Click here to play the Byrds classic hit, “Turn, Turn”, while reading Ecclesiastes 3. (or the Byrds in their old age playing Pete Seeger’s tune and song here.)
Read Ecclesiastes 3:1-10 here.
If God is all-knowing and all-powerful then he knows why stuff happens and is fully capable of orchestrating every event everywhere. Unfortunately, most people tune out right about now. As A. W. Tozer says, “Your God is too small.”
In Ecclesiastes 3, Solomon ponders the inherent complexity of life. He doesn’t just say: “All of life has a purpose.” He peels back the layers for us to examine with him what we all have wondered: Is God in control? We wonder this especially when life feels out-of-control!
My timeline converges with other event and their timelines...
First, everything is contextual. There is “a time” for everything. There is a place on the continuum for every event in our lives. What I mean is that if time is linear then God “reserves” a spot on that line for every event. This evokes thoughts of fatalism. It is NOT fatalism. Too many people consider predestination the same animal as fate, but it is not.
Consider these differences:
Fate pushes a person into a slot in time.- Predestination leads a person forward to a pre-disposed context. (Ephesians 1:11-12)
- Predestination is context oriented. (Eph. 1:11…the plan)
- Predestination is art and beauty on that line. (See Eccl. 3:10 and Eph. 1:7-9…riches, lavished, all wisdom, all understanding, with pleasure)
- Predestination says that we make choices to inherit the converging actions of God to gain His future. (God chooses us to inherit all His benefits. He does NOT use force. See these verses.)
What Solomon is NOT doing is giving into fate! Fate pushes people into a moment. The wisdom Solomon reveals is a phenomenological construct. We can figure out cause and effect. We can see the why and how, and the what if’s. We need to interpret the construct accurately.
For example, if a baby drowns in the bathtub we don’t exclaim, “It is the will of God.” The Islamic tradition teaches adherents to say, “In sh’Allah!” “It is the will of God!” Solomon is NOT giving into that ignorant thinking. He tells us in his poem that all of life, everything that happens, has identifiable layers to it. We don’t give up and say, “My baby drowned” and go on with life. No, we know implicitly that it was NOT the time to die. It was NOT the context. It was NOT what God intended.
The sum of the poem in verses 1-8 is NOT to give up and let things happen! Solomon reflects on life, notices connections to other parts of life, and God’s plan emerges. Life has a connection to God hidden in its events and history. God is within and outside of the events of life. He is involved, and he is watching at the same time. He orchestrates, yet his pattern is complicated and NOT easily discerned. In a word, Solomon finishes his observation by writing, (v. 10) “God has made everything beautiful in its time.” The quality of beauty is not easily discerned. You know it when you see it…by faith.
Profound….I’ll be reading this one over and thinking about it for weeks to come. Thank you!
Good post.
I wrote a post on this entitled “Is God a fatalist?” You can check it out at anotherchristianblog.org
Keep Writing,
Travis
Excellent post Tom! Like Kathy, I think it’s one to read over and continue to absorb…you clearly have thought about this a lot and articulate what I think can be a complex theological concept SO WELL.
We’re trying to be honest here! What a task!When God says it’s honorable to work He also means working at wisdom and understanding; the work is therefore not just the work of breadwinning or household maintenance in its many forms, but of expending energy and time in seeking discernment of truth, in meditation and prayerful cogitation, wherever that may lead us.
Excellent!
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