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Ecclesiastes Chapters 3 and 4

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1 To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven: 2 A time to be born, And a time to die; A time to plant, And a time to pluck what is planted; – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: Ecclesiastes Chapters 3 and 4


1
Ecclesiastes Chapters 3 and 4
  • Servants Meeting
  • February 6, 2010

2
A Song
  • Turn! Turn! Turn! (to Everything There is a
    Season)
  • The Byrds
  • Released in 1965
  • Reached 1 on American charts the week of
    December 4, 1965
  • Stayed at 1 for three weeks

3
Lyrics
  • To Everything (Turn, Turn, Turn)
  • There is a season (Turn, Turn, Turn)
  • And a time to every purpose, under Heaven
  • A time to be born, a time to die
  • A time to plant, a time to reap
  • A time to kill, a time to heal
  • A time to laugh, a time to weep

4
Ecclesiastes 3
  • 1 To everything there is a season, A time for
    every purpose under heaven
  • 2 A time to be born, And a time to die A time to
    plant, And a time to pluck what is planted
  • 3 A time to kill, And a time to heal A time to
    break down, And a time to build up
  • 4 A time to weep, And a time to laugh A time to
    mourn, And a time to dance
  • 5 A time to cast away stones, And a time to
    gather stones A time to embrace, And a time to
    refrain from embracing

5
Ecclesiastes 3
  • 6 A time to gain, And a time to lose A time to
    keep, And a time to throw away
  • 7 A time to tear, And a time to sew A time to
    keep silence, And a time to speak
  • 8 A time to love, And a time to hate A time of
    war, And a time of peace.

6
What is Wisdom
  • Just right or wrong?
  • Maybe, to the young and inexperienced
  • Maybe, to those who are content with the
    superficial and avoid depth
  • To those who really seek wisdom, there is more
  • It is not just about being right
  • There is the question of how
  • There is the question of timing
  • There is the issue of appropriateness
  • To everything there is a season

7
A time to give birth and a time to die
  • The Preacher begins by looking at the two
    extremes of life
  • Bookends of life
  • Everything else takes place between these two
    bookends
  • All other items mentioned are a choice

8
A time to give birth and a time to die
  • To us, symbolically speaking, there are times of
    birth or beginnings
  • Commitment to sincerity in our walk with God
  • Commitment to service
  • Commitment to another person
  • Rebirth
  • New beginning with God through repentance
  • Tears of repentance are considered a renewing of
    our baptism

9
A time to give birth and a time to die
  • Death
  • We have no control over the time of our physical
    death
  • There is a time for some things to die
  • Time of hypocrisy and dual life must die
  • When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I
    understood as a child, I thought as a child but
    when I became a man, I put away childish things.
    (1 Cor 1311)
  • Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and
    evil speaking be put away from you, with all
    malice. (Eph 431)

10
A time to plant and a time to pluck what is
planted
  • King Solomon was addressing a people familiar
    with agriculture
  • For us, times of fasting and spiritual renewal

11
A time to tear down and a time to build up
  • A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather
    stones
  • A time to tear and a time to sew
  • Could refer to buildings and materials
  • Servants are in the business of building people
  • There is a time to correct and a time to look the
    other way
  • Imagine if we felt like we had to correct
    everything
  • There is a time to criticize and a time to
    encourage
  • Saying
  • Praise in public criticize in private
  • Vince Lombardi

12
A time to tear down and a time to build up
  • Here there is a dimension of not just what is
    right and wrong, but how and when
  • Not just with our Sunday School students
  • With our families
  • While at work
  • With our communications with one another

13
A time to keep and a time to throw away
  • What happened to the good habits we used to have
    long ago when we first started serving?
  • Our regular prayers
  • Our spiritual readings
  • Our zeal and enthusiasm for the service
  • We may have neglected to keep these things and
    have instead kept new, unpleasant habits
  • Laziness
  • Indifference
  • The routine
  • A feeling of entitlement

14
A time to weep and a time to laugh
  • Here, we have the issue again of appropriateness
  • Emotions sometimes get the best of us, but we
    must learn to control them as best we can
  • Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with
    those who weep. (Rom 1215)
  • How unpleasant it is to attend a funeral
  • How often we might be lazy about attending a
    joyous event in someones life
  • Builds fellowship and unity
  • With our Sunday School students

15
A time to weep and a time to laugh
  • With our Sunday School students
  • Birthdays
  • Graduations
  • Accomplishments
  • In their difficulties
  • Weeping is something healthy, by the way
  • C.S. Lewis described pain as Gods megaphone. He
    whispers to us when we laugh, but He shouts to us
    when we weep.

16
A time to embrace and a time to refrain from
embracing
  • We may use this verse as a guide in what to
    accept and reject from society
  • Much good in western culture
  • Organization
  • Structure
  • Punctuality
  • Freedoms speech and worship
  • Much to reject
  • Secularism
  • Loose morals
  • Political correctness and relativism
  • Obamas version of health care reform

17
A time to be silent and a time to speak
  • Do I know the difference?
  • St. Arsanius I have spoken often and regretted,
    but I have never regretted my silence
  • Your lips, O my spouse, Drip as the honeycomb
    Honey and milk are under your tongue (Song 411)
  • But there is a time to speak
  • It is true that the Lord Himself was silent while
    being examined
  • He opened not His mouth nor did He defend Himself

18
A time to be silent and a time to speak
  • But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest
    answered and said to Him, I put You under oath
    by the living God Tell us if You are the Christ,
    the Son of God!
  • Jesus said to him, It is as you said.
    Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will
    see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of
    the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.
    (Matt 2663-64)

19
A time to be silent and a time to speak
  • He broke His silence because it was the time to
    speak
  • It was the time to witness and give honor to the
    living God
  • Maybe we sometimes shy away from speaking the
    truth and witnessing to our faith
  • Maybe we sometimes find it difficult to tell our
    students what is right and wrong for fear of
    their reaction or that they might not like us
    anymore
  • Maybe, too, while at work, we keep silent, out of
    fear, when asked about our beliefs

20
A time to be silent and a time to speak
  • More than this, the question is how to speak?
  • Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned
    with salt (Col 46)
  • If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and
    does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own
    heart, this ones religion is useless. (James
    126)
  • Nowadays, speech includes emails and texts
  • Even these should be with grace and seasoned with
    salt, especially those sent to our students
  • It is really an art that requires attention and
    lifelong practice in order to perfect

21
A time to love and a time to hate
  • Hate is such an unpleasant word
  • Should we ever hate?
  • But the Lord hates
  • The LORD tests the righteous, But the wicked and
    the one who loves violence His soul hates. (Psa
    115)
  • These six things the LORD hates, Yes, seven are
    an abomination to Him A proud look, A lying
    tongue, Hands that shed innocent blood, A heart
    that devises wicked plans, Feet that are swift in
    running to evil, A false witness who speaks lies,
    And one who sows discord among brethren. (Pro
    616-19)
  • For the LORD God of Israel says That He hates
    divorce, For it covers ones garment with
    violence, says the LORD of hosts. Therefore take
    heed to your spirit, That you do not deal
    treacherously. (Mal 216)

22
A time to love and a time to hate
  • So our hatred should be directed toward the evil
    that we do
  • But we should always love evil-doers and pity
    them
  • We should love those things that lead to
    righteousness
  • We should love correction and discipline
  • We should love being challenged to reach new
    spiritual heights

23
Also He has put eternity in their hearts
  • God has given us a sense of eternity
  • A sense of thinking of and imagining life beyond
    our own short lives
  • It means that man desires this eternal life and
    seeks after it
  • Man has a desire to understand Gods purposes and
    His economy
  • So we pursue science and philosophy and theology
  • We have also a hunger for God Himself
  • St. Augustine Our souls will forever be
    troubled, until we find our rest in You.

24
Chapter 4
  • The Loneliness of Oppression
  • The Rivalry of Competition
  • The Emptiness of Success
  • The Strength of Togetherness

25
Loneliness of Oppression
  • 1 Then I returned and considered all the
    oppression that is done under the sun And look!
    The tears of the oppressed, But they have no
    comforter --- On the side of their oppressors
    there is power, But they have no comforter.
  • 2 Therefore I praised the dead who were already
    dead, More than the living who are still alive.
  • 3 Yet, better than both is he who has never
    existed, Who has not seen the evil work that is
    done under the sun.

26
Loneliness of Oppression
  • It is bad enough to be oppressed, but how much
    worse is it to face it alone
  • Because of the misery of oppression which the
    Preacher saw, he concludes
  • Job, too, felt this way when he asked
  • May the day perish on which I was born, And the
    night in which it was said, A male child is
    conceived. (Job 33)
  • Why did I not die at birth? Why did I not perish
    when I came from the womb? (Job 311)

Those who were never born Better off than Those who have now died Better off than The living today
27
The Rivalry of Competition
  • 4 Again, I saw that for all toil and every
    skillful work a man is envied by his neighbor.
    This also is vanity and grasping for the wind.
  • 5 The fool folds his hands And consumes his own
    flesh.
  • 6 Better a handful with quietness Than both hands
    full, together with toil and grasping for the
    wind.

28
The Rivalry of Competition
  • Man is by nature competitive.
  • He desires to be the best as what he does.
  • And this spirit of competition can lead to
    covetousness.
  • The Preacher found that this competition is
    empty.
  • There is always someone a little better.
  • All this striving eventually leads to
    accomplishment that is temporary.
  • There is loneliness at the top.

29
The Rivalry of Competition
  • What to do?
  • Not compete or compete without restraint?
  • He offered a proverb as a resolution

Proverb 1 Proverb 2
The fool folds his hands And consumes his own flesh. (45) Better a handful with quietness Than both hands full, together with toil and grasping for the wind. (46)
It is foolish to drop out of a competitive endeavor It is equally foolish to be so competitive that you never enjoy rest
30
The Emptiness of Success
  • 7 Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the
    sun
  • 8 There is one alone, without companion He has
    neither son nor brother. Yet there is no end to
    all his labors, Nor is his eye satisfied with
    riches. But he never asks, " For whom do I toil
    and deprive myself of good?" This also is vanity
    and a grave misfortune.

31
The Emptiness of Success
  • Success being sought for ones own selfish gain
    is vanity
  • A man who cannot enjoy success with others finds
    emptiness in the success

32
The Strength of Togetherness
  • 9 Two are better than one, Because they have a
    good reward for their labor.
  • 10 For if they fall, one will lift up his
    companion. But woe to him who is alone when he
    falls, For he has no one to help him up.
  • 11 Again, if two lie down together, they will
    keep warm But how can one be warm alone?
  • 12 Though one may be overpowered by another, two
    can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not
    quickly broken.

33
The Strength of Togetherness
  • Togetherness increases the reward
  • Togetherness provides help in time of trouble
  • Togetherness warms both body and soul
  • Togetherness holds up under attack

34
Summary Chapter 3
  • Wisdom is not just right and wrong
  • One can be right but be unwise in the way and
    timing
  • Wisdom is appropriateness
  • There is a season for everything under the sun
  • God has put eternity in our hearts

35
Summary Chapter 4
  • The Loneliness of Oppression
  • The Rivalry of Competition
  • The Emptiness of Success
  • The Strength of Togetherness
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