Eld Ko Swee Chay

Everything Has Its Time Foreordained by God (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8)

Introduction

Man wants a happy and healthy life filled with good and pleasant things. He tries hard to get good luck and avoid the bad. He would go to soothsayers to choose a good day for his wedding, or to move house, or to seek advice on ways and means to make money. Houses, rooms, and offices facing the right direction are all done to get health and wealth.  As Christians, we ought not to engage in these unbiblical practices.

In Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, Solomon shared his observations concerning events that occur in the life of man. Through Solomon, God reveals to us Christians that He governs all man created by Him, and all things, and appoints a time for all things.

God’s Immutable Providence (Eccl 3:1)

¹ To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

Solomon penned this famous and often quoted verse - “a season” means duration of time or an appointed period; “a time” means a predetermined occurrence; the use of the phrase “under the heaven” instead of “under the sun” indicates divine order at play. The occurrence of everything and events are neither random nor by chance, but God has appointed them all. Not only has God appointed and controlled all things, He also fixed the time and predetermined the purpose of all things. Man is not in charge of his own destiny, though he may try.

As Christians, we ought to recognise the reality that we cannot really control much of our lives. We must align our thoughts and actions with God who is in control of time and events. How we respond to things and events is important - whether we look at them from a man-centric perspective or a faith-based perspective that honours and glorifies God through acknowledging His immutable providence and sovereignty. This is not fatalism. Fatalism is a false teaching that makes man not accountable for his actions. The doctrine of God’s providence holds man accountable for all his actions including his thoughts and motives and yet at the end of everything, man merely live and work within God’s sovereign will.

An appointed Time and Season for Everything (Eccl 3:2-8)

² A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which 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 together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; ⁶ A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; ⁷ A time to rend, 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.

Solomon gave a remarkable poem of twenty-eight “times” arranged in fourteen pairs of opposite events. Each verse presents two pairs of opposites that parallel each other. For example, Eccl 3:2, the two pairs of opposites are born/die and plant/pluck up; the two parallels are birth/plant and die/pluck up. The succeeding verses through Eccl 3:8 follow more or less the same structure.

The list begins with the life of man by pairing birth and death as the boundaries of life - his time of coming into the world, and his time of going out. Man has no control over both birth and death. The next thirteen opposite/parallel pairs cover things that occur in the lifetime of man from birth to death, broadly describing the different seasons and facets of life, both positive and negative:

• Constructive activities – plant, heal, build up, gather stones together
• Destructive activities – pluck up, kill, break down, cast away stones, war
• Bereavement - weep, mourn, rend, keep silence
• Cessation of mourning – sew, speak
• Rejoicing/celebration – laugh, dance
• Acquiring – get, keep
• Disposing – loss, cast away
• Relationship/emotion – love, peace, embrace, refrain from embracing

Though we may not be able to comprehend the exact meaning of some of the events listed, the intention of Solomon was to affirm that all events and activities, both constructive and destructive, both pleasant and unpleasant, happen in their times appointed by God. This reminds us that we have a God who controls all things in life. We have nothing to fear but should just keep on trusting in our heavenly Father. Thus, the reality of Romans 8:28 becomes our greatest comfort, knowing that all things work together for good to those who love Him and are called according to His divine purpose. Every event in God’s time has a purpose. There are things beyond our finite comprehension. We may not understand how a particular event can be purposeful, yet we can have faith that in God’s time it is good and purposeful - the infinite God “worketh all things after the counsel of his own will” (Eph 1:11).

Solomon’s point was that God has a plan for all people, and God has appointed a time for everyone. Our times are in His hand. There is a determined time for everything. Life unfolds according to divine providence, everything from birth to death. Which kindergarten, school, college, and university we go to, which organisation we work in, when we will be married and to whom, how many children we will have and when they will be born are all determined by God. The secret to peace with God is to discern, accept and appreciate God’s will and perfect timing. The danger is to doubt or deny God’s timing. This can lead to impatience, despair, or taking things into our own hands. As obedient children of God, we must respond appropriately to the seasons of life as they come, knowing that it is our loving heavenly Father who sent them.

Application

Eccl 3:1-8 shows us God’s timing and sovereignty in all things. There is an appointed season for everything, and a scheduled time and predetermined purpose for every event under the heaven. God, who is Omniscient, Omnipresent and Omnipotent, by His infinite divine wisdom, established specific times and predetermined seasons for everything, which influence the affairs of each individual life and affects the whole of humanity. The Covid-19 pandemic is one good example. God permitted it to happen at an appointed time and for a duration - yet to be made known, with a divine purpose - to remind the world of the frailness and helplessness of man, to humble man, to turn them back to Him in Christ.

Our life on earth is not fatalistic. Our times are in God’s hands. God knows the end from the beginning and everything under heaven is within His sovereign control. He is in total and absolute control of every individual life and the wider world. How we react to changes and new circumstances will impact our testimony for Christ, whether we will end up in anxiety, distress, frustration, and anger or in tranquillity, calmness, peace, and fulfilment. In whatever circumstances we must submit to the sovereignty of God our Creator and discharge our human responsibility in a God-honouring manner. We are to live for Christ by faith in the Word of Truth, and to trust God’s judgement in all things and through all the circumstances of life, and to seek His favour in prayer that “thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.”

May God help us to respond in faith to all the things happening in our lives and around us, particularly in these troubling times. AMEN.