Ecclesiastes Chapter Three, Repetition Ad Infinitum

 Ecclesiastes 3:15 That which is has already been, and what is to be has already been; and God requires [lit. seeks] an account of what is past.

Verse 15 reverts to the superficial nihilism that Ecclesiastes is replete with. Life under the sun is a circular one, with new faces performing the seemingly eternal tasks mankind is labored with, while progressing not at all.

The condemnation in this verse is twofold. First, the preacher states that what currently is, that is what is contemporary to man has already been. Second, He goes a step further and informs his readership that what will come in the future is simply what has already been in the past. From a current perspective we may think that is false. We have planes and computers and brain surgery. We are technologically superior to former generations in every way! First, I would say that isn’t necessarily the point the preacher is making. We will deal with this point thoroughly. Second, ancient man isn’t as naive and incapable as modern man wishes to think. The ancient cultures created complex math and could map the stars. Language was far more complex and they were builders of structures modern ingenuity cannot replicate today. What does this tell us about man? On a smaller scale, every culture views progress differently. On a larger scale, mankind is the same every generation. We are flawed, sinful, finite beings that like to measure the universe by our limited and biased standards.

Going back to my first point: ancient man grappled with the same desires, feelings and failings modern man copes with. They did not have the purported benefit of therapy and medicinally endorsed psychotropic drugs to deal with life’s hardships, however. But they were certainly no less productive in their enterprises, and no less frustrated by the reality of mortality and their body’s frailty. I can take myself as an example of the circular nature of life’s supposed progress or advancement. Great minds such as Justin Martyr or Irenaeus were expounding Scripture long before my birth, to put it mildly. Irenaeus was said to have learned from Polycarp, a Christian that sat at the feet of the Apostle John. The point of this is that, on the surface, I am doing nothing that has not been done for the last 19 centuries. Others will doubtless come after me, God willing that the world goes on so long, who will contribute their acumen and passion to the cause of glorifying the Lord Jesus Christ.

Does this realization render work or labor moot? Of course not. It is because of the men and women that came before me that I write now. They bore the witness of Christ through time to the present day, and I am part of that unbroken and bloodied chain of testimony that began when our Lord said to His apostles, “you are witnesses of these things,” Luke 24:48. This theme, that Christians are witnesses of the events of Jesus’ last days, resonates throughout Acts and serves as a good portion of its purpose. Not enough can be said regarding our Lord, no matter that it has been said before, or better. I am not Justin Martyr or Irenaeus, but I choose to do what I do because I love the Lord Jesus Christ, I love my fellow believers and saints, and I love the lost world that Christ came to die for. I want the lost to be saved and have the security and comfort of knowing that their sins are paid for in Christ. There is hope that does not disappoint. If a legion of others have already said this more clearly and articulately, that is fine. Cyclical things are not always bad, per se. 

The definition of insanity, we are told, is to do the same thing over and over and expect different results. By that explanation, the whole of our race is insane. Change won’t come from within, by human investment or empowerment. The preacher continues to goad the readership into evaluating their life and its worth in light of something that is not under the sun. Everything under the sun is perishable and recycled. If we view purpose and progress from that lens, it is grim and hopeless. Life is pointless and untethered, and mankind drifts in a malaise of nebulous “hope” that is uncertain and ephemeral. We work and labor to distract as much as to merit

Finally, Elohim, the Creator God, requires an account of what is past. Literally, He seeks it out. This is not the insipid and unbiblical Investigative Judgment doctrine of the SDA’s. Rather, we know that unbelievers will be judged based upon what they have done with the knowledge they possess, Revelation 21:12, Luke 12:47, 48. Believers will have our works judged at the Bema or Judgment Seat, 1 Corinthians 3:13-15, 2 Corinthians 5:10, Romans 14:10. Mankind will individually answer for what we as a people have permitted or helped bring to pass to benefit or destroy future generations; not the least of which will be the dissemination of the knowledge of the gospel of Christ to a lightless world that is blindly going from sin to sin, indulging every vice and killing their conscience to enjoy what we all know is wrong. “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap,” Galatians 6:7. Paul informs the church that whoever sows to the flesh will reap corruption, while sowing to the Spirit  reaps everlasting life. Actions, however seemingly pointless in the light of the temporal now, cast long shadows into eternity. What we do defines us, and will precede us to judgment, however well enacted or concealed we believe it to be.