Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven--
A time to give birth and a time to die;
A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted.
A time to kill and a time to heal;
A time to tear down and a time to build up.
A time to weep and a time to laugh;
A time to mourn and a time to dance.
A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace and a time to shun embracing.
A time to search and a time to give up as lost;
A time to keep and a time to throw away.
A time to tear apart and a time to sew together;
A time to be silent and a time to speak.
A time to love and a time to hate;
A time for war and a time for peace.
The assertions described on one column of these parallelisms come as naturally as taking a sip of water when one a thirsty. For who needs to be taught that there is an appropriate time for peace? Even two bickering siblings eventually tire of their strife and find a united appeal for cookies to be a more worthy endeavor. But why must there ever be a time to study the strategy of war?
Friends, family, and lovers all sense, instinctively, the pleasure and warmth of an affectionate touch from someone who holds a special place in their heart. So why must there ever come a time when that embrace must be broken or denied?
And what instruction is required to teach a boy to laugh or a young girl to promenade around the room to her own melodious humming? For several things learned by my three children, ages six, four, and not yet two, I may take some credit, but the sweet, innocent, eruption of laughter at a silly mis-hap is surely not one of them. A person's happy experience and joyful response is as innate and involuntary as a goosebump in a chilly breeze or a squinting eye in the bright sun. Not one of my children has come to ask me to teach her how to giggle when she's tickled or how to return a smile when I first smile at her. Yet when the equally-innate response of tears begin to flow, the questions come with intense interest. I said questions, but really there's only one. Why?
A time to heal? Most certainly, for all of us want to be whole. But how do our hearts accept the propriety of killing? How can we explain to any questioning conscience, including our own, the need to extinguish the flame of someone else's life?
Oh joy of joys, the birth of one's first child. And then the next, and the next. The softest skin. The purest blue eyes. The tiny fingernails and small, flexible toes. The glorious fruit of incomprably arduous labor. Human perfection. But the time will come for each one when the breath of life must flee, leaving the empty shell to lie in the dust.
And the question comes--obstinately refusing to leave until it receives an answer--Why? Why must peace give way to hostility? Why must love be abandoned in favor of hatred? Why must doctors move aside to make room for soldiers? Why must the dance be replaced by the dirge? Why must intimacy be lost and absence found? Why must the birth center share a building with the trauma center, and why are there not only obstetricians, but also morticians? Why? Why? Why?
The answer to the question is found in this simple statement, "She took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate."
The apostle Paul put it this way, "Through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin."
All of the pain, all of the strife, all of the suffering, all of the struggles, all of the turmoil, all of the disappointments, all of the sorrow, all of the failures, all of the betrayals, all of the lies, and ultimately all of the deaths of mankind can be attributed to this one, simple thing--sin.
The distress of life goes back to the dire consequences and effects of the fall. Consider the curses of Genesis chapter three:
Work
Men were created to work. God placed Adam into the garden to cultivate it and to keep it. Work was an inherent part of his created purpose. He was expected to tend the garden and produce good fruit by it so that he and his wife would have something to eat. But after sin entered the world, the offended Creator pronounced condemnation upon the dirt. From that point forward the ground would be bound up and hardened, filled with weeds and thorns, so that Adam would not only have to work, but now he would have to work hard. And much of his labor would be in vain because drought, disease, and the debilitating effect of tares would destroy the plants or render them infertile. Adam would sweat and toil and strain if he would have bread to put on the table.
This entanglement was not restricted to Adam, nor to the agrarian vocation. Adam's sons would soon discover that it was also their lot in life to find it difficult to profit from their labors. And his son's sons. And their sons, even to the present day.
In our age, at least in the western world, a man is required to do more than plant a few rows or raise a few pigs and cows. The cost of living--that is, what it takes to maintain a lifestyle which includes house, transportation, food, education, clothing, etc.--demands that he earn enough money to purchase what is necessary to get along in this culture. We call it "earning a living." Today's man must land a job equal to his expenditures. But just as the insect or hailstorm might destroy the farmer's crops at any time, so also an employee nevers knows when the pink slip will accompany what turns out to be his final salary check.
And such uncertainty in the job market creates real stress in the the minds and stomachs of men. Lay-off, firing, corporate bankruptcy, and other threats loom over the worker so that financial security alludes him. The concerns are real, and they weigh heavily on a man's back like a 90-pound sack of fertilizer.
How many of our men and women have experienced, or are currently experiencing, the hardship and anxiety that come as a result of the difficulty and futility of work? How many of us know all too well the reality of this curse? We know what it's like to be afraid that one more hospital bill may deplete our vanishing savings accounts, that one more house or car repair may be the devastating blow.
Sin has brought great trouble upon mankind in the sphere of work.
Marriage
In the garden, sin turned a sublime, harmonious bond between the first man and his wife into a dissonant, cacophony. Adam would no longer be content to be lord over Eve, now he would strive to lord it over her. Dominion would no longer satisfy, now he must be domineering.
Eve, in turn, would chafe at the thought of serving in the ignoble role of helper. Why should she serve him? Why should he have the final say? Nay, contrare. She would not lie still while some male chavunist tried to make her a doormat. She would prove herself equal in dignity and authority. She is woman; hear her roar!
And from that point forward, the relationship that was intended to picture the love of Christ and His bride would appear somewhere between a distorted, unintelligible copy and a seriously-flawed, amatuerish copy. All of us have witnessed the damaging effects of this, now, strained union:
Fathers/husbands who abuse mothers/wives
Absent fathers/husbands
Weak, heartless, effeminate fathers/husbands
Harsh, impudent mothers/wives
Absent mothers/wives
Overbearing, demanding, critical mothers/wives
Divorce, broken homes
Dysfunctional homes
Loveless, chaotic, and violent homes
(leads to:)
Depressed, desparate children
Agressive, violent children
Emotionally unstable children
Kids who just don't know how to relate
(which leads to:)
more ugly marriages and broken homes
War of Seed of Snake/Seed of Woman
Snake will have offspring which will cause problems for the woman's offspring
Evil, fleshly, sinful, wicked, corrupt, men and women
(which lead to:)
Pain & Suffering
Murder, rape, robbery, destruction, genocide, abortion, terrorism, evolution, lying, gossip, holocaust, greed, slander, perversion, betrayal, narcisscism, adultery, fornication, homosexuality, and molestation.
They are consumed with their own happiness, and aggressively oppose anyone who poses a threat to their achieving it. They love the darkness and will seek to destroy anyone who attempts to bring into their surroundings even a glimmer of light.
Devil Himself
Temptation
Accusation
Woman's offspring are those who belong to Christ, the elect who love and obey God. And we suffer the consequences of living in the same world as the children of the devil. Furthermore, we were once his children ourselves. And too often we act as though we still love him and belong to him, thereby bringing some of the same pain and suffering upon ourselves and upon other children of God
Flesh battles the Spirit (Gal. 5)
Snake enctices our flesh
Other Oppressors
Disease/sickness/pain
Depression/anxiety/uncertainty
Lack of significance or purpose
Disobedient, unbelieving children
Strained relationships with family or friends
Divorce
Unbelieving parents/relatives dying (or dead)
Strife among co-workers
Physiological and chemical problems
Death of loved ones
This is not out there. It's everywhere. It's in here. I am not speaking a bunch of generally-accepted truths or abstract universal concepts; I'm speaking from experience, from the awareness of what people in this room are dealing with. It's real pain, and it hurts.
Look around you. Do you see the people in front of you, next to you, behind you? You may not be able to detect it on the surface, but I assure you that if you used the right instrument and knew where to look, you would find that sin has left its indelible mark on each one. All have sinned and lack the glory of God; and we all have scars to prove it.
But, there's hope.
Hope of future things:
Rom. 8:12-25
2 Cor. 4:16-18
Hope for now:
2 Cor. 1:3-10.
God gives comfort to us
We must give comfort to others
Eccl. 3
There is a time for everything, including giving birth, planting, healing, building up, laughing, dancing, embracing, sewing together, loving, and peace. The times for these things do not wait for future glory, they are blessings for this life which give us a small, but real, foretaste of what is coming. We must enjoy them when the time is right.
3:11
God determines what time it is. We must trust Him, take comfort in Him, find our hope in Him.
What is the basis for this hope? How do we endure through the manifold sorrows and afflictions? Where is the source of comfort?
Well, remember what caused the whole mess? Sin. God has provided the cure for this deadly disease. He has begun the work of undoing all of the evil caused by the disobedience of the first Adam. He sent another Adam--His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.