Month: August 2024

A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace. Ecclesiastes 3:8 (KJV)

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“… to hate’ perhaps means to hate sin and the way of the ungodly. (Bartholomew, 141) The entire verse seems to be a reference to reckoning with sin; spiritual warfare. (Henry)

Comments: Warfare as a theme seems to be a fitting end to this section (v1-8). There is a time appointed for everything under the sun. Similarly, there is a time appointed to love godliness, hate sin, wage war against our own spiritual enemies and seek peace in His Holiness. And similar to the previous teachings, Qoheleth seems to suggest that even in godly acts such as these – YHWH is sovereign; you can neither love God or hate sin without the will of the Father.

References:

Bartholomew, C. (2009). Ecclesiastes, Baker Academic
Henry, M. (1706). Commentary on the Whole Bible, Complete, Eccl. 3:1-10

A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak. Ecclesiastes 3:7 (KJV)

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‘… to rend… to sew’ seems to be a signify grief and mourning. (Bartholomew, 140) Similarly, ‘… to keep silence… to speak’ seems to signify the etiquette of mourning.

Comments: The wisdom of this verse seems to rely more directly on God. It takes wisdom to understand when to rend… sew and most importantly when to speak and be silent in grave ominous moments. Because beyond a reference to grief, this could be read in terms of intervening between relationships – when someone near is going through a troubling time. (Provan, 100) Even in confronting and mending relationships – God is sovereign.   

References:

Bartholomew, C. (2009). Ecclesiastes, Baker Academic
Provan, I. (2001). Ecclesiastes/Song of Songs: The New Application Commentary, Zondervan