3:1 For everything there is an appointed time, and an appropriate time for every activity on earth:
Solomon has become a fatalist. A fatalist is one who believes that “what happens will happen.” Many cults and isms, such as Hinduism and Buddhism, are fatalists.
The answer to fatalism is God’s sovereignty. God has planned out every event in our life and every event in history to teach us about Himself. There are no accidents, random variations, or chance events with God. He planned every historical event for his own purpose. History is God’s lesson to mankind.
3:2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to uproot what was planted;
It is God’ sovereignty, not blind chance, which dictates when a man is born, when a man dies, when a man plants, and when a plant will grow.
3:3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
God allows death to show man how frail he is without divine intervention. God decides who catches diseases and who does not. He decides who will be healed and who will die. God decides who needs to be broken down and who needs to be built up.
3:4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance.
God allows man to weep, laugh, mourn, and dance so that he can understand the character of God. God causes events in history to happen to every individual who has ever lived so that they can experience these same emotions which God possesses.
3:5 A time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
One must choose the correct stones for construction projects. God decides what will be built and where it will be built. God will cause events to happen in a person’s life which will move them to embrace or to refrain from embracing.
3:6 A time to search, and a time to give something up as lost; a time to keep, and a time to throw away;
God provides opportunities in one’s life for one to search or not to search. Time is very important in one’s life. One must use their time to serve God or to serve self. When one is not serving God, then he is wasting his time.
3:7 A time to rip, and a time to sew; a time to keep silent, and a time to speak.
One rips his garment when one is in shock of a terrible event. One sews when the mourning is over. One keeps silent when it is best not to speak. One speaks when God gives him the opportunity to do so.
3:8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.
Christians are called to love God, but they are to hate the world. Sometimes Christians are called to go to war, but other times they are called to serve in peace.
3:9 What benefit can a worker gain from his toil?
“If you cannot beat them, join them,” is a fatalist concept. It is better to fill one’s soul (intellect) with Bible doctrine and make a stand for God.
3:10 I have observed the burden that God has given to people to keep them occupied.
Solomon has seen the troubles of other people, but Solomon considers himself as lucky. Therein no such thing as luck. There is only God's sovereignty.
3:11 God has made everything fit beautifully in its appropriate time, but he has also placed ignorance in the human heart so that people cannot discover what God has ordained, from the beginning to the end of their lives.
God has allowed all men to see that the things of this world are emptiness.
3:12 I have concluded that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to enjoy themselves as long as they live,
Some people want to enjoy life as much as they can. They can try to do that, but unless they master Bible doctrine, then they will not be satisfied.
3:13 and also that everyone should eat and drink, and find enjoyment in all his toil, for these things are a gift from God.
The Epicureans of the Greeks taught that one should “eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die.” This is satanism. It teaches one to live as though God does not exist. Evolution teaches this same philosophy: Since man is just an animal, then he should live like an animal. However, man is not just an animal. He was created in the image of God. Man is not evolving and becoming better and better. He is devolving and becoming worse and worse. Eventually, man will completely devolve and worship the Antichrist in the Laodecian church. This devolvement is the end result of liberalism.
3:14 I also know that whatever God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it, and nothing taken away from it. God has made it this way, so that men will fear him.
Fatalism teaches that if God does the saving, then why should one try? The thought process of fatalism is that if it is not God’s will for one's life to be saved, then that one will not be saved.
3:15 Whatever exists now has already been, and whatever will be has already been; for God will seek to do again what has occurred in the past.
Fatalism leaves no room for the mercy and grace of God.
3:16 I saw something else on earth: In the place of justice, there was wickedness, and in the place of fairness, there was wickedness.
Solomon noticed that everyone who lives on the earth is wicked. There is not one single person on earth who is righteous.
3:17 I thought to myself, “God will judge both the righteous and the wicked; for there is an appropriate time for every activity, and there is a time of judgment for every deed.
God is the only judge that man needs to fear. He will judge both the righteous and the witness. No one will be able to hide from God behind bribes, friends, or corrupt judges.
3:18 I also thought to myself, “It is for the sake of people, so God can clearly show them that they are like animals.
Solomon has learned in all of his great wisdom that all people are like animals. Humans may be the worst animal of all. They abort their young, kill for pleasure, betray their friends and family members, and blaspheme God.
3:19 For the fate of humans and the fate of animals are the same: As one dies, so dies the other; both have the same breath. There is no advantage for humans over animals,
for both are fleeting.
Solomon is speaking from human viewpoint. He is showing the futility of it. Many cults and isms build their theory on this verse. Solomon is saying that both humans and animals die in the same way. Cults twist this verse to say that there is no resurrection for humans or animals. The truth is that is an unbeliever dies, then he is in a worse position than the animal. The human will spend eternity in the Lake of Fire.
3:20 Both go to the same place, both come from the dust, and to dust both return.
Both man and animal go to the same place, which is the dust of the ground. However, man is resurrected and he will go to either heaven or hell. Hinduism, Buddhism, and Evolutionism are all religions which teach that once a man dies, then that is the end of him. Therefore, man should live for the gusto. These cults and isms are nothing but satanism. Satanism mixes truth with error. Satan mixed truth and error at the Garden of Eden. He operates in the same way today, but his target is the modern church. It is Satan's goal to get fragmented believers into cults, isms, liberal, charismatic, and seeker churches, so that he can mix truth and error.
3:21 Who really knows if the human spirit ascends upward, and the animal’s spirit descends into the earth?
Solomon recognizes that the spirit of man goes up while the spirit of the animal goes down.
3:22 So I perceived there is nothing better than for people to enjoy their work, because that is their reward; for who can show them what the future holds?
The humanistic view in which Solomon displays is that this life is all there is. Therefore, enjoy your work, because when you die, then this it it. One needs to live like an animal, because it is a “dog-eat-dog” world. If evolution was true, then every man needs to live as an animal. Since evolution is part of Satan's big lie, then man needs to turn to the written Word of God for their answers.