To see the introduction to this blog please see the earlier posts. We are still exploring chapter three of Ecclesiastes. We turn from 3:1-8 to a contrasting view of life in 9-13.
What does the worker gain from his toil? (Ecc 3:9 NIV). The author sets out a rhetorical question again. What does a worker gain from his labor? The expected answer as before is that there is no gain.
I have seen the burden God has laid on men. (Ecc 3:10 NIV). Solomon has changed the tone of his quest at this point but it is a stark contrast that continues the flow of opposites. He brings these opposites to bear upon the times for all things. All of these activities are a burden to mankind. The contrast comes in the next vierse.
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. (Ecc 3:11 NIV). This sets the contrast which is a contrasting parallelism to the verses 1-8. All of this is a burden but God makes all things appropriate in their time. This verse may one of the most beautiful in Scripture. It states that God has set eternity in the hearts of men. This is in many ways an enigma The heart is figurative language for the seat of life: emotions, drives, thought. This figurative language is then explained as encapsulating eternity: an impossibility. But the thought is that man is not simply an animal (although he will later make the correlation), but was made for eternity. How does this fit into this section? It presents a contrast to time. Man is created according to the Genesis narrative to be in perfect fellowship with his heavenly creator—God. However the fall of man, according to the Genesis narrative, brought an end to eternal life. God barred them from the Tree of Life so that they would not live forever. Solomon presents for us here the inscrutability of eternity and the limitations of life under the sun. All of these things listed in 3:1-8 are appropriate in their time. But man cannot know it. He is limited in his perspective “under the sun.”..Even though eternity is a part of our very makeup we cannot know all things from the beginning to the end. We don’t know how tings turn out. We are limited to time and space.
I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live.
(Ecc 3:12 NIV). Solomon gives us two things in this verse that men can gain or have in this life—happiness an elusive thing and doing good—altruism--doing things outside of ourselves for others.
That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil--this is the gift of God. (Ecc 3:13 NIV). This verse should be translated as a conditional sentence. Rather than “that” it should read “if”: “If everyone may eat and drink . . .” If a person can eat drink and be satisfied with his work this is a gift from God. These aspects of life elude the person who “chases after wind.”
How does this passage apply to addiction and compulsivity? Addicts thrive on predictability. Compulsive people must be able to control their environments in order to lower compulsive behavior. This passage tells us that man is not in control of life or its circumstances. Even though he has made us creatures that are capable of experiencing eternity we live under the crushing burden of life “under the sun.” Addicts and compulsive people want to many times fight against the logical conclusions of the circumstances they either create or find themselves in. But this passage states that God has an appropriate time for everything. We want to know how things will turn out. But we simply can’t we can apply principles that can generally predict how things will turn out as with the proverbs enumerated in this book but they are not predictions.
Some of you may be genuinely struggling to overcome addiction or compulsive behavior. You may wonder if recovery will ever come. Remember everything has an appropriate time. God has not forgotten you. We commit our lives to God as we understand Him. That includes understanding how he governs our lives. How he plans to use addiction and compulsive behavior in our lives. This passage implies that we accept our place in this life and allow God to have His. He is the supreme governor of life. Our task if we can grasp it is to live, to enjoy our work, be happy, and do good. All of these activities are a gift from God if we can accept them.
Our time is up for today. I hope you continue to follow this blog. So keep coming back it works if you work it and you’re worth it!!
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in the resent weeks, i have under gone changes in my life (meds and therapy played a huge factor) and with the ability to process the b.s at work i can now ignore and accept the useful and the useless information i hear and see on a daily basis. this has allowed me to remain positive in chaos and to serve my customers with enthusiasm that they seem to appreciate.
ReplyDeletewhat is a worker to gain from his toil?
a pay check to pay for a arm loan.