The Pulpit Commentary — Ecclesiastes — Section 36

ordered otherwise tbe.n they actually arc. It is the lan11ua11e of one who observe~ nature, and is baffled by its mysteries; who asks what all ~e;ns, and why everything is as it is. Even at that distant time it was recognized that the processes of nature are cyclic. 'l'he stare accomplish their revolutions, and the seasons return in their appointed order. There is unity in diversity, and changes succeed one another with remarkable regularity, These observations seem to have suggested to the writer of Ecclesiastes the inquiry-Is man's life and destiny in this respect similar to the order of nature? Is our human experience as cyclic as are the processes of the material universe? Is there no real advance for roan? and is he destined to pass through changes which in the end will only leave him where he was? l. NATURE PRESENTS A SPEOTAOLE OF CONSTANT CHANGE AND RESTLESSNESS. The three examples -given in these passages are such as must strike every attentive observer of this earth and the phenomena accessible to the view of its inhabitants. The sun runs his daily course through the heavens, to return on the next morning to fulfil th'cl eame circuit. 'l'he wind veers about from one quarter to another, and quits one direction only in a few hours, or a few da.ys, or at roost a few weeks, to resume it. The rivers flow on in a.n unceasing current, and find their wa.y into the sea, which (as is now known) yields in evaporation its tribute to the clouds, whence the water-springs are in due time replenished. Modern science has vastly enlarged our view of similar processes throughout all of the universe which is accessible to our observation. "Nothing continueth in one stay." There is in the world nothing immovable and unchangeable. It is believed that not an atom is at rest. ll. NA.TUBE SEEMS TO EFFECT NO PROGRESS BY ALL THE CHANGES EXHIBITED. Not only is there a want, an absence, of stability, of re8t; there is no apparent advance and improvement. 'l'hings move from their places only to return to them; their motion is rather in a circle than in a straight line. It was this cyclic tendency in natural processes which arrested the attention and perplexed the inquiring mind of the wise man. And modern science does not in this matter effect a radical change in our beliefs. Evolutionists teach us tnat rhythm is the ultimate law of the universe. Evolution is followed by involution, or dissipation. A pla.net or a system evolves until it reaches its climax, and thenceforward its course is reversed, until it is resolved into the elements of which it was primevally composed. In the presence of such speculations the intellect reels, dizzy and powerless. Ill. REFLECTION"MAY, HOWEVER, SUGGEST TO US THAT THERE IS UNITY rn DIVERSITY, STABILITY IN ORANGE; THAT THERE IS A DIVINE PURPOSE IN NA.TUBE, If there be evidence of reason in the universe, if nature is the expression of mind, the vehicle by which the Creator-Spirit communicates with the created spirits he has fashioned in his own likeness, then there is at least the suggestion of what is deeper and more significant than the cycles of phenomena. There is rest for the intelligence in such a conviction as that of the theist, who rises above the utterances to the Being who utters forth his mind and will in the world which he has made, and which be rules by laws that are the expression of his own reason. He looks behind and above the mechanical cycles of natW'e, and discovers the Divine mind, into whose purposes he can only very partially penetrate, but in whose presence and control he finds repose. }V, ANALOGY POINTS OUT THAT IN AND BENEATH THE MUTABILITY OF THE HUMAN LOT AND LIFE THERE IS DIVINE PURPOSE OF INSTRUCTION AND BLESSING. If, as it seems, it occurred to the mind of the wise roan that, as in nature, so in human existence, all things are cyclic and unprogressive, such an inference was not unnatural. Yet it is not a conclusion in which the reasonable mind can rest. The fuller revelation with which we have been favoured enlightens us with respect to the intentions of Eternal Wisdom and Love. Our Saviour has founded upon earth a kingdom which cannot be moved. And the figures which he himself has employed to set forth its progress are an assurance that it ia not bounded by time or space; that it sho.11 grow until its :iimeneione and beneficence exceed nil human expectations, and satisfy the heart of the Divine Redeemer himself. Each faithful Christian, however feeble and however lowly, may work in his Master's cause with the nssurance that his service shall be not only ncceptable, but effective. Better shall be the end than the beginning. The seed shall give rise to a tree of whose fruit all nations shall taste, aud beneath whose shadow humanity itself shall find both shelter and repose.-T, :icccLESIAB'fJ;:13, 0  1S ECCL ESIABTES ; OR) 'l'HE PREAOHEil. (cu. 1. 1-18.