under the heaven
a time to be born – and a time to die
a time to plant – 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 – 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 to war – and a time to peace
Gift of God verse 9- 13
What profit hath he that works in that wherein he labors?
I have seen the travail which God has given
to the sons of men
to be exercised by it
HE has made everything beautiful in HIS time
ALSO HE has set the world in their heart
SO THAT no man can find out the work that God
make 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 all his labor
it is the gift of God
Consistency of God’s work verse 14- 15
I know that whatsoever God does – it shall be for ever
nothing can be PUT to it – nor any thing TAKEN FROM it
AND God does it
that men should FEAR before HIM
That which hath been is now
AND that which is to be has already been
AND God requires that which is past
God the righteous judge verse 16- 17
AND moreover
I saw the under the sun the place of judgment
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
Rejoice in your own works – death is coming verse 18- 22
I said in my heart concerning the estate of the sons of men
that God might manifest them
and that they might see
that they themselves are beasts
For that which befalls the sons of men befalls beasts
even one thing befalls them
as the one dies so dies the other
yea – they have all one breath
so that a man has no preeminence
above the beast
for all are VANITY
All go to one place
all are of the dust – and all turn to dust again
Who knows the spirit of man
that goes UPWARD
AND spirit of the beast that goes
DOWNWARD to the earth?
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?
COMMENTARY:
DAILY SPIRITUAL BREAKFAST: Young Believers
: 2 – “A time to be born, and a time to die; A time to plant, And a time to pluck
what is planted;” The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982). Die – 4191 מוּת [muwth /mooth/] 1 to die, kill, have one executed. 1A (Qal). 1A1 to die. 1A2 to die (as penalty), be put to death. 1A3 to die, perish (of a nation). 1A4 to die prematurely (by neglect of wise moral conduct). 1B (Polel) to kill, put to death, dispatch. 1C (Hiphil) to kill, put to death. 1D (Hophal). 1D1 to be killed, be put to death. 1D1A to die prematurely. James Strong, Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon (Woodside Bible Fellowship, 1995).
DEVOTION: Solomon tells us there is a time for everything and that birth and death are parts of His plan. Death is difficult for families and individuals to deal with, the reality of a loved being separated from us and seeing them no longer is stressful. Today was such a day with the call to conduct funerals, come to the home of a hospice patient that had taken a turn for worse and then the call to the hospital as a congregation member’s loved one passed away. The brevity of life became very clear due to those encounters. Yet the Scripture remains clear that the Lord is in control and knows the hairs on our head and the days of our lives. (Matt.10:28-30)
Challenge: Take time today to thank the Lord for this day that is given you! Whether you are planting, harvesting, enjoying life or experiencing loss recognize the Lord’s hand in your life. (Dr. Brian Miller – board member)
DAILY SPIRITUAL LUNCH: Transitional Believer
: 10 I have seen the travail, which God has given to the sons of men to be exercised in it. (6045 “travail” [‘inyan] means business, affair, activity directed toward making or doing something, occupation, task, employment, or job.)
DEVOTION: Work is something that God has ordained for all humans. HE wants all of us to work. HE gave Adam and Eve a job as soon as HE created them. They were to tend the garden of Eden.
HE wants all of us to be individuals who work for a living. HE wants us to make sure that we realize that work is good for us. We are not to be lazy. HE wants us to be exercised each day with something to do.
It is sad that some people think that others should support them to be lazy. It is not good for the government to do it as it gives time for them to get into trouble. Work is good for health.
Too often we think that it would be good to just do nothing and be lazy but that is not what the LORD wants as HE gave Adam and Eve work HE wants us to work for a living. It makes us feel like we have really earned something and done something worthwhile.
Exercise is good. Work is good for all. God has ordained it and we should encourage it over laziness that we find in our world.
CHALLENGE: Those who are followers of the LORD should be known as individuals who work for HIM on a daily basis in the occupation HE has give us. Laziness is not something God encourages.
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: 17 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. (2656 “purpose” [chephets] means event, affair, pleasure, desire, acceptable, matter, willingly, or delight.)
DEVOTION: Solomon knows that there is a time for everything in God’s plan for the universe. There is coming a time for judgment.
There are only two types of individuals in the world: righteous or wicked. There is no middle ground. There is no postmortem evangelism. The choice has to be made here during our lifetimes. After death comes judgment. There is a desire on the part of the holiness of God to judge humans in this world. Some choose to reject God’s Son and others choose to follow God’s Son.
Solomon looked forward to the Messiah’s birth on this earth. The judgment might not take place here on this earth but might wait for the end times at the Great White Throne Judgment of sinners.
Solomon sees the injustice in his world. We see the injustice in our world today. God sees it but allows it to happen until HE puts a stop to it. Each event has a consequence.
The righteous will receive rewards for properly motivated events. The wicked will receive their judgment for their actions either now or in eternity.
From our perspective it would be good that the wicked were judged now. However, when we break the commands of God now, do we want immediate judgment or forgiveness? Our responsibility now is to present the truth of the Word of God to all those in our world who need to follow Christ. HE is the ONLY way to heaven.
Do we believe this TRUTH???? Do we believe that God is working HIS pleasure on this earth? Are we setting the example we should to our world? Remember we are forgiven sinners serving the LORD!
CHALLENGE: God has a plan for your life and is working HIS plan. Yield to HIM daily. Complete the projects HE has given you. Don’t delay.
DAILY SPIRITUAL SUPPER: Mature Believers
: 21 Who knows the spirit of man that goes upward, and the spirit of the beast that goes downward to the earth? (7307 “spirit” [ruwach] means breath, wind, or mind.)
DEVOTION: When we are young, we think we will live forever. As we age, we wonder how long we will live. At old age we wonder when we will die.
Solomon is stating the obvious when he reminds us that we are all going to die sometime. We don’t have a date. We find people who try to set a date to die. Some try to end life sooner with the help of medicine or other things. Death is permanent.
The New Testament states that it is “appointed unto man once to die and then judgment.” There are no second chances after death. There is permanence to death. Some try to say that there is reincarnation. Some try to say that there is a second chance after death to become a believer. These are false teachings. The Bible makes it plain that every human being has to make a decision before death regarding his relationship to the LORD.
Solomon makes a second distinction between the death of a human and the death of an animal. They are both going to die and return to dust. However, he states that the human goes upward and the animal goes downward. There is a distinction throughout the Word of God between the differences between man and beast. Man has a living soul.
Mankind has a body, soul and spirit. That means that they have flesh and blood while they are here on this earth. They have a personality. They have a God consciousness. Those who are not followers of the LORD reject God and never allow the Holy Spirit to indwell them, so that, they become a child of God.
Animals have two of the same characteristics. They have a body or flesh and blood in their veins. They have a personality. It is never recorded that they have a God consciousness. They are created for a purpose. However, there doesn’t seem to be the same hope that the Scriptures give to human beings.
CHALLENGE: Live each day as if it is your last in relation to our service to the LORD. Don’t wait till tomorrow for something the LORD is telling you to do today. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
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DISCIPLINES OF THE FAITH:
BODY
Chastity (Purity in living)
Fasting (Time alone with LORD without eating or drinking)
Sacrifice (Giving up something we want to serve the LORD)
Submission (Willing to listen to others and LORD)
Solitude (Going to a quiet place without anyone)
SOUL
Fellowship (Gathering together around the Word of God)
Frugality (wise use of resources)
Journalizing (Writing down what you have learned from the LORD)
Study and Meditation (Thinking through your study in the Word)
Secrecy (Doing your good deeds without others knowing but God)
SPIRIT
Celebration (Gathering around a special occasion to worship LORD)
Confession (Tell the LORD we are sorry for our sins on a daily basis)
Prayer (Conversation with God on a personal level)
Silence (Letting the LORD deal with some problems and needs)
Worship (Time to praise the LORD alone or in a group)
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DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH:
Scripture (66 inerrant books of the Bible)
God the Father (First person of the Godhead)
God – Elohim (Creator, Sovereign) verse 10, 11, 13- 15,
17, 18
Made everything beautiful verse 11
Gift of God verse 13
Whatsoever God does – it shall be forever verse 14
Judge verse 17
God the Son (Second person of the Godhead –God/man, Messiah)
God the Holy Spirit (Third person of the Godhead – our comforter)
Trinity (Three persons of the Godhead who are co-equal = ONE God)
Angels (Created before the foundation of the world – Good and Evil)
Man (Created on the sixth twenty-four hour period of creation)
Sons of men verse 10, 18, 19
spirit of man goes upward verse 21
Sin (Missing the mark set by God on man and angels)
Wickedness verse 16
Iniquity verse 16
Wicked verse 17
Salvation (Provided by Christ’s death on the cross for our sins)
Work ethic verse 11, 13, 22
Rejoice verse 12, 22
Do good verse 12
Fear of the LORD verse 14
Righteousness verse 16
Righteous verse 17
Israel (Old Testament people of God)
Time for different things verse 1- 22
Everything has a season
Time to weep
Time to laugh
Time to embrace
Time to keep silence
Time to speak
Time to love
Time for peace
Everything is beautiful in his time
Time to do good in his life
Place of judgment
Man has no preeminence
All is vanity
Man should rejoice in his own works
Church (New Testament people of God)
Last Things (Future Events)
Kill verse 3
Die verse 19
Return to dust again verse 20
Spirit of man goes upward verse 21
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QUOTES regarding passage
16–17 One of the greatest problems in understanding the total plan of God is that reward and punishment sometimes seem conspicuously absent. People have a tendency to grab for themselves, and some are able to do this because they are in positions of power (v. 16). Hence believers, admittedly by an act of faith, hold that God will redress the wrong assessments made on earth (v. 17; Mal 3:16–4:3; Rev 22:11–12). (Wright, J. S. (1991). Ecclesiastes. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs (Vol. 5, pp. 1163–1164). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.)
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3:16. Anticipating a possible objection to the perfection of God’s plan (cf. comments on another anticipated problem in vv. 14–15), Solomon stated that he had not ignored the problem of injustice (cf. 4:1; 8:14). He himself had observed in this life (under the sun; cf. comments on 1:3) that injustice was often evident in a place where one should least expect it—in the courts, the place of judgment and of justice. The repetition of the phrase wickedness was there emphasizes his surprise and consternation. Moreover, he affirmed in 3:17 that God was not ignoring injustice; He has both a future disposition and a present purpose for it. (Glenn, D. R. (1985). Ecclesiastes. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, p. 985). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)
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3:16, 17 The term judgment may also be translated “justice,” giving an even more striking contrast to these words. It was outrageous that in the very establishments where people should expect justice, they could find only wickedness. The Preacher warns the wicked judges that God, the final judge, will come, rectify all wrongdoing, and bring true justice. This theme is so prominent in the book that Solomon repeats it in the conclusion (12:14), and he raises it often in the course of his argument (9:1; 11:9). (Radmacher, E. D., Allen, R. B., & House, H. W. (1997). The Nelson Study Bible: New King James Version (Ec 3:16–17). Nashville: T. Nelson Publishers)
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This is mentioned, either, 1. As another vanity, to wit, the vanity of honour and power, which is so oft an instrument of injustice and oppression. Or rather, 2. As another argument of the vanity of worldly things, or a hinderance of that comfort which men expect in this life, because they are oppressed by their rulers. I saw; I perceived it by information from others, and by my own observation. The place of judgment; in the thrones of princes and tribunals of magistrates, where judgment should be duly executed. Wickedness was there; judgment was perverted, the guilty acquitted, and the innocent condemned. The place of righteousness; in which righteousness should be found and should dwell, if it were banished from all other places. (Poole, M. (1853). Annotations upon the Holy Bible (Vol. 2, p. 285). New York: Robert Carter and Brothers.)
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Ver. 16. And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, &c.] Courts of judicature, where judges sit, and causes are brought before them, and are heard and tried; such as were the Jewish sanhedrim, of which the Midrash and Jarchi interpret it; that wickedness was there, wicked judges sat there, and wickedness was committed by them; instead of doing justice they perverted it; condemned the righteous, and acquitted the wicked; and oppressed the widow, fatherless, and stranger, whose cause, being just, they should have defended. So the Targum, “in which lying judges condemn the innocent.” Well does the wise man say he saw this under the sun, for there is nothing of this kind above it; nor approved of by him that is above it. And the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there; this signifies the same as before, only it is expressed in different words. The Midrash and Jarchi interpret this of the middle gate in Jerusalem, where Nergal Sharezer, and other princes of the king of Babylon, sat, and which Solomon foresaw by a spirit of prophecy; but the better sense is, that Solomon had observed a great deal of this kind in reading the histories and annals of nations; knew that much of this sort was practised in other countries, and had seen a great deal of it in his own, done in inferior courts, and by subordinate officers; and though he was a wise and righteous prince, yet was not able to rectify all these abuses, for want of sufficient proof, which yet he lamented, and it gave him a concern; compare with this Isa. 1:21–23. (Gill, J. (1810). An Exposition of the Old Testament (Vol. 4, p. 571). London: Mathews and Leigh.)
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3:16–17 The effects of the fall extend to human relationships (cf. Genesis 4), and thus in a fallen world one suffers outright injustice and wickedness at the hand of other human beings. What makes this sad reality tolerable is the certainty that God will judge the righteous and the wicked, i.e., ultimately justice will be done. (Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (pp. 1200–1201). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.)
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FROM MY READING:
(Remember the only author that I totally agree with is the HOLY SPIRIT in the inerrant WORD OF GOD called THE BIBLE! All other I try to gleam what I can to help me grow in the LORD!!)
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Samson desires a Philistine wife.
INSIGHT
Some people are strongly gifted and seem to see results, regardless of their personal worthiness. This is true of Samson. It is difficult to imagine a more unworthy vessel for the work of God. It is a challenge to decide if he carelessly disregards wisdom and the Word of God or whether his decision-making ability is somehow impaired. Nevertheless, in spite of his exceedingly foolish escapades, God uses him to bring judgment on the Philistines who have flaunted their hostility toward Jehovah. (Quiet Walk)
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CHRIST IS CENTRAL
Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.
Matthew 11:25
How ridiculous it is for people to talk about arriving at God apart from our Lord! God has committed everything to Him. Christ is central; Christ is absolutely essential. He once put it in these words: “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). This is the content of the revelation. He, Jesus of Nazareth, claimed that He was none other than the Son of God who had come to earth, and He said that He had done so because God had sent Him. Men and women had sinned against God and were therefore under His wrath; so God would have to punish their sin, and that would mean death and separation from God. So our Lord came, sent, He said, by God in order to deal with that problem.
So these, He says, are the things that have been “hid…from the wise and prudent, and…revealed …unto babes” (Matthew 11:25). Christ is the Son of God, and He has come into this world not only to teach and to work miracles. The real purpose of His coming was that He might die on the cross. God sent Him, says the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, in order to “taste death for every man” (Hebrews 2:9). He said He came to bear the sins of mankind in His own precious body on the cross on Calvary’s Hill. There He was punished for our sins. That is the message; that is the thing that “babes” have understood. These things are as simple as that, that God in Christ was making a way of salvation through the cross.
Therefore what have we to do? We have nothing to do but to believe that and to accept it as a free gift. For God’s way of salvation is that all my sins and failure and shame have been put upon the Son and dealt with and punished.
A Thought to Ponder
God in Christ was making a way of salvation through the cross.
(From The Heart of the Gospel, pp. 116-117, by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones)
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The Linen Clothes
“Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury.” (John 19:40)
The Jews of Jesus’ day prepared bodies for burial in a much different fashion than we do today. In our text the word “wound” actually means “to bind, tie, or wind,” and bodies were tightly rolled up in long strips of linen cloth. Parallel passages in Matthew 27:59, Mark 15:46, and Luke 23:53 employ words derived from the Greek hellisso, meaning “to coil,” from which we get our word “helix.”
The tightness of the winding can be inferred from the raising of Lazarus from the dead. After Christ had called him back to life, “he that was dead came forth, bound [same word as ‘wound’] hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go” (John 11:44).
On resurrection morning, after hearing the news of the missing body of Christ, Peter and John ran to the sepulcher. “Peter…went into the sepulcher, and seeth the linen clothes lie, And the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped [same word as ‘wound’] together in a place by itself. Then went in also that other disciple…and he saw, and believed” (John 20:6-8).
John recognized, as we should, that only a miracle could account for the state of these linen clothes. If thieves had stolen the body, they would either have taken the clothes, or the clothes would have been strewn around, not lying in the same location and shape as they had been when the body was present. Previously, John “knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead” (v. 9), but when he saw the linen clothes, he “believed.”
Christ miraculously rose from the dead. John believed; we have his eyewitness testimony. Can we do less? (JDM, The Institute for Creation Research)
James 2
True Christian love will not discriminate against the poor.
INSIGHT
“Birds of a feather flock together.” Trite as that may sound, it’s one of the fundamental laws of social interaction. We are more at home with those who are like us than with those who are not. There is nothing wrong with this tendency. It is built-in and there is little value in denying it. But if that tendency prompts us to act unlovingly, the action is wrong. A tendency cannot be avoided; unloving actions can. James specifically warns us about discriminating against the poor, though it is also wrong to discriminate against anyone because of wealth, creed, race, age, or national origin. The royal law is to love your neighbor as yourself regardless of who the neighbor is. (QuietWalk)
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Walking by a Blessing
If only you had paid attention to my commands. Isaiah 48:18
In 1799, twelve-year-old Conrad Reed found a large, glittering rock in the stream that ran through his family’s small farm in North Carolina. He carried it home to show his father, a poor immigrant farmer. His father didn’t understand the rock’s potential value and used it as a doorstop. The family walked by it for years.
Eventually Conrad’s rock—actually a seventeen-pound gold nugget—caught the eye of a local jeweler. Soon the Reed family became wealthy, and their property became the site of the first major gold strike in the United States.
Sometimes we walk past a blessing, intent on our own plans and ways. After Israel was exiled to Babylon for disobeying God, He proclaimed freedom for them once again. But He also reminded them of what they’d missed. “I am the Lord your God,” He told them, “who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go. If only you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would have been like a river, your well-being like the waves of the sea.” God then encouraged them to follow Him away from old ways into a new life: “Leave Babylon . . . ! Announce this with shouts of joy” (Isaiah 48:17–18, 20).
Leaving Babylon, perhaps now as much as then, means leaving sinful ways and “coming home” to a God who longs to do us good—if only we’ll obey and follow Him! (By James Banks, Our Daily Bread)
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THREE FRUITS OF REBIRTH
Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him. 1 John 5:1
The first fruit of the rebirth is that I believe that “Jesus is the Christ.” And obviously, believing that is not something intellectual or something I only do with my mind. If I believe, I commit my whole life to Him. If I believe, I know I am delivered because Christ has done that for me. I see that apart from Him I am lost and undone and doomed. This is a profound action; it is a commitment; it is a banking of one’s everything upon that fact.
The second fruit of rebirth is love for God. John’s way of putting it is: “every one that loveth him that begat…” Christians see that they are hell-deserving sinners and that they would have arrived in hell were it not for His great love in sending His Son. They realize the love of God for them, and therefore they love God; they realize they owe everything to Him. It seems to me that this again is one of those fundamental things about Christian men and women.
However good a life they may be living now as saints, they still feel that they are hell-deserving sinners in and of themselves, and that they owe everything to the grace of God; it is God’s love alone that has made them what they are. They lose their sense of fear and a sense of enmity against God and are filled with a sense of profound gratitude to Him.
And the final thing is, of course, that we love our brethren—“Every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.” We look at other believers, and we see in them the same disposition as in ourselves. We realize that they owe everything to the grace of God, just as we do. We realize that in spite of their sinfulness God sent His Son to die for them, exactly as He did for us; and we are aware of this bond. Though there are many things about them we do not like, we say, “That is my brother, my sister.”
A Thought to Ponder
We realize that in spite of their sinfulness God sent His Son to die for them, exactly as He did for us. (From Life I God, pp. 19-20, by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones)
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