Podcast 88 Ecclesiastes, “Pt 3, Ch 3”

There is a philosophical edge to Ecclesiastes which suggests that King Solomon, with all of his power, glory, and empire building, took time out from his responsibilities as King and pondered the meaning of life. He was introspective. Verses 1-8 of Ecclesiastes 3 became a popular song, modified by Pete Deeger in the late 1950s but popularized by The Byrds in 1965. That merely reaffirms its relevance for all time. In all appearances Ecclesiastes was written in the latter part of King Solomon’s life for he is looking back, pondering what really matters and what doesn’t. Surely Solomon’s life was one of the richest of all men. It is made even more poignant by the historical fact that he is the last king of a united Israel. After Solomon’s death the tribes split into the northern ten tribes who choose their own King, Jeroboam I, and the two southern tribes who follow Rehoboam, Solomon’s Son. Rather than expand their territory, they fight each other. Sadly, their leaders become their worst enemies by leading them into idol worship; the temple is destroyed twice, and all tribes become scattered throughout the earth, not before giving us the Holy Bible and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Their history is our history. There is a spiritual kinship that has dominated the world stage for millennia. As with so many millions of Christians and Jews, I begin every day studying the words of the ancient prophets. They shape my life, my thinking, and my philosophy as if they were still alive.

Let’s first examine perhaps the most oft quoted words of Solomon.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-9

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break 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 cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace. What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth?

If you can read that without thinking ‘turn turn turn’ then you are not a child of the sixties as I am. There is something about the simple phrase, “To everything there is a season.” In my happy childhood, I knew the season of plums, peaches, pears, black walnuts, hickory nuts, strawberries, black berries, dewberries, maypops, watermelons, and muscadines. I spent hours sitting in ‘muscadine trees’ in early fall eating muscadines. In black walnut season, my hands were always stained black from tearing open the outer shell to crack the harder shell and harvest the delicious nut. Happy is the person who understands the meaning of season.