Time isn't what you think it is, nor is eternity
I've been given a gift of a subscription to Ancestry.com and found looking at family history fascinating. Names have come to my attention which I had no knowledge of before. Most of these people I have discovered passed away long ago. Some married and established families I can contact. Some didn't wed either from choice or early death. I can imagine if you did a similar search, you would come up with like experiences.
My husband and I took a trip recently to visit our Moms and other family and friends. I posted some photos from this trip on Facebook.
What is the connection between the above two paragraphs and Scripture?
I have always seen Psalm 90 as a psalm of my family, on both my Mom's and my Dad's side. As Moses wrote in verse 1, "Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations." This has been true of someone in each generation as far as I have been able to track back in my genealogical research. The rest of the psalm resonates also, of course, since it is a whole.
Then there is the overlooked Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes. Two chapters in particular came to my mind as I reflected: chapter 3 and 12.
Chapter 3 of Ecclesiastes begins this way: "For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven," then verses 2-8 expand with comparisons and contrasts. With verse 9, we have a change from poetry to prose, perceptions too many of us skip over, such as verse 14: "I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people may fear him."
Chapter 12 of Ecclesiastes reminds me of the opening verses of chapter 3 and expands on them:
"Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, 'I have no pleasure in them'; before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened [because you can no longer see as well] and the clouds return after the rain, in the day when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men are bent, and the grinders cease because they are few [your teeth diminish in number or strength], and those who look through the window are dimmed [again vision changes], and the doors on the street are shut--when the sound of the grinding is low [less good hearing], and one rises up at the sound of bird, and all the daughters of song are brought low [even singing voices change often]--they are also afraid of what is high [curbs, stairs], and terrors in the way; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along, and desire fails, because man is going to his eternal home, and the mourners go about the streets--before the silver cord is snapped, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is shattered at the fountain, or the wheel is broken at the cistern [all examples of the way death comes], and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it" (comments mine).
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 conclude both the chapter and the book:
"The whole end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil."
However young or old you are I commend to you this prayer of Moses in Psalm 90:
"Teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom" (verse 12).
My husband and I took a trip recently to visit our Moms and other family and friends. I posted some photos from this trip on Facebook.
What is the connection between the above two paragraphs and Scripture?
I have always seen Psalm 90 as a psalm of my family, on both my Mom's and my Dad's side. As Moses wrote in verse 1, "Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations." This has been true of someone in each generation as far as I have been able to track back in my genealogical research. The rest of the psalm resonates also, of course, since it is a whole.
Then there is the overlooked Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes. Two chapters in particular came to my mind as I reflected: chapter 3 and 12.
Chapter 3 of Ecclesiastes begins this way: "For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven," then verses 2-8 expand with comparisons and contrasts. With verse 9, we have a change from poetry to prose, perceptions too many of us skip over, such as verse 14: "I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people may fear him."
Chapter 12 of Ecclesiastes reminds me of the opening verses of chapter 3 and expands on them:
"Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, 'I have no pleasure in them'; before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened [because you can no longer see as well] and the clouds return after the rain, in the day when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men are bent, and the grinders cease because they are few [your teeth diminish in number or strength], and those who look through the window are dimmed [again vision changes], and the doors on the street are shut--when the sound of the grinding is low [less good hearing], and one rises up at the sound of bird, and all the daughters of song are brought low [even singing voices change often]--they are also afraid of what is high [curbs, stairs], and terrors in the way; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along, and desire fails, because man is going to his eternal home, and the mourners go about the streets--before the silver cord is snapped, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is shattered at the fountain, or the wheel is broken at the cistern [all examples of the way death comes], and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it" (comments mine).
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 conclude both the chapter and the book:
"The whole end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil."
However young or old you are I commend to you this prayer of Moses in Psalm 90:
"Teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom" (verse 12).
posted by Ebeth | 2:01 PM
2 Comments:
I most of all am the recipient of grace and mercy undeserved. Excellent and comforting thoughts.
it was Augustine that introduced the concept of time and history as an epoch. Meaning God started it and it progresses until He causes it to cease. His will is worked out in the framework we acknowledge as time. His signature book "City of God" reflects on this idea is some detail.
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