Words in italic type have been added for clarity. They are not found in the original Hebrew or Aramaic.

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Ecclesiastes 3

Everything Has Its Time

Ecclesiastes 3:¹ To everything there is a season,
A time for every purpose under heaven:

• Everything has a purpose and every purpose has a reason for its season.

Ecclesiastes 3:² A time to be born (Lit. to bear),
And a time to die;
A time to plant,
And a time to pluck what is planted;

Ecclesiastes 3:³ A time to kill,
And a time to heal;
A time to break down,
And a time to build up;

Ecclesiastes 3:⁴ A time to weep,
And a time to laugh;
A time to mourn,
And a time to dance;

• “I danced with the Trinity
  on the playground of life;
  as I grew to maturity
  I heard His Words and fell in love.” ~BG

Ecclesiastes 3:⁵ A time to cast away stones,
And a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace,
And a time to refrain from embracing;

Ecclesiastes 3:⁶ A time to gain,
And a time to lose;
A time to keep,
And a time to throw away;

Ecclesiastes 3:⁷ A time to tear,
And a time to sew;
A time to keep silence,
And a time to speak;

Ecclesiastes 3:⁸ A time to love,
And a time to hate;
A time of war,
And a time of peace.

The God-Given Task

Ecclesiastes 3:⁹ What profit has the worker from that in which he labors?

Ecclesiastes 3:¹⁰ I have seen the God (‘ĕlōhîm)-given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied.

Ecclesiastes 3:¹¹ He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God (‘ĕlōhîm) does from beginning to end.

• God has a few cards He has not yet played, but when He does It will be something no one can comprehend. Praise His Holy Name!
  
• My heart is wrung out when I think of all the mistakes I’ve made in life. The people who have hurt me and the hurt I’ve caused in others. Then I remember – Romans 8:28 !!! There is no such thing as a mistake when you give your life to God. He makes EVERYTHING work out for the best.
  
  If you believe God can’t forgive you for the mistakes you’ve made…then you must believe you are competing with the apostle Paul who said he was the chief among sinners.
  
  Enjoy peace of heart and mind when you realize that in the end, God is going to make EVERYTHING perfect again. Ecclesiastes 3:11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that NO ONE can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.
  
  No one knows God’s entire plan for man. He hides it where no eyes can see it. Wait and see what God can do; this is faith in action.
  
  Trust HIm who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power (HIS POWER) that works in us, Ephesians 3:20
  
  YES! It will work out. YES! You don’t need to hurt, worry, fear, or punish yourself. YES, when you see what God can and will do, you will understand why Psalm 9:1 says: I will praise You, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will tell of all Your marvelous works.
  
  Today, this day, find peace of heart and rejoice in your beautiful future with the Lord. He will in no way cast you out.

Ecclesiastes 3:¹² I know that nothing is better for them than to rejoice, and to do good in their lives,

Ecclesiastes 3:¹³ and also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor—it is the gift of God (‘ĕlōhîm).

• God is also a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Ecclesiastes 3:¹⁴ I know that whatever God (‘ĕlōhîm) does,
It shall be forever.

• “Everything man builds will rot and decay. Everything God builds flourishes and stays.” ~Barbara Grover

Nothing can be added to it,
And nothing taken from it.

• The meaning of the number 7 is absolute perfection. Nothing can be added to it or taken from it without marring it. The Works of God are perfect.

God (‘ĕlōhîm) does it, that men should fear (stand in awe at His works and tremble in fear at His power) before Him.

Ecclesiastes 3:¹⁵ That which is has already been,
And what is to be (hāyâ) has already been (hāyâ);
And God (‘ĕlōhîm) requires (Lit. seeks) an account of what is past (what is pursued).

• Exodus 3:14 And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM (literally hāyâ hāyâ) .” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ”
  • The meaning of “haya haya” is: I AM in the eternal past, I AM in the eternal present, and I AM in the eternal future; I always was, am, and will be. My existence requires no justification, no explanations and no defense. The Past, Present and Future are all one, just as I and the Father and the Spirit are one.”
    • Isaiah 55:8-9 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts (higher) than your thoughts.
    • Job 42:3,5 “Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, But now my eye sees You.”

• “Trust the only One who stands in all the tenses at once; the past, present, and future. Life is a minefield of destruction. Death and destruction are in the air, the earth, the food, our bodies, and our choices in life; but God leads us through that mined valley one step at a time…step here, not there, step there, not here, come towards Me.”
  
• Comments: “That which IS has already been”
  In Scripture – history repeats itself in a spiritual spiral. God’s timeline is never-ending and circular like DNA or like a “Slinky”. One prophecy can refer to more than one event.

Injustice Seems to Prevail

Ecclesiastes 3:¹⁶ Moreover I saw under the sun:

In the place of judgment (justice),
Wickedness was there;
And in the place of righteousness,
Iniquity (Wickedness) was there.

Ecclesiastes 3:¹⁷ I said in my heart,

“God (‘ĕlōhîm) shall judge the righteous and the wicked,
For there is a time there for every purpose (desire) and for every work.”

Ecclesiastes 3:¹⁸ I said in my heart, “Concerning the condition of the sons of men, God tests them, that they may see that they themselves are like animals.”

Ecclesiastes 3:19 For what happens to the sons of men also happens to animals; one thing befalls them: as one dies, so dies the other. Surely, they all have one breath; man has no advantage over animals, for all is vanity.

Ecclesiastes 3:²⁰ All go to one place: all are from the dust, and all return to dust.

• Note: Gen 3:19 “For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.”

Ecclesiastes 3:²¹ Who knows the spirit of the sons of men, which goes upward (Who knows whether the spirit . . . goes upward, and whether . . . goes downward to the earth?), and the spirit of the animal, which goes down to the earth?

Ecclesiastes 3:²² So I perceived that nothing is better than that a man should rejoice in his own works, for that is his heritage (portion or lot). For who can bring him to see what will happen after him?

Footnotes:

1. Ecclesiastes 3:2
2. Ecclesiastes 3:15
3. Ecclesiastes 3:15