Ecclesiastes 3:3 Commentary and Bible Study

We are probably still thinking of life on the farm, although there are also other situations to which this applies. There is a time to slaughter for the table, when the animal has grown to full maturity; but another time it is right to nurture and protect life. At one moment it is appropriate to kill, at another it is appropriate to do the opposite and to heal. While the animal is young the farmer gives medicine or calls the vet when it is sick to prolong its life. But when it is fully grown, he arranges for it to be slaughtered for that is the reason that he nurtured it in the first place. Circumstances have led him to do two things that are opposites. The animal husbandman cannot say I will double the size of my flock every year and build up the herd. He has to follow the market and send his animal for slaughter. Other things may intervene. He is dominated by circumstances.One situation calls for us to break down a wall or a house, another requires us to build a new one in its place. Each set of circumstances is a powerful motivator, but leading us to take the opposite course of action on two different occasions. Does the farmer create the seasons? No, he is powerless to bring summer or winter. He must cooperate with seasons and observe the times that are the means of life to him. He ploughs and tils the soil and plants his seed; he waits for the crop to spring up – he does not know how – and the warm sun to ripen it until the day of harvest arrives.