Ecclesiastes Week 3: The Big Picture

Ecclesiastes 3:1-15

If you know anything about Ecclesiastes, it’s probably chapter three, verses 1-8. These are by far the best known words from this book, and probably with good reason. There’s a wonderful rhythm to these contrasting experiences of life; some we choose, and some that are simply thrust upon us.

There is that part about stones that’s probably a little confusing. Gathering stones probably refers to a farmer clearing the rocks from a field to prepare it for planting, Bible scholars tell us. But honestly I don’t know what the whole “throwing away stones” part is about. But I’m sure people in the year 900 BC knew what Solomon was talking about.

Each of these is appropriate in its own time. The point of these verses is that we can see and appreciate the timeliness and purpose of individual activities. Some of them may not be entirely good activities, but we can see how they are sometimes the best course of action, or the only course of action.

But when it comes to the big picture, it gets a little bit muddy. What is the ultimate significance of all these activites? Can we see the big picture? No. No, we cannot.

One Bible scholar put it this way: It’s like looking at the individual threads in a tapestry. We can see the color and placement of each one. But when we step back, it does not become clear. We can’t see the big picture. Rather than a clear understanding of the whole, we see a confusing mess.

In verse 15, QOHELETH says, “everything seems cyclical and without direction. Things keep repeating themselves.”

I spent four years in college studying history, and I can see QOHELETH’s point. History is cyclical and seemingly without direction. People are fond of saying that “Those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” Well, obviously we don’t learn from history. My one history professor at Grove City College said, “It’s not exactly that history repeats itself, but you certainly do see the same kinds of things happening again and again.”

European history is very much a long succession of wars. Once every generation or so the European continent would go back to fighting each other: The Hundred Years War, the Thirty Years War, the Seven Years War, the Napoleonic Wars, the Crimean War, the Franco-Prussia War, and those are just a few. The big one was World War I, a war that unleashed untold amounts of suffering and death. We don’t think as much

about that here in the US because we entered World War I late in the game. Then just after it, World War II, which in many ways was the conclusion of the prior conflict. And for decades, the Cold War held a threat over the world that it was going to happen again. But then the Cold War ended. And it seemed, sort of, like maybe the world had moved beyond large scale warfare between nations. Maybe. And then Russia went and invaded Ukraine, and the purpose and direction of history seemed impossible to understand again.

In verse 11, QOHELETH says, “God has also placed in human heart a sense that there is a greater plan for all things.” That’s how Dr. Dorsey translated that phrase, which is a tricky phrase in Hebrew. Many Bible translations render it as, “God placed eternity in our hearts.”

There’s a problem with that translation. The Hebrew word, OLAM, doesn’t mean “eternity,” at least not in the way that we use it.

Some Bible scholars point out that OLAM seems to be related to a Hebrew verb that meant to hide or conceal. So they say it should be translated as “God puts ignorance in our hearts” or “a mystery in our hearts.”

Other Bible scholars point out that the word OLAM is used elsewhere in the Old Testament just to mean “time.” So, “God gives us a sense time.” Or perhaps “a sense of history.” We can grasp that there are patterns and tendencies in history, but we can’t see the whole picture. We can’t see where it’s going. Only God sees the big picture.

The prophet Isaiah puts it this way, “God declares, ‘My ways are not your ways. As high as the heavens are above the earth, so are my thoughts higher than your thoughts.’” History seems directionless, cyclical, chaotic from our perspective. But God has a different perspective. God sees the direction. God has a plan for all things, and a plan for us. But for the most part, it’s beyond our ability see and understand. Going back to that tapestry illustration. We can see the individual threads. But when we step back, we don’t see the whole picture. If we were able to see it from God’s perspective, we could. But we can’t. We can’t step back far enough to see the whole.

What are we to do?

First, if we trust God, then we should trust that his plan and purpose for history is good and that it’s leading to some place good.

Solomon wrote 900 years before the coming of Christ. We certainly have a better understanding of God’s plans and purposes than he did. We see a bigger piece of the picture that he could not. If history is a tapestry, then the face of Jesus is front and

center in it. And we can see more of where it’s going. The end of history is the second coming, the resurrection, and the new creation.

That doesn’t mean we understand it all. We certainly do not. There is still plenty of mystery to where it’s all going. But we have a better understanding. God’s revelation is progressive, meaning we understand more than those who came before us, because we have more of God’s revelation available to us. First century Christians didn’t have most of the New Testament. Israelites in the 10th century BC didn’t have most of the Old Testament. We have both today. And we have 2000 years of faithful people studying and reflecting on God’s revelation to try to understand it better.

If we still can’t see the whole picture, what should we do? We should find joy and enjoyment in each day.

Don’t try to see it all. You are not God. So much of life gets out of perspective when we forget that we are not God. We “seek in vain” to know God’s greater plan.

And there is enjoyment to be found in the experiences of each day. “Enjoy your food, your drink, and your work,” QOHELETH says.

To use a modern phrase, we should live in the moment. Now that can be misunderstood. Live in the moment doesn’t mean not to give any thought to the past or the future. But we don’t try to live in them. Jesus said it this way, “Don’t worry about tomorrow. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Trust that God has tomorrow in his hands. Don’t try to hold it in yours.