In a conversation with some of my family recently, one of my granddaughters (19 years old) was talking about the various activities in her life, which included university studies, part time work, church and other Christian ministries and even a relationship with a young man! My comment was that in my day there were only 24 hours in a day, and has something changed since then to be able to fit all these things in? It all seemed a bit overwhelming to me! But maybe I have just forgotten what it’s like to be 19.
Time! A very relevant subject to us all. And Qoheleth is no exception. Chapter 3 is probably one of the best-known chapters in Ecclesiastes. There have been many sermons on the subject, it is often quoted in and outside the church and of course, there are songs containing the words. I guess, the most well-known song being by the Byrds in the 1960s, called “Turn, Turn, Turn.” So, let’s read Qoheleth’s famous poem:
There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
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,
5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
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.
Seems to me to be quite a comprehensive coverage of a person’s life involving the very personal, many social aspects and even international events.
Wright suggest that like most poems there may be various interpretations but he has the following suggestions:
“First, life has its inexorable rhythms and oscillations. This may give life a refreshing variety. Things change and swing from one thing to another. We don’t get bored with the same thing “all the time.” Life itself is “timed”—by the sun and moon, by day and night, by seasons and weather, by the rhythm of the weeks. On the other hand, the poem as it is read aloud could begin to sound like the same repetitive futility that we found in the poem about the circularity of life in 1:4–11. Time seems to keep changing, but perhaps it’s just going round and round. Or just swinging back and forth like a pendulum. Time for this; time for that. Tick tock; tick tock. Maybe. But perhaps something deeper comes to mind.
Second, time is always “ for” something. Time is not neutral. It is not “mere time,” an abstract function of our space-time universe. Time is more than the impersonal consequence of the expansion of the universe and the spinning of the earth on its axis and its planetary orbiting of the sun. Time is always full of content. Time is “for” things. Time challenges us with the question, “What time is it?” And that question usually means more than “Please look at the clock and tell me the time.” It implies, what should we be doing right now?
And then, time challenges us regarding the right response to whatever time it happens to be for us now. Time’s challenge might be, “GO FOR IT; don’t miss this opportunity!” But on the other hand, time’s challenge might be, “WAIT; it’s not the right time for that just now.” That’s also why we talk about “seasons of life.” Some things are appropriate at a certain age but not at another…
Now, in the book of Proverbs, part of the wisdom of the wise lies in exactly this—knowing what is fitting and appropriate in any given circumstances or time. The assumption is that God has ordered his creation in this way. There is a system and order to life; time is not just random or empty. It is part of God’s creation. Time is part of the way God has given structure to our lives—personally and socially. Time is one of the blessings and gifts of creation to us—ever since the separation of night and day in Genesis 1. So wisdom lies in understanding what fits any given time. We need to respond rightly and choose wisely, in accordance with how things work. “Get with the program!” Wise living means living in tune with God’s created order—including created time. So at least part of the implied message of the poem is this: wisdom means knowing what time it is. And knowing how to act, or how not to act, in the light of that understanding.” (# 60)
Paul understood this concerning the time of the coming of Jesus the Messiah. He wrote:
4 But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. (Galatians 4:4-5)
So if “…time challenges us regarding the right response to whatever time it happens to be for us now,” (# 60) then just maybe at this time that right response is to acknowledge the above truth concerning Jesus.
And as Paul says:
As God’s co-workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain. 2 For he says,
“In the time of my favor I heard you,
and in the day of salvation I helped you.”
I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation. (2 Corinthians 6:1-2)
and as Hebrews says:
“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts.” (Hebrews 4:7)
Worship and Wisdom - Psalms, Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. 