Ecclesiastes 3:5 Commentary and Bible Study

It is time to create arable land; the agricultural implements will be damaged and the crops will not grow well if the field is full of stones, so the field must be cleared. If this was the plot of land you had inherited or purchased, you had little option but to make the most of it, so there was no avoiding this task. Stones are heavy and in ancient time had to be picked out by hand one by one, since there is no other practical way of removing them. It is a dirty, time consuming, and back breaking work, involving bending down continually. They must be put in a container and carted away and the whole task is highly laborious. Also, before long, as the soil is reworked, further stones come to the surface and the operation must be repeated. But on the other hand, when a wall is to be built or a house constructed, stones are needed and must often be taken from a quarry, or from wherever else they are found. This too is onerous work and not undertaken without a good cause.There is no point trying to argue with Solomon and say, ‘Yes, but the stones removed from the field could be set aside ready to build the house later’, for he is not denying that planning is possible and efficiencies can be made; he is only giving us examples of what so often happens. The purpose in hand is the important thing and this requires us to make efforts that at other times we would not bother to make. Circumstances have again driven us to do something that could be seen as the opposite of what we did before. This is a metaphor for the purposelessness of life, for no one believes he is making progress when on one occasion he undoes what he previously did on another occasion.The same is true when it comes to embracing a friend, and refraining from embracing due to some issue arising. Those were times when it was necessary for neighbours to cooperate and share implements and even staff, in order to get the work done. There was a time to be neighbourly and get on with each other. But then things might change and your neighbour rustles your sheep, or encroaches on your land, and you have to take a sterner attitude and things will get a bit difficult. Or we might think of a father who loves to embrace his child, but if there is bad behaviour, this would send the wrong message, and so for a time he must refrain from embracing. You do not organize any of these happenings or know that they are coming in advance. We are creatures of response; we refuse to have God over us, and think we will be free, but all manner of purposes are sent from heaven to obstruct the freedom we thought we had. So often the behaviour of others affects our lives also. Whether you stay close to another or need to avoid them is not in your control.