There was a big picnic planned. Everything about it was to be special. Special decorations, everyone’s favorite foods, and special games were all prepared. A small nature hike was planned for the kids. Well, how did it go? It rained! It ruined everything and there was absolutely nothing they could do. Now how do you explain such a happening? Often the response will be time and chance happeneth to all. On this flip of a coin, we guess the wrong side landed face up. This article is going to show that this is a completely wrong use of this verse in Ecclesiastes . . . it isn’t what it is saying at all. In fact it means just the opposite from what we have been taught.
Let’s look at Ecclesiastes 9:11-12.
“I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all. For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.”
Now it has been said that these verses are talking of good and bad luck, or uncontrolled happenings. It is said that God set certain things in motion and in these small matters the chips may fall where they please. It certainly is an easy and convenient way to explain a lot of things. We shall use three methods of Bible investigation to prove these ideas wrong. They are 1) look at the whole picture, 2) see how used in the original language 3) consider the context of the verse.
Whole Picture
Bible truths and principles form a thread that run through the whole Bible. We can’t consider an idea as a principle if its based on just one verse. In fact, the idea becomes suspect if only one verse seems to confirm the idea. Well in this case we can’t find anywhere else in scripture that supports the idea of chance happenings to the believers. But we see that the reverse idea is taught, that God cares for details. One of many verses that indicates this is Matt. 10:29-31.
“Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.”
When a verse doesn’t seem to fit in the whole picture of the Bible we must then look deeper than the surface, which brings us to the next step. —>
Original Language
By the simple use of a concordance we can learn a definition of a troublesome word and also see how it is used elsewhere in the Bible. The word that causes the problem in Ecc. 9:11 is the word “chance.” The concordance tells us that the word in the original language is “pega” which literally means “occur-once.” The root word is “paga” and literally means “meet with, come upon, fall upon.” Rather than look up all the places the word is used we will summarize by listing one example of each type of use of the word.
| Translated as | Where | Situation |
| Met | Gen 32:1 | Angels of God met Jacob |
| Occurant | 1 Kings 5:4 | God prevented evil occurant to David |
| meet | 1 Sam 10:5 | Samuel instructs Saul – he would meet prophets at a certain place |
| fall upon | 1 Kings 2:29 | Solomon orders execution of David foes |
| laid | Isa 53:6 | Lord laid iniquity of ours on Jesus |
| intercession | Isa 53:12 | Jesus makes intercession for us |
In the above uses we see that the word indicates a premeditated occurrence or action usually brought on or controlled by God. The idea of flipping a coin or chance is not what this word means.
Look at Context
Lets look at the context of Ecc. 9:11- 12. In v. 11 it states that things which we might naturally expect don’t always work out that way. You’d think the fastest runner would naturally win a race. But it just doesn’t happen exactly as we predict. And of course the smartest people should be wealthy. But we all know that this isn’t necessarily the way it works out. In v. 12 it speaks of death. Death comes on people when they don’t expect it.
Do people live and die without God in control ? Is God’s free spirit given by chance? Do people accept or reject the gospel without God knowing it? No! God is in control even if He may do something we don’t expect. The context then is that man doesn’t always get what he expects because its God that is in control. Time and chance (occurrence) is something that is beyond man’s control. This context is similar to I Cor. 1:26-28.
“For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty: And base things of the world, and things that are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought that are.
From this short investigation we have learned a wonderful thing. “Time and chance” is simply another expression from the Bible to tell us that God is in control. We needn’t fret about the future because it is not left up to chance what will happen to us. God controls our destiny. Who needs to be fast, rich, or smart? God calls us according to His plan. Who needs to worry about an untimely death ? There are no untimely deaths, for God alone decides when we return to dust. Of course we’d like to explain away certain occurrences as chance-happenings, but we simply can’t do it using the Biblical message. Our infinite Creator cares for us.
“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, who are the called according to his purpose.”
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One