Taught on 20 November 2005
“How Should A Christian Deal With An Uncertain Future and Growing Old?”
OUTLINE for our upcoming study:
Be courageous in Life = Eccl 8:1 to 12:8
Be bold in doing right even if you are not rewarded = Eccl 8:1 to 10:12
Be bold in enjoying life, although death will come.
Can someone share with the group a time in your life when you had something planned perfectly, every “t” was crossed and every “i” was dotted, but your plans fell apart?
Another question for the group. Have many of you are “what if” people?
Well, I can’t do that, what if this should happen….or…what if that should happen?
How many of you know people like that?
Another question for the group. Before I ask you this question about yourselves, I’ll tell you in advance that I AM one of these people. This fear still controls me in certain circumstances
How many of you would do “more” but you are afraid of failure? Example: How many of you have thought that you wouldn’t mind teaching a class, but the thought of public speaking scares you so much that you don’t do it?
In this chapter Solomon will explain to us that life is full of unexpected contingencies. Solomon says we can live boldly even though life is unpredictable.
Bread Upon the Waters
1 Cast your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will find it again.
Our study book explained the “cast your bread upon the waters” line. It refers to doing business in grain by putting it on a ship and having to set sail to be traded…casting it on the waters.
The only way to get that financial return on your investment was to take the “some” risk.
Isaiah 32:8 (NIV) But the noble man makes noble plans, and by noble deeds he stands.
Ray Stedman’s commentaries point out that this verse is also referring to “giving” generously. Cast your bread out generously upon the waters, for after many days, when you might need help too, it will come back to you. In other words, “What goes around, comes around.”
SUMMARY: Don’t be afraid of doing good, even though the reward might be late in coming…at least in this world…
2 Give portions to seven, yes to eight, for you do not know what disaster may come upon the land.
OK, let me ask you. Where do we hear this advice in today’s society all the time? Dividing your portions? Diversifying?
Stock market. Your portfolio manager will constantly tell you that you should not have all your eggs in one basket.
Speaking of “Portions”….where should some of our “portions” go? What does the bible say?
We should give some of our portions to the less fortunate:
Neh 8:10 (NIV) Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”
1 Tim 6:18 (NIV) Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.
Luke 6:30 (NIV) Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back.
In keeping with Stedman’s comments above about giving generously, Stedman goes on to say that this verse also means to give as generously as you possibly can, and then some more.
for you do not know what disaster may come upon the land = Well, don’t take this the wrong way, but this verse makes good political sense. This verse tells you to give good and hard, as much as you can, because you might have problems one day and the more people you have helped, the more you might have that want to help you in return when you really need it.
3 If clouds are full of water, they pour rain upon the earth. Whether a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where it falls, there will it lie.
One of the commentaries said that this verse was a pair of proverbs on misfortune: “If clouds are full (that is to say….if it looks like a storm is coming) they pour out rain upon the earth”. In other words, we should try to read economic conditions and act accordingly. Which way a tree will fall basically means “Which ever way the cookie crumbles” type of thing, in other words, what will happen will happen.
Adam Clarke’s commentary: We should act as the clouds; when they are full they pour out their water indifferently on the field and on the desert. Give charity indiscriminately. He goes on to explain even if you occasionally give it to the unworthy that is better than trying to discriminate and then not giving it to the real needy.
Other commentaries said that this confusing verse was actually referring to God’s continued blessings upon us. Sometimes we get them, sometimes our neighbor gets them:
Clouds full of water: God sends the rain for our crops,
Tree falling: Wood for fires. Sometimes for us, sometimes for our neighbors.
Psalms 65:9-10 (NIV) You care for the land and water it; you enrich it abundantly. The streams of God are filled with water to provide the people with grain, for so you have ordained it. 10 You drench its furrows and level its ridges; you soften it with showers and bless its crops.
Isaiah 55:10-11 (NIV) As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, 11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
LET US ALWAYS REMEMBER THAT EVERYTHING WE HAVE IS PROVIDED BY GOD, OUR PROVIDER AND REEDEMER. All he would need to do is make a whisper and our clouds would dry up and our farms would become desert.
Now, let’s talk about the last verse that we just read, Isaiah 55:11….. 11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it…….Someone explain to me what this verse just told us! This is a BEAUTIFUL, awesome, stand-up-and-shout kind of promise!
God’s Word, the Holy Bible, can NOT return empty. God will accomplish what He wants for His purpose.
When God inspires you share a scripture with someone, when God leads you to give someone a bible, God’s Word can not, will not, return void.
4 Whoever watches the wind will not plant; whoever looks at the clouds will not reap.
watches the wind = How many of you have “delayed” life while trying to figure out what to do? Trying to figure out which way the wind will blow type of thing.
looks at the clouds = How many of you have procrastinated and didn’t act on something, kind of looking at the clouds type of thing….then you procrastinated so long that you didn’t reap?
College / education
Scholarship applications
Finding a new job
Buying that new house
Stedman, in terms of giving says: “watches the wind will not plant” means that do not wait until the perfect time to give (until you have more money than you need) because the perfect time will never come. Give while the need is present.
In other words, verse four tells us to not be so cautious that we never act.
5 As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things.
In other words…. Don’t let what you don’t know, disturb what you do know.
Life is unpredictable and mysterious, but God is the Maker (and controller) of all things. Have faith, rest in the knowledge that God, our Father, loves us and will provide for us.
John 3:8 (NIV) The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
6 Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let not your hands be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well.
Sow your seed in the morning. Obviously this was making a reference the “farming”, but what other “sowing” could Solomon be referring to here?
Hosea 10:12 (NIV) Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the LORD, until he comes and showers righteousness on you.
2 Cor 9:6 (NIV) Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.
This is with everything…. tithing…giving to others…your time in bible study… love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control.
Be ready at all times to show mercy, to give generously. Start sowing in the morning, continuing to evening.
ALSO, this verse is saying to attempt to try a lot of things, not just a few things. In church, try singing in the Choir, or teaching a Sunday School class, or helping with the Home School ministry. Try lots of things and find out which ones God will bless.
let not your hands be idle = once again, another scriptural reference to “work”. (Steve Vellines knows his stuff!)
Remember Your Creator While Young
7 Light is sweet, and it pleases the eyes to see the sun.
Life is good…. OK, we have time for one more verse….”Don’t worry, be happy.”
8 However many years a man may live, let him enjoy them all. But let him remember the days of darkness, for they will be many. Everything to come is meaningless.
days of darkness = when you get old and start to slow down.
Everything to come is meaningless…everything to come on THIS EARTH is meaningless. We were not created just for this earth, to just “be here” and now. We were created to have a relationship with God, for all eternity.
9 Be happy, young man, while you are young, and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth. Follow the ways of your heart and whatever your eyes see, but know that for all these things God will bring you to judgment.
How many of you, like ME, wasted so many days of your strong youth on the wrong pursuits? Pursuits of the “flesh.” How many of you have thought, “Man, if I just would have followed God for all those years, how much more he could have used me for His purposes!
Question….is this something that we just all have to go through, do we all need to sow our wild oats before we start listening to God and following his will?
As parents, what role do we have to play in this? Can we teach or train our children so that they do not waste their youthful lives in childish, youthful pursuits?
“Young Man”…..As in the book of Proverbs, Solomon addresses the “Young Man” group so that they may receive special attention in Wisdom Literature because they represented the leadership for the future.
Whoa…OK, this makes the most sense. Be happy, youth is great, enjoy your life, but be careful. Play within the rules. Don’t sow wild oats because judgment time is around the bend.
How many of you think that the secular world thinks that we Christians are just plain old unhappy people? Do we Christians usually look like we are happy? On TV, when they talk about Christians, is it synonymous with happiness?
10 So then, banish anxiety from your heart and cast off the troubles of your body, for youth and vigor are meaningless.
So, here’s how to live:
FIRST: Remove anxiety from your mind/heart. The King James uses “Vexation” which combines anger and resentment. Don’t let things gnaw at you that are ungodly.
SECOND: Cast off the troubles of your body.
drugs
wrong use of sexual powers
things that are bad for you like excessive drinking, smoking, any kind of things that are bad for your body.
THIRDLY and lastly: Recognize that being “Young and having vigor” was NOT the reason why you were created. That type of thinking is meaningless. Being young will not satisfy. Recognize that the only meaningful thing in life is recognizing WHO God is! Having a full time, meaningful RELATIONSHIP with God. Life finds its fulfillment, its meaning, its significance, only as you develop a relationship with the living God daily. ETERNITY ALONE IS PERMANENT, LIVE FOR ETERNITY.
Bibliography:
1) A Life Well Lived, A Study of Ecclesiastes. 2005. Tommy Nelson. Broadman & Holdman Publishers, Nashville, TN.
2) Shepherd’s Notes. Ecclesiastes / Song of Solomon. 1995. Broadman & Holdman Publishers, Nashville, TN.
3) Adam Clarke’s Commentaries. First release in England in 1810. Abingdon Press, Nashville, TN.
4) Ray C. Stedman – Title: How, then, Should we Live? Series: Things that Don’t Work: Ecclesiastes
5) Matthew Henry’s Study bible, World Bibles, 1994.
6) Thru the Bible with Vernon McGee. Thomas Nelson INC, Nashville, TN. 1983.