- The sun rises, and the sun goes down, and hastens to the place where it rises. -
I meant to combine verses 5-7, but then I saw something in verse 5 that needs to be addressed by itself.
The Bible is inexhaustible, am I right?
Back to the verse. The Scripture here instructs us on the rising and setting of the sun. Turns out there’s a day, a night, and they repeat. Really deep stuff Solomon.
We have to take this in the context of the previous verses. We’re not just talking about day and night; we’re talking about how they continue beyond man.
Like generations, they continue beyond our own lives.
When I first read this verse, I thought it referred to nature. Night and day have profound effects on wildlife and us.
But the sun stands for something we take for granted. That of course is time.
The more I study time and talk to people way smarter than me on the subject, the more incredibly dumb I feel. It’s way more complicated than I’d ever suspect.
I don’t want to bog us down in all the details, but I do want to give some basics today to impress on all of us what a gift time is and how amazing it is that God stands outside of it.
Simply put, you are a three-dimensional creature. To a two-dimensional creature, you theoretically would appear as a being capable of teleportation and time travel.
Confused entirely? That’s totally cool. If you want a super easy read to help explain this idea to you in narrative form, go check out Flatland. It’s about a sphere invading the world of square.
Yep, it’s a real thing.
Well as a three-dimensional creature, a four-dimensional creature would appear to you as one capable of bending time and space.
That means, at minimum, God exists in the fourth dimension.
Now it doesn’t matter which dimension God exists in, but it’s nice to know there is a theory that explains the existence of a being like God!
What the heck does this have to do with Ecclesiastes?
The sun is going to rise and set. You can’t stop it. The day won’t have enough hours in it, and your vain attempts to accomplish enough to justify a single day is laughable.
But, someone sits on high who truly sees today as clearly as He sees yesterday and tomorrow.
He can speak to your life. Although He may not give you a vision of what will be, His Word can be trusted right now.
Many times, we get frustrated with God. Why are you taking so long! Why can’t you just hurry up and tell me!
Imagine learning everything you’ve ever been taught in your life in a single moment. Would you go crazy? Would you be able to digest it all?
That is what it would be like to live outside of time.
Is it a curse? Absolutely. Is it a kindness? Absolutely. Could we have been made differently?
If we were, would we still be human? Would our new existence negate us?
Do we deserve to not exist because it’s too painful?
If we look carefully to our suffering, we can see God working through it in beautiful ways.
Thanks guys, looking forward to sharing more Thursday :)
Housekeeping: Hey everyone the response to Broken Wheel has been so kind! To everyone whose subscribed or reached out to me privately thanking me for something I wrote, I want to extend a heartfelt thank you.
My thought for this blog was something you could read during your lunch. Two-four minutes and bang; you’d know a little more about your Bible.
I’m going to try some different times this Thursday and next week. Please feel free to send me your feedback, or if you miss the standard time.
Thank you again and please share!