Wayside Gospel Chapel: Ecclesiastes 3:9-15

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Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Pastor's Sermon Notes: Ecclesiastes (series), #8 - Inexplicable Beauty, Gracious Joy, and the Basis for Fear — all from the Eternal Sovereign (Ecclesiastes 3:9-15), Part 2: Gracious Joy, and the Basis for Fear — all from the Eternal Sovereign (Ecclesiastes 3:12-15)

Series: Ecclesiastes

Sermon #8: Inexplicable Beauty, Gracious Joy, and the Basis for Fear — all from the Eternal Sovereign

Ecclesiastes 3:9-15

Part 2: Gracious Joy, and the Basis for Fear

— all from the Eternal Sovereign

Ecclesiastes 3:12-15

¹²I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life. ¹³And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God. ¹⁴I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him. ¹⁵That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past.

Introduction:

Reminders:

1) the unique aspects of Ecclesiastes that must be observed to appreciate what the author has done

2) the inspired and inerrant nature of Ecclesiastes as the Word of God

3) the impact of Ecclesiastes on proud unregenerate philosophers and mankind in general

Where we have been, and where we have come to in our study of this book

What we have learned along the way so far

Outline:

III. The Certainty of God’s Grace (3:12-13)

IV. The Certainty of God’s Success (3:14-15)

III. The Certainty of God’s Grace (3:12-13)

1. The Possibility of Joy and Goodness in Life (3:12)

¹²I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life.

NASB (cp. ESV, HCSB, NIV, and NLT) — “…nothing better for them than…”

Cp. 2:24 — There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God.

3:22 — Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion: for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him?

8:15 — Then I commended mirth, because a man hath no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry: for that shall abide with him of his labour the days of his life, which God giveth him under the sun.

rejoice

do good

2. The Source of Enjoyment of Good in Life (3:13)

¹³And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God.

enjoy the good

it is the gift of God

Are you doing what God wants you to do?

Are you rejoicing in doing what God wants you to do?

If you are not then you need to ask yourself what is robbing you of the basis for joy in life!

Do you receive what you do as the gift of God?

Do you see the grace of God in the daily tasks and activities of life?

IV. The Certainty of God’s Success (3:14-15)

¹⁴I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him. ¹⁵That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past.

1. The Difference In What God Does (3:14)

14 I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him.

I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever:

The eternal God works eternal works!

nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it:

God is in absolute control of His works, acting according to His will and His nature, so that they cannot be improved on, there is no defect, they are perfect, and His good pleasure is satisfied in them.

and God doeth it, that men should fear before him.

There is a reason why God does what He does in His works.

fear of God — cp. 5:7; 7:18; 8:12-13 (3x); 12:13

HCSB: “God works so that people will be in awe of Him.”

2. The Inevitability Of What God Requires (3:15)

¹⁵That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past.

“God seeks out the pursued. This is what the Hebrew literally says, but no one has been able to make good sense of it. If “the pursued” is equivalent in meaning to “him who is sought,” the meaning of the clause might be coordinate with “what is to be already has been,” but the verse remains doubtful.”

— Robert Alter, The Wisdom Books: Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes, A Translation with Commentary (New York: W. W. Norton, 2010), pg. 356.

NASB: “…for God seeks what has passed by.”

ESV: “…and God seeks what has been driven away.” [Hebrew what has been pursued]

HCSB: “God repeats what has passed.” [Or God calls the past to account, or God seeks what is past, or God seeks the persecuted; lit God seeks [the] pursued]

NIV: “…and God will call the past to account.” [Or God calls back the past]

NLT: “…because God makes the same things happen over and over again.”

NKJV: “…And God requires an account of what is past.” [Lit. seeks] [what is pursued]

YLT: “…and God requireth that which is pursued.”

RSV: “…and God seeks what has been driven away.”

NRSV: “…and God seeks out what has gone by.” [Heb what is pursued]

ASV: “…and God seeketh again that which is passed away.”

Darby: “…and God bringeth back again that which is past.”

MLB: “…and God seeks out what has passed by.”

NEB: “…and God summons each event back in its turn.”

Revelation 20

Conclusion:

“Come, Lord, when grace has made me meet
Thy blessed face to see;
For if Thy work on earth be sweet,
What will Thy glory be!

Then shall I end my sad complaints,
And weary, sinful days;
And join with the triumphant saints,
To sing Jehovah's praise.

My knowledge of that life is small,
The eye of faith is dim;
But 'tis enough that Christ knows all,
And I shall be with him.”

— Richard Baxter

[Sermon preached 29 NOV 2015 by Pastor John T. “Jack” Jeffery at Wayside Gospel Chapel, Greentown, PA.]

Complete Outline:

III. The Certainty of God’s Grace (3:12-13)

1. The Possibility of Joy and Goodness in Life (3:12)

2. The Source of Enjoyment of Good in Life (3:13)

IV. The Certainty of God’s Success (3:14-15)

1. The Difference In What God Does (3:14)

2. The Inevitability Of What God Requires (3:15)

Select Sources on Ecclesiastes:

J. Sidlow Baxter, Explore The Book: A Basic and Broadly Interpretive Course of Bible Study from Genesis to Revelation, 6 vols. in 1 ed. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, n.d., 1960 printing).

William D. Barrick, Ecclesiastes: The Philippians of the Old Testament, Focus on the Bible series (Fearn, Ross-Shire, Scotland: Christian Focus, 2012).

C. Hassell Bullock, An Introduction to the Old Testament Poetic Books: The Wisdom and Songs of Israel (Chicago: Moody Press, 1979)/

Michael A. Eaton, Ecclesiastes: An Introduction and Commentary, Vol. 16, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity, 1983).

F. Delitzsch, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, trans. M. G. Easton, Vol. VI in C. F. Kiel and F. Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament in Ten Volumes, trans. James Martin (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, n.d., 1975 reprint).

Duane A. Garrett, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Vol. 14, New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman, 1993).

Donald R. Glenn, “Ecclesiastes,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, eds. J. F. Walvoord, and R. B. Zuck (Wheaton, IL: Victor, 1985).

William Henry Green, “Scope and Plan of the Book of Ecclesiastes,” Biblical Reparatory and Princeton Review 29 (1857), pp. 419-40; on Gordon Faculty Online at http://faculty.gordon.edu/hu/bi/Ted_Hildebrandt/OTeSources/21-Ecclesiastes/Text/Articles/Green-ScopeofEccl-1857.pdf [accessed 7 NOV 2015].

Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., Ecclesiastes: Total Life, in Everyman’s Bible Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1979).

Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., Coping With Change: Ecclesiastes (Fearn, Roth-shire, Scotland: Christian Focus, 2013).

H. C. Leupold, Exposition of Ecclesiastes (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1952).

Tremper Longman III, The Book of Ecclesiastes, New International Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997).

John MacArthur, MacArthur Study Bible, rev. ed. (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1997).

Roland Edmund Murphy, Ecclesiastes, Vol. 23A, Word Biblical Commentary (Dallas: Word, 1992).

Philip Graham Ryken, Ecclesiastes: Why Everything Matters, in Preaching the Word, gen. ed. R. Kent Hughes (Wheaton: Crossway, 2010).

Philip G. Ryken, Why Everything Matters: The Gospel in Ecclesiastes (Fearn, Ross-shire, Scotland: Christian Focus Publications, Ltd., 2015).

J. Stafford Wright, “Ecclesiastes,” in Psalms-Song of Songs, Vol. 5, Expositor's Bible Commentary, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1991).

Pastor's Sermon Notes: Ecclesiastes (series), #7 - Inexplicable Beauty, Gracious Joy, and the Basis for Fear — all from the Eternal Sovereign (Ecclesiastes 3:9-15), Part 1: Inexplicable Beauty (Ecclesiastes 3:9-11)

Series: Ecclesiastes

Sermon #7: Inexplicable Beauty, Gracious Joy, and the Basis for Fear — all from the Eternal Sovereign

Ecclesiastes 3:9-15

Part 1: Inexplicable Beauty

Ecclesiastes 3:9-11

⁹What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth? ¹⁰I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it. ¹¹He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end. ¹²I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life. ¹³And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God. ¹⁴I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him. ¹⁵That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past.

Introduction:

Reminders:

1) the unique aspects of Ecclesiastes that must be observed to appreciate what the author has done

2) the inspired and inerrant nature of Ecclesiastes as the Word of God

3) the impact of Ecclesiastes on proud unregenerate philosophers and mankind in general

Where we have been, and where we have come to in our study of this book

What we have learned along the way so far

Outline:

I. The Problem of Profit — Personal Observation (3:9-10)

II. The Problem of Perspective — Inexplicable Beauty (3:11)

I. The Problem of Profit — Personal Observation (3:9-10)

⁹What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth? ¹⁰I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it.

The Rhetorical Question: What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth?

“This verse, taken together with what follows, may spell out the philosophic point of the catalogue of times.”

— Robert Alter, The Wisdom Books: Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes, A Translation with Commentary (New York: W. W. Norton, 2010), pg. 355.

profit

1:3 — What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?

2:11 — Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.

The Basis for the Rhetorical Question: I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it.

travail

1:13 — And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven: this sore travail hath God given to the sons of man to be exercised therewith.

2:23 — For all his days are sorrows, and his travail grief; yea, his heart taketh not rest in the night. This is also vanity.

2:26 — For God giveth to a man that is good in his sight wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he giveth travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him that is good before God. This also is vanity and vexation of spirit.

This verse “…must be taken together with verse 11.”

— Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., Ecclesiastes: Total Life, in Everyman’s Bible Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1979), pg. 66.

II. The Problem of Perspective — Inexplicable Beauty (3:11)

¹¹He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.

He hath made every thing beautiful in his time:

NASB: appropriate (mg. Lit beautiful)

HCSB: appropriate (mg. Or beautiful)

NRSV: suitable

Mt. 23:27 — Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.

Acts 3:2-10 And a certain man lame from his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple;….And they knew that it was he which sat for alms at the Beautiful gate of the temple: and they were filled with wonder and amazement at that which had happened unto him.

Rom. 10:15 — And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!

Hymns based on this verse! See especially: Diane Ball, “In His Time,” in The Hymnal of Worship and Celebration (Waco, TX: Word Music, 1986), #465.

also he hath set the world in their heart,

the world — should be translated eternity, especially given the context, as with all modern translations (NASB, ESV, HCSB, NIV, NLT, NKJV, RSV, YLT, etc.) except the NRSV which renders it “a sense of past and future.” The NRSV translation does not begin to address the ramifications of eternity as transcendent of time whether conceived of as past, present, future, or any combination thereof.

This is the “key word” (Kaiser, op. cit.) in this verse, and, if that is understood as being so, then it underscores the need to get this word right in translation and interpretation!

This must be connected to man being created in the image and likeness of God. This divinely embedded realization and awareness is one of the fundamental distinctions between mankind and the other earthly creatures.

so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.

“It seems more likely that the intended meaning is: man is conscious of the idea of eternity (Qohelet as philosopher surely is), but that is the source of further frustration, for he is incapable of grasping “what it is God has done from beginning to end.”

— Alter, op. cit.

[Sermon preached 22 NOV 2015 by Pastor John T. “Jack” Jeffery at Wayside Gospel Chapel, Greentown, PA.]