January 15 - Nothing New

January 15 – Nothing New

Ecclesiastes 1:9-10 – What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; there is nothing new under the sun.  Is there a thing of which it is said, “See, this is new”?  It has already been, in the ages before us.

This is kind of a difficult concept, especially in the midst of a series in which the emphasis is on a creative God.

But, the writer of Ecclesiastes wanted to emphasize just that.  God created an earth that was cyclical.  As you look back on the previous verses, you see that he says

Generations come and go, but the earth remains forever.
The sun rises and sets and starts all over again.
The wind blows to the south and to the north, ever returning to its course.
The streams flow to the sea, yet the sea never fills.

What has been will be again … what has been done will be done again.

This is the glory of the creation that God set into place.

These words don’t deny the fact that God can do new things or that there will be inventions and discoveries … but, God has set everything into motion and nothing that mankind can come up with will change that.

We work every day – and it doesn’t change any of those things.  In fact, as the generations come and go, they will forget history and start all over… repeating the joys and pains of their history.

While I might begin to read these words in Ecclesiastes as words of despair, as I re-read them and come to an understanding, it becomes much more comforting to me.  God set His creation in motion and He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.  He will not waver, He will not change.

The new things that come about do so within the ordered creation that He has fully under His charge.

There is nothing new … nothing that will disrupt God’s creation.  He brings any new thing into existence within the context of His original work at the beginning of time.  We are safe when we are within His will.