Ecc 3:3 | KingComments | STEP | The time to die in is an act of God. The “time to kill” ( ) is an act of a man. One person can kill another. One can think of a soldier in the war or an executioner in the execution of a court sentence. There is also “a time to heal” from wounds. Then something can become healthy again and be used. That there is time for it, is because God determines the time for it. The spiritual application of a time to kill can be the killing of the members of our earthly body ( ). This means that the threatening manifestations of sin are judged, so that sin has no chance to assert itself. Sin can also cause wounds. If we have sinned, we must confess it. Then sin is forgiven. Sometimes sin also has consequences which cannot simply be taken away. Sometimes time is needed for healing. God gives that time. There is “a time to tear down” ( ), such as tearing down Jerusalem and God’s house because of the unfaithfulness of God’s people. God also gives restoration, so that for His city and His house “a time to build up” has come. In the – now near – future God Himself will at His time rebuild the fallen booth of David, that is His people Israel, “as in the days of old” ( ). From a spiritual point of view, we must destroy “speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God” ( ). Here it is about our thinking, about wrong thoughts that impose themselves upon us. After tearing down, we must build ourselves up on our “most holy faith” ( ). This means that we should be occupied with God’s Word, reflect on it, and take it in and keep it in our hearts. Paul says that he “destroyed” the law as a means of being justified by works for himself as a Christian and will not “rebuild” it ( ). The law has shown that man cannot keep the law. It is impossible to establish one’s own righteousness by the law ( ). On the contrary, man is condemned by the law. This recognition means the end of the law as a rule of life. His rule of life is now Christ, “for Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes” ( ). Everyone who believes is rooted and is “built up in him” ( ).

‏ Ecclesiastes 3:3

To Kill–to Heal; To Tear Down–to Build Up

The time to die in Ecc 3:2 is an act of God. The “time to kill” (Ecc 3:3a) is an act of a man. One person can kill another. One can think of a soldier in the war or an executioner in the execution of a court sentence. There is also “a time to heal” from wounds. Then something can become healthy again and be used. That there is time for it, is because God determines the time for it.

The spiritual application of a time to kill can be the killing of the members of our earthly body (Col 3:5). This means that the threatening manifestations of sin are judged, so that sin has no chance to assert itself. Sin can also cause wounds. If we have sinned, we must confess it. Then sin is forgiven. Sometimes sin also has consequences which cannot simply be taken away. Sometimes time is needed for healing. God gives that time.

There is “a time to tear down” (Ecc 3:3b), such as tearing down Jerusalem and God’s house because of the unfaithfulness of God’s people. God also gives restoration, so that for His city and His house “a time to build up” has come. In the – now near – future God Himself will at His time rebuild the fallen booth of David, that is His people Israel, “as in the days of old” (Amos 9:11).

From a spiritual point of view, we must destroy “speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God” (2Cor 10:5a). Here it is about our thinking, about wrong thoughts that impose themselves upon us. After tearing down, we must build ourselves up on our “most holy faith” (Jude 1:20). This means that we should be occupied with God’s Word, reflect on it, and take it in and keep it in our hearts.

Paul says that he “destroyed” the law as a means of being justified by works for himself as a Christian and will not “rebuild” it (Gal 2:18). The law has shown that man cannot keep the law. It is impossible to establish one’s own righteousness by the law (Rom 10:3). On the contrary, man is condemned by the law. This recognition means the end of the law as a rule of life. His rule of life is now Christ, “for Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes” (Rom 10:4). Everyone who believes is rooted and is “built up in him” (Col 2:7).