We come to arguably the most famous text in Ecclesiastes, often quoted at memorial services and funerals. This passage has also inspired songs to be written:
Pastor Chris Brauns posted this article which helps us understand:
Ed Welch has written a helpful article focusing on the meaning of Eccl 3:11
(which is in bold):
But, given this article, maybe just the opposite is true. Those early events, and a number of them since, demonstrate that I am completely incapable of grasping the eternal. Perhaps the ability to be intrigued by the eternal is in my heart, but I certainly don’t have the ability to comprehend it.
Gault isn’t motivated by our odd infatuation with infinity so much as he is interested in a passage that is more complex than we think. Apparently there are no less than ten popular interpretations of the word eternity in this passage. The most common is found in Richardson’s book, where it means “a sense of eternity,” “a longing for eternity,” or “a quest for eternal matters.” This translation would be settled except Ecclesiastes isn’t interested in life after death. Its basic theology is “all come from dust, and to dust all return” (3:20). Its main interest is present life “under the sun” and not our musings about eternity.
The translation Gault prefers is darkness or ignorance rather than eternity, and he is not alone in his choice. To get this he must change the vowels of the Hebrew word, which is permissible because the original text was written only in consonants with vowels being added centuries after the text was completed.
Here is the entire verse (NIV):
He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.
A paraphrase reflecting Gault’s preferred translation might read like this:
God has made everything appropriate in its time. He has placed darkness in the human heart so that people cannot discover all God has done. (Gault p.53)
This gives a very different conclusion. In times of difficulty, we are tempted to ask, “What is God doing?” or even “How could He have allowed this to happen?” The revised text offers this answer.
While God has created all the “times” of life (Ecclesiastes 3:2-8
Focus on your task at hand; trust God for the future. That would be the message of the verse, and it fits the message of the larger book. It is simple and wise advice.
Read the whole thing here.
HT: Challies
Knowing God through His Word ... Day by Day 