the running reverend

In Ecclesiastes 3.1-13 the Teacher declares:

¹ There is a time for everything, 
   and a season for every activity under heaven:

 ² a time to be born and a time to die, 
   a time to plant and a time to uproot, 
 ³ a time to kill and a time to heal, 
   a time to tear down and a time to build, 
 ⁴ a time to weep and a time to laugh, 
   a time to mourn and a time to dance, 
 ⁵ a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, 
   a time to embrace and a time to refrain, 
 ⁶ a time to search and a time to give up, 
   a time to keep and a time to throw away, 
 ⁷ a time to tear and a time to mend, 
   a time to be silent and a time to speak, 
 ⁸ a time to love and a time to hate, 
   a time for war and a time for peace.

 ⁹ What does the worker gain from his toil? ¹⁰ I have seen the burden God has laid on men. ¹¹ He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. ¹² I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. ¹³ That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil—this is the gift of God. [1]

In considering this passage, I find that I have a number of thoughts swirling around in my mind.

First, the Teacher seems to clearly articulate a belief in divine sovereignty. There is a divinely ordained time for everything (i.e., mourning, dancing, seaching, embracing, etc.). Likewise, the Teacher understands God to be the One who is orchestrating things from beginning to end — making “everything beautiful in its [divinely appointed?] time.”

Second, humanity is portrayed by the Teacher as mere actors in this divinely orchestrated drama. They mourn, weep, dance, are silent, etc. — acts which are depicted as burdensome and are carried out by the actor(s) despite a lack of understanding as to what God is doing on the cosmic scale.

Third, at the end of the day it appears that the Teacher believes humanity cannot understand the ins-and-outs of what God is doing. Thus, they are left either: a) riding (and enduring) the changing of the seasons; b) living out a rather futile existence that they ultimately have no control over; c) struggling to derive meaning of an existence that defies any and all such speculations; or, d) accepting one’s toil and the ever-changing seasons with contentment and/or satisfaction. (The latter appears to be what the Teacher suggests as adviseable.)

Fourth, it seems strange that the Teacher encourages humanity to find satisfaction “in all his (or her) toil” rather than in God. This seems especially strange since the Teacher seems to envision God as the witer/director/choreographer behind the great drama that is unfolding. It would seem that the writer/director/choreographer should get the credit and be the object of one’s delight rather than one’s toil.

Fifth, the Teacher concludes that finding satisfaction in one’s toil is a gift of God. Should we understand the Teacher to be suggesting that satisfaction/contentment in one’s toil cannot truly be achieved apart from God? If this is indeed the case: Then what of those who love God and perceive themselves to be carrying out God’s will for their lives, yet find little or not satisfaction in their toil?

[1] As quoted in the New International Version of the Bible (1984 edition). Emphasis added.