Cast Your Bread upon the Waters

Solomon gives us an injunction here to do that which is sometimes displeasing to our nature; to give to people who are in need. The way that he phrases it is somewhat peculiar. He says that we should “Cast our bread upon the waters”. Bread is described in the Bible as that which is the main stay of life. It is the necessary food to sustain life in this world. Turn with me over to Ezekiel 4: 16. It says here – “Moreover He said to me, Son of man, surely I will cut off the supply of bread in Jerusalem; they shall eat bread by weight and with anxiety, and shall drink water by measure and with dread, that they may lack bread and water, and be dismayed with one another and waste away because of their iniquity.” So we see here that it is God who gives food and we can also conclude that our verse is telling us that God would have us to “share our portion” with others in need around us. Casting this bread upon the waters is a word picture for peoples as we read in Revelation 17, verse 15 – “Then he said to me, ‘The waters where the harlot sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues.” (See also Psalm 144, verses 7 and 8) So I think that we can conclude, without stretching the meaning of our text, that the waters are all kinds of people who we may providentially know that they have a need for the basic necessities of life. Tonight we want to look first at what it means to cast your bread on the waters. And 2nd – We want to look at the reward for the righteous person that does the casting.