mh_parser/vol_split/21 - Ecclesiastes/Chapter 3.xml

<div2 id="Ec.iv" n="iv" next="Ec.v" prev="Ec.iii" progress="90.33%" title="Chapter III">
<h2 id="Ec.iv-p0.1">E C C L E S I A S T E S</h2>
<h3 id="Ec.iv-p0.2">CHAP. III.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Ec.iv-p1">Solomon having shown the vanity of studies,
pleasures, and business, and made it to appear that happiness is
not to be found in the schools of the learned, nor in the gardens
of Epicurus, nor upon the exchange, he proceeds, in this chapter,
further to prove his doctrine, and the inference he had drawn from
it, That therefore we should cheerfully content ourselves with, and
make use of, what God has given us, by showing, I. The mutability
of all human affairs, <scripRef id="Ec.iv-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.3.1-Eccl.3.10" parsed="|Eccl|3|1|3|10" passage="Ec 3:1-10">ver.
1-10</scripRef>. II. The immutability of the divine counsels
concerning them and the unsearchableness of those counsels,
<scripRef id="Ec.iv-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.3.11-Eccl.3.15" parsed="|Eccl|3|11|3|15" passage="Ec 3:11-15">ver. 11-15</scripRef>. III. The
vanity of worldly honour and power, which are abused for the
support of oppression and persecution if men be not governed by the
fear of God in the use of them, <scripRef id="Ec.iv-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.3.16" parsed="|Eccl|3|16|0|0" passage="Ec 3:16">ver.
16</scripRef>. For a check to proud oppressors, and to show them
their vanity, he reminds them, 1. That they will be called to
account for it in the other world, <scripRef id="Ec.iv-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.3.17" parsed="|Eccl|3|17|0|0" passage="Ec 3:17">ver.
17</scripRef>. 2. That their condition, in reference to this world
(for of that he speaks), is no better than that of the beasts,
<scripRef id="Ec.iv-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.3.18-Eccl.3.21" parsed="|Eccl|3|18|3|21" passage="Ec 3:18-21">ver. 18-21</scripRef>. And therefore
he concludes that it is our wisdom to make use of what power we
have for our own comfort, and not to oppress others with it.</p>
<scripCom id="Ec.iv-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.3" parsed="|Eccl|3|0|0|0" passage="Ec 3" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Ec.iv-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.3.1-Eccl.3.10" parsed="|Eccl|3|1|3|10" passage="Ec 3:1-10" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Eccl.3.1-Eccl.3.10">
<h4 id="Ec.iv-p1.8">Mutability of Human Affairs.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ec.iv-p2">1 To every <i>thing there is</i> a season, and a
time to every purpose under the heaven:   2 A time to be born,
and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up <i>that
which is</i> planted;   3 A time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;   4 A time to
weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
  5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones
together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
  6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a
time to cast away;   7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a
time to keep silence, and a time to speak;   8 A time to love,
and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.   9
What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth?
  10 I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons
of men to be exercised in it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.iv-p3">The scope of these verses is to show, 1.
That we live in a world of changes, that the several events of
time, and conditions of human life, are vastly different from one
another, and yet occur promiscuously, and we are continually
passing and repassing between them, as in the revolutions of every
day and every year. In the <i>wheel of nature</i> (<scripRef id="Ec.iv-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Jas.3.6" parsed="|Jas|3|6|0|0" passage="Jam 3:6">Jam. iii. 6</scripRef>) sometimes one spoke is
uppermost and by and by the contrary; there is a constant ebbing
and flowing, waxing and waning; from one extreme to the other does
the <i>fashion of this world change,</i> ever did, and ever will.
2. That every change concerning us, with the time and season of it,
is unalterably fixed and determined by a supreme power; and we must
take things as they come, for it is not in our power to change what
is appointed for us. And this comes in here as a reason why, when
we are in prosperity, we should by easy, and yet not secure—not to
be secure because we live in a world of changes and therefore have
no reason to say, <i>To-morrow shall be as this day</i> (the lowest
valleys join to the highest mountains), and yet to be easy, and, as
he had advised (<scripRef id="Ec.iv-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.2.24" parsed="|Eccl|2|24|0|0" passage="Ec 2:24"><i>ch.</i> ii.
24</scripRef>), <i>to enjoy the good of our labour,</i> in a humble
dependence upon God and his providence, neither lifted up with
hopes, nor cast down with fears, but with evenness of mind
expecting every event. Here we have,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.iv-p4">I. A general proposition laid down: <i>To
every thing there is a season,</i> <scripRef id="Ec.iv-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.3.1" parsed="|Eccl|3|1|0|0" passage="Ec 3:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>. 1. Those things which seem most
contrary the one to the other will, in the revolution of affairs,
each take their turn and come into play. The day will give place to
the night and the night again to the day. Is it summer? It will be
winter. Is it winter? Stay a while, and it will be summer. Every
purpose has its time. The clearest sky will be clouded, <i>Post
gaudia luctus—Joy succeeds sorrow;</i> and the most clouded sky
will clear up, <i>Post nubila Phoebus—The sun will burst from
behind the cloud.</i> 2. Those things which to us seem most casual
and contingent are, in the counsel and foreknowledge of God,
punctually determined, and the very hour of them is fixed, and can
neither be anticipated nor adjourned a moment.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.iv-p5">II. The proof and illustration of it by the
induction of particulars, twenty-eight in number, according to the
days of the moon's revolution, which is always increasing or
decreasing between its full and change. Some of these changes are
purely the act of God, others depend more upon the will of man, but
all are determined by the divine counsel. Every thing <i>under
heaven</i> is thus changeable, but in heaven there is an
unchangeable state, and an unchangeable counsel concerning these
things. 1. There is <i>a time to be born and a time to die.</i>
These are determined by the divine counsel; and, as we were born,
so we must die, at the time appointed, <scripRef id="Ec.iv-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Acts.17.26" parsed="|Acts|17|26|0|0" passage="Ac 17:26">Acts xvii. 26</scripRef>. Some observe that here is <i>a
time to be born and a time to die,</i> but no time to live; that is
so short that it is not worth mentioning; as soon as we are born we
begin to die. But, as there is <i>a time to be born and a time to
die,</i> so there will be a time to rise again, a set time when
those that lie in the grave shall be remembered, <scripRef id="Ec.iv-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.14.13" parsed="|Job|14|13|0|0" passage="Job 14:13">Job xiv. 13</scripRef>. 2. <i>A time</i> for God <i>to
plant</i> a nation, as that of Israel in Canaan, <i>and,</i> in
order to that, <i>to pluck up</i> the seven nations <i>that were
planted</i> there, to make room for them; and at length there was a
time when God spoke concerning Israel too, to <i>pluck up and to
destroy,</i> when the measure of their iniquity was full, <scripRef id="Ec.iv-p5.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.18.7 Bible:Jer.18.9" parsed="|Jer|18|7|0|0;|Jer|18|9|0|0" passage="Jer 18:7,9">Jer. xviii. 7, 9</scripRef>. There is <i>a
time</i> for men <i>to plant,</i> a time of the year, a time of
their lives; but, when <i>that which was planted</i> has grown
fruitless and useless, it is <i>time to pluck it up.</i> 3. <i>A
time to kill,</i> when the judgments of God are abroad in a land
and lay all waste; but, when he returns in ways of mercy, then is
<i>a time to heal</i> what <i>he has torn</i> (<scripRef id="Ec.iv-p5.4" osisRef="Bible:Hos.6.1-Hos.6.2" parsed="|Hos|6|1|6|2" passage="Ho 6:1,2">Hos. vi. 1, 2</scripRef>), to comfort a people after the
time that he has <i>afflicted them,</i> <scripRef id="Ec.iv-p5.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.90.15" parsed="|Ps|90|15|0|0" passage="Ps 90:15">Ps. xc. 15</scripRef>. There is a time when it is the
wisdom of rulers to use severe methods, but there is a time when it
is as much their wisdom to take a more gentle course, and to apply
themselves to lenitives, not corrosives. 4. <i>A time to break
down</i> a family, an estate, a kingdom, when it has ripened itself
for destruction; but God will find <i>a time,</i> if they return
and repent, to rebuild what he has broken down; there is <i>a
time,</i> a set time, for the Lord <i>to build up Zion,</i>
<scripRef id="Ec.iv-p5.6" osisRef="Bible:Ps.102.13 Bible:Ps.102.16" parsed="|Ps|102|13|0|0;|Ps|102|16|0|0" passage="Ps 102:13,16">Ps. cii. 13, 16</scripRef>. There
is <i>a time</i> for men <i>to break up</i> house, and break off
trade, and so <i>to break down,</i> which those that are busy in
<i>building up</i> both must expect and prepare for. 5. <i>A
time</i> when God's providence calls <i>to weep and mourn,</i> and
when man's wisdom and grace will comply with the call, and will
<i>weep and mourn,</i> as in times of common calamity and danger,
and there it is very absurd to <i>laugh, and dance,</i> and make
merry (<scripRef id="Ec.iv-p5.7" osisRef="Bible:Isa.22.12-Isa.22.13 Bible:Ezek.21.10" parsed="|Isa|22|12|22|13;|Ezek|21|10|0|0" passage="Isa 22:12,13,Eze 21:10">Isa. xxii. 12,
13; Ezek. xxi. 10</scripRef>); but then, on the other hand, there
is a time when God calls to cheerfulness, <i>a time to laugh and
dance,</i> and then he expects we should <i>serve him with
joyfulness and gladness of heart.</i> Observe, The time of mourning
and weeping is put first, before that of laughter and dancing, for
we must first <i>sow in tears</i> and then <i>reap in joy.</i> 6.
<i>A time to cast away stones,</i> by breaking down and demolishing
fortifications, when God gives peace in the borders, and there is
no more occasion for them; but there is <i>a time to gather stones
together,</i> for the making of strong-holds, <scripRef id="Ec.iv-p5.8" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.3.5" parsed="|Eccl|3|5|0|0" passage="Ec 3:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>. A time for old towers to fall, as
that in Siloam (<scripRef id="Ec.iv-p5.9" osisRef="Bible:Luke.12.4" parsed="|Luke|12|4|0|0" passage="Lu 12:4">Luke xii.
4</scripRef>), and for the temple itself to be so ruined as that
<i>not one stone should be left upon another;</i> but also a time
for towers and trophies too to be erected, when national affairs
prosper. 7. <i>A time to embrace</i> a friend when we find him
faithful, but <i>a time to refrain from embracing</i> when we find
he is unfair or unfaithful, and that we have cause to suspect him;
it is then our prudence to be shy and keep at a distance. It is
commonly applied to conjugal embraces, and explained by <scripRef id="Ec.iv-p5.10" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.7.3-1Cor.7.5 Bible:Joel.2.16" parsed="|1Cor|7|3|7|5;|Joel|2|16|0|0" passage="1Co 7:3-5,Joe 2:16">1 Cor. vii. 3-5; Joel ii.
16</scripRef>. 8. <i>A time to get,</i> get money, get preferment,
get good bargains and a good interest, when opportunity smiles, a
time when a wise man will <i>seek</i> (so the word is); when he is
setting out in the world and has a growing family, when he is in
his prime, when he prospers and has a run of business, then it is
time for him to be busy and make hay when the sun shines. There is
<i>a time to get</i> wisdom, and knowledge, and grace, when a man
has a price put into his hand; but then let him expect there will
come a time to spend, when all he has will be little enough to
serve his turn. Nay, there will come <i>a time to lose,</i> when
what has been soon got will be soon scattered and cannot be held
fast. 9. <i>A time to keep,</i> when we have use for what we have
got, and can keep it without running the hazard of a good
conscience; but there may come <i>a time to cast away,</i> when
love to God may oblige us to cast away what we have, because we
must deny Christ and wrong our consciences if we keep it (<scripRef id="Ec.iv-p5.11" osisRef="Bible:Matt.10.37-Matt.10.38" parsed="|Matt|10|37|10|38" passage="Mt 10:37,38">Matt. x. 37, 38</scripRef>), and rather to
make shipwreck of all than of the faith; nay, when love to
ourselves may oblige us to cast it away, when it is for the saving
of our lives, as it was when Jonah's mariners heaved their cargo
into the sea. 10. <i>A time to rend</i> the garments, as upon
occasion of some great grief, <i>and a time to sew,</i> them again,
in token that the grief is over. A time to undo what we have done
and a time to do again what we have undone. Jerome applies this to
the rending of the Jewish church and the sewing and making up of
the gospel church thereupon. 11. <i>A time</i> when it becomes us,
and is our wisdom and duty, <i>to keep silence,</i> when it is an
<i>evil time</i> (<scripRef id="Ec.iv-p5.12" osisRef="Bible:Amos.5.13" parsed="|Amos|5|13|0|0" passage="Am 5:13">Amos v.
13</scripRef>), when our speaking would be the <i>casting of pearl
before swine,</i> or when we are in danger of speaking amiss
(<scripRef id="Ec.iv-p5.13" osisRef="Bible:Ps.39.2" parsed="|Ps|39|2|0|0" passage="Ps 39:2">Ps. xxxix. 2</scripRef>); but there is
also <i>a time to speak</i> for the glory of God and the
edification of others, when silence would be the betraying of a
righteous cause, and when with the mouth confession is to be made
to salvation; and it is a great part of Christian prudence to know
when to speak and when to hold our peace. 12. <i>A time to
love,</i> and to show ourselves friendly, to be free and cheerful,
and it is a pleasant time; but there may come <i>a time to
hate,</i> when we shall see cause to break off all familiarity with
some that we have been fond of, and to be upon the reserve, as
having found reason for a suspicion, which love is loth to admit.
13. <i>A time of war,</i> when God draws the sword for judgment and
gives it commission to devour, when men draw the sword for justice
and the maintaining of their rights, when there is in the nations a
disposition to war; but we may hope for <i>a time of peace,</i>
when the sword of the Lord shall be sheathed and he shall <i>make
wars to cease</i> (<scripRef id="Ec.iv-p5.14" osisRef="Bible:Ps.46.9" parsed="|Ps|46|9|0|0" passage="Ps 46:9">Ps. xlvi.
9</scripRef>), when the end of the war is obtained, and when there
is on all sides a disposition to peace. War shall not last always,
nor is there any peace to be called lasting on this side the
everlasting peace. Thus in all these changes God has set the one
over-against the other, that we may <i>rejoice as though we
rejoiced not and weep as though we wept not.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.iv-p6">III. The inferences drawn from this
observation. If our present state be subject to such vicissitude,
1. Then we must not expect our portion in it, for the good things
of it are of no certainty, no continuance (<scripRef id="Ec.iv-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.3.9" parsed="|Eccl|3|9|0|0" passage="Ec 3:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>): <i>What profit has he that
works?</i> What can a man promise himself from planting and
building, when that which he thinks is brought to perfection may so
soon, and will so surely, be plucked up and broken down? All our
pains and care will not alter either the mutable nature of the
things themselves or the immutable counsel of God concerning them.
2. Then we must look upon ourselves as upon our probation in it.
There is indeed no profit <i>in that wherein we labour;</i> the
thing itself, when we have it, will do us little good; but, if we
make a right use of the disposals of Providence about it, there
will be profit in that (<scripRef id="Ec.iv-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.3.10" parsed="|Eccl|3|10|0|0" passage="Ec 3:10"><i>v.</i>
10</scripRef>): <i>I have seen the travail which God has given to
the sons of men,</i> not to make up a happiness by it, but <i>to be
exercised in it,</i> to have various graces exercised by the
variety of events, to have their dependence upon God tried by every
change, and to be trained up to it, and taught both <i>how to want
and how to abound,</i> <scripRef id="Ec.iv-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:Phil.4.12" parsed="|Phil|4|12|0|0" passage="Php 4:12">Phil. iv.
12</scripRef>. Note, (1.) There is a great deal of toil and trouble
to be seen among the children of men. Labour and sorrow fill the
world. (2.) This toil and this trouble are what God has allotted
us. He never intended this world for our rest, and therefore never
appointed us to take our ease in it. (3.) To many it proves a gift.
God gives it to men, as the physician gives a medicine to his
patient, to do him good. This travail is given to us to make us
weary of the world and desirous of the remaining rest. 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>
</div><scripCom id="Ec.iv-p6.4" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.3.11-Eccl.3.15" parsed="|Eccl|3|11|3|15" passage="Ec 3:11-15" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Eccl.3.11-Eccl.3.15">
<h4 id="Ec.iv-p6.5">Mutability of Human Affairs.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ec.iv-p7">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.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.iv-p8">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 class="indent" id="Ec.iv-p9">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> (<scripRef id="Ec.iv-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.3.11" parsed="|Eccl|3|11|0|0" passage="Ec 3:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>), 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, <scripRef id="Ec.iv-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.32.4 Bible:Ezek.1.18" parsed="|Deut|32|4|0|0;|Ezek|1|18|0|0" passage="De 32:4,Eze 1:18">Deut. xxxii. 4; Ezek. i. 18</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.iv-p10">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 class="indent" id="Ec.iv-p11">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, <scripRef id="Ec.iv-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.3.12-Eccl.3.13" parsed="|Eccl|3|12|3|13" passage="Ec 3:12,13"><i>v.</i> 12,
13</scripRef>. 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 class="indent" id="Ec.iv-p12">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> <scripRef id="Ec.iv-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.3.14" parsed="|Eccl|3|14|0|0" passage="Ec 3:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>. <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 amended. 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,
<scripRef id="Ec.iv-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.4.2" parsed="|Deut|4|2|0|0" passage="De 4:2">Deut. iv. 2</scripRef>. It is therefore
as much our interest, as our duty, to bring our wills to the will
of God.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.iv-p13">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 class="indent" id="Ec.iv-p14">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
(<scripRef id="Ec.iv-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.3.15" parsed="|Eccl|3|15|0|0" passage="Ec 3:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>): <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 (<scripRef id="Ec.iv-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.30.7" parsed="|Ps|30|7|0|0" passage="Ps 30:7">Ps. xxx. 7</scripRef>); 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>
</div><scripCom id="Ec.iv-p14.3" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.3.16-Eccl.3.22" parsed="|Eccl|3|16|3|22" passage="Ec 3:16-22" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Eccl.3.16-Eccl.3.22">
<h4 id="Ec.iv-p14.4">Immutability of God's Counsel; The Extent of
Mortality.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ec.iv-p15">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?</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.iv-p16">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 class="indent" id="Ec.iv-p17">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 class="indent" id="Ec.iv-p18">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, <scripRef id="Ec.iv-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.3.16" parsed="|Eccl|3|16|0|0" passage="Ec 3:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>. 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, <scripRef id="Ec.iv-p18.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.49.20" parsed="|Ps|49|20|0|0" passage="Ps 49:20">Ps.
xlix. 20</scripRef>. 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 class="indent" id="Ec.iv-p19">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 (<scripRef id="Ec.iv-p19.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.3.17" parsed="|Eccl|3|17|0|0" passage="Ec 3:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>):
"<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>" <scripRef id="Ec.iv-p19.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.10.1" parsed="|Isa|10|1|0|0" passage="Isa 10:1">Isa. x. 1</scripRef>. With an eye of faith we may see,
not only the period, but the punishment of the pride and cruelty of
oppressors (<scripRef id="Ec.iv-p19.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.92.7" parsed="|Ps|92|7|0|0" passage="Ps 92:7">Ps. xcii. 7</scripRef>),
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, <scripRef id="Ec.iv-p19.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.37.13" parsed="|Ps|37|13|0|0" passage="Ps 37:13">Ps.
xxxvii. 13</scripRef>. 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, <scripRef id="Ec.iv-p19.5" osisRef="Bible:Job.24.1" parsed="|Job|24|1|0|0" passage="Job 24:1">Job xxiv. 1</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.iv-p20">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 class="indent" id="Ec.iv-p21">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 characters; and we may be made
sensible how open we lie to God's knowledge and judgment. (2.) That
men may be humbled, may be vilified, may be mortified—<i>that they
might see that they themselves are beasts.</i> It is no easy matter
to convince proud men that <i>they are but men</i> (<scripRef id="Ec.iv-p21.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.9.20" parsed="|Ps|9|20|0|0" passage="Ps 9:20">Ps. ix. 20</scripRef>), much more to convince bad
men <i>that they are beasts,</i> that, being destitute of religion,
they are as <i>the beasts that perish,</i> as <i>the horse and the
mule that have no understanding.</i> Proud oppressors are as
beasts, as <i>roaring lions and ranging bears.</i> Nay, every man
that minds his body only, and not his soul, makes himself no better
than a brute, and must wish, at least, to die like one.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ec.iv-p22">2. The manner in which he verifies this
account. That which he undertakes to prove is that a worldly,
carnal, earthly-minded <i>man, has no preeminence above the beast,
for all</i> that which he sets his heart upon, places his
confidence, and expects a happiness in, <i>is vanity,</i> <scripRef id="Ec.iv-p22.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.3.19" parsed="|Eccl|3|19|0|0" passage="Ec 3:19"><i>v.</i> 19</scripRef>. Some make this to be the
language of an atheist, who justifies himself in his iniquity
(<scripRef id="Ec.iv-p22.2" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.3.16" parsed="|Eccl|3|16|0|0" passage="Ec 3:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>) and evades
the argument taken from the judgment to come (<scripRef id="Ec.iv-p22.3" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.3.17" parsed="|Eccl|3|17|0|0" passage="Ec 3:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>) 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 (<scripRef id="Ec.iv-p22.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.49.14" parsed="|Ps|49|14|0|0" passage="Ps 49:14">Ps. xlix. 14</scripRef>),
<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 (<scripRef id="Ec.iv-p22.5" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.3.19" parsed="|Eccl|3|19|0|0" passage="Ec 3:19"><i>v.</i> 19</scripRef>);
<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> (<scripRef id="Ec.iv-p22.6" osisRef="Bible:Gen.7.22" parsed="|Gen|7|22|0|0" passage="Ge 7:22">Gen. vii. 22</scripRef>),
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> (<scripRef id="Ec.iv-p22.7" osisRef="Bible:Jer.22.19" parsed="|Jer|22|19|0|0" passage="Jer 22:19">Jer. xxii. 19</scripRef>) 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, <scripRef id="Ec.iv-p22.8" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.3.21" parsed="|Eccl|3|21|0|0" passage="Ec 3:21"><i>v.</i> 21</scripRef>. 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>
<scripRef id="Ec.iv-p22.9" osisRef="Bible:Ps.49.15" parsed="|Ps|49|15|0|0" passage="Ps 49:15">Ps. xlix. 15</scripRef>. 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? <scripRef id="Ec.iv-p22.10" osisRef="Bible:Isa.53.1" parsed="|Isa|53|1|0|0" passage="Isa 53:1">Isa. liii. 1</scripRef>. 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 class="indent" id="Ec.iv-p23">3. An inference drawn from it (<scripRef id="Ec.iv-p23.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.3.22" parsed="|Eccl|3|22|0|0" passage="Ec 3:22"><i>v.</i> 22</scripRef>): <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> <scripRef id="Ec.iv-p23.2" osisRef="Bible:Gal.6.4" parsed="|Gal|6|4|0|0" passage="Ga 6:4">Gal. vi. 4</scripRef>. Let him not get nor keep any thing
but what he can rejoice in. See <scripRef id="Ec.iv-p23.3" osisRef="Bible:2Cor.1.12" parsed="|2Cor|1|12|0|0" passage="2Co 1:12">2 Cor.
i. 12</scripRef>. (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, <scripRef id="Ec.iv-p23.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.17.14" parsed="|Ps|17|14|0|0" passage="Ps 17:14">Ps. xvii. 14</scripRef>,
and fools are those that choose it and take up with it, <scripRef id="Ec.iv-p23.5" osisRef="Bible:Luke.12.19" parsed="|Luke|12|19|0|0" passage="Lu 12:19">Luke xii. 19</scripRef>), 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, <scripRef id="Ec.iv-p23.6" osisRef="Bible:Job.14.21" parsed="|Job|14|21|0|0" passage="Job 14:21">Job
xiv. 21</scripRef>. 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>
</div></div2>