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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Ecclesiastes III].</TITLE>
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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1710)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>E C C L E S I A S T E S</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. III.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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Solomon having shown the vanity of studies, pleasures, and business,
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and made it to appear that happiness is not to be found in the schools
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of the learned, nor in the gardens of Epicurus, nor upon the exchange,
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he proceeds, in this chapter, further to prove his doctrine, and the
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inference he had drawn from it, That therefore we should cheerfully
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content ourselves with, and make use of, what God has given us, by
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showing,
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I. The mutability of all human affairs,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+3:1-10">ver. 1-10</A>.
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II. The immutability of the divine counsels concerning them and the
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unsearchableness of those counsels,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+3:11-15">ver. 11-15</A>.
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III. The vanity of worldly honour and power, which are abused for the
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support of oppression and persecution if men be not governed by the
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fear of God in the use of them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+3:16">ver. 16</A>.
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For a check to proud oppressors, and to show them their vanity, he
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reminds them,
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1. That they will be called to account for it in the other world,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+3:17">ver. 17</A>.
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2. That their condition, in reference to this world (for of that he
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speaks), is no better than that of the beasts,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+3:18-21">ver. 18-21</A>.
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And therefore he concludes that it is our wisdom to make use of what
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power we have for our own comfort, and not to oppress others with
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it.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Ec3_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ec3_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ec3_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ec3_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ec3_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ec3_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ec3_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ec3_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ec3_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ec3_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Mutability of Human Affairs.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1> <! -- Date --> </FONT></TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 To every <I>thing there is</I> a season, and a time to every
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purpose under the heaven:
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2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a
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time to pluck up <I>that which is</I> planted;
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3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and
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a time to build up;
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4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a
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time to dance;
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5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones
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together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from
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embracing;
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6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time
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to cast away;
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7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence,
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and a time to speak;
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8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time
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of peace.
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9 What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he
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laboureth?
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10 I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of
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men to be exercised in it.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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The scope of these verses is to show,
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1. That we live in a world of changes, that the several events of time,
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and conditions of human life, are vastly different from one another,
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and yet occur promiscuously, and we are continually passing and
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repassing between them, as in the revolutions of every day and every
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year. In the <I>wheel of nature</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jam+3:6">Jam. iii. 6</A>)
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sometimes one spoke is uppermost and by and by the contrary; there is a
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constant ebbing and flowing, waxing and waning; from one extreme to the
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other does the <I>fashion of this world change,</I> ever did, and ever
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will.
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2. That every change concerning us, with the time and season of it, is
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unalterably fixed and determined by a supreme power; and we must take
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things as they come, for it is not in our power to change what is
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appointed for us. And this comes in here as a reason why, when we are
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in prosperity, we should by easy, and yet not secure--not to be secure
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because we live in a world of changes and therefore have no reason to
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say, <I>To-morrow shall be as this day</I> (the lowest valleys join to
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the highest mountains), and yet to be easy, and, as he had advised
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+2:24"><I>ch.</I> ii. 24</A>),
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<I>to enjoy the good of our labour,</I> in a humble dependence upon God
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and his providence, neither lifted up with hopes, nor cast down with
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fears, but with evenness of mind expecting every event. Here we
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have,</P>
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<P>
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I. A general proposition laid down: <I>To every thing there is a
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season,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+3:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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1. Those things which seem most contrary the one to the other will, in
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the revolution of affairs, each take their turn and come into play. The
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day will give place to the night and the night again to the day. Is it
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summer? It will be winter. Is it winter? Stay a while, and it will be
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summer. Every purpose has its time. The clearest sky will be clouded,
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<I>Post gaudia luctus--Joy succeeds sorrow;</I> and the most clouded
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sky will clear up, <I>Post nubila Phoebus--The sun will burst from
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behind the cloud.</I>
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2. Those things which to us seem most casual and contingent are, in the
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counsel and foreknowledge of God, punctually determined, and the very
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hour of them is fixed, and can neither be anticipated nor adjourned a
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moment.</P>
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<P>
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II. The proof and illustration of it by the induction of particulars,
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twenty-eight in number, according to the days of the moon's revolution,
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which is always increasing or decreasing between its full and change.
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Some of these changes are purely the act of God, others depend more
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upon the will of man, but all are determined by the divine counsel.
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Every thing <I>under heaven</I> is thus changeable, but in heaven there
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is an unchangeable state, and an unchangeable counsel concerning these
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things.
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1. There is <I>a time to be born and a time to die.</I> These are
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determined by the divine counsel; and, as we were born, so we must die,
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at the time appointed,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+17:26">Acts xvii. 26</A>.
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Some observe that here is <I>a time to be born and a time to die,</I>
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but no time to live; that is so short that it is not worth mentioning;
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as soon as we are born we begin to die. But, as there is <I>a time to
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be born and a time to die,</I> so there will be a time to rise again, a
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set time when those that lie in the grave shall be remembered,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+14:13">Job xiv. 13</A>.
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2. <I>A time</I> for God <I>to plant</I> a nation, as that of Israel in
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Canaan, <I>and,</I> in order to that, <I>to pluck up</I> the seven
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nations <I>that were planted</I> there, to make room for them; and at
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length there was a time when God spoke concerning Israel too, to
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<I>pluck up and to destroy,</I> when the measure of their iniquity was
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full,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+18:7,9">Jer. xviii. 7, 9</A>.
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There is <I>a time</I> for men <I>to plant,</I> a time of the year, a
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time of their lives; but, when <I>that which was planted</I> has grown
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fruitless and useless, it is <I>time to pluck it up.</I>
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3. <I>A time to kill,</I> when the judgments of God are abroad in a
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land and lay all waste; but, when he returns in ways of mercy, then is
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<I>a time to heal</I> what <I>he has torn</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+6:1,2">Hos. vi. 1, 2</A>),
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to comfort a people after the time that he has <I>afflicted them,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+90:15">Ps. xc. 15</A>.
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There is a time when it is the wisdom of rulers to use severe methods,
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but there is a time when it is as much their wisdom to take a more
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gentle course, and to apply themselves to lenitives, not corrosives.
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4. <I>A time to break down</I> a family, an estate, a kingdom, when it
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has ripened itself for destruction; but God will find <I>a time,</I> if
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they return and repent, to rebuild what he has broken down; there is
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<I>a time,</I> a set time, for the Lord <I>to build up Zion,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+102:13,16">Ps. cii. 13, 16</A>.
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There is <I>a time</I> for men <I>to break up</I> house, and break off
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trade, and so <I>to break down,</I> which those that are busy in
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<I>building up</I> both must expect and prepare for.
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5. <I>A time</I> when God's providence calls <I>to weep and mourn,</I>
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and when man's wisdom and grace will comply with the call, and will
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<I>weep and mourn,</I> as in times of common calamity and danger, and
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there it is very absurd to <I>laugh, and dance,</I> and make merry
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+22:12,13,Eze+21:10">Isa. xxii. 12, 13; Ezek. xxi. 10</A>);
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but then, on the other hand, there is a time when God calls to
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cheerfulness, <I>a time to laugh and dance,</I> and then he expects we
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should <I>serve him with joyfulness and gladness of heart.</I> Observe,
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The time of mourning and weeping is put first, before that of laughter
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and dancing, for we must first <I>sow in tears</I> and then <I>reap in
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joy.</I>
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6. <I>A time to cast away stones,</I> by breaking down and demolishing
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fortifications, when God gives peace in the borders, and there is no
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more occasion for them; but there is <I>a time to gather stones
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together,</I> for the making of strong-holds,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+3:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>.
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A time for old towers to fall, as that in Siloam
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+12:4">Luke xii. 4</A>),
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and for the temple itself to be so ruined as that <I>not one stone
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should be left upon another;</I> but also a time for towers and
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trophies too to be erected, when national affairs prosper.
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7. <I>A time to embrace</I> a friend when we find him faithful, but
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<I>a time to refrain from embracing</I> when we find he is unfair or
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unfaithful, and that we have cause to suspect him; it is then our
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prudence to be shy and keep at a distance. It is commonly applied to
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conjugal embraces, and explained by
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+7:3-5,Joe+2:16">1 Cor. vii. 3-5; Joel ii. 16</A>.
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8. <I>A time to get,</I> get money, get preferment, get good bargains
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and a good interest, when opportunity smiles, a time when a wise man
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will <I>seek</I> (so the word is); when he is setting out in the world
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and has a growing family, when he is in his prime, when he prospers and
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has a run of business, then it is time for him to be busy and make hay
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when the sun shines. There is <I>a time to get</I> wisdom, and
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knowledge, and grace, when a man has a price put into his hand; but
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then let him expect there will come a time to spend, when all he has
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will be little enough to serve his turn. Nay, there will come <I>a time
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to lose,</I> when what has been soon got will be soon scattered and
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cannot be held fast.
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9. <I>A time to keep,</I> when we have use for what we have got, and
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can keep it without running the hazard of a good conscience; but there
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may come <I>a time to cast away,</I> when love to God may oblige us to
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cast away what we have, because we must deny Christ and wrong our
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consciences if we keep it
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+10:37,38">Matt. x. 37, 38</A>),
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and rather to make shipwreck of all than of the faith; nay, when love
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to ourselves may oblige us to cast it away, when it is for the saving
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of our lives, as it was when Jonah's mariners heaved their cargo into
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the sea.
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10. <I>A time to rend</I> the garments, as upon occasion of some great
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grief, <I>and a time to sew,</I> them again, in token that the grief is
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over. A time to undo what we have done and a time to do again what we
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have undone. Jerome applies this to the rending of the Jewish church
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and the sewing and making up of the gospel church thereupon.
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11. <I>A time</I> when it becomes us, and is our wisdom and duty, <I>to
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keep silence,</I> when it is an <I>evil time</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Am+5:13">Amos v. 13</A>),
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when our speaking would be the <I>casting of pearl before swine,</I> or
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when we are in danger of speaking amiss
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+39:2">Ps. xxxix. 2</A>);
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but there is also <I>a time to speak</I> for the glory of God and the
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edification of others, when silence would be the betraying of a
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righteous cause, and when with the mouth confession is to be made to
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salvation; and it is a great part of Christian prudence to know when to
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speak and when to hold our peace.
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12. <I>A time to love,</I> and to show ourselves friendly, to be free
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and cheerful, and it is a pleasant time; but there may come <I>a time
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to hate,</I> when we shall see cause to break off all familiarity with
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some that we have been fond of, and to be upon the reserve, as having
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found reason for a suspicion, which love is loth to admit.
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13. <I>A time of war,</I> when God draws the sword for judgment and
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gives it commission to devour, when men draw the sword for justice and
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the maintaining of their rights, when there is in the nations a
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disposition to war; but we may hope for <I>a time of peace,</I> when
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the sword of the Lord shall be sheathed and he shall <I>make wars to
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cease</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+46:9">Ps. xlvi. 9</A>),
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when the end of the war is obtained, and when there is on all sides a
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disposition to peace. War shall not last always, nor is there any peace
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to be called lasting on this side the everlasting peace. Thus in all
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these changes God has set the one over-against the other, that we may
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<I>rejoice as though we rejoiced not and weep as though we wept
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not.</I></P>
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<P>
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III. The inferences drawn from this observation. If our present state
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be subject to such vicissitude,
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1. Then we must not expect our portion in it, for the good things of it
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are of no certainty, no continuance
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+3:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>):
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<I>What profit has he that works?</I> What can a man promise himself
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from planting and building, when that which he thinks is brought to
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perfection may so soon, and will so surely, be plucked up and broken
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down? All our pains and care will not alter either the mutable nature
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of the things themselves or the immutable counsel of God concerning
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them.
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2. Then we must look upon ourselves as upon our probation in it. There
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is indeed no profit <I>in that wherein we labour;</I> the thing itself,
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when we have it, will do us little good; but, if we make a right use of
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the disposals of Providence about it, there will be profit in that
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+3:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>):
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<I>I have seen the travail which God has given to the sons of men,</I>
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not to make up a happiness by it, but <I>to be exercised in it,</I> to
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have various graces exercised by the variety of events, to have their
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dependence upon God tried by every change, and to be trained up to it,
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and taught both <I>how to want and how to abound,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Php+4:12">Phil. iv. 12</A>.
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Note,
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(1.) There is a great deal of toil and trouble to be seen among the
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children of men. Labour and sorrow fill the world.
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(2.) This toil and this trouble are what God has allotted us. He never
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intended this world for our rest, and therefore never appointed us to
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take our ease in it.
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(3.) To many it proves a gift. God gives it to men, as the physician
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gives a medicine to his patient, to do him good. This travail is given
|
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to us to make us weary of the world and desirous of the remaining rest.
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It is given to us that we may be kept in action, and may always have
|
|
something to do; for we were none of us sent into the world to be idle.
|
|
Every change cuts us out some new work, which we should be more
|
|
solicitous about, than about the event.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Ec3_11"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ec3_12"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ec3_13"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ec3_14"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ec3_15"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Mutability of Human Affairs.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1> <! -- Date --> </FONT></TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>11 He hath made every <I>thing</I> 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.
|
|
12 I know that <I>there is</I> no good in them, but for <I>a man</I> to
|
|
rejoice, and to do good in his life.
|
|
13 And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the
|
|
good of all his labour, it <I>is</I> the gift of God.
|
|
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 <I>it,</I> that <I>men</I> should fear before him.
|
|
15 That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath
|
|
already been; and God requireth that which is past.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
We have seen what changes there are in the world, and must not expect
|
|
to find the world more sure to us than it has been to others. Now here
|
|
Solomon shows the hand of God in all those changes; it is he that has
|
|
made every creature to be that to us which it is, and therefore we must
|
|
have our eye always upon him.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. We must make the best of <I>that which is,</I> and must believe it
|
|
best for the present, and accommodate ourselves to it: <I>He has made
|
|
every thing beautiful in his time</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+3:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>),
|
|
|
|
and therefore, while its time lasts, we must be reconciled to it: nay,
|
|
we must please ourselves with the beauty of it. Note,
|
|
|
|
1. Every thing is as God has made it; it is really as he appointed it
|
|
to be, not as it appears to us.
|
|
|
|
2. That which to us seems most unpleasant is yet, in its proper time,
|
|
altogether becoming. Cold is as becoming in winter as heat in summer;
|
|
and the night, in its turn, is a black beauty, as the day, in its turn,
|
|
is a bright one.
|
|
|
|
3. There is a wonderful harmony in the divine Providence and all its
|
|
disposals, so that the events of it, when they come to be considered in
|
|
their relations and tendencies, together with the seasons of them, will
|
|
appear very beautiful, to the glory of God and the comfort of those
|
|
that trust in him. Though we see not the complete beauty of Providence,
|
|
yet we shall see it, and a glorious sight it will be, when the mystery
|
|
of God shall be finished. Then every thing shall appear to have been
|
|
done in the most proper time and it will be the wonder of eternity,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+32:4,Eze+1:18">Deut. xxxii. 4; Ezek. i. 18</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. We must wait with patience for the full discovery of that which to
|
|
us seems intricate and perplexed, acknowledging that we <I>cannot find
|
|
out the work that God makes from the beginning to the end,</I> and
|
|
therefore must judge nothing before the time. We are to believe that
|
|
God has made all beautiful. Every thing is done well, as in creation,
|
|
so in providence, and we shall see it when the end comes, but till then
|
|
we are incompetent judges of it. While the picture is in drawing, and
|
|
the house in building, we see not the beauty of either; but when the
|
|
artist has put his last hand to them, and given them their finishing
|
|
strokes, then all appears very good. We see but the middle of God's
|
|
works, not from the beginning of them (then we should see how admirably
|
|
the plan was laid in the divine counsels), nor to the end of them,
|
|
which crowns the action (then we should see the product to be
|
|
glorious), but we must wait till the veil be rent, and not arraign
|
|
God's proceedings nor pretend to pass judgment on them. <I>Secret
|
|
things belong not to us.</I> Those words, <I>He has set the world in
|
|
their hearts,</I> are differently understood.
|
|
|
|
1. Some make them to be a reason why we may know more of God's works
|
|
than we do; so Mr. Pemble: "God has not left himself without witness of
|
|
his righteous, equal, and beautiful ordering of things, but has set it
|
|
forth, to be observed in the book of <I>the world,</I> and this he has
|
|
<I>set in men's hearts,</I> given man a large desire, and a power, in
|
|
good measure, to comprehend and understand the history of nature, with
|
|
the course of human affairs, so that, if men did but give themselves to
|
|
the exact observation of things, they might in most of them perceive an
|
|
admirable order and contrivance."
|
|
|
|
2. Others make them to be a reason why we do not know so much of God's
|
|
works as we might; so bishop Reynolds: "We have the world so much in
|
|
our hearts, are so taken up with thoughts and cares of worldly things,
|
|
and are so exercised in our travail concerning them, that we have
|
|
neither time nor spirit to eye God's hand in them." The world has not
|
|
only gained possession of the heart, but has formed prejudices there
|
|
against the beauty of God's works.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. We must be pleased with our lot in this world, and cheerfully
|
|
acquiesce in the will of God concerning us, and accommodate ourselves
|
|
to it. <I>There is no</I> certain, lasting, <I>good in</I> these
|
|
things; what good there is in them we are here told,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+3:12,13"><I>v.</I> 12, 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
We must make a good use of them,
|
|
|
|
1. For the benefit of others. All the <I>good</I> there is <I>in
|
|
them</I> is <I>to do good</I> with them, to our families, to our
|
|
neighbours, to the poor, to the public, to its civil and religious
|
|
interests. What have we our beings, capacities, and estates for, but
|
|
to be some way serviceable to our generation? We mistake if we think we
|
|
were born for ourselves. No; it is our business <I>to do good;</I> it
|
|
is in doing good that there is the truest pleasure, and what is so laid
|
|
out is best laid up and will turn to the best account. Observe, It is
|
|
<I>to do good in this life,</I> which is short and uncertain; we have
|
|
but a little time to be doing good in, and therefore had need to redeem
|
|
time. It is <I>in this life,</I> where we are in a state of trial and
|
|
probation for another life. Every man's life is his opportunity of
|
|
doing that which will make for him in eternity.
|
|
|
|
2. For our own comfort. Let us make ourselves easy, <I>rejoice, and
|
|
enjoy the good of our labour,</I> as <I>it is the gift of God,</I> and
|
|
so enjoy God in it, and taste his love, return him thanks, and make him
|
|
the centre of our joy, <I>eat and drink</I> to his glory, and <I>serve
|
|
him with joyfulness of heart, in the abundance of all things.</I> If
|
|
all things in this world be so uncertain, it is a foolish thing for men
|
|
sordidly to spare for the present, that they may hoard up all for
|
|
hereafter; it is better to live cheerfully and usefully upon what we
|
|
have, and let to-morrow <I>take thought for the things of itself.</I>
|
|
Grace and wisdom to do this <I>is the gift of God,</I> and it is a good
|
|
gift, which crowns the gifts of his providential bounty.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. We must be entirely satisfied in all the disposals of the divine
|
|
Providence, both as to personal and public concerns, and bring our
|
|
minds to them, because God, in all, performs the thing that is
|
|
appointed for us, acts according to the counsel of his will; and we are
|
|
here told,
|
|
|
|
1. That that counsel cannot be altered, and therefore it is our wisdom
|
|
to make a virtue of necessity, by submitting to it. It must be as God
|
|
wills: <I>I know</I> (and every one knows it that knows any thing of
|
|
God) <I>that whatsoever God does it shall be for ever,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+3:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>He is in one mind, and who can turn him?</I> His measures are never
|
|
broken, nor is he ever put upon new counsels, but what he has purposed
|
|
shall be effected, and all the world cannot defeat nor disannul it. It
|
|
behoves us therefore to say, "Let it be as God wills," for, how cross
|
|
soever it may be to our designs and interests, God's will is his
|
|
wisdom.
|
|
|
|
2. That that counsel needs not to be altered, for there is nothing
|
|
amiss in it, nothing that can be am ended. If we could see it
|
|
altogether at one view, we should see it so perfect that <I>nothing can
|
|
be put to it,</I> for there is no deficiency in it, <I>nor any thing
|
|
taken from it,</I> for there is nothing in it unnecessary, or that can
|
|
be spared. As the word of God, so the works of God are every one of
|
|
them perfect in its kind, and it is presumption for us either to add to
|
|
them or to diminish from them,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+4:2">Deut. iv. 2</A>.
|
|
|
|
It is therefore as much our interest, as our duty, to bring our wills
|
|
to the will of God.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
V. We must study to answer God's end in all his providences, which is
|
|
in general to make us religious. <I>God does</I> all <I>that men should
|
|
fear before him,</I> to convince them that there is a God above them
|
|
that has a sovereign dominion over them, at whose disposal they are and
|
|
all their ways, and in whose hands their times are and all events
|
|
concerning them, and that therefore they ought to have their eyes ever
|
|
towards him, to worship and adore him, to acknowledge him in all their
|
|
ways, to be careful in every thing to please him, and afraid of
|
|
offending him in any thing. God thus changes his disposals, and yet is
|
|
unchangeable in his counsels, not to perplex us, much less to drive us
|
|
to despair, but to teach us our duty to him and engage us to do it.
|
|
That which God designs in the government of the world is the support
|
|
and advancement of religion among men.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
VI. Whatever changes we see or feel in this world, we must acknowledge
|
|
the inviolable steadiness of God's government. The sun rises and sets,
|
|
the moon increases and decreases, and yet both are where they were, and
|
|
their revolutions are in the same method from the beginning according
|
|
to <I>the ordinances of heaven;</I> so it is with the events of
|
|
Providence
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+3:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>That which has been is now.</I> God has not of late begun to use
|
|
this method. No; things were always as mutable and uncertain as they
|
|
are now, and so they will be: <I>That which is to be has already
|
|
been;</I> and therefore we speak inconsiderately when we say, "Surely
|
|
the world was never so bad as it is now," or "None ever met with such
|
|
disappointments as we meet with," or "The times will never mend;" they
|
|
may mend with us, and after a time to mourn there may come a time to
|
|
rejoice, but that will still be liable to the common character, to the
|
|
common fate. The world, as it has been, is and will be constant in
|
|
inconstancy; for <I>God requires that which is past,</I> that is,
|
|
repeats what he has formerly done and deals with us no otherwise than
|
|
as he has used to deal with good men; and <I>shall the earth be
|
|
forsaken for us, or the rock removed out of his place?</I> There has no
|
|
change befallen us, nor any temptation by it overtaken us, <I>but such
|
|
as is common to men.</I> Let us not be proud and secure in prosperity,
|
|
for God may recall a past trouble, and order that to seize us and spoil
|
|
our mirth
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+30:7">Ps. xxx. 7</A>);
|
|
|
|
nor let us despond in adversity, for God may call back the comforts
|
|
that are past, as he did to Job. We may apply this to our past actions,
|
|
and our behaviour under the changes that have affected us. God will
|
|
call us to account for <I>that which is past;</I> and therefore, when
|
|
we enter into a new condition, we should judge ourselves for our sins
|
|
in our former condition, prosperous or afflicted.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Ec3_16"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ec3_17"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ec3_18"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ec3_19"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ec3_20"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ec3_21"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ec3_22"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Immutability of God's Counsel; The Extent of Mortality.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1> <! -- Date --> </FONT></TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>16 And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment,
|
|
<I>that</I> wickedness <I>was</I> there; and the place of righteousness,
|
|
<I>that</I> iniquity <I>was</I> there.
|
|
17 I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the
|
|
wicked: for <I>there is</I> a time there for every purpose and for
|
|
every work.
|
|
18 I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of
|
|
men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that
|
|
they themselves are beasts.
|
|
19 For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts;
|
|
even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the
|
|
other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no
|
|
preeminence above a beast: for all <I>is</I> vanity.
|
|
20 All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to
|
|
dust again.
|
|
21 Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the
|
|
spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?
|
|
22 Wherefore I perceive that <I>there is</I> nothing better, than
|
|
that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that <I>is</I> his
|
|
portion: for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him?
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Solomon is still showing that every thing in this world, without piety
|
|
and the fear of God, is vanity. Take away religion, and there is
|
|
nothing valuable among men, nothing for the sake of which a wise man
|
|
would think it worth while to live in this world. In these verses he
|
|
shows that power (than which there is nothing men are more ambitious
|
|
of) and life itself (than which there is nothing men are more fond,
|
|
more jealous of) are nothing without the fear of God.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. Here is the vanity of man as mighty, man in his best estate, man
|
|
upon the throne, where his authority is submitted to, man upon the
|
|
judgment-seat, where his wisdom and justice are appealed to, and where,
|
|
if he be governed by the laws of religion, he is God's vicegerent; nay,
|
|
he is of those to whom it is said, <I>You are gods;</I> but without the
|
|
fear of God it <I>is vanity,</I> for, set that aside, and,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. The judge will not judge aright, will not use his power well, but
|
|
will abuse it; instead of doing good with it he will do hurt with it,
|
|
and then it is not only vanity, but a lie, a cheat to himself and to
|
|
all about him,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+3:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
Solomon perceived, by what he had read of former times, what he heard
|
|
of other countries, and what he had seen in some corrupt judges, even
|
|
in the land of Israel, notwithstanding all his care to prefer good men,
|
|
that there was <I>wickedness in the place of judgment.</I> It is not so
|
|
above the sun: far be it from God that he should do iniquity, or
|
|
pervert justice. But <I>under the sun</I> it is often found that that
|
|
which should be the refuge, proves the prison, of oppressed innocency.
|
|
<I>Man being in honour, and not understanding</I> what he ought to do,
|
|
<I>becomes like the beasts that perish,</I> like the beasts of prey,
|
|
even the most ravenous,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+49:20">Ps. xlix. 20</A>.
|
|
|
|
Not only from the persons that sat in judgment, but even <I>in the
|
|
places</I> where judgment was, in pretence, administered, and
|
|
righteousness was expected, <I>there was iniquity;</I> men met with the
|
|
greatest wrongs in those courts to which they fled for justice. This is
|
|
<I>vanity and vexation;</I> for,
|
|
|
|
(1.) It would have been better for the people to have had no judges
|
|
than to have had such.
|
|
|
|
(2.) It would have been better for the judges to have had no power than
|
|
to have had it and used it to such ill purposes; and so they will say
|
|
another day.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. The judge will himself be judged for not judging aright. When
|
|
Solomon saw how judgment was perverted among men he looked up to God
|
|
the Judge, and looked forward to the day of his judgment
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+3:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>I said in my heart</I> that this unrighteous judgment is not so
|
|
conclusive as both sides take it to be, for there will be a review of
|
|
the judgment; <I>God shall judge</I> between <I>the righteous and the
|
|
wicked,</I> shall judge for the righteous and plead their cause, though
|
|
now it is run down, and judge against the wicked and reckon with them
|
|
for all their <I>unrighteous decrees</I> and the <I>grievousness which
|
|
they have prescribed,</I>"
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+10:1">Isa. x. 1</A>.
|
|
|
|
With an eye of faith we may see, not only the period, but the
|
|
punishment of the pride and cruelty of oppressors
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+92:7">Ps. xcii. 7</A>),
|
|
|
|
and it is an unspeakable comfort to the oppressed that their cause will
|
|
be heard over again. Let them therefore wait with patience, for there
|
|
is another <I>Judge</I> that <I>stands before the door.</I> And, though
|
|
the day of affliction may last long, yet <I>there is a time,</I> a set
|
|
time, for the examination of <I>every purpose, and every work</I> done
|
|
under the sun. Men have their day now, but God's day is coming,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+37:13">Ps. xxxvii. 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
With God <I>there is a time</I> for the re-hearing of causes,
|
|
redressing of grievances, and reversing of unjust decrees, though as
|
|
yet we see it not here,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+24:1">Job xxiv. 1</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. Here is the vanity of man as mortal. He now comes to speak more
|
|
generally <I>concerning the estate of the sons of men</I> in this
|
|
world, their life and being on earth, and shows that their reason,
|
|
without religion and the fear of God, advances them but little above
|
|
the beasts. Now observe,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. What he aims at in this account of man's estate.
|
|
|
|
(1.) That God may be honoured, may be justified, may be
|
|
glorified--<I>that they might clear God</I> (so the margin reads it),
|
|
that if men have an uneasy life in this world, full of vanity and
|
|
vexation, they may thank themselves and lay no blame on God; let them
|
|
clear him, and not say that he made this world to be man's prison and
|
|
life to be his penance; no, God made man, in respect both of honour and
|
|
comfort, <I>little lower than the angels;</I> if he be mean and
|
|
miserable, it is his own fault. Or, <I>that God</I> (that is, the world
|
|
of God) <I>might manifest them,</I> and discover them to themselves,
|
|
and so appear to be <I>quick and powerful,</I> and a judge of men's
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characters; and we may be made sensible how open we lie to God's
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knowledge and judgment.
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(2.) That men may be humbled, may be vilified, may be
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mortified--<I>that they might see that they themselves are beasts.</I>
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|
It is no easy matter to convince proud men that <I>they are but men</I>
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|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+9:20">Ps. ix. 20</A>),
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much more to convince bad men <I>that they are beasts,</I> that, being
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destitute of religion, they are as <I>the beasts that perish,</I> as
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|
<I>the horse and the mule that have no understanding.</I> Proud
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|
oppressors are as beasts, as <I>roaring lions and ranging bears.</I>
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Nay, every man that minds his body only, and not his soul, makes
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himself no better than a brute, and must wish, at least, to die like
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one.</P>
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<P>
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2. The manner in which he verifies this account. That which he
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undertakes to prove is that a worldly, carnal, earthly-minded <I>man,
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|
has no preeminence above the beast, for all</I> that which he sets his
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|
heart upon, places his confidence, and expects a happiness in, <I>is
|
|
vanity,</I>
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|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+3:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>.
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|
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Some make this to be the language of an atheist, who justifies himself
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|
in his iniquity
|
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|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+3:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>)
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|
|
|
and evades the argument taken from the judgment to come
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+3:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>)
|
|
|
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by pleading that there is not another life after this, but that when
|
|
man dies there is an end of him, and therefore while he lives he may
|
|
live as he lists; but others rather think Solomon here speaks as he
|
|
himself thinks, and that it is to be understood in the same sense with
|
|
that of his father
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+49:14">Ps. xlix. 14</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>Like sheep they are laid in the grave,</I> and that he intends to
|
|
show the vanity of this world's wealth and honours "By the equal
|
|
condition in mere outward respects (as bishop Reynolds expounds it)
|
|
between men and beasts,"
|
|
|
|
(1.) The events concerning both seem much alike
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+3:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>);
|
|
|
|
<I>That which befals the sons of men</I> is no other than that which
|
|
<I>befals beasts;</I> a great deal of knowledge of human bodies is
|
|
gained by the anatomy of the bodies of brutes. When the deluge swept
|
|
away the old world the beasts perished with mankind. Horses and men
|
|
are killed in battle with the same weapons of war.
|
|
|
|
(2.) The end of both, to an eye of sense, seems alike too: <I>They have
|
|
all one breath,</I> and breathe in the same air, and it is the general
|
|
description of both that <I>in their nostrils is the breath of life</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+7:22">Gen. vii. 22</A>),
|
|
|
|
and therefore, <I>as the one dies, so dies the other;</I> in their
|
|
expiring there is no visible difference, but death makes much the same
|
|
change with a beast that it does with a man.
|
|
|
|
[1.] As to their bodies, the change is altogether the same, except the
|
|
different respects that are paid to them by the survivors. Let a man be
|
|
<I>buried with the burial of an ass</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+22:19">Jer. xxii. 19</A>)
|
|
|
|
and what preëminence then has he <I>above a beast?</I> The touch
|
|
of the dead body of a man, by the law of Moses, contracted a greater
|
|
ceremonial pollution than the touch of the carcase even of an unclean
|
|
beast or fowl. And Solomon here observes that <I>all go unto one
|
|
place;</I> the dead bodies of men and beasts putrefy alike; <I>all are
|
|
of the dust,</I> in their original, for we see <I>all turn to dust
|
|
again</I> in their corruption. What little reason then have we to be
|
|
proud of our bodies, or any bodily accomplishments, when they must not
|
|
only be reduced to the earth very shortly, but must be so in common
|
|
with the beasts, and we must mingle our dust with theirs!
|
|
|
|
[2.] As to their spirits there is indeed a vast difference, but not a
|
|
visible one,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+3:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>.
|
|
|
|
It is certain that <I>the spirit of</I> the sons of men at death is
|
|
ascending; it <I>goes upwards</I> to the Father of spirits, who made
|
|
it, to the world of spirits to which it is allied; it dies not with the
|
|
body, but <I>is redeemed from the power of the grave,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+49:15">Ps. xlix. 15</A>.
|
|
|
|
It <I>goes upwards</I> to be judged and determined to an unchangeable
|
|
state. It is certain that <I>the spirit of the beast goes downwards to
|
|
the earth;</I> it dies with the body; it perishes and is gone at death.
|
|
The soul of a beast is, at death, like a candle blown out--there is an
|
|
end of it; whereas the soul of a man is then like a candle taken out of
|
|
a dark lantern, which leaves the lantern useless indeed, but does
|
|
itself shine brighter. This great difference there is between the
|
|
spirits of men and beasts; and a good reason it is why men should
|
|
<I>set their affections on things above,</I> and lift up their souls to
|
|
those things, not suffering them, as if they were the souls of brutes,
|
|
to cleave to this earth. But <I>who knows</I> this difference? We
|
|
cannot see the ascent of the one and the descent of the other with our
|
|
bodily eyes; and therefore those that live by sense, as all carnal
|
|
sensualists do, that <I>walk in the sight of their eyes</I> and will
|
|
not admit any other discoveries, by their own rule of judgment have no
|
|
<I>preëminence above the beasts. Who knows,</I> that is, who
|
|
considers this?
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+53:1">Isa. liii. 1</A>.
|
|
|
|
Very few. Were it better considered, the world would be every way
|
|
better; but most men live as if they were to be here always, or as if
|
|
when they die there were an end of them; and it is not strange that
|
|
those live like beasts who think they shall die like beasts, but on
|
|
such the noble faculties of reason are perfectly lost and thrown
|
|
away.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. An inference drawn from it
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+3:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>There is nothing better,</I> as to this world, nothing better to be
|
|
had out of our wealth and honour, <I>than that a man should rejoice in
|
|
his own works,</I> that is,
|
|
|
|
(1.) Keep a clear conscience, and never admit <I>iniquity</I> into
|
|
<I>the place of righteousness. Let every man prove his own work,</I>
|
|
and approve himself to God in it, <I>so shall he have rejoicing in
|
|
himself alone,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ga+6:4">Gal. vi. 4</A>.
|
|
|
|
Let him not get nor keep any thing but what he can rejoice in. See
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Co+1:12">2 Cor. i. 12</A>.
|
|
|
|
(2.) Live a cheerful life. If God have prospered the work of our hands
|
|
unto us, let us rejoice in it, and take the comfort of it, and not make
|
|
it a burden to ourselves and leave others the joy of it; <I>for that is
|
|
our portion,</I> not the portion of our souls (miserable are those that
|
|
have their portion in this life,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+17:14">Ps. xvii. 14</A>,
|
|
|
|
and fools are those that choose it and take up with it,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+12:19">Luke xii. 19</A>),
|
|
|
|
but it is the portion of the body; that only which we enjoy is ours out
|
|
of this world; it is taking what is to be had and making the best of
|
|
it, and the reason is because none can give us a sight of <I>what shall
|
|
be after us,</I> either who shall have our estates or what use they
|
|
will make of them. When we are gone it is likely we shall not see what
|
|
is after us; there is no correspondence that we know of between the
|
|
other world and this,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+14:21">Job xiv. 21</A>.
|
|
|
|
Those in the other world will be wholly taken up with that world, so
|
|
that they will not care for seeing what is done in this; and while we
|
|
are here we cannot foresee <I>what shall be after us,</I> either as to
|
|
our families or the public. <I>It is not for us to know the times and
|
|
seasons</I> that <I>shall be after</I> us, which, as it should be a
|
|
restraint to our cares about this world, so it should be a reason for
|
|
our concern about another. Since death is a final farewell to this
|
|
life, let us look before us to another life.</P>
|
|
|
|
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