Good morning,
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 will be our study this week. Solomon gives us a description of what he saw in his life. Chapter 3 describes the specific periods of time during our lives. Good aspects contrasted to bad aspects. Today we look at verses 3-4.
Ecclesiastes 3:3 “A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;”
The 6th commandment says, “Thou shalt not kill”. Then how, can this Scripture say a time to kill? Thou shalt not kill, means thou shalt not commit premeditated murder. It does not mean that you are not to go to war to protect your family, or your country. A very good example of a time to kill is shown by God killing the firstborn in Egypt.
Exodus 12:12 “For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD.”
Most of Jesus’ ministry here on the earth involved healing. Everyone who had faith enough to receive his healing was healed by Him.
I Peter 2:24 “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.”
Why did God not allow David to build His temple? We read in I Kings 5:3 “Thou knowest how that David my father could not build an house unto the name of the LORD his God for the wars which were about him on every side, until the LORD put them under the soles of his feet.”
The very next verse tells when it was the right time for Solomon to build it. I Kings 5:4-5 “But now the LORD my God hath given me rest on every side, so that there is neither adversary nor evil occurrent.” “And, behold, I purpose to build an house unto the name of the LORD my God, as the LORD spake unto David my father, saying, Thy son, whom I will set upon thy throne in thy room, he shall build an house unto my name.”
Sometimes things have to be torn down to the foundation, before they can build on the spot.
Ecclesiastes 3:4 “A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;”
The shortest sentence in the Bible is in John 11:35 “Jesus wept.”
Jesus is our example in everything, so we know there are times for us to weep. When we lose a loved one, it is a natural thing to weep. You have heard the expression {laugh and the world laughs with you, cry and you cry alone}. This is very true.
Psalms 126:2 “Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing: then said they among the heathen, The LORD hath done great things for them.”
A story of contrast of mourning and a time to dance quickly reminds us of David, when he danced before the Ark of the Covenant.
2 Samuel 6:14-15 “And David danced before the LORD with all his might; and David was girded with a linen ephod.” “So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet.”
David’s mourning came at the loss of his firstborn child. David committed adultery with Bathsheba, and then he had her husband killed in battle, so he might marry her. In punishment, God took their first child.
2 Samuel 12:14 “Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die.”
The verses today come right of today’s newspaper. Take each verse and pin it to an event going on locally or nationally. God’s word is relevant for today.
Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001
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