모든 계절 속에서 영원하신 하나님을 신뢰함
전도서가 삶의 리듬을 나열할 때, 신앙은 그 계절들로부터 도망치는 것이 아니라 그것들을 정하신 하나님 안에서 안식을 누리는 것이다.
모든 것에 때가 있고 천하의 모든 일에는 때가 있도다 나는 때가 있고 죽는 때가 있으며 심는 때가 있고 심은 것을 뜯는 때가 있으며 죽이는 때가 있고 고치는 때가 있으며 무너뜨리는 때가 있고 세우는 때가 있으며 우는 때가 있고 웃는 때가 있으며 애통하는 때가 Dancing a time for being joyful; [keep text] A time for throwing stones and a time for gathering stones, A time for embracing and a time for shunning embraces; A time for seeking and a time for losing, A time for keeping and a time for discarding; A time for ripping and a time for sewing, A time for silence and a time for speaking; A time for loving and a time for hating; A time for war and a time for peace. What value, then, can those who labor get from what they earn? I have observed the business that God gave humankind to be concerned with: [God] brings everything to pass precisely at its time; [God] also puts eternity in their mind, but without people ever guessing, from first to last, all the things that God brings to pass. Thus I realized that the only worthwhile thing there is for them is to enjoy themselves and do what is good in their lifetime; also, that whenever people do eat and drink and get enjoyment out of all their wealth, it is a gift of God. I realized, too, that whatever God has brought to pass will recur evermore: Nothing can be added to it And nothing taken from it—and God has brought to pass that mortals feel reverence. What is occurring occurred long since, And what is to occur occurred long since: and God seeks the pursued. And, indeed, I have observed under the sun: Alongside justice there is wickedness, Alongside righteousness there is wickedness. I mused: “God will doom both righteous and wicked, for there is a time for every experience and for every happening.” So I decided, as regards human beings, to dissociate them [from] the divine beings and to face the fact that they are animals. For in respect of the fate of humans and the fate of animals, they have one and the same fate: as the one dies so dies the other, and both have the same lifebreath; humans have no superiority over animals, since both amount to nothing. Both go to the same place; both came from dust and both return to dust. Who knows if the lifebreath of humans does rise upward and if the breath of animals does sink down into the earth? I saw that there is nothing better for people than to enjoy their possessions, since that is their portion. For who can enable them to see what will happen afterward?"
전도서 3:1-20은 하늘 아래 인간의 모든 때를 제시하고, 그것을 하나님의 주권과 현재의 즐거움이라는 선물 위에 세운 다음, 의와 악이 함께하는 골치 아픈 현실을 인정합니다.