“A TIME TO MOURN, AND A TIME TO DANCE”

INTRODUCTION

A. Ecclesiastes 3:1

1. “The words of the Preacher” (1:1), Solomon, inform us that a time is available for every event that transpires in the lives of men.

2. We began this a few weeks ago, and continue it now.

B. Ecclesiastes 3:4c-d Our study resumes at this time with “a time to mourn, and a time to dance.”

I. “A TIME TO MOURN”

A. This point is extremely similar to that which we have already considered earlier within the same verse, that there is “a time to weep.”

1. The word translated as “weep” is a Hebrew word meaning “to weep; generally to bemoan” (Strong’s).

2. The word translated as “mourn” is a Hebrew word which means “to tear the hair and beat the breasts (as Orientals do in grief); generally to lament; by implication, to wail” (Strong’s).

3. These two terms are nearly synonymous, such that they appear together in several verses.

a. Genesis 23:2 Abraham mourned and wept over the death of his wife Sarah.

b. 2nd Samuel 1:12 Israel mourned and wept over the deaths of King Saul and his son Jonathan.

c. 2nd Samuel 3:31-32 The death of Abner caused the people of Israel to mourn and weep.

d. Ezekiel 24:15-25 Twice within this passage, mourning is coupled with weeping (16, 23).

e. James 4:9 Mourning and weeping belong together in the new testament, as well, which was written in Greek.

f. Luke 6:25 Mourning and weeping are together considered opposite of laughing.

B. Understanding, then, the remarkable similarity between mourning and weeping, we will not exhaustively study “a time to mourn” since doing so would accomplish little other than to repeat what we studied last week.

II. “A TIME TO DANCE”

A. Like “a time to laugh,” “a time to dance” has its basic meaning in the act of rejoicing.

1. The word here translated as “dance” is a Hebrew term meaning “to stamp, i.e. to spring about (wildly or for joy)” (Strong’s).

a. Stamping

i. To stamp, we understand in English, means “to bring (the foot) down forcibly on the ground” (American Heritage Dictionary).

ii. We might also call this “stomping.” This could refer to little more than tapping one’s foot in keeping beat with music, or it might involve something more elaborate, like a tap dance.

b. Springing

i. To spring, we understand in English, means “to move upward or forward from the ground” (American Heritage Dictionary).

ii. This might be called leaping, or hopping, or even bouncing.

c. The type of movement under consideration is attributed less to people than to other beings.

i. Animals

Psalm 29:5-7 In writing of the skipping calf (6), David used the same Hebrew verb that Solomon used to speak of “a time to dance.”

Psalm 114 The same word appears here with reference to mountains skipping like rams and lambs (4, 6).

Isaiah 13:19-22 The wild goats that “caper” (21), that is “skip or jump in a playful manner” (American Heritage Dictionary), among the ruins of Babylon, are referred to with the same Hebrew term.

ii. Chariots

Joel 2:1-5 Writing of the chariots that leap over mountaintops (5), Joel used the same Hebrew word we find translated as “dance” in our primary text.

Nahum 3:1-2 And Nahum used the same term to refer to “clattering chariots” (2).

2. That “a time to dance” is held in contrast to “a time to mourn” shows the two to be opposites.

a. “A time to mourn” is to “a time to dance” as “a time to weep” is to “a time to laugh” (Ecclesiastes 3:4).

b. Luke 7:32 There is an obvious contrast between dancing and weeping or playing and mourning.

c. This demonstrates that the type of dancing under consideration is an action that expresses joy.

i. 1st Chronicles 15:25-29 When David, with the elders and captains of Israel, “went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the house of Obed-Edom with joy” (25), he was found to be “whirling” (29), or “dancing” or leaping according to various translations.

ii. Job 21:11-12 With reference to pleasure in this life, Job mentions children dancing in the same breath as singing and rejoicing.

3. In promising “a time to dance,” Solomon refers to nothing more than simple bodily movements which express joy, like skipping, stomping, leaping, and hopping. Such behavior is harmless.

B. Nevertheless, most dancing practiced today is not so innocent.

1. The dancing observed on MTV or engaged in at worldly parties can hardly be characterized as simple skipping and leaping.

2. Mark 6:14-29

a. The dance performed by Herodias’ daughter was of the variety that excites pleasure in men and motivates recklessness.

b. So, you see, although dancing is mentioned in many scriptures, it is not always spoken of with divine approval.

3. Bodily movements that might be characterized as lewd are condemned in scripture.

a. Lewdness, lasciviousness, or licentiousness, speak of a lack of sexual restraint.

b. Such conduct is abominable before God.

i. Mark 7:20-23 Jesus includes lewdness among sins that defile men.

ii. Romans 13:11-14 Lewdness is regarded as a work of darkness and an impropriety among Christians.

iii. Galatians 5:19-21 It is a work of the flesh that will prevent access into God’s kingdom.

iv. Notice that in two of these passages (Mark 7:20-23; Galatians 5:19-21), lewdness is found in the same category as fornication and adultery, yet it is a sin distinct from these two.

By emphasizing the sin of lewdness, we are not simply exaggerating the sin of fornication, but revealing that it is a failure to prevent such.

Lewdness is one sin which leads to another.

c. Lewdness, the absence of sexual restraint, is nowhere more easily observed than in the sexually provocative movements of the modern dance.

i. Do hip thrusts and pelvis gyrations arouse sexual passion or promote thoughts of sexual abstinence?

ii. Does the intimate contact of a slow dance, when bodies are touching cheek to cheek, chest to chest, waist to waist encourage chastity or fornication?

iii. Movie titles like “Dirty Dancing” and “Lambada: The Forbidden Dance” are refreshingly straightforward about this fact: dancing is not a morally pure activity.

iv. Consider this excerpt from a letter to Ann Landers years ago.

"My boy friend and I were practicing some new steps the other evening when my father came home. He is a little deaf and the battery must have gone dead in his hearing aid. He couldn't hear the music and he threw my boy friend out of the house before I could explain."

Without the music normally attendant in dancing, do the physical motions involved convey a sense of purity or promiscuity to the casual observer?

v. I am told that “prom” is an abbreviation for “promenade,” but I submit that it would be more accurate to say that it is just short for “promiscuity.”

It is not at all unusual to watch TV shows or movies, in which dancing has no part in the plot, but will include dialogue such as “You’re going to lose that faster than a school-girl’s virginity on prom night.”

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno

Among products that didn’t sell well was Prom Night Barbie: a pink Jeep with Barbie’s legs hanging out the window that rocked back and forth when turned on.

According to Sylvia Allen, one of Leno’s recent monologues included a joke to this effect: “Prom is coming up soon, parents. You know what that means; many of you are going to be grandparents in about nine months!”

4. Understand that an acceptable “time to dance” amounts to a simple expression of joy, not sexually provocative activity.

a. Matthew 5:27-28 If the Lord prohibits even thoughts of sexual sin, how can He approve of the groping and fondling that leads directly to the bed?

b. 1st Thessalonians 4:1-7 God’s will is that we abstain from sexual sin and learn to control our bodies.

CONCLUSION

A. Galatians 5:19-24 Although lewdness is a work of the flesh that will prevent entrance into God’s kingdom, such a passion can be crucified.

1. Galatians 2:20 Paul had learned to crucify his old ways in order to live for Christ.

2. Romans 6:3-6 Such begins in baptism.

B. Invitation

Grace Be With You, Bryan Matthew Dockens

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