Ecclesiastes chapter 3

vs 12

This sounds som much like what a regular person on the street would say if you asked them what they thought about God. This is a realpoint of percussion with the outside world here. Perhaps discussions on "What is good?" and where we find happiness would lead somewhere. Of course, the conversation would want to lead to God.

vs 13

It's not that God actually gives this gift to everyone - or is it? I'm not sure if everyone can find satisfaction in their toil. But then, God can do it, so why not? That just doesn't mean that he will give it.

vs 14

Fear in the full sense of the word, including reverent awe. But not excluding just plain fear.

vs 15

The alternate translation makes so much more sense - it's just a third rendering of the same idea. But calling it to account is a new idea, and I can't seem to make much of it. Perhaps because everything that does happen has happened, it all gets judged just as its past examples will.

vs 16

Now we get to something else we see here on earth - that justice and judgement don't seem to get an airing. Far more often, it is wickedness that take their place. Whether it's wickedness through personal selfishness, or even just institutional neutrality, it's still there.

vs 17

And that's true. It's just we don't always see it, because that time inevitably will be the end of time. Although, I don't know how clear this was in the OT.

vs 18

Lovely thought - God tests us so we see that we are not in fact like God, but are creatures together. And what do we do? We create Darwinism, and relish our createdness and how it separates us from God! It's like we want to fail.

vs 19

Lovely thought. We're just animals, so everything is meaningless. And of course, without eternity, we are just like animals. It's just shocking how much people are prepared to cling to that idea.

vs 20

Depressing thought. But only if death is the end.

vs 21

It's not rhetorical. God does, and he's told us. Or has he?

vs 22

Worrying about what happens outside of our lives is troublesome. We obviously have less control over that, even than over when we are working. It's a bit of a fait accomplit - the best you can do is enjoy where you are, so start trying to enjoy it. But we must remember that we won't even enjoy our work without God giving us that pleasure. We really are reliant on him.