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Cast Your Bread Upon the Waters
Bible study methods: genre, determing contextual boundaries
Presenter: Larry Kirkpatrick
Location: Bonners Ferry Seventh-day Adventist Church, ID, USA
Delivery: 2011-07-09
Publication: GreatControversy.org 2011-07-11 19:54Z
Type: Sermon
URL: http://www.greatcontroversy.org/gco/ser/kirl-castyourbread.php
Christianity all boils down to Jesus. Either we have Him and He has us, or we don’t and He doesn’t. And how can it be known who has whom? That question we could say all boils down to the Book. Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit (1 Peter 1:21). God preserved this Word in the Bible. It is a revealing from God to man, a tear-through from heaven into our world. God breathed His Word out through His prophets and we breath it in. The Bible is the center of this.
But there is a problem. Paul wrote to young Timothy,
“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).
This Word must be rightly divided, correctly understood. It can be misunderstood. He preserved His word and put it in front of us, but He does not force us to obey, and He does not auto-magically interpret it for us.
The Bible contains 66 books, 39 in the Old Testament, 27 in the New. All of it is inspired. Although inspired, not all of the materials are of the same kind. Some are history, some prophecy, and some epistles (letters). Some is called wisdom literature (Proverbs, Job, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon). About a third of the Old Testament is delivered as poetry. We don't interpret these different kinds of writing all in the same way.
For example, in a book of history, like Genesis, when we are told that the week is made up of six regular days and then the Sabbath comes, we don’t try to spiritualize these days into longer periods of time; we interpret them as meaning six approximately 24 hour days. But when we are interpreting the long apocalyptic prophecies in Daniel and Revelation, we interpret those days as representing periods of years.
We interpret them differently because we recognize that different genres—different kinds of writing—are intended by their authors to be interpreted in ways consistent with their kind.
It would lead to misunderstanding God's Word were we to understand the language of the Bible whichever way we wanted in whatever passage we wanted. In order to understand the Bible correctly, we must let Scripture interpret Scripture—something which is only possible when we take context into consideration. Perhaps this is an obvious point, but if are not careful about how we interpret the Bible, we have nothing at all. If we fail of understanding the meaning intended by God for a passage, we are left with only our own supplied meanings. What would that be worth?
As Adventists we often exhort to Bible study. Too often, however, we give little insight into how to go about doing Bible study. We are long on exhortation and short on practics. And so, our purpose today is to engage together in a short group exploration of Bible study.
Please open your Bible to Ecclesiastes chapter 11.
I want to say again that as Christians we understand that the 66 books of the Bible—all of them—are God-breathed, inspired, in the classic understanding, safeguarded by God and infallible—unfailing in meeting the purposes for which God gave them. We understand this as being true for all the Scripture, all the books of the Bible. That means Romans; that means Genesis; that means Exodus; that means Philemon; that means Ecclesiastes.
We may remember Ecclesiastes mostly from certain items. Near the beginning, this book has the “there is a time for everything” passage (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8). In chapter 9:5, 6 we are reminded that the dead know nothing, they are asleep in the grave. Chapter 12:6, 7 mentions the dissolution of man when he dies. And at the close of Ecclesiastes the author reminds us that we may live however we will, but that we will be judged, and that the whole duty of man is to keep God’s commandments (12:13, 14).
Wisdom Literature
As we said, the Bible contains a wide variety of kinds of writing. Ecclesiastes is an example of what is called “Wisdom Literature.” So, here is a “one minute” description of “Wisdom Literature”: It offers general insights about how to make choices and live life in a manner pleasing to God. It comes in the form of admonition, proverbs, sayings. It especially focuses on people and on their behavior. It is about learning to apply God’s truth to human experience.
Whenever a modern parent gives his children rules to live by, he is teaching wisdom. “Don’t play in the street.” “Be careful about who you hang out with.” “Save your money.” These are wisdom sayings, in secular English. Biblical wisdom material is similar. It is intensely practical. It consists of wise observations about life. It deals in general statements with wide application, not in unbending rules. It addresses a wide range of desires, behaviors, skills and beliefs. It is about how all these activities find their meaning in the whole of God's created order.
This type of writing often makes use of proverbs—generalized statements with broad application. Proverbs are not rules, and often do not include the conditions that qualify them. There are what we can call sayings too, not fixed rules but inspired observations, usually grouped around a topic.
Wisdom literature is easy to misunderstand. It is very important to read it carefully, consider the order in which the material is presented, and the context of statements. Sometimes something will be said but then immediately refuted. Unless careful, one can lose track of the flow of the argument.
Themes in Ecclesiastes
Let’s pause to remind ourselves of some of the themes found in Ecclesiastes. There are many methods to highlight material. One is the phenomenon which has been called bracketing or inclusio. Look at Ecclesiastes 1:2. Immediately after the first line of the book, we get this statement:
“Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.”
Now, turn to the last chapter in Ecclesiastes. Look at 12:8:
“Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.”
The very beginning and the end of the book include the identical statement. This theme brackets the main body of the book. But now, what about this term “vanity”? We don’t use the term very much these days. Some translations put the thought into our language. “Meaningless, meaningless; everything is meaningless.” The author of Ecclesiastes strikes a pessimistic tone. The “wise” have offered pat answers, but he challenges them. (We see something similar in the wisdom book of Job—Job’s friends offer up pat answers, but Job disputes them.) Some seem to think that they have an explanation for everything, but in wisdom literature this is challenged. God’s ways can be known by us but in part. We cannot explain everything that happens to us. Things happen in life.
Whatever you build, you cannot take it with you, but it will be left behind for others who will probably be unappreciative. Wisdom is better than foolishness; but the wise man dies anyway. Kings and leaders in a society wield power and often make poor decisions, but this is one of life’s pitfalls. Enjoy things while you can, because a day is coming when age will catch up with you and begin subtracting from your quality of life. Rejoice in material things while you are able, but remember that you will be judged based on what you do with your life.
The summary of the whole book is that whatever “wisdom” you discover or think you have hold of, whatever you choose to do with your life, the whole duty of man is to fear God and keep His commandments (12:13).
Our Passage
But let’s zero in on just one text today and study it: Ecclesiastes 11:1. See what it says:
“Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.”
Some have looked at this one verse—in isolation from its context—and felt it difficult to understand; a literal understanding of it could not be correct. That is a mistaken starting-point. Our goal should always be to understand the meaning intended by the author. Many Scriptures are not intended to be taken literally. Remember, Jesus sent this to us, along with all of Ecclesiastes. He wants us to understand. There must be something important and helpful for us here.
Let’s discover the context of this verse. Yes, it is part of wisdom literature. Yes, we have already offered some helpful observations about the book of Ecclesiastes. But if we take words away from the context in which the inspired author presented them, we will almost certainly misunderstand what God is trying to communicate. Not isolated words but words combined have meaning. What if we read the words of the verse this way:
upon days it bread find cast many after thy the shalt waters thou for
In English, the order of the words is part of their context. That is why we must hear it this way:
“cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days”
But even a sentence or phrase like this may be unclear in its meaning if we fail to consider it in the setting of its larger context. Generally speaking, whole sentences are required to understand the meaning of words, and to understand the meaning of sentences requires that we consider their use in paragraphs. Paragraphs taken together are the stuff out of which the larger arguments of whole books in the Bible are made. To understand the smaller unit, you must see how it fits into its larger unit. Our task, then, is to find that next larger unit.
How to do that? Go back a few chapters and start reading. Find the larger units. At this time let’s have the deacons to pass out the handout with a rough outline of the last part of the book of Ecclesiastes. This is a very helpful step that each one who is interested in better understanding God’s Word can accomplish. Read your Bible for yourself. Read it carefully. Try to make a brief outline of the Scripture nearest to the verse you are especially interested in understanding.
Here’s my outline for this part of Ecclesiastes. Chapter 9:1-12 tells us that there is a common fate for everyone; the same thing happens to everybody. From 9:13 to 10:20, we have sayings and parables contrasting wisdom with folly. If we break it down, 9:13 - 10:3 discusses the superiority of wisdom, 10:4-7 difficulties with subjection to rulers, 10:8-11, confirmation that our own actions directly impact us, 10:12-15, the speaking of fools, 10:16, 17, qualities of rulers, 10:18, warning about slothfulness, 10:19, a proverb about enjoying life, and 10:20, about secrets. The next section seems to begin with our verse 11:1 and continue to verse six. Then from 11:7 to 12:8 we have sayings concerning youth, the toll of aging on quality of life, and, at last, death. Twelve 9-14 concludes the book.
After developing this outline, I checked it by looking at the paragraphing. If you have the King James Bible, most use an old paragraph marker called the pilcrow. A what? A pilcrow; it looks like a backwards capitol “P” (¶) at the left margin of the text. The earliest English use comes nearly 600 years ago. Today, we separate the text into paragraphs. Back then, a pilcrow was used to mark section breaks and distinct stages of thought. Wherever you see a pilcrow, it marks a separate paragraph.
When I made my outline, I broke my paragraphs exactly where the pilcrows marked them. Afterwards, I checked several translations. Each one gave the same distinct stages in the text. In other words, the flow of thought in this passage is not an arbitrary thing. It is not something that one person is likely to comes out with one way and another person another way. Some parts of Scripture are difficult to outline, others less. This one is not a difficult one.
And so, now we have discovered our next larger unit. It stands between the section about living life while you can still enjoy it (11:7 - 12:8) and a section pointing out the superiority of acting wisely to acting foolishly (9:13 - 10:20).
Now that we know where the text we were especially interested in (11:1) fits, now what about that actual six verse unit?
1 Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.
2 Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth.
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.
4 He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap.
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.
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.
Maybe the first verse sounds strange to us. Throw bread into the water and it will return to you later? If that doesn’t make sense yet, just leave it aside for now. We’ll come back to it; it’s not going anywhere. Let’s look at verse two. And what is it about? You don’t know what is coming, but give to others anyway. The third verse points out that if it is time to rain, it will rain. If a tree falls down, it falls down. Things happen.
Verse four, if you wait for perfect weather to plant your garden or to harvest your crop, you may miss out. Verse five is a bit difficult but we still get the point, don’t we? There are things we do not understand, but that is OK. We cannot completely figure out God, but He still gives precious babies. And what is verse six about? You don’t know for certain what will happen, but you should try to do something anyway. Go ahead and plant. Do it in the morning. Do something in the evening, too. That you do not know for sure what will happen is beside the point. Do something!
What do all of these verses have in common? Be diligent. Do something. There is uncertainty in life. Things happen around us—sometimes things that we have not triggered. That is OK. Use the opportunity God has given you in your life. This, in spite of the generally pessimistic theme of this book Ecclesiastes.
And so, back to 11:1. Since it clearly is part of this unit, we may expect that its meaning will be consistent with this unit. The statement is, “Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.” This fits with the “This is your life, so do something although the future appears uncertain” emphasis of the passage, doesn’t it? “Cast your bread upon the waters” pictures something. In the ancient world, bread meant labor. The only way one acquired bread was by someone planting a crop, tending it, harvesting it, preserving it, processing it into flour, and finally turning it into bread by cooking. That is, to speak of bread is to speak of significant labor. Or, definitely, to speak of “doing something.”
When you do something, you have a reason for doing it. You do not put up a deer fence around your garden or orchard just because you are bored. You have a purpose. You are planning on harvesting some vegetables or some fruit from your trees and you know that you have to do something to protect the plants or the deer will eat them first. But you don't know for sure what the weather will be like, or if a severe wind will drop the fruit prematurely. Although the future is uncertain, you act. You do what? You are investing your labor, your energy, your life, in trying to accomplish something. You anticipate a return, but only time will tell. You hope for a circularity, a boomerang effect. You want to see the positive end result, but only time will tell what actually occurs.
If you recall the first chapter of this book, the idea of circularity is prominent. Even in chapter one, we have it several times:
Verse 5: The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose.
verse 6: The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits.
Verse 7: All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again.
Verse 9: The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done. . .
And so, although we do not know for sure whether this project or that will come out the way we want, we do know that there is a certain amount of circularity built into the world in which we live. Although we are unsure of the future, God would have us do something. That is our part. In a world whose daily operation often appears uncertain and meaningless, our part is to live; to do something and leave the rest with God.
To sum specifically what we have learned in our six-verse passage then, life is uncertain; the exact outcome of the future for you personally is unclear. Things happen in your world; things that you do; things that happen regardless of you. You do not need complete knowledge or absolute certainty in order to live your life, but you do need to live your life. God calls you to be active. Live your life. Don’t wait for full knowledge or complete information; live now; try to do the right thing now. This is not a rehearsal; there is no rewind or pause button. Don’t be anxious but don't be slow. Cast your bread upon the waters. Live a God-honoring life now and be active in God’s world. In the end everything will work out. Trust God and seek His guidance. In many days what you do will come back to you. Do what is right and don’t be anxious about doing it. This is the message Jesus put into Ecclesiastes for us.
Now, haven’t we compared Scripture with Scripture? Haven’t we let God’s Word interpret itself, building its own case for this meaning step by step? Haven’t we let Him use Ecclesiastes to interpret Ecclesiastes? And what principles have we used to arrive at this understanding? We have employed some very good Adventist “hermeneutics”:
- We have interpreted less clear material by clearer material
- We have sought out the meaning intended by the author
- We have taken into consideration the kind of writings within the Bible that we are dealing with, and also the immediate context of the actual verse itself.
Conclusion
What have we done today? We have learned that one of the “contexts” of Scripture is kind of writings—also known as genre. History writings are not interpreted identically to prophetic writings. Wisdom writings are not interpreted identically to epistles.
We found that an essential part of discovering context is seeing where a smaller unit fits into a larger unit, finding what paragraph a single verse or phrase is part of. We tested this and found that Ecclesiastes 11:1 is part of the larger unit 11:1-6. Although the meaning of the first verse might not at first have seemed apparent, studying the Scriptures found in the same passage helped make clear that the theme of the passage is to be diligent in living as a believer in God—even though we cannot be sure what tomorrow holds. As a people we talk a great deal about Bible study, but we have not often offered concrete examples of how to study it. Today was different.
The last step, of course, is to apply the truth of Ecclesiastes 11:1-6 to your life. Based upon what you have learned from God’s Word today, what will you do? How will you cast your bread upon the waters, and then see what happens some time later? This is not all that there is to take into consideration, but it is part of Jesus’ Bible help for us. Without this last step—carefully interpreting and applying the text for your own life, you have not completed your study.
Perhaps no immediate way of applying this to your life jumps out at you this moment. That is OK. But don’t forget it; keep it in store. It is a gift from Jesus, the Savior of the world, to you, for your life. If you think about it, some of you who are listening may find that already you are living according to the message of Ecclesiastes 11:1-6. You already do many things in spite of uncertainty about future outcomes. But now you know that doing that is part of the teaching of the Word of God. GCO
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