`I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time

for every purpose

and for every work' (3:17).

The olam, the inscrutable character and indefinite length of the age, is `set in the heart of man'. The olam or age

is the `time and season' for every purpose under heaven. God's purpose, however, goes back before the age, and

runs on after it has ended. Man cannot `find out the work that God doeth from the beginning to the end' (3:11). `I

know that whatsoever God doeth it shall be for the olam or age' (3:14). God's work goes on beyond the scope and

sphere of man's work. `Nothing can be put to it, nor anything taken from it' (3:14). How unlike man's work, which

is spoiled by the `one event' that happeneth to all. Left to other hands and hearts to waste and spoil, soon to be cast

into forgetfulness, its very memorial vanished, what a contrast with the work of God! Man slaves for the temporal,

God works for the olam, the age. The word olam or age occurs seven times in Ecclesiastes, the different ways in

which the word is translated are indicated in the following structure of the seven occurrences.

OLAM.

A 1:4.

Generations pass, the earth abides.

B 1:9,10.  Nothing new under the sun.

C 2:16.

No memorial.

D 3:11.

Set in the heart of man to

prevent full understanding.

C 3:14,15. The past foreshadows the future.

No portion under the sun.

The passing generation, the `long' home

God works in the way He does `that men should fear before Him' (3:14). This is the conclusion of the whole

`Fear God, and keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into

judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil '(l2:13,14).

The complexities of this span of time, the inequalities, the time and chance which happen to all, the righteous

suffering and the wicked prospering, all these and more make up the olam set in the heart of man. The relief that

comes to the mind when one learns that a time is THERE when the crooked shall be made straight, when every work

shall be brought into judgment, is beyond words. It enables one to obey the injunction, `Fret not thyself because of

evildoers ... because of him that bringeth wicked devices to pass' (Psa. 37). God has a purpose and a work that

transcends all our thought, `Wait patiently for Him'. This wholesome scriptural fear is verily a safety-valve in the

midst of the baffling problems of Providence, `He that feareth God shall come forth of them all' (7:18). `Though a

sinner do evil an hundred times, and his days are prolonged' so that Asaph-like we are tempted to say `I have

cleansed my heart in vain', nevertheless what saith the scripture, `Yet surely I know that it shall be well with them

that fear God' (8:12).

Let us return for a moment to chapter 3. Does it not seem strange at first sight for Koheleth to interpolate

between his weighty references to the work of God with regard to the age such things as eating and drinking?

`I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good during his life. And also that

every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God' (3:12,13).

Verily it is the gift of God, this strange unearthly peace in the seething strife of this world. No longer like the

caged eagle do we beat ourselves against the bars; we know, and in that knowledge of Him we realize that all is

well. We can enjoy the `good' of our labour, and thank God for His gift. The endless circle of human experience,

after all, is a faint echo of the mighty purpose of the ages.

`That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God

REQUIRETH (SEEKETH)

which is past' (3:15).