Ecc 3:2 | KingComments | STEP | In his description of events in time the Preacher begins with the two greatest events in a human life which are at the same time each other’s extremes: his birth and his death, or his coming into the world and his departure from it ( ). Nobody has any influence on his birth. The “time to give birth” or the “time to be born” is determined by God. That also applies to the “time to die”. It may seem as if by birth control and test tube fertilization on the one hand and euthanasia on the other hand, that man determines those two times. Here we read that birth and death are not human acts, but acts of God. Between birth and death, for mankind everything on earth happens in the period of time that there is then. God has given everything its place and time between being born and dying. With our coming into the world, a great miracle takes place. That every human being is born in the very time in which he is born, is determined by God in His infinite wisdom. The duration of a person’s stay on earth is also fixed. The days and months of man are known by God and determined by Him ( ). By worries we cannot add one hour to the length of our life ( ; ). God can add to our days ( ). Spiritually, we can apply the time to be born to the new birth, to be born of God ( ). For this the gospel is proclaimed, of which it is said: “Behold, now is “the acceptable time,” behold, now is “the day of salvation”” ( ). At the same time that we are born again, we know that our old man has been crucified with Christ. From that moment on we “have died with Christ” ( ). We can see a parallel between the first part of the verse – the beginning and the end of human life – and the planting and the uprooting what is planted in the second part of it. In the time between being born and dying, man “plants” ( ). He starts something with the expectation to harvest fruit from it. There will also come a time to “uproot what is planted”. This must also be done at the appointed time. This is the case when our activities, when what we have planted, do not produce good fruits. Then we have to uproot what is planted. We may apply this to a particular service for the Lord. We start it, but it will also stop at some time. In between, there may also be a change in the way we perform our service, or also a change in the place where we serve. Are we open to these changes, that is to say, to God’s time to plant something and also to uproot what is planted? We must ask ourselves what we, as believers, plant in our life. Are these the good words of God’s Word? If we plant them in the ‘garden of our life’, if we feed ourselves with them, we will bear good fruits. Conversely, we must remove from our life the wrong plants, the works of the flesh ( ). God does the same with the nations: He breaks them down, but also plants them ( ).

‏ Ecclesiastes 3:2

To Give Birth–to Die; To Plant–to Uproot

In his description of events in time the Preacher begins with the two greatest events in a human life which are at the same time each other’s extremes: his birth and his death, or his coming into the world and his departure from it (Ecc 3:2a). Nobody has any influence on his birth. The “time to give birth” or the “time to be born” is determined by God. That also applies to the “time to die”. It may seem as if by birth control and test tube fertilization on the one hand and euthanasia on the other hand, that man determines those two times. Here we read that birth and death are not human acts, but acts of God.

Between birth and death, for mankind everything on earth happens in the period of time that there is then. God has given everything its place and time between being born and dying. With our coming into the world, a great miracle takes place. That every human being is born in the very time in which he is born, is determined by God in His infinite wisdom. The duration of a person’s stay on earth is also fixed. The days and months of man are known by God and determined by Him (Job 14:5). By worries we cannot add one hour to the length of our life (Job 14:5-6; Mt 6:27). God can add to our days (Isa 38:1-5).

Spiritually, we can apply the time to be born to the new birth, to be born of God (Jn 3:3). For this the gospel is proclaimed, of which it is said: “Behold, now is “the acceptable time,” behold, now is “the day of salvation”” (2Cor 6:2b). At the same time that we are born again, we know that our old man has been crucified with Christ. From that moment on we “have died with Christ” (Rom 6:8).

We can see a parallel between the first part of the verse – the beginning and the end of human life – and the planting and the uprooting what is planted in the second part of it. In the time between being born and dying, man “plants” (Ecc 3:2b). He starts something with the expectation to harvest fruit from it. There will also come a time to “uproot what is planted”. This must also be done at the appointed time. This is the case when our activities, when what we have planted, do not produce good fruits. Then we have to uproot what is planted.

We may apply this to a particular service for the Lord. We start it, but it will also stop at some time. In between, there may also be a change in the way we perform our service, or also a change in the place where we serve. Are we open to these changes, that is to say, to God’s time to plant something and also to uproot what is planted?

We must ask ourselves what we, as believers, plant in our life. Are these the good words of God’s Word? If we plant them in the ‘garden of our life’, if we feed ourselves with them, we will bear good fruits. Conversely, we must remove from our life the wrong plants, the works of the flesh (Jn 15:2). God does the same with the nations: He breaks them down, but also plants them (Jer 1:10 ; Jer 18:7 ; 9).