This document discusses the idea that there is an order and season for every activity under heaven, from being born to dying, planting and harvesting, weeping and laughing, and times of war and peace. While people seek to understand and control this order, ultimately humans are not in control and must respond appropriately to each situation. The document suggests there is a grand design by God where everything fits together according to his plan from the beginning of time to the end, though people cannot fully comprehend it. It indicates there will be a time of accounting for all that has occurred.
1 of 18
Downloaded 12 times
More Related Content
Ecclesiastes 3
3. There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under
heaven:
2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
4. 5 a time to scatter stones and a time
to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
6 a time to search and a time to give
up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8 a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
6. Seow: This is the way the world is.
People are tempted to discern an
order so that they can predict the
changes and not have to face surprises.
Yet the occasions simply present
themselves, and people simply have
to respond appropriately in each
situation.
The mortal is not in control.
7. What does the worker gain from his
toil? 10 I have seen the burden God has
laid on men. 11 He has made everything
beautiful in its time. He has also set
eternity in the hearts of men; yet they
cannot fathom what God has done from
beginning to end. 12 I know that there is
nothing better for men than to be
happy and do good while they live.
8. 13 That everyone may eat and drink, and
find satisfaction in all his toil¡ªthis is the
gift of God. 14 I know that everything
God does will endure forever; nothing
can be added to it and nothing taken
from it. God does it so that men will
revere him.
15 Whatever is has already been,
and what will be has been before;
and God will call the past to account.
10. This is not to say, for example, that God
dictates the precise moments in which
certain activities happen.
Rather, he is making a case that
our activities fit into a grand design,
where everything, from birth and
death, to war and peace, to silence
and speaking, is affected.
~Peter Enns
11. He has also set eternity
in the hearts of men;
yet they cannot fathom
what God has done
from beginning to end.
12. V15
Whatever is has already been,
and what will be has been before;
13. 1.The World We Find Ourselves In
2.The Grand Design
3. A Time to Account
14. 16 And I saw something else
under the sun:
In the place of judgment¡ª
wickedness was there,
in the place of justice¡ª
wickedness was there.
15. 17 I thought in my heart,
¡°God will bring to judgment
both the righteous and the wicked,
for there will be
a time for every activity,
a time for every deed.¡±
16. 1.The World We Find Ourselves In
2.The Grand Design
3. A Time to Account