 So with that, let's begin reading here in chapter 3 in the book of Ecclesiastes, and I'll read the first eight verses. We'll get into our study, Ecclesiastes chapter 3, beginning at verse 1, reading to verse 8. To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven, a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to pluck what is planted, a time to kill, a time to heal, a time to break down, a time to build up, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to cast away stones, a time to gather stones, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to gain and a time to lose, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to sow, a time to keep silence and a time to speak, a time to love, a time to hate, a time of war and a time of peace. I swear it's not too late. No, that's not in that. Obviously, I had been speaking to Jared. I said, you know, that song was straight out of Scripture, and so I thought it'd be a nice thing to kind of just share that song. Many of you know it. It was a song that was originally written by a guy by the name of Pete Seeger, and he was a country, not a country, a folk singer in the 50s and all, and then a group by the name of the birds, and others took it and made it a popular song. And so it was really a song that was written as an anti-war anthem, and it spoke of the days that I grew up in and all, and so it's interesting how you can take the Scripture and you can put the words to music and have a great message. And so what we're looking at in this passage is a fact that, and he begins this way, a fact that human beings are not the ones in control. You see, the Bible declares that God is all-powerful, and the Bible also declares that God rules over all things. You can see this in so many Scriptures, but one is Psalm 115, verse 3, where the Psalmist said, our God is in the heavens, and he does all that he pleases. So God is all-powerful doing all that he pleases, and though he is all-powerful, he also is all-loving. Can you imagine what kind of God he would be if he was simply all-powerful with no compassion and no mercy? How do you regulate your feelings if you don't have compassion and you've got all-power? But God is all-loving. 1 John 4-8 says it like this, anyone who doesn't love doesn't know God, for God is love. So Solomon is pointing out that under his loving rule, everything has its own season. And that would mean that the wisest thing that we can do is to trust our loving, all-powerful God. The reason it's wise to trust him is because he's in control, and we're not. In James 4, 13 through 15, James said this. He said, come now, you who say today or tomorrow, we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell and make a profit, whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? It's even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, if the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that. God is in control, we're not. And because that's true, we live our lives day by day, trusting the Lord. And this trust rests on knowing God, and that he has a proper time for all things. Now when we understand this, it helps us to resist worrying about tomorrow, because worry is normally associated with a sense of powerlessness. So we worry about the things that we have no power over. You don't worry about things you're in control of. You worry about the things that you're not in control of. And so knowing that our God is in control should help us not to be worrying. In Matthew 6, 34, Jesus says, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. So our part in all of this is discerning the right time for the right actions. And we do this by His word, and we do this by the leading of His spirit. We do this by the power of prayer and of Godly counsel. And we know that God orchestrates life to produce blessings to those who love Him. So let's our part to faithfully and patiently wait for His blessings to come. So notice how it begins in a moment. I'm going to notice how it begins. But He says in verse 11 that He has made everything beautiful or pleasant in its time. So that's the way of telling us that everything ultimately works out. So be patient. I've said this before. I'll say it again. If there's any lesson I've been learning over the years I've followed the Lord. It's one thing. It all works out in the end. There are so many things I've gone through in the 50-plus years I've been following the Lord. What I have had that understanding at the beginning I wouldn't have been so concerned for so long over things I had no power over. And so being patient and waiting on the Lord because He works out everything in His time and He makes all things beautiful in His time is something very wise. Romans 8.28 says it like this. We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. So undergirding this is the belief that God is good. And we have been created with a higher purpose. And the knowledge that God is good brings us comfort in our times of confusion. Psalm 119 verse 68 simply says you are good and you do good. So if we don't understand this, life is, as He's already said, grasping for the wind. It's filled with frustration. You might as well live like animals. Let us eat and drink. For tomorrow we die. So God has placed within us an awareness of eternity and also a longing for a higher purpose. And it's part of our life journey to realize this, to come to know our purpose. And so it begins here in verse 1 by saying to everything there's a season, a time for every purpose under heaven. Every activity on earth has a proper time and a proper season. And what He does to develop this is He gives to us 14 pairs of contrasting opposites. And you'll see that verse 2 for example. There's a time to be born and a time to die. So much of this is going to be almost like you would call a chronological kind of thing. You are first born and then you die. So He's speaking of the normal life cycle, birth and death. Now ultimately birth and death are in the hands of God. And Solomon would remind us that God is still in control of life and death. In Job he said it this way in Job 14 verse 5. Man's days are determined. The number of his months is with you. You have appointed his limits so that he cannot pass. No matter how hard you try you cannot extend your life one second beyond what God has determined you're going to live. You can be there hooked up to life support and do all you can to stay alive. But you're not going to stay alive one second longer than he's determined you're going to live. God has determined our lifespan. Now there are things that we can do that foolishly will hasten our death. There are people who say well you know I'm invulnerable until it's a moment God would take me. Then they run in front of a semi and die. And the problem is that wasn't necessarily God's determined time. You chose to tempt the Lord to test him and you reap the consequences. But under normal circumstances we have a timeline and that the Lord is in control of that. We don't do things to foolishly hasten our death. We didn't choose when to be born. With birth comes death and ultimately all die. So we're coming into the world and leaving it are determined by the Lord. The Lord Hebrews 9 27 is appointed unto men to die once after this judgment. So he's pointing these things out and he's going to be sharing that in couplets. He says there's a time verse one to plant and a time to reap. That reveals a life cycle. The farmer knows the cycle of sowing seeds as well as reaping the harvest. And the planting of the seed will come first and later comes the harvest. That's the natural way of creation. He's saying learn to rely on the Lord and patiently wait on him in all things. In verse three he says there's a time to kill and a time to heal. A time to break down and a time to build up. A time to kill and a time to heal. That is something that theologians discuss and I'm no theologian so I'll just tell you what they discuss. When he says a time to kill and a time to heal. So the time to kill the commentators that I look at when I study said this refers to warfare. There's a time to kill in warfare but may also speak about a time in self-defense or when it's necessary to protect that that's your only option. This kind of killing is understood as being necessary and is actually something necessary to deal with evil. I don't want to go into this too much but commentators will point out that this could also be referring to capital punishment. There are times when a life is taken and there are times when a life is fought for and we need to remember that Israel practiced capital punishment and capital punishment was actually first established in the book of Genesis. So it was established before the law of Moses and the first offense that warranted capital punishment was murder. In Genesis 9 verse 6 it says whoever sheds man's blood by man his blood shall be shed for in the image of God he had made man. Human government has been given power to carry out this penalty as a just punishment. We saw that in Romans 13 verses 3 and 4 where it says rulers are not a terror to good works but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority do what is good and you'll have praise from the same for he's God's minister to you for good but if you do evil be afraid for he does not bear the sword in vain for he's God's minister and avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil and so he's pointing out that there's a time to kill. So when this is carried out whether it be war but more than likely capital punishment it's not a time for celebration you know in the earlier days of our nation there would be hangings and the whole city would come out to watch it and that's it's never been intended to do something like that to be a time of celebrating it anytime that happens it should cause us to reflect it's intended to serve as a warning. God doesn't desire that men should perish but that all should come to repentance and so it's never something that you and I that we should be rejoicing over but it does serve as a warning to those who were breaking the law. Now in verse 3 when he says there's a time to heal that would speak of medical procedures to preserve life he says in verse 3 a time to break down and a time to build up so a time to break down and building up construction some things need to be leveled to make way for the new sometimes we tear down buildings to construct new and better ones he says in verse 4 a time to weep a time to laugh a time to mourn and a time to dance I'm having a terrible time with my cough that's not good there's a time to cough and a time not to cough it's hard I'm trying to find the proper rhythm and breathing so I can teach there are appropriate times and seasons for tears as well as for laughter you cry at a funeral but you can rejoice at the birth of a child it's part of the life cycle that we have we need to learn to do both though we need to learn to rejoice with those who rejoice but also to weep with those who weep it's a proper time you know sometimes when we go through the loss the emotional loss of someone that we love and I'll say this briefly but it's probably important to say we can feel guilty because we cry somebody you love very much has died and you show emotion there's a time to weep and you show emotion but there are people I've had this happen in my life I'm speaking from personal experience here who think you lost somebody but aren't you a believer aren't you supposed to be rejoicing they're in heaven why are you shedding tears normally when people have said something like that to me my father went home it was the most difficult thing for me to deal with because it was so unexpected and there were those who were wondering why is pastor why does he cry where's this joy where's this hope of heaven and I have a friend of mine who shared one time and said he said Christians grieve more because we love deeper and I think that's true I think that there's an appropriate time to mourn to have sorrow there's nothing wrong with it I've seen believers feel guilty though about having a sense of loss and hurt and that's a healthy thing when you repress those things it's not a healthy thing that doesn't mean that we wear our tears on our sleeves that we're always crying it simply means that we do there is a time to mourn you know we've had I was driving Marie my wife and I were driving up here today and I just now we were on our way and I said I remember a brother named Daniel he always the way he spoke to me whenever he saw me is he would say my pastor that's how he spoke to me how are you today my pastor it's how Daniel will speak to me he lived down the street in a mobile home and when COVID hit Daniel would come to the property here on Sunday because we would come and he would come and sometimes he went and got some coffee for us and all he's just very dear to me I call everybody bro I've been doing that for years except for the girls just called bro and he walked up to me one day and he said you don't need to call me bro and I said really he says all you need to do is remember I'm in the Bible and I said okay Satan no he said my name is Daniel and he connected the book of Daniel so I never forgot his name from that point on and he became very dear over the years to me and like I said during COVID he would come and he would get coffee for us sometimes and then one day he didn't come anymore because he died of COVID and I grieve even now and I think of him and it's okay it's alright to have loved somebody and to miss them so never feel bad about that if you do because there's a time to mourn and there's also a time to rejoice you know what like I said at the birth of a child for Marie and me when we've had our grandchildren you know it's a time of rejoicing of a wedding you know you can rejoice at the wedding because later you'll be weeping but it's still fun and so there's a proper time to weep a time to laugh there's a time to mourn there's a time to dance there's a time he says in verse 5 to cast away stones a time to gather stones casting away stones is a way of speaking of clearing a field to farm and you gather those stones in order that you might build walls or build housing and so there's a time to cast away stones and a time to gather stones he goes on to say though that there's a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing and so there's an appropriate time to express physical affection and there's an appropriate time to refrain I was teaching a Bible study on a Wednesday night many many years ago now probably almost 40 years ago and we had a very small chapel that we used we had rented an industrial building it sat 120 people so I mean the people were right right there right in front of me I could see them and in the second row right in front of the pulpit in the second row there was an engaged couple as I'm teaching I see him put his his hand on her shoulder and then she turns and looks at him and he turns and looks at her with those dreamy eyes and I say you're not gonna you're not you're not gonna do that they did that they looked like those you know bobblehead dolls with magnets you know they locked lips and directly behind them was a dear friend of ours Connie and I'll never forget Connie Connie signs I'll never forget her face because she got horrified her eyes got as big as saucers and she put her hands on her face like you're not doing that so there's a time to embrace and there's a time to refrain from embracing there's a proper time in other words for all things so keep your hands off one another in church verse 6 there's a time to gain and a time to lose a time to keep a time to throw away there's a time for acquiring things and there's a time that you lose things and again that's simply part of life so we don't hoard we don't hold on to everything you know we realize that there's cycles in those kinds of things also he says in verse 7 there's a time to tear a time to sew a time to keep silence and a time to speak and so a time to tear and a time to sew tearing garments can be a sign of mourning there's a time that is necessary to mourn there's a time to mourn over things especially it's a proper time to repent or mourn over your sin so there's a proper time to have this sense of mourning but he also speaks of sewing and that speaks of repairing that's been sewn or rather torn so there's a time to repent but there's also a time to restore there's a time to keep silence and a time to speak so our nation is familiar with the phrase a time to keep silence because we have moments of silence that we're aware of and we can have those moments of silence when we're grieving we can also be silent as we're caring for somebody and listening to them as they're pouring out their hearts to us one of the wisest things that we can learn to do is to listen quietly when somebody is sharing their heart with you sometimes people don't seem to understand that there's a time to remain silent if they're sharing with you something you don't have to break in and give them your verse of the day to make them feel better sometimes the best thing you can do is like when Job's comforters did their best is to sit silently and mourn with somebody sometimes the best thing you can do is to wait until the Lord says it's time to speak because any time you may speak when not asked to speak any time you do that it's looked at as criticism it's looked at as a negative and so one of the wisest things we can learn to do is to listen listen with a heart if you will listen to what's being said and should the Lord provoke us to give a word and to know that that's the moment where to speak a lot of times I just will listen I will just listen because sometimes people don't want my counsel they simply want my ear and that's true in marriage that's true in relationship that's true in life period we need to learn when to speak and we need to learn when to simply listen and I think it's showing wisdom and knowing when to speak and what to say when we just wait on the Lord to help us and to know what time to speak and what to share he says in verse 8 there's a time to love and a time to hate a time of war a time of peace that's an interesting verse to me a time to love and a time to hate now obviously we love the things that please the Lord and we're to hate the things that that he hates in Psalm 97 verse 10 it simply says you who love the Lord hate evil the Psalmist in Psalm 139 21 said something very interesting listen to what he said he said do I not hate those who hate you Lord what an interesting thing to say and abhor those who are in rebellion against you do I not hate those who hate you now somebody says oh go to have permission to hate my husband no that's not what he's saying the word hate needs to be understood in the sense that he disapproved of their conduct and didn't want to be associated with them or fellowship with them he didn't want to be in the council of the ungodly he didn't want to have relationship with people that was not a ministry to them but actually a fellowship with them be very careful who you associate with on a friendship level be very careful because people will say to me they'll say to me you're my pastor the fact is I probably am not well then who would be their pastor the one they listen to the most the one they listen to and ask questions of and ask direction of that's their pastor and sometimes that person may not have a godly heart and they make the mistake of listening to someone that they shouldn't listen to and learning the ways that they should be actually fleeing from as a Christian be very wise in your friendships because your friends are the ones who influence you the most don't we as parents tell that to our children be careful who you hang around with be careful who you allow to influence you be aware of those things I remember a young lady who was in our church I'm talking over 20 some years ago now who was was dealing with the temptation to sleep with her boyfriend and she ended up speaking to one of her friends and her friend said to her go ahead it's not going to change you at all it's alright she says look at me I sleep with my boyfriend and hasn't changed me and so she listened to that friend she ended up giving up her purity to someone who didn't love her and so be very careful in 1 Corinthians 15 verse 33 Paul said don't be deceived bad company corrupts good character so be aware of that he says there's a time verse 8 of war and a time of peace we're to try to live at peace with all men but there is a time when war is necessary here's something I'm going to say because of what we're seeing right now in the news I'll say this briefly but it's something we're seeing right now there is such a thing that's determined in those who study and teach ethics have pointed out there's such a thing as a just war now we've all heard the term just war there's a just war and so I looked up I wanted to see a definition from somebody who has a page that deals with the ethics of warfare and so I asked the question of it what is a just war that's a phrase we're familiar with well they said it must be over a just cause it must be declared by a lawful authority the intention of the war must be good other ways of resolving the problem must have been tried first there must be a reasonable chance of success and the means must be in proportion to the end that the war seeks you see there are times when war is a necessary thing you see there are things that we know of that are called war crimes we again we hear that term war crimes what are war crimes killing civilians killing POWs torture sexual violence mass killings ethnic cleansing killing those who are surrendering taking hostages and disproportionate violence seeing this measurement of war crimes helps us to understand what is taking place right now between Israel and Hamas it helps us to understand that it's been estimated that over 1300 Israelis have been killed and 240 hostages were taken and there was no just cause for that and so before we get on the side of saying give peace a chance not to say that we don't want it of course we do we need to be aware of the fact that there are times when a just response is necessary that's a fact that a just response is necessary I remember hearing a man one time sharing he was on the radio being interviewed and he was a self declared conscientious objecter he was somebody who was nonviolent and he said that he believed that Jesus taught him to be nonviolent was on a Christian program and so the interviewer asked him this question is there ever a time that you would respond with force or will you always resist exercising force he said I will always resist exercising force so the interviewer said and you're married aren't you and he said yes what would you do then if a man broke into your home and was physically assaulting your wife what would you do he said I would pray for him I would pray for him at his funeral there's a time for war and there's a time for peace there's a time when a just action is necessary to stop an evil from happening and again I know a lot of Christians who wrestle with that I would wrestle with that too earlier days as a younger man and I came to the conclusion that I'm not a pacifist I came to the conclusion that there's a proper time for proper force when necessary and that even if I die attempting to save that is a more noble thing than to allow somebody to be killed while I stand back simply saying to our father bottom line is there's a time of war and there's a time of peace and Solomon is pointing that out at such a time now he goes on in verse 9 and he says what prophet has a worker from that which he labors I have seen that the God given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied he has made everything beautiful in his time also he has put eternity in their hearts except that no one can find out the work that God does from the beginning to the end and so what prophet has a worker from that which in which he labors is there an advantage or is there a prophet in our labor and he says I've diligently observed I've seen the God given task which the sons of men are occupied by that when he speaks of that he's saying that God has given us task to perform and that we are occupied by them that word occupied it means and it be interesting it can be used as saying busied with but it's also used to speak of being humbled or afflicted by he's saying I have seen men work they labor but they're humiliated and in the end they have seen that all their labor has resulted in very little their satisfaction didn't come from all of the work that they did so is there a prophet in our labor he's saying well yes because God is working out his plans for us over a lifetime that's why verse 11 says he made everything beautiful he has made everything beautiful in its time God's ways are not our ways his time is not always in line with ours things occur over time in our lives that may leave us confused somebody once said life is like a doctor's prescription taken alone the ingredients might kill you but properly blended they bring healing learning to wait on the Lord is one of the more difficult things to do because we are people who want to do something to make things better but he says in his time he makes all things beautiful so we wait on him you see all our work and our labor can be seeming useless it leaves us wondering so as we're going through things we may not know what the answer to that situation is but we cling to that which we do know in Psalm 3419 many are the afflictions of the righteous but the Lord delivers them out of them all so I know that I'm going to go through things and I have gone through things I will in the future go through things but I like to use the phrase go through them because I don't stay there I go through them and the Lord is with us every step of the way sometimes you may think that you've been abandoned and you never have been but sometimes the Lord is working on us in a way that causes us to have to be settled for a little while to be still in order that we may know that he's God and there are times we have to wait on him in that way to learn so when he says that in verse 11 he said he's made everything beautiful in its time also he has put eternity in their hearts except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end knowing that we're created for a greater purpose causes us to be in a search and we see that life is complicated it provokes us to search for meaning and living it produces an appreciation of time and as we age a desire to continue to live and every passing season causes us to consider the brevity of our lives when we were young we thought we'd live forever we'd be daring we'd take chances we were invulnerable if not invulnerable while we healed quickly but as we again growing older our body doesn't do what we ask it to do anymore we live in a tent that is perishing and you discover that over time and you realize that and as you're growing older again everybody wants to live forever in a way here on earth we want to just keep living I've been sharing this with people lately and I'll say it again here one of the things that you learn as you age is that there may be benefit to it and there are but there's also a lot of loss because you begin to to lose a lot of different things I won't go into it it's not like I'm in a melancholic mood I'm not but it's just true to see friends that you've known for a long time pass on is difficult to go through some of the hardships that you go through as you grow older to have a difficulty have difficulty with your health and your time in relationships the difficulties they can sometimes they come with aging you have a baby and that baby is everything to you it means everything that little one means everything to you and when they're small and easy to control they're the best but they grow up and then they go into forging their own testimonies and you get to certain points where you say God I asked for this child could you please take him take him home please take him back can we have a gift exchange I'll take this one and give it to someone else I'll ask that sound and so the bottom line is we have this thought that we're going to continue that nothing bad will happen to us but we begin to lose certain things and grow in experiences and it awakens us to eternity and it actually produces sobriety in our lives we'll see in chapter 7 verse 2 that it is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting for that is the end of all men and the living will take it to heart I can't tell you the times that I have conducted a funeral and I've been on the freeway coming home and I'll see cars driving by people laughing or whatever see and my heart is grief because I just buried that I love very much and I see him going by and I think you know life can be difficult sometimes it can be filled with with loss and these are the things that wake us up Psalm 90 verse 10 says the days of our lives are 70 years and if by reason of strength they're 80 years yet their boast is only labor and sorrow for it is soon cut off and we fly away so he says in verse 12 of Psalm 90 so teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom so as we gain this heart of wisdom we awaken to the fact of eternity what has been called a midlife crisis can also be seen as a wake up call this shows why we aren't satisfied with achievement this is showing us why we desire something else there's an old saint of the church Augustine who said our hearts are restless until they rest in you and that's what we discover over time when you discover the work that God does in verse 12 he says I know that nothing is better for them than to rejoice and to do good in their lives and also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor it's a gift from God so instead of fearing the future enjoy life as a gift when we see that life is a gift in this place we do good we enjoy the fruit of our labor because enjoying life under heaven is built on a desire to go to heaven in verse 14 he says I know that whatever God does it shall be forever nothing can be added to it nothing taken from it God does it that men should fear before him so that's the proper relationship of the thing created he has all authority and so we should have on reverence an on reverence of God that produces motivation for doing good and that is particularly encouraging as it relates to salvation because there's nothing we can do to it to add to it or to take away from the work of Jesus Christ why? because salvation is a gift of the Lord he says in verse 15 that which is has already been what is to be has already been God requires an account of what is past that's an interesting phrase time gets away from us we can easily lose track of it the years pass quickly we may forget what we've done but he remembers and he holds us responsible and so we need to be aware of that in Romans 14 12 he says in verse 16 under the sun in the place of judgment wickedness was there in the place of righteousness iniquity was there I said in my heart God shall judge the righteous and the wicked for there's a time there for every purpose and for every good work I could go on for a long time on this so I won't I'll just say this that wickedness was there instead of justice I see wickedness prevailing over the innocent Isaiah 59 14 says justice is turned back and righteousness stands afar off for truth is fallen in the street and equity cannot enter I think we're seeing that taking place right now here in the United States where there are things that are being done that are obviously wicked to those who have eyes to see I was watching somebody I used one illustration to try and point that out I was listening to somebody who was being interviewed today because they recently there was recently a a bicycle race and two of the three who came in first second and third were men who were competing in the women's division so I I look for justice but I see evil it isn't right anybody who would I have to be careful I'm going to slow my mouth down there's an attack there is an attack on the Bible in a way that people don't realize it I'll say it this way in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth but he also created male and female male and female he created them and so there is an attempt to say that you can be we all know this I'm just saying this there is an attempt today and it's actually being believed to say that you can be whatever you think yourself to be and that's a form of of a mental condition that could be and should be spoken to in a clear and honest way to help somebody to see that that they're confused it's really an encouragement for them to become aware of the fact that you can say that you're whatever you are but the fact is biology doesn't lie that God created male created female you have 50 men 50 women they're on an island deserted nobody sees them nobody knows they're there 100 years later somebody somebody arrives to that island and there's a community of people why because he's 50 men and women had children or you have 50 men and 50 men who say they're women and in 100 years you come to the same island and you find 100 skeletons of men that's just a fact that's just a fact there is a biologic difference between men and women in bone density and palvices and the whole nine yards and yet we are giving in to this kind of thing this deception and it's terrible that's why we need the Word of God and that's why we need to teach our children that we need to be aware of that because there are things right now where he's looking for justice and he finds iniquity he's not seeing that so he says that in verse 17 I said in my heart God shall judge the righteous and the wicked there is a time for every purpose and for every work God is the final judge in Psalm 75 7 God is the judge he puts down one and he exalts the other and finally verse 18 I said in my heart concerning the condition of the sons of men God tests them that they may see that they themselves are like animals for what happens to the sons of men also happens to animals one thing befalls them as one dies so dies the other surely they all have one breath man has no advantage over animals for all his vanity all go to one place all are from the dust and all return to dust who knows the spirit of the sons of men which goes upward and the spirit of the animals which goes down to the earth so I perceive that nothing is better than that a man should rejoice in his own works for that is his heritage for who can bring him to see what will happen after him ultimately through testing God reveals man what man really is but when man leaves God out of his life he lives like an animal he eats and he drinks he multiplies and he survives but he doesn't have an appreciation of what is truly beautiful in verses 19 and 20 he's not equating man with animals he's just saying man is aware of the shortness of life and he even goes through crises about it we used to call him midlife crises now it's just pretty normal but think about it apes don't go through midlife crises they don't you don't see apes bar hopping with gold chains and and wigs and tattoos chasing younger apes that's true man is aware of eternity because we're created in the image of God so he's saying that both men and animals live and they both die they're turning out that both die and their bodies return to the dust and when it comes to the simple fact of death man dies even as an animal dies in Psalm 49 12 man despite his riches does not endure he's like the beast that perish he says that verse 20 I'll go to one place that means they're both buried they return to the dust and then in verses 21 and 22 he speaks of the spirits of the Son of Men so the dust returns to the earth but the spirit will return to the God who gave it you see man alone is created in the image of God and because of this we don't have the same experience at death and so it's your conclusion in chapter 3 well I perceive that nothing's better than a man should rejoice in his own works that's his heritage for who can bring him to see what will happen after him you don't know what the future holds we say it at this point so enjoy what you have rejoice in your own works in that you appreciate accomplishments but keep eternity in mind for one day you're gonna die and one day you're gonna stand before God the judge so God is in control trust him and live at peace with him that is the most important conclusion we can come to God is in control trust him and live in his peace discover your purpose in the Lord God has given to us a life the life that we have can be we can make choices as to how we live it we can live as if we expect that eternity is around the corner and that we will continue to exist and can be in a place with God in the joy and the blessedness and the grand reunions that we'll have with those whom we love and have seen depart or you can live hopelessly with no joy no sense of accomplishment always moving from one thing to another or you can live as if there is no God we have choices to make and Solomon would say enjoy your work enjoy what you do but don't forget that one day you'll stand before the God who gave you life be aware of that and live for him you'll see him as he brings us to that conclusion as we continue through this book