Ecclesiastes 11 &12

Ecclesiastes 11

Ecclesiastes 11 (NKJV)

1 Cast your bread upon the waters, For you will find it after many days.

2 Give a serving to seven, and also to eight, For you do not know what evil will be on the earth.

Metaphor for being generous to as many people or as many opportunities that come your way even if might seem unlikely that you might get a return. Because in truth you will get a return one day even though it will not be immediate.

The bread signifies goodness,

“the waters” in the bible sometimes denotes mutitudes, or many people see Rev 17:15.

Galatians 6:9-10 “9 And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.”

One of the trying things about the Kingdom of God is that there is no quick return, it takes quite a long to time to see a harvest of what we have sown in the Kingdom.

Patience and longsuffering is a fruit that everybeliever should ask of God.

Example the story of the shunamite women in 2 Kings

Summery: be liberal in what you do?

3 If the clouds are full of rain, They empty themselves upon the earth; And if a tree falls to the south or the north, In the place where the tree falls, there it shall lie.

4 He who observes the wind will not sow, And he who regards the clouds will not reap.

5 As you do not know what is the way of the wind, Or how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child, So you do not know the works of God who makes everything.

6 In the morning sow your seed, And in the evening do not withhold your hand; For you do not know which will prosper, Either this or that, Or whether both alike will be good.

Do focus on what you are not able to control

The farmer cannot control the wind or the cloud so as to bring down rain.

The only thing he is in control of is the amount of seed he will sow.

You are not accountable to what you cannot control only to what you can.

The Key is, You are not in control of the result.

7 Truly the light is sweet, And it is pleasant for the eyes to behold the sun;

8 But if a man lives many years And rejoices in them all, Yet let him remember the days of darkness, For they will be many. All that is coming is vanity.

The same God who made the light made the darkness aswell

The same God who made the day made the Light.

We must be thankful for the good and the bad. For the day of prosperity and for the day of adversity

9 Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, And let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth; Walk in the ways of your heart, And in the sight of your eyes; But know that for all these God will bring you into judgment.

10 Therefore remove sorrow from your heart, And put away evil from your flesh, For childhood and youth are vanity.

God has given every man to pursue the desire of his youth, walk in the way of his heart and in the sight of his eyes but at the end all actions will be brought to Judgement

2 Cor 5:10 “10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”

Ecclesiastes 12

Ecclesiastes 12 (NKJV)

1 Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, Before the difficult days come, And the years draw near when you say, “I have no pleasure in them”:

Lamentation 3:27 “27 It is good for a man to bear The yoke in his youth.”

Psalms 63:1 “1 O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land Where there is no water.”

Seek God early on in your years, and give your best days to God.

Those of you who are remembering God now in your youth and carrying the Yoke. This will pay of big time later on in your senior years.

2 While the sun and the light, The moon and the stars, Are not darkened, And the clouds do not return after the rain;

3 In the day when the keepers of the house tremble, And the strong men bow down; When the grinders cease because they are few, And those that look through the windows grow dim;

4 When the doors are shut in the streets, And the sound of grinding is low; When one rises up at the sound of a bird, And all the daughters of music are brought low.

5 Also they are afraid of height, And of terrors in the way; When the almond tree blossoms, The grasshopper is a burden, And desire fails. For man goes to his eternal home, And the mourners go about the streets.

6 Remember your Creator before the silver cord is loosed, Or the golden bowl is broken, Or the pitcher shattered at the fountain, Or the wheel broken at the well.

7 Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, And the spirit will return to God who gave it.

A lot of people remember their creator at their old age, or even at the point of death.

When they are given a terminal diagnosis, then they remember him.

8 “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher, “All is vanity.”

9 And moreover, because the Preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yes, he pondered and sought out and set in order many proverbs.

10 The Preacher sought to find acceptable words; and what was written was upright—words of truth.

11 The words of the wise are like goads, and the words of scholars are like well-driven nails, given by one Shepherd.

Hebrew translated “Scholar” is literarly “master of the assemblies” or preacher and those who lead the assembly.

The words are given by on Shepherd, Who is God.

12 And further, my son, be admonished by these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is wearisome to the flesh.

13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man’s all.

14 For God will bring every work into judgment, Including every secret thing, Whether good or evil.

Adam was placed in the garden of eden not primarily for the eating of the fruit of the Garden nor to tend it but rather to keep the commandments of the Lord.

It is when the despised the command of God to pursue the pleasure of their heart that they lost their way.

Proverbs 28:21 “21 To show partiality is not good, Because for a piece of bread a man will transgress.”

1 Corinthians 6:13 “13 Foods for the stomach and the stomach for foods, but God will destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.”

Deuteronomy 10:12–14 NKJV

12 “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, 13 and to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes which I command you today for your good? 14 Indeed heaven and the highest heavens belong to the Lord your God, also the earth with all that is in it.