1.1 Key themes⤒🔗

• The Bible book Ecclesiastes tells us that we live in a broken world, where:
  - Everything happens over and over again.
  - We work hard, but all of us die in the end.
• God has put eternity in our hearts. That is why:
  - Every person knows that there is something more than this life.
  - Every person wants something more than this life.
• The Bible gives us real hope:
  - In the Bible God promises to redeem his people from death.
  - God fulfilled this promise by sending his Son, Jesus Christ, into the world.
  - For people who believe in Christ, there is something more than this life: heaven!

1.2 Ecclesiastes 3:1–15←⤒🔗

^3:1 For everything there is an appointed time, and an appropriate time for every activity on earth:

^3:2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to uproot what was planted;

^3:3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

^3:4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance.

^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;

^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;

^3:7 A time to rip, and a time to sew; a time to keep silent, and a time to speak.

^3:8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.

^3:9 What benefit can a worker gain from his toil?

^3:10 I have observed the burden that God has given to people to keep them occupied.

^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.

^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,

^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.

^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.

^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.

© NET Bible

1.3 Running in circles←⤒🔗

Have you ever watched an ox (or a donkey) walking around a mill? Round and round he walks, without knowing the reason. According to the book of Ecclesiastes, people are the same! We do the same things over and over again. And we do not always know why we are doing it.

Our passage (Ecclesiastes 3:1-15) begins like this: “For everything there is a season.” The writer of Ecclesiastes sees that there is a time for good things, such as life, laughing, dancing, and peace. But he also sees that there is a time for bad things, such as death, crying, mourning, and war. Everything happens over and over again (verse 15). We cannot control it. God is the one who controls time, life, and death.

When the writer of Ecclesiastes realises this, he asks the question: “What gain has the worker from his toil?” (verse 9). In other words: What do we get for all our hard work?

Have you ever asked yourself the same question? You get up early in the morning and you start working. You run around and do many things. The next day you do the same things over again. But what does it help in the end? In the end you will die. All your work will be forgotten.

1.4 A broken world←⤒🔗

The writer of Ecclesiastes was a wise man (perhaps King Solomon). He understood that we are living in a broken world.

God did not make the world like this. God made the world to be a good place! A place where people could live forever. A place where people could work and enjoy their work (Genesis 1:28). A place where people could walk and talk with God (Genesis 1:26-30; 3:8).

But Adam and Eve (and all of us) sinned against God. Because of sin, God cursed the world (Genesis 3:17–19). Everywhere around us we see how things break down. We see how people and animals suffer. And we see death.

The book of Ecclesiastes tells us that life in this world is hard. But the book also gives us words of hope! Verse 11 of our passage says that God has “put eternity into man’s heart.”

1.5 There is something more!←⤒🔗

Think again of the ox or donkey that walks around a mill. While the animal walks around in a circle, he remembers that there is a life outside of that circle. In the same way every person knows in his heart that there is something more than this life. God has put that knowledge in our hearts.

People from all cultures believe in some kind of life after this life. For example: In some cultures it is believed that a person’s soul continues to live close to his grave. That is why the family will put food and other things on the grave. In other cultures it is believed that a dead person returns to the world, in the form of an animal. The ancient Greeks believed that a dead person’s soul is taken across a great river.

According to God’s Word these beliefs are not true. But there is a reason why people believe these things. They believe these things, because they know in their hearts that there is something more than this life. 

Remember this when you speak to people who are not Christians. They are not satisfied with their lives in this world. They want something more, because God has put eternity in their hearts. That gives you the chance to tell them what the Bible says about eternity.

1.6 Living with hope←⤒🔗

The Bible gives us real hope, for this life and for eternity. In the Bible God promises that he will not give his people over to death. He will redeem them (Psalm 49:15).

The writer of Ecclesiastes knows this. He knows that good times and bad times will come and go, but that God’s promise stands forever. That is why he does not lose hope. In Ecclesiastes 3:12-13 he says that we should enjoy the good things that God gives us in this world. We should enjoy even our hard work. We should live our lives with hope!

Many years after the book of Ecclesiastes was written, God fulfilled his promise. He sent his Son into the world, to redeem his people from death. God’s Son, Jesus Christ, says this about himself: “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live even if he dies, and the one who lives and believes in me will never die” (John 11:25-26).

For people who believe in Christ, death is not the end. There is something more than this life: heaven! In the next lesson we will answer the question: What is heaven?