11:1. “Cast
thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.”
Clearly the language is
metaphoric, for literal bread cast upon literal water will simply result in
the loss of the bread which will absorb the water and sink. But bread is
one of the scriptural symbols of the written Word; and waters represent
earth’s human masses, as it is written, “The wicked (unconverted) are like
the troubled sea ...” Isaiah 57:20, so that the exhortation is to believers
to spread the Gospel at every opportunity, and by every possible means, the
expiration of the “many days” being the Bema, the judgment seat of Christ,
where every one will receive an eternal reward commensurate with his
faithfulness in spreading the Gospel.
11:2. “Give a
portion to seven, and also to eight; for thou knowest not what evil shall be
upon the earth.”
Seven is the scriptural
number of perfection or completeness; and eight, of a new beginning. The
command therefore to “give a portion to seven, and also to eight” translates
into the fact that the seven represents all those to whom the Gospel is
presented by believers, while eight represents those of the hearers who will
believe and be saved. We can’t fortell the future. We know not what
calamities are yet to engulf the world, nor do we need to know: our business
is to spread the Gospel.
Our lack of knowledge
relative to the evil that shall be on the earth must be understood in
context. Everyone who reads the Bible knows that the earth is to be
devastated by terrible wars, famine, anarchy, disease, etc., in the
impending Great Tribulation. What we don’t know is the precise nature of
those coming judgments.
The giving of a portion to
seven and also to eight is understood by some to be an exhortation from the
worldly wise to diversify one’s investments, so that even if one or two
should fail all will not be lost.
11:3. “If the
clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth: and if the
tree fall toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree
falleth, there it shall be.”
Just as surely as
rain-laden clouds will drop water on the earth, so will a sinful life result
in eternal judgment, unless the offender trusts in Christ as his Savior.
Beyond the literal
language lies deeper spiritual truth. No one can read the Bible and observe
world conditions today, without being aware that the thunderheads of the
foretold terrible Tribulation judgments are piling up, ready to break and
wreak havoc world wide. And since trees are used scripturally as symbols of
humanity, the falling trees in the present context represent those who will
die during that awful era of judgmental destruction, the south being the
biblical direction associated with faith; and the north, with mere human
intelligence working in opposition to God. The statement therefore is
crystal clear: the trees falling towards the south are believers: those
falling to the north are unbelievers. Believers will dwell in eternal bliss
in heaven; unbelievers, in eternal torment, first in hell, and ultimately in
the lake of fire.
The fact that the tree
lies where it falls is the symbolic announcement of the fact that death ends
for ever any opportunity for a man to change his eternal state.
11:4. “He that
observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not
reap.”
A wise farmer will not sow
when there are turbulent winds, because the seed will be blown away; nor
will he reap when thunderclouds presage rain, because the cut grain will be
likely to rot or mildew. It seems that this translates into instruction not
to preach the Gospel where spiritual conditions are analogous to those
mentioned here, and as directed in Mt 7:6, “Give not that which is holy unto
the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine....”
It may however, also be
taken to mean that we are to sow the good seed of the Gospel no matter how
unpropitious conditions may seem, see verse 6.
Taken literally, the
message is that it is foolish to wait for just the right moment to do
things, for the right moment seldom comes, with the result that nothing is
accomplished. It is better to “take a chance” in the hope that it will work
out successfully.
11:5. “As thou
knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the
womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God
who maketh all.”
The wind is a biblical
synonymn for the Spirit, see, e.g., John 3:8, “The wind bloweth where it
listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it
cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.”
See also Acts 2:1-4. Man does not know how the Holy Spirit operates; nor
does he know how a fetus develops in the womb. These are just two examples
of God’s workings which are beyond the ability of human minds to understand.
11:6. “In the
morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou
knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both
shall be alike good.”
The spiritual instruction
here transcends the literal. As the diligent farmer will begin sowing early
in the morning, and continue until evening, so are we to be equally
industrious in sowing the good seed of the Gospel. We are to seize every
opportunity, being content to leave the results with God, knowing that He
will hold us responsible only for the sowing, not for the results. They are
His business, not ours.
11:7. “Truly
the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the
sun:”
11:8. “But if
a man live many years, and rejoice in them all; yet let him remember the
days of darkness; for they shall be many. All that cometh is vanity.”
Sunlight is more desirable
than darkness, but when enjoying the light, man should remember that just as
day is succeeded by night, so for the unbeliever will the brief day of
earthly life give place to an eternal night of torment in the lake of fire,
that unending night being described in Jude 13 as “... the blackness of
darkness for ever.” The unbeliever’s future is an eternity of torment to be
endured in an endless waste of empty darkness.
11:9.
“Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the
days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of
thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee
into judgment.”
This is what God permits:
not what He directs. The unbelieving young man in the vigor of youth,
follows the impulses of his own unconverted mind and heart in the pursuit of
pleasure, never giving a thought to the fact that ultimately he will have to
stand before God Who will judge his every thought, word, and deed, and
banish him into eternal torment in the lake of fire because he neglected or
deliberately rejected the pardon made available to him through the vicarious
death of the Lord Jesus Christ. How many a young person has been suddenly
cut off in the midst of earthly pleasure, death plunging him instantly into
eternal torment!
11:10.
“Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh:
for childhood and youth are vanity.”
“... sorrow” is also
translated “resentment, anger, vexation, grief,” these things being
invariably concomitant with sorrow; while evil in the present context means
harm, trouble, mischief, wickedness, wrong. The heart as used here refers
to the intellect; while flesh refers to the body. Both are to be kept pure
for the Lord’s service.
In the case of the
unconverted, childhood and youth are devoid of worth because for the most
part they are spent in worthless activity, mentally and physically.