Ecclesiastes 3:1 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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Ecclesiastes 3:1

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Although this passage is so well known that it can be quoted with some accuracy even by those who have little familiarity with the Bible, the common view of these words fails completely to understand Solomon’s meaning and even turns his argument on its head. There is a time for every purpose under heaven – heaven has a purpose; that is certain. It is God’s purposes that are fulfilled on earth, and man cannot help encountering those purposes which intersect with his life. But why does he tell us this? Is man able to know what that purpose is? Does Solomon mean that God has an appointed time and our task is to recognise God’s time and harmonise our lives with his purposes? But this requires man to be capable of discerning God’s times and to adapt to them. Although there is indeed a time appointed by God for every purpose under heaven, man under the sun is not capable of discerning it. Alternatively, some leave God completely out of the picture in their interpretation of this passage. They like to turn these words into a message of optimism. There is a right time to do various things and if we are wise, we will spot it and act on it. Is this the secret of a happy life? Some think this is all about being in step with the rhythms of life, leading to the possibility of an ideal life on earth even without knowing the Lord. Both of these views of the passage are ruled out by Solomon’s first example.What he is really saying is that circumstances force themselves upon us. The time spoken of here is God’s time, an inevitable time, a time we cannot avoid. The whole passage is an observation about man, viewed as living in unbelief. God is not in view in the passage at all as far as man is concerned. Far from him needing to spot the best time, the point is that his choices are forced on him whether he is aware of God or not. Circumstances compel all men to behave in a certain way even though they utterly deny God’s existence. We are pushed around by life and do not have the freedom to control our destiny which we like to imagine. Nothing is said about how to identify the right time for the simple reason that, in the sense in which it is intended here, no one ever fails to identify the time, for the time thrusts itself upon him. Verses 2 to 8 present a list of pairs of events in life, where one member of each pair may be considered the opposite of the other. Early in life, most people are characterised by enthusiasm. They engage with equal optimism when they break down as when they build up, when they cast stones away as when they gather them. Each response seems the right thing to do at the time and makes sense to the one in that situation. Yet in some cases we find ourselves undoing what we did with equal vigour only a short while ago. If a man spent the entire day going back and forth along the same stretch of road, we might reasonably ask what he thought he was achieving. On a bigger scale, life also forces reversals and repetition on us in a similarly meaningless way.

Application

This is most important because a major engine of atheism is human hunger for self-determination. I want to have my own way and not be governed, not be a subject creature. These days, I even want to determine my moral values. I will decide everything. This is part of our depravity. We want to be free, not to have to give account to God. But Scripture tells us here that so often we are driven by life. This is not about how to discern the times; it is an observation about the futility of all earthly purposes. It is Solomon’s assault on human self-determination, which is part of our sinful rebellion against God. It is as though he says, ‘You want to be the master of your life, to be in charge, do you? Well how about thinking about a few simple factors in life?’ It is God’s purposes that prevail, and our purposes have to be adjusted again and again. and even reversed completely. Wisdom starts with having a more sober assessment of our powers. Are you free as you like to imagine? No, you are but a creature of circumstances. For every activity in human experience, there is a time and a season. We purse our lips and say, this is a generalisation, so he works it out for us.

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Ecclesiastes 3:1 Commentary and Bible Study