In the text, Solomon continues to unveil his study of the plight of mankind in light of his rebellion against God. Many who study the book of Ecclesiastes believe Solomon had a pessimistic outlook on life, but truly this isn’t so. Nevertheless, such an uninformed conclusion belies the fact that the Lord made Solomon not only the wisest man alive, and wiser than any who came before him, but wiser than all who would come later, as well. Therefore, if Solomon truly was wiser than anyone who would come later (1Kings 3:12), how could any of us, even we who have the Holy Spirit, conclude anything different from what the Lord told Solomon? One simply can’t come to the table and defend the truth of scripture, and at the same time deny what it says. It seems to me rather trite and arrogant for a believer to claim he is wiser than Solomon and consider his testimony either wrong or out of date. If we accept the worldview that all scripture is inspired and worthy for sound doctrine (Hebrews 4:12; 2Timothy 3:16), then logic follows that whatever Solomon said couldn’t be wrong or out of date. If his point of view seems wrong, then it is we who must find a way to adjust our worldview to agree with that of Solomon.
Solomon continues in the theme of his previous conclusion, namely, that joy in life is the gift of God, which truly is given to those who have rebelled (Genesis 3), albeit, only those rebels who have repented and make an effort in life to submit to God’s original plan (Genesis 1:26-28). Just as a man is unable to control the time or event of his own birth (cp. Ecclesiastes 3:2), so too, he is unable to control the cycles of life (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8). Such things lay solidly in the power of God, and they cannot be increased and strengthened or reduced and weakened by the effort and will of man (cp. Ecclesiastes 3:14). Only the Lord has power over the length and breadth of the times and the seasons of life under the sun (cp. Mark 13:20).
The Teacher offers us two sets of seven cycles or seasons of life, and contrasts one set with the other. There is (paraphrasing) “a time for bearing and planting, and a time for death and harvesting; a time to kill (destroy) and break down and a time to heal (repair) and build up (Ecclesiastes 3:2-3). There is a time to weep and to mourn but also to laugh and to dance; a time to gather stones (remember) and embrace and a time to cast stones away (forget) and refrain from embracing (Ecclesiastes 3:4-5). There is a time to get (acquire) and to keep, and a time to lose (spend) and to cast (give) away; a time to rend and to keep silent and a time to sew and to speak (Ecclesiastes 3:6-7). There is a time to hate and to make war, and there is a time to love and make peace” (Ecclesiastes 3:8). It seems that the Teacher speaks from two points of view, one active and the other passive, one where the participant in active in the process of life, while the other lets life happen to him. Nevertheless, whether an active participant or a passive observer, the seasons and the times, their length and their breadth fall under the authority of God, and the human factor, whether active or passive, is unable to affect to process.
The word everything (Ecclesiastes 3:1) means all or the whole (H3605), but the all or whole of what? We need to keep in mind that the Teacher’s journey or quest into the meaning of life (cp. Ecclesiastes 1:3) involves the business, which the Lord had given man to be occupied in (Ecclesiastes 1:13). The Teacher’s point doesn’t seem to lie in the uncertainty of human effort or the need to take advantage of every opportunity that arises, viz. make the seasons (zeman; H2165) and times (eth; H6256) work for human advantage etc. Rather, Solomon’s point seems to be that, concerning the monotonous and unending cycles or seasons of life, it makes no difference whether or not one is aware of the times or completely ignorant. All is vanity; all is meaningless, because there is no profit for human labor beyond enjoying the moment or beyond taking pleasure in what one does.
Why is this so? Is because the Lord is the Author of it all, the Beginner and the Finisher of all the seasons of the business that he has given man to do (Ecclesiastes 1:13). Man brings nothing into life at birth, and he is powerless to take anything away upon his death. Therefore, he has no profit in all his labors, and so nothing he does has any lasting meaning; vanity of vanities, all is vanity (Ecclesiastes 1:3).
Smoodock's Blog 