Ecclesiastes 11:1 - Meaning and Application

Solomon had often urged rich people in this book to enjoy their wealth rightly. Here he urges them to do good with it, especially to give freely to the poor. That generosity will not be forgotten, and it will one day count in their favor.

He says, “Cast your bread upon the waters.” Some take this to mean bread grain scattered on wet ground, like a farmer who sows seed and saves less for his own table. In that picture, the generous person gives from what he might have kept for himself, trusting God for the harvest later. As Scripture says, whatever a person sows, that he will also reap (Galatians 6:7).

The waters can also stand for many people, especially the poor, since there are always many who need help. The poor are also people of sorrow, so the command is to give them real support, not just kind words (Isaiah 58:7). It must be your bread, honestly earned, because giving away what is not yours is not charity but harm. Do what is right first, and then love mercy.

“Give a portion to seven, and also to eight” means, in other words, be open-handed in good works. If you have much, give much, not just a tiny share. Give a proper portion, a full measure, as Jesus later taught, “Good measure” (Luke 6:38). And do not stop after helping a few, because charity should keep growing as needs grow.

Solomon then gives reasons for this command. First, the reward is sure. If you cast your bread on the waters, it may seem lost, but you will find it after many days. Like a farmer who later reaps the seed he sowed, or a merchant who receives a rich return, the giver will not lose what he gives. God repays generous deeds with his providence, his grace, and his comfort, and the true treasure is safely stored in heaven.

Second, the chance to do good is uncertain. You do not know what trouble may come on the earth, or when your estate may be taken away and your ability to give may end. Since hard times can come at any moment, wisdom says to do good while you can. Some use this uncertainty as a reason to hold back, but it should move us to mercy now, so that in later trouble we may have the comfort of having helped others when we were able.

Solomon also answers excuses. Some say, “What I have is mine, and I should keep it for myself.” But look at the clouds. When they are full of rain, they pour it out on the earth until they are spent (Job 37:11). If the heavens are so generous to the lowly earth, why should a person refuse help to a fellow human being? Others say they have a charitable heart, even if they give little. But real charity shows itself in action, because faith and love must reach out to the needy (James 2:15-16).

Others say their place in life is too small for much good. They think they cannot do what more public people can do, so they do nothing. But each person is to be a blessing where God has placed him. Wherever we are, we can find good work to do if we are willing.

Some people object, “Many people ask for help who do not deserve it, and I do not know whom I should give to.” Solomon answers, “Do not trouble yourself over that. Give as wisely as you can, and then be content.” Even if the person later proves unworthy, you will not lose your reward if you gave with an honest heart. Wherever your charity goes, whether north or south, it will still bring you benefit.

This is often applied to death. So let us do good and bear the fruit of righteousness, like good trees, because death will soon cut us down. Then we will enter a fixed state of happiness or misery, according to what we did while in the body. As a tree falls at death, so it is likely to remain for eternity.

Others complain about the many discouragements they meet in giving. They have been mocked for being proud or showy. They may have little to give, yet they fear being looked down on if they do not give as much as others. They worry their children may later need the money, or that taxes and other expenses will press them. They also do not know how their gift will be used, or what people will think of it. Solomon answers all such worries in one word, “He that observes the wind shall not sow” (Ecclesiastes 11:4). That is, if a person is always waiting for every obstacle to disappear before doing good, he will never get anything done.

The farmer would have a poor harvest if he refused to sow because of every passing cloud or stopped reaping because of every gust of wind. The duties of religion are just as necessary as sowing and reaping, and they are just as good for us. The difficulties we meet in them are only like winds and clouds. A little courage and resolve will help us push through them. Those who are turned aside from great duties by small and seeming troubles will never accomplish much in religion. There will always be some wind or cloud, at least in our imagination, to discourage us. Yet winds and clouds are in God’s hand, and they are meant to test us. Our faith calls us to endure hardship.

Others say, “We do not see how what we spend on charity will ever be made up to us. We do not feel any richer. Why should we trust the promise of a blessing on the generous unless we can see how it works?” Solomon answers, “You do not know the work of God, and it is not for you to know it. Be sure that he will keep his promise, even if he does not show you how. He works in his own way, according to the wise counsel that cannot be searched out. He will act, and none can stop him. He will also act, and none can direct him. His blessing will work quietly, yet surely. God’s work will always match his word, whether we see it or not.”

He shows our ignorance of God’s work in two examples. First, we do not know the way of the wind, or spirit, as some translate it. We do not know where it comes from, where it goes, or when it will turn. Sailors wait for it and keep ready until it changes in their favor, and in the same way we must do our duty while waiting for the time God has chosen to bless us. This may also be understood of the human soul. We know God made us and gave us our souls, but we do not know how they enter the body, unite with it, give it life, and work within it. The soul is a mystery to itself, so it is no wonder God’s work is a mystery to us.

Second, we do not know how the bones are formed in the womb of a woman who is with child. We cannot fully explain how the body is formed, or how it is given a soul. Both are God’s work, and we accept them, but we cannot trace the process. We do not doubt that a child will be born, even though we do not know how it is made. In the same way, we should not doubt that God will keep his promise, even if we cannot see how everything is working toward it. We can trust God to provide what is needed without our anxious worry, and to reward our charity, because our own bodies were wonderfully shaped in secret and our souls found their way into them without our planning or knowledge. This is the same point our Savior makes in (Matthew 6:25). The life, the living soul God has given us, is more than food, and the body God has made is more than clothing. So the God who has done the greater thing for us can surely be trusted to do the lesser.

Others say, “We have been generous, given much to the poor, and still we have seen no return. Many days have passed, and we have not gotten it back.” Solomon answers, “Keep going. Keep doing good, and do not miss your chances.” “In the morning sow your seed,” he says, on the people who first come before you, “and in the evening do not withhold your hand.” Do not use weariness as an excuse. As long as you have opportunity, keep doing good in some way through the whole day, as a farmer keeps sowing from morning to night.

This applies to acts of kindness in youth, when you have only a little to give and are just starting out in life. It also applies to old age, when people are often tempted to become tight-fisted. Even then, do not withhold your hand. Do not excuse yourself from acts of charity by planning only to leave money in a will. Keep doing good to the end, because you do not know which work of charity or godliness will prosper, whether this one or that, either for others or for yourself. Yet you have reason to hope that both will be good. Do not grow tired of doing what is right, for in due season, God’s time, which is the best time, you will reap (Galatians 6:9).

This also applies to spiritual charity, our faithful efforts to help the souls of others. Let us keep at those efforts, because even if we have long labored without visible success, we may yet see results at last. Ministers, during their time of sowing, should keep sowing both morning and evening, because who can tell which effort will prosper?