It time to harvest meaning8/22/2023 In a metaphor, the prophet Jeremiah confirms there are times in life “to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant” (Jeremiah 1:10). Yet, for every person, there is also an appointed time to die (Job 14:5 Hebrews 9:27), just as there are designated agricultural seasons for uprooting and harvesting crops. There are occasions when we produce life by giving birth or planting seeds in the ground. Birthing and planting represent the giving of life. The New Living Translation renders “a time to uproot” as “a time to harvest,” whereas the English Standard Version uses “pluck up what is planted.” Elsewhere in the Old Testament, the term is used figuratively for the destruction of cities and nations (Zephaniah 2:4 Jeremiah 12:17). By contrast, to “uproot” is to pull up or tear out by the roots. When a seed is buried in the ground and then nurtured, the potential for germinating life is established. Those who work in the world of agriculture understand that there is a proper time to plant and an appropriate season to harvest. Plant life starts with sowing or planting but ends when uprooting occurs. The first two pairings-“a time to be born and a time to die” and “a time to plant and a time to uproot”-represent beginnings and endings, new life, and the inevitability of death. He has a purpose in every season, whether we understand it or not. From beginning to end, the Lord is in control. Solomon acknowledges that every moment has its proper place and time appointed by God. Our lives in this world are a blend of joy and sorrow, ups and downs, harmony and discord, rooting and upheaval. “There is a time for everything,” begins Solomon, “and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot” (verses 1–2).Īll of the moments in Solomon’s list combine to represent the whole of human activity in its varied expressions. In Ecclesiastes 3:1–8, King Solomon introduces a series of fourteen opposing seasons and events in the cycle of life (birth and death, mourning and dancing, war and peace, etc.).
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