A look at the diary of Solomon ALL IS VANITY A look at the diary of Solomon Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

Ecclesiastes 3:1-4 1 To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven: 2 A time to be born, And a time to die; A time to plant, And a time to pluck what is 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;

Ecclesiastes 3:5-8 5 A time to cast away stones, And a time to gather stones; A time to embrace, And a time to refrain from embracing; 6 A time to gain, And a time to lose; A time to keep, And a time to throw away; 7 A time to tear, 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.

The Setting Ecclesiastes is the diary of Solomon He is doing research. He is probing for the meaning of life. He looks at money, fame, power, wisdom, sex, music, work, wine, poetry, pleasure (and several more areas of life).

The Setting All he finds is VANITY. Hebrew word = chasing the wind. All is empty, wasted, useless, hollow.

The Contrasts Listed BORN DIE PLANT PLUCK UP KILL HEAL BREAK DOWN BUILD UP WEEP LAUGH MOURN DANCE THROW STONES GATHER STONES

The Contrasts Listed EMBRACE SHUN EMBRACE GAIN LOSE KEEP THROW AWAY TEAR APART SEW TOGETHER SILENT SPEAK LOVE HATE WAR PEACE

The Main Point What is the profit? Most of these point cancel each other out Born / Die – What is the profit? 14 positive / 14 negative = 0 Each day is 86,400 seconds What is left over? Where is the profit?

The Main Point What is the purpose? Universities teach questions But few answers Is your life going up or down? How can you tell? Where is your life headed?

The Grand Conclusion He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end. Ecclesiastes 3:11

The Grand Conclusion God can make profit out of loss (Romans 8:28) Even the negatives are beautiful in their time. There is meaning to tragedy, reason in calamity and profit in loss.

This Passage Teaches Us : Life without God is ZERO All of our struggles will balance out to “0” Life has these opposites built into it “You win some, lose some, and wreck some.” Dale Earnhardt

This Passage Teaches Us : ONLY with God in your heart does life - - - Become beautiful in its time ONLY with God in your heart does life - - - Take on meaning, and have purpose

FINAL COMMENT : 13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man's all. 14 For God will bring every work into judgment, Including every secret thing, Whether good or evil. Ecclesiastes 12:13-14