Daily Devotions
Ecclesiastes
"He who observes the wind will not sow"
Text: Ecclesiastes 11:4
ADVICE TO “OBSERVERS”
Solomon knew of people who pride themselves as “wise men”. They make observations of things in life and see them as “omens”. He gives strong advice against such “soothsayers”.
“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.
He who observes the wind will not sow,
And he who regards the clouds will not reap.”
Ecclesiastes 11:3-4
1. There were some who observe winds and clouds
a) They predict things based on what they see in the clouds.
b) There would be some who would seek these so-called wise men for advice.
i) If they should work.
ii) If they should refrain from working.
2. “If the clouds are full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth”
a) Solomon paid no attention to clouds as “omens”.
b) Clouds were just clouds.
c) Some clouds are “rain clouds”.
d) These clouds would empty themselves upon the earth.
i) This is a plain and ordinary fact of nature.
ii) Clouds are not omens or signs in ordinary circumstances.
3. Some observe the direction in which a tree falls
a) They put meaning in whether a tree falls north or south.
b) This kind of “wisdom” ends up as “superstition”.
4. “And if a tree falls to the south or the north, in the place where the tree falls, there it shall lie”
a) Solomon refuses to accept that there is any meaning in the falling of a tree.
b) A tree may fall south or north.
c) Wherever it falls, there it lies,
5. “He who observes the wind will not sow”
a) Those who are superstitious.
i) They observe the wind.
ii) They also observe the clouds.
b) Their work would be hindered.
i) He will not sow if he thinks that the omens/ signs are unfavourable.
ii) Superstition is not an expression of wisdom.
iii) Speculation does not display wisdom either,
6. “He who regards the clouds will not reap”
a) This is the same problem of superstition.
b) Those who read the clouds as signs/ omens may end up not reaping their crops.
c) In the end, they would suffer bad consequences.
i) Their crops are not reaped.
ii) They would suffer loss.
FEATURES OF WISDOM TO NOTE
1. True wisdom is based on knowledge.
2. It refutes and rejects superstitious observances of natural things like the wind and the cloud.
3. True wisdom is ultimately relevant and practical.