19/11/21. Ecclesiastes Study 8. 3:1-8

 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

² a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
³ a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
⁴ a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
⁵ a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
⁶ a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
⁷ a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
⁸ a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.

1. What is the poem in verses 1-8 about?  What is Qoheleth’s view of time? Does the poem seem positive or negative?

If we live long enough, we will experience many things in life. There is an observation that life is complex. Different things happen at different times. These times do not last. There are seasons to life.

There is also wisdom in teaching appropriateness of timing: a need to grasp the right time to do something. What is right and what is wrong depends often on timing. One action is often not intrinsically better than another.

Life often involves contradictory actions. These may cancel out one another. 

Occasions happen out of our choosing. They are not within our control. 

There is a hidden order behind events. 

The passage can also apply to humankind, rather to individuals.

 

There are specific occasions when something happens, or needs to be done. Not all times are equally significant. Times carry meaning.

The poem is more positive than negative because it shows that God sees all our times in life's complexity.

Qoheleth's use of a poem to each truth shows a certain beauty to life. He  could have said things very simply, but he chose to use a song. His repetition of "a time to..." also hints at an underlying weariness.

2. Try to unpack the underlying meaning of each of the 14 pairs of contrasts laid out by Qoheleth.

• Birth and death are not in our control. There is a cycle of life. There are times to start and times to end. There is also an implied assurance that our lives are intimately known by God.
  
• Planting and uprooting speaks of commitment and breaking of commitment.
• Killing and healing speak of ending decisively vs. restoration. Killing may be a time of unrest, vs. a time of restoration
  
• Breaking down and building up speak also of destruction vs. development.
• Weeping and laughing are responses to more intense experiences or insights in life. There is also a call to face these experiences with deliberate intent and to rejoice or to weep rightly.
• The difference between mourning/dancing and weeping/laughing has to do with the outward expression of an internal emotion.
• Casting/throwing stones speaks of freedom to be uncautious vs the need to conserve resources.
• Embracing/refraining means there are times to express affection or emotion, and a time to withhold the expression even if the desire is there.
• Seeking/losing is about knowing when to give up the effort to look for something
• Keeping and throwing is about knowing how important something is to us as part of our lives and making decisions accordingly.
• Tearing/sewing is also about destruction and creation/repair. Tearing of clothes may speak of mourning, and a time to finish mourning.
  
• Silence and speech has to do with wisdom to know when to speak. We must control the tongue.
• Love and grace are sometimes right. And righteous hatred is sometimes necessary.
• War/peace is knowing when to compromise and when not.
  

What are some good reasons not to reverse or lay aside another person’s work? 

When the work is good or adequate and we resist the temptation to put our own stamp on it. We

When the work is not good and we refrain for pastoral reasons knowing that the person did his or her best, and the work is not critically important.

3. How do verses 1-8 connect with Qoheleth's search in the surrounding chapters? What does this poem reveal to the Preacher about God?

Life is cyclic and not in our control. God does not operate according to our logic.

Qoheleth 'tests', 'considers', 'hates' and 'despairs'. He settles on the enjoyment of simple things.Some themes in the poem have already been addressed: death in 2:14-17, planting and building in 2:4-5. Perhaps he is saying that there were times to try and times to stop trying to search for meaning. Also, times to feel down and times to enjoy life. Death is certain.

All our different times are in God's hands. (Ps 31:15). He knew all our days before we were born ("Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them,  the days that were formed for me,    when as yet there was none of them.Ps 139:16)

In our best and worst days we remember that He foresaw them all.

We also try to identify the season of life we are in.