A Time of Everything

The first part of this chapter is the collection of verses about everything having its own time. It declares that things happen according to their predestined time, hinting at the sovereign will of God who decides on when things occur.
The next passage highlights the tasks and labors of man are also divinely appointed. It shows a healthy attitude to work and acknowledges that it is a gift from God. So it urges us to work and enjoy the fruits of our labour.
In the last part, it talks about judgement in the presence of the righteous as well as the wicked. It also asks the perhaps rhetorical question about how we are sure that our spirits go to heaven and those of animals go down the earth. It makes the point that both man and animals die, perhaps challenging the reader to think are we anything more than animals?


Ecclesiastes 3
Everything Has Its Time

1 To everything there is a season,
A time for every purpose under heaven:
2 A time to be born,
    And a time to die;
A time to plant,
    And a time to pluck what is planted;
3 A time to kill,
    And a time to heal;
A time to break down,
    And a time to build up;
4 A time to weep,
    And a time to laugh;
A time to mourn,
    And a time to dance;
5 A time to cast away stones,
    And a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace,
    And a time to refrain from embracing;
6 A time to gain,
    And a time to lose;
A time to keep,
    And a time to throw away;
7 A time to tear,
    And a time to sew;
A time to keep silence,
    And a time to speak;
8 A time to love,
    And a time to hate;
A time of war,
    And a time of peace.


The God-Given Task
9 What profit has the worker from that in which he labors? 10 I have seen the God-given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.
12 I know that nothing is better for them than to rejoice, and to do good in their lives, 13 and also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor—it is the gift of God.
14 I know that whatever God does,
It shall be forever.
Nothing can be added to it,
And nothing taken from it.
God does it, that men should fear before Him.
15 That which is has already been,
And what is to be has already been;
And God requires an account of what is past.


Injustice Seems to Prevail
16 Moreover I saw under the sun:
In the place of judgment,
Wickedness was there;
And in the place of righteousness,
Iniquity was there.
17 I said in my heart,
“God shall judge the righteous and the wicked,
For there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.”
18 I said in my heart, “Concerning the condition of the sons of men, God tests them, that they may see that they themselves are like animals.” 19 For what happens to the sons of men also happens to animals; one thing befalls them: as one dies, so dies the other. Surely, they all have one breath; man has no advantage over animals, for all is vanity. 20 All go to one place: all are from the dust, and all return to dust. 21 Who knows the spirit of the sons of men, which goes upward, and the spirit of the animal, which goes down to the earth?[a] 22 So I perceived that nothing is better than that a man should rejoice in his own works, for that is his heritage. For who can bring him to see what will happen after him?

God - creator of all animals

The Almighty God speaks to Job, this time about the animals in his earthly kingdom. He describes the natural characteristic of some of the common animals; they are all different in their unique way, yet have the necessary characteristics to survive. God made them in their unique ways as only God the All-Knowing and All-Wise knows how to do this. The majesty of God is not only shown through the natural beauty of heavenly objects (stars, galaxies) nor terrestrial objects (mountains, rivers, oceans) but also through his Creative work as creator of all living creatures. All this to show Job the true character of God - perfect, planned, caring, wise, etc....

Job 39

 1 “Do you know the time when the wild mountain goats bear young?      Or can you mark when the deer gives birth?
 2 Can you number the months that they fulfill?      Or do you know the time when they bear young?
 3 They bow down,      They bring forth their young,       They deliver their offspring.[a]
 4 Their young ones are healthy,      They grow strong with grain;       They depart and do not return to them.
 5 “Who set the wild donkey free?      Who loosed the bonds of the onager,
 6 Whose home I have made the wilderness,      And the barren land his dwelling?
 7 He scorns the tumult of the city;      He does not heed the shouts of the driver.
 8 The range of the mountains is his pasture,      And he searches after every green thing.
 9 “Will the wild ox be willing to serve you?      Will he bed by your manger?
 10 Can you bind the wild ox in the furrow with ropes?      Or will he plow the valleys behind you?
 11 Will you trust him because his strength is great?      Or will you leave your labor to him?
 12 Will you trust him to bring home your grain,      And gather it to your threshing floor?
 13 “The wings of the ostrich wave proudly,      But are her wings and pinions like the kindly stork’s?
 14 For she leaves her eggs on the ground,     And warms them in the dust;
 15 She forgets that a foot may crush them,      Or that a wild beast may break them.
 16 She treats her young harshly, as though they were not hers;      Her labor is in vain, without concern,
 17 Because God deprived her of wisdom,      And did not endow her with understanding.
 18 When she lifts herself on high,      She scorns the horse and its rider.
 19 “Have you given the horse strength?      Have you clothed his neck with thunder?[b]
 20 Can you frighten him like a locust?      His majestic snorting strikes terror.
 21 He paws in the valley, and rejoices in his strength;      He gallops into the clash of arms.
 22 He mocks at fear, and is not frightened;     Nor does he turn back from the sword.
 23 The quiver rattles against him,      The glittering spear and javelin.
 24 He devours the distance with fierceness and rage;      Nor does he come to a halt because the trumpet has sounded.
 25 At the blast of the trumpet he says, ‘Aha!’      He smells the battle from afar,       The thunder of captains and shouting.
 26 “Does the hawk fly by your wisdom,      And spread its wings toward the south?
 27 Does the eagle mount up at your command,      And make its nest on high?
 28 On the rock it dwells and resides,      On the crag of the rock and the stronghold.
 29 From there it spies out the prey;      Its eyes observe from afar.
 30 Its young ones suck up blood;      And where the slain are, there it is.”