Seasons of Change: 3:1-15
Central Verse:
“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:” Eccl 3:1
Central Truth:
This section of the book of Ecclesiastes contains one of the most well known verses in scripture in part due to the song “Turn, Turn, Turn” by the Byrds. There is a way of seasonal living that is contained within rural living. Unfortunately not many people live in the countryside now, the majority of our populations live in the cities, in some ways this makes it difficult for us to identify with a seasonal attitude which is partly expressed here in this passage.
In my childhood when I was growing up in the country I was very aware of the change of the seasons. My family was only one generation off the farm, my grandfather’s farm was less than a quarter mile away and my brothers and I often went and helped on the farm. During the fall we were harvesting corn for feed, in the winter taking care of the cows, spring was planting and preparing the field, and summer was baling hay. Everything in our lives has a rhythm. People with children understand this well, the rhythm between school and summer.
Qohelet understood this well and used some Hebrew writing tactics to bring the point home. The author paired items that would naturally fit together, that doesn’t stop some discussion on what a few of these items might be. For instance where the text states “to gather stones” is thought in Jewish tradition to be a sexual reference. The use of pointing to opposite pairs gives us a sense of the totality of our existence. By using these writing tactics Qohelet is referring to life “under the sun,” this is not an attempt to make claims about the universe, just what is knowable under the sun or better said on our planet.
Qohelet then breaks into a rare incident in the book of Ecclesiastes he offers an explanation for what God is doing in this monotony of the seasons. The old joke goes there are only two things certain in this life, “death and taxes.” While this is true Qohelet adds another dimension here. He points out that there is something else that we can be certain of, that is if God gives us a gift and that is we the gift of enjoying our food, drink and our work. Qohelet will return to this idea in many places in the book but this idea is one of the answers that Qohelet will continue to draw our attention too and build upon.
Connections: (time with our society)
Our society today is disconnected from seasonal activities. For instance we can buy summer fruits in January because we ship them from South America and other countries where these items are in season. There has been a great restlessness in our society around seasonal, in fact there is a seasonal foods movement in the restaurant industry, basically its people trying to cook and eat fruit and vegetable that are in seasons utilizing local farmers.
Our society has also not come to grips with the gift of God that Qohelet expresses in verse 13 “it is God’s gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in all their toil.” The simple necessities of eating and drink are not taken care of in our society today. Homelessness and hunger are rampant in our world today and we as Christians have been either unable or more often unwilling to bring people out of these places. Yet even with these two necessities not being taken care of every level of our society is affected by not taking pleasure in our toil. A common conversation even in church on Sunday is the problems of our jobs. We don’t or haven’t been relying upon God to provide us with joy in our toil.
“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:” Eccl 3:1
Central Truth:
This section of the book of Ecclesiastes contains one of the most well known verses in scripture in part due to the song “Turn, Turn, Turn” by the Byrds. There is a way of seasonal living that is contained within rural living. Unfortunately not many people live in the countryside now, the majority of our populations live in the cities, in some ways this makes it difficult for us to identify with a seasonal attitude which is partly expressed here in this passage.
In my childhood when I was growing up in the country I was very aware of the change of the seasons. My family was only one generation off the farm, my grandfather’s farm was less than a quarter mile away and my brothers and I often went and helped on the farm. During the fall we were harvesting corn for feed, in the winter taking care of the cows, spring was planting and preparing the field, and summer was baling hay. Everything in our lives has a rhythm. People with children understand this well, the rhythm between school and summer.
Qohelet understood this well and used some Hebrew writing tactics to bring the point home. The author paired items that would naturally fit together, that doesn’t stop some discussion on what a few of these items might be. For instance where the text states “to gather stones” is thought in Jewish tradition to be a sexual reference. The use of pointing to opposite pairs gives us a sense of the totality of our existence. By using these writing tactics Qohelet is referring to life “under the sun,” this is not an attempt to make claims about the universe, just what is knowable under the sun or better said on our planet.
Qohelet then breaks into a rare incident in the book of Ecclesiastes he offers an explanation for what God is doing in this monotony of the seasons. The old joke goes there are only two things certain in this life, “death and taxes.” While this is true Qohelet adds another dimension here. He points out that there is something else that we can be certain of, that is if God gives us a gift and that is we the gift of enjoying our food, drink and our work. Qohelet will return to this idea in many places in the book but this idea is one of the answers that Qohelet will continue to draw our attention too and build upon.
Connections: (time with our society)
Our society today is disconnected from seasonal activities. For instance we can buy summer fruits in January because we ship them from South America and other countries where these items are in season. There has been a great restlessness in our society around seasonal, in fact there is a seasonal foods movement in the restaurant industry, basically its people trying to cook and eat fruit and vegetable that are in seasons utilizing local farmers.
Our society has also not come to grips with the gift of God that Qohelet expresses in verse 13 “it is God’s gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in all their toil.” The simple necessities of eating and drink are not taken care of in our society today. Homelessness and hunger are rampant in our world today and we as Christians have been either unable or more often unwilling to bring people out of these places. Yet even with these two necessities not being taken care of every level of our society is affected by not taking pleasure in our toil. A common conversation even in church on Sunday is the problems of our jobs. We don’t or haven’t been relying upon God to provide us with joy in our toil.
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