Not only was the Teacher wise, but also he imparted knowledge to the people. He pondered and searched out and set in order many proverbs. The Teacher searched to find just the right words, and what he wrote was upright and true.
Sounds as if Solomon had the spiritual gift of teaching.
Eccl 7:9
Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger resides in the lap of fools.
It is not easily done, being calm when provoked. And yet we are told that calmness can lay great errors to rest. Eccl 10:4b
Eccl 7:20
There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins.
Paul said a similar thing.
Rom 3:12
All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one."
Wise as he was, there was wisdom beyond Solomon’s grasp. He investigated and turned his mind to understand. He understood the need to keep his "pencil sharp."
Eccl 11:1-2
Cast your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will find it again. Give portions to seven, yes to eight, for you do not know what disaster may come upon the land.
As we contemplated these verses this morning it seemed as if it was contained within the frame of evangelistic urgency that we discussed last week. Let's look at a couple of words and phrases in these verses. Cast your bread. The bread is the Bread of Life - spiritual nourishment that can only come through Jesus. The word "cast" implies that we are spreading something. In this case we are spreading spiritual seeds, spiritual nourishment of Jesus, the Bread of Life. We as Believers cast this spiritual nourishment upon the waters. If we look at this verse in a literal way it makes no sense to cast bread upon water. I know what happens when we toss bread into the pond at our back yard. If the fish don't come and eat it right away, it gets very soggy and breaks apart and eventually disintegrates. So that image doesn't make sense with the rest of the verse for after many days you will find it again. We won't find any bread after many days. It won't be there. The word "waters" figuratively means people as stated in Revelation 17:15.
Then the angel said to me, "The waters you saw, where the prostitute sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations and languages.
The Hebrew word for water in this verse however is "mayim" and figuratively means "sewage water". We cast this Bread of Life, these spiritual seeds, the gospel message upon all people, especially unbelievers. Many unbelievers are languishing in the sewage of sin. But what happens when seed is planted in fertilized soil. It flourishes. Someone who has been languishing in the sewage of sin can flourish and bear luscious fruit for the kingdom.
We may never know what seeds we've planted or how those seeds have grown or who has watered those seeds after they've been planted or who's coming along to fertilize and feed the soil around those seeds. As we have stated many times, that's God's call. We do what He calls us to do, it will accomplish what He desires. What we say and do will not return to us empty. There is this promise from the Ecclesiastes verse, for after many days you will find it again. Maybe not in this lifetime, but certainly in the next.
Going back to the verses in Ecclesiastes, let's look at the word seven. The number seven signifies completeness. So when the verse says Give portions to seven, yes to eight it speaks to us of going above and beyond what's expected of us. Seven is complete. That would be fulfilling our calling. By using the number eight, we are encouraged to do more. The verse, for you do not know what disaster may come upon the land implies an urgency to spread the gospel. There will come a time when it is too late for us to spread the gospel. It's either too late because it's the end of the world or it's too late because it's the end of that person's life or the end of our lives. There are many lost souls out there who are languishing in the sewage of sin. We need to be prepared at all times to cast the spiritual seeds, to share the gospel, the bread of Life to everyone we meet.
“The words of the wise are like goads, their collected sayings like firmly embedded nails-- given by one Shepherd.
The words of the wise are collected sayings, the books of the Bible. Of course, the Shepherd is Jesus. A goad is a rod about eight feet long, brought to a sharp point and sometimes cased with iron at the bigger end. The sharpened end of the goad was used to guide oxen in plowing a field. The blunt end of the goad was used to clear the plow of clay or dirt, like a spade fastened at the end of the goad. God’s Word is like a goad. The truth can prick us into going in the direction that the shepherd wants us to go. We may begin to stray from the path He’s laid out for us, it is the truth of Scripture that pricks us into getting back on the right path. The blunt end of the goad helps us to clear the dirt, the clay, the muddy misconceptions of churchianity and religiosity and reveal the pure undiluted truth of Scripture, so that our plow will be unencumbered.
Look at the context for the use of the word goad. It mentions “The words of the wise are like goads, their collected sayings like firmly embedded nails-- given by one Shepherd.
My, my, did Solomon know about THE Shepherd? Did he know about THE Shepherd’s nails on the cross? Did he know about the collected sayings (God’s Word) and why they were written? WOW!
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