What is the meaning of "Cast your bread upon the waters" in Ecclesiastes 11:1?

Now the Preacher exhorts to liberal action in assured faith, as he may well do who knows that the righteous and the wise and their works are in the hand of God. The waters may be unpromising for bread or even bread-corn; but casting in faith at His word is never in vain. One may have to wait many days, but He cannot fail, and thou shalt find it at length. Again, we are surrounded by need. The poor never pass away, as the world is full. The next word is "give a portion to seven," not to one here or another there, but all round where need exists. Even so arrest not that you have to the end; for more need may unexpectedly arise. Therefore he says, "and also to eight." For what does any one know of evil here below? Little indeed; yet we are in an evil world, and for what purpose? Behold the perfection of this in Christ Who went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed by the devil; for God was with Him. Yet was it from a resource above the world, as was plainly proved when He bade the crafty ensnarer show Him a denarius: He had none, but far better which passes not away.

"Cast thy bread upon the waters, for thou shalt find it after many days." (Ecc. 11:1.) Here there is found something solid, something abiding, something which does not partake of the common universal vanity. The serving of Christ has the value of eternity in it. The bread cast on the waters is found after many days, or at a future hour.

Just the lesson which all the New Testament reads to us. For there we learn that there are bags which wax not old, and that it is service to Christ which fills them for us — that there is such a thing as being "rich toward God," and such a treasure as "fails not," no thief approaching it, no moth corrupting it. And there also we learn, according to the whole bearing of this Book of Ecclesiastes, "the world passes away, and the lust thereof, but he that does the will of God abides for ever."

If I am walking with God, I shall know something of this blessed life of a Christian in this world. In John 21 how different we find it. The disciples there are seeking their food from the waters, not communicating of their own abundance. This is just the opposite to this exhortation in Ecc. 11. In the one case I am seeking something from this scene for myself, in the other I am seeking to communicate to others from my own abundance. The difference is immense. Man is so constituted that he is always of necessity a giver or a receiver. And if I launch out upon the troubled waters of this life, seeking to get something from them, I must learn, as all of us will have to sooner or later, that John 21:5 has a lesson in it for me. (I am only speaking of Christians.) I shall find that when the Lord asks me, after the dark night of my toil, "Have you any meat?" that I have only one answer to give Him, as they had. And "they answered Him, No."

It is only the ministry of Christ that will meet and alleviate the sorrows all around you. This will minister to all earthly sorrows, and will lead on the soul to what is eternal and lasting - "Having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come." "Give a portion to seven" (the complete number), "and also to eight" (that is, God's grace goes beyond all evil, and thus is without limit), "for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth." "They need not depart; give ye them to eat." (Matt. 14:16.) But before you give it, it must be "thy bread;" that is, it must be what you live upon yourself, of which you minister. Nothing else is really yours. If Christ is not your daily portion - the satisfying One for you - how can you speak of Him or minister Him to others? Your words will seem to them but as "idle tales," for the Spirit will not add the unction of His power to words that are not true and real as to yourself.

But the privilege and responsibility remain. Christians are directly addressed in the words at the head of this paper; nor do I admit that they have no application to us. If powerless to minister Christ, what then am I living upon day by day, since it is "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh"? The Lord Jesus died to give me all I needed, to satisfy me as a poor sinner, and to fill me as a saint. "Children, have ye any meat?" Am I filled, satisfied, fed day by day? If so, "out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water." (John 7) So that I may communicate to others. "Freely ye have received, freely give." Is my Christianity then marked by this exercise of it? "Upon the waters" - restful or restless - "bread" is to be cast, reminding one of Rev. 17, "The waters which thou sawest … are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues."

Such then is to be your life and mine; and if we enter into what Christ is, it will be so spontaneously, daily, a life of casting our "bread upon the waters," only doing this in perfect rest and contentment of soul. This marked His life on earth. The people - everybody, the place - everywhere; for we are told, "In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand" (that is, go on, continue): "for then knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that." May we live day by day in perfect rest of heart; experience what it is to have Christ with us, the only changeless, great, and satisfying reality in this changing scene, brightening and gladdening the house or the business, and therefore ministered in all our footsteps, "until He come." H. C. A.

But there is not only the question of where to preach, but when to preach? Solomon furnishes a good answer; "Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days. Give a portion to seven, and also to eight: for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth. 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 falls, there it shall be. He that observes the wind shall not sow; and he that regards the clouds shall not reap. 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 makes all. 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" (Ecc. 11:1-6). In the East they sow the seed upon the waters, the water subsides, and the seed drops into a soft fertile bed. This is not preaching. It is you and I just being keen to drop the blessed seed of the Word of God in the soul, wherever God carries us. You are to be a person going about with the heavenly seed-basket on your arm, dropping the seed wherever you go. It may be to a saint. It may be to a sinner. The fact is, far too much is left to the preachers. Verse 4 teaches us not to be governed by circumstances. I think God often gives us a fair wind. It took Paul only a day and a half to come to Philippi from Troas with the gospel (Acts 16:11-12). But it took him five days to get back to Troas again (Acts 20:6). Do you think God has told us that for nothing? God did not put that in His book without purpose.

Does the christian worker say, "And what shall I do? Sow on, sow beside all waters, sow in the morning and in the evening, plant the truth in the hearts of the young and of the old, sow and pray, work and believe God, and He will give the increase. The word laid carefully and prayerfully in the heart in early childhood may give signs of its presence in youth, or perhaps not till old age; but follow the steps of the Master, who cast abroad the seed of the word of God. It is not for us to complain that the soil is adverse and the birds of the air are many; results are in God's hands, but the responsibility of spreading abroad the word of God has been committed to us.

In their moral application to the believer, as a partaker of the afflictions of the gospel, the last two verses are full of sweetest comfort and encouragement. Sowing in hope is characteristically descriptive of true spiritual service. The harvest surely awaits the labourer who does not faint (Gal. 6:9). There is much in every godly man's experience to induce faintness, but the God of patience and of hope is the sustainer of faith's husbandry. Bread must be cast in the sowing of the word of grace, as if to waste, upon the thankless bosom of the sea of nations (Ecc. 11:1); but it is not lost. Its return will be with increase at the time appointed. Long patience must, indeed, be had; yet the morning of the Lord is drawing nigh. In that day it will be manifested in a wondrous sort, that they whose labour has not been to please themselves, but for His sake who died for them, and rose again, have not bestowed their little strength in vain (1 Cor. 4:6; 15:58).

Exhortations are given to cast 'bread' and 'sow seed' on all occasions and in all places: all will not be lost. The works of God cannot be fully known: the more that is known shows how much there is unknown. The wisest arrives as it were at a blank wall, beyond which all is unknown. The young man is advised to enjoy himself while he yet lives, but God will bring him into judgement for all.

Ecc. 11. Exhortations are given to cast 'bread' and 'sow seed' on all occasions and in all places: all will not be lost. The works of God cannot be fully known: the more that is known shows how much there is unknown. The wisest arrives as it were at a blank wall, beyond which all is unknown. The young man is advised to enjoy himself while he yet lives, but God will bring him into judgement for all.

"Ah! that makes it far too easy," said one; "Depend upon it, Spurgeon, you are all wrong," said another; and with varying other such comments the gathering broke up, and the dissector was left alone to pack up his tools in quietness, wondering, the while, what God would bring out of the incident. The bread of life had been simply presented; whether any were hungry enough to eat thereof, was a question. At any rate, the young believer found comfort to his heart in the words, "Cast thy bread upon the waters, for thou shalt find it after many days" (Eccles. 11:1), and, "So shall my word be that goes forth out of my mouth: it shall not return to me void; but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it" (Isa. 55:11).