3 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.
9 What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth?
10 I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it.
11 He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.
12 I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life.
13 And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God.
14 I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him.
15 That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past.
16 And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there.
17 I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.
18 I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.
19 For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity.
20 All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.
21 Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?
22 Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion: for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him?
There is a song based on this passage and I love that song. The book of Ecclesiastes, as well as the Song of Solomon, almost didn't make it into scripture but I'm glad it did because Ecclesiastes cries with you and doesn't deny the hardships of life, doesn't apologize for them and doesn't explain them. We live in a fallen world, sin affected everything. Why they don't present Ecclesiastes and Proverbs and some of Psalms in philosophy classes is beyond me.
When Solomon became king he asked the Lord only for wisdom to be able to rightly lead Israel and because of the nature of his heart, God granted him wisdom and wealth and peace in his time.
Vs. 15.......God requireth that which is past. You have to remember this was written before Christ so they were under the law and the sacrificial system was in place at that time. Jesus fulfilled the requirements on the cross. He has the keys to death and hell and he releases whomever he pleases. Death had no power over Christ because he was sinless (the wages of sin is death), you might even say that death was a debtor to Christ because death took someone it had no right to take.
I have these cards that explain the "son of man" title that was so important to Jesus and why he HAD to come and live a sinless life and die on the cross and be resurrected.........you see, there is a scroll in heaven that a MAN has to open. Adrian Rogers called it the title deed to the earth seeing as how dominion over the earth was given to man. Isaiah mentions how the Lord looked and there was no man to work righteousness for him so he sent his own arm. When you see that phrase in scripture, the arm of the Lord, that's Jesus before his mother gave him a name. He's also the WORD. In Exodus he was the angel of the Lord.......
I used to wonder about Jesus telling John the Baptist that he had to be baptized by him to fulfill all righteousness. Baptist preachers have a hey day with that, saying it proves you have to be baptized to be saved. Then one day I heard a very seasoned shadow preacher.........meaning he doesn't have a multi-million church to please and more mansion than he can live in to go home to, he was a guest speaker and a God called preacher, the kind who can't please everyone all of the time. This preacher pointed out that John the Baptist had temple rights because his father was a worker in the temple and so there you have the bloodline that God accepted according to Jewish law. A temple worker had to give the sacrificial lamb that they sacrificed once a year for all the sins of the people, even the forgotten or accidental sins, a temple worker had to give that lamb a ceremonial washing. Christ knew his purpose and he knew his fate so he told John that THEY had to do this baptism, which was his ceremonial washing, to prepare him for crucifixion as the sacrificial lamb for the sins of all the people. Here are some companion verses:
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 The same was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.
8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.
9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.
11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
15 John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me.
16 And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.
17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
18 No man hath seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
19 And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou?
20 And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ.
21 And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No.
22 Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself?
23 He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.
24 And they which were sent were of the Pharisees.
25 And they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet?
26 John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not;
27 He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to unloose.
28 These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing.
29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
30 This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me.
31 And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water.
32 And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.
33 And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.
34 And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.
So you see that John said he came baptized so the the Christ would be revealed. For most people his baptism was one of repentance for people expecting the Savior, but for Jesus, it was a ceremonial washing to fulfill ALL points of the Jewish law for the sacrificial lamb.
Now I have isolated some of the scriptures because they deal with reincarnation. John was asked if he was Elijah and he said he wasn't. Here's what Jesus said:
Mark 9:
9 And as they came down from the mountain, he charged them that they should tell no man what things they had seen, till the Son of man were risen from the dead.
10 And they kept that saying with themselves, questioning one with another what the rising from the dead should mean.
11 And they asked him, saying, Why say the scribes that Elias must first come?
12 And he answered and told them, Elias verily cometh first, and restoreth all things; and how it is written of the Son of man, that he must suffer many things, and be set at nought.
13 But I say unto you, That Elias is indeed come, and they have done unto him whatsoever they listed, as it is written of him.
Matthew 11:
7 And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind?
8 But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings' houses.
9 But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet.
10 For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.
11 Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.
13 For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.
14 And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come.
15 He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
So you see, John the baptist did not know that he had the spirit of Elijah, but Jesus knew. To my knowledge this is the only case of reincarnation that has been recorded in scripture and it is important to note that Elijah did not die as Elijah, he was taken up in a whirlwind, but when he returned as John the baptist, he was killed for saying that the king should not be married to his father's wife, and that, at the behest of some young girl's dance and request.
"So what are you trying to say?!" you ask? IF there are lots of people reincarnated these days, I believe that would be all the more reason to believe the Lord is about to return lest they die a second time when the scripture says it is given man to die once and then after that the judgment. If you believe you are reincarnated then maybe you are getting a second chance, that's all I'm saying.
So what about the two witnesses? I believe they will be Enoch, since he could unlock a lot of mysteries about his time in history and cause the scientists to have to shut their mouths, and I believe the other will be John the apostle for reasons I've already said, that scroll he had to eat and the word of Jesus telling him he would have to speak to kings and leaders.
Hope you all have a nice day.
