Sows (4687) (speiro from spao = draw out, pull) literally means to scatter (seed) and the opposite of reaping or gathering. Speiro is used figuratively to describe the sowing of the "seed" of the Word of God, the Gospel (="the word of the kingdom" - Mt13:19, cp Mk 4:14 15, 16, 18" class="scriptRef">18), "the ideas and precepts that have been implanted like seed in their hearts, ie, received in their hearts (Mk 4:18)." (Thayer). Jesus used speiro repeatedly in His parables (Mt 13:3, 18, 24, 31) Speiro - 52x in 41v- 26" class="scriptRef">Mt 6:26; 13:3f, 18-Matt.13.20" class="scriptRef">18, 19, 20, 22, 23, 24, 25, 27, 31, 37, 39; 25:24, 26; Mk 4:3, 4, 14, 15, 16, 18, 20, 31, 32; Lk 8:5; 12:24; 19:21, 22; Jn 4:36, 37; 1Co 9:11; 15:36, 37, 42, 43, 44; 2Co 9:6, 10; Gal 6:7, 8; Jas 3:18. Matthew 6:26 "Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? Matthew 13:3 And He spoke many things to them in parables (a long analogy, often cast in the form of a story, common form of teaching in Judaism = 45x in the Septuagint -LXX), saying, "Behold, the sower went out to sow; 4 and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up. Matthew 13:18 "Hear then the parable of the sower. 19 "When anyone hears the word (logos) of the kingdom (~the Gospel) and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away (harpazo = the very verb used for the "rapture" in 1Th 4:17-see note) what has been sown in his heart (kardia). This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road. 20 "The one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy (Mt 13:21 where "falls away" = skandalizo ~ "scandalized" - see skandalon)...Mt 13:22 And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry (merimna) of the world and the deceitfulness (apate) of wealth choke (strangle or suffocate completely - present tense = continually) the word, and it becomes unfruitful (akarpos). 23 And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit (karpophoreo) and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty." Matthew 13:24 Jesus presented another parable to them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field....(Mt 13:25, 26) Mt 13:27 "The slaves of the landowner came and said to him, 'Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?'....(Mt 13:28, 29, 30) Matthew 13:31 He presented another parable to them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field. (Mt 13:32) Matthew 13:37 And He said, "The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man...(Mt 13:38) Mt 13:39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the end of the age; and the reapers are angels. Matthew 25:24 "And the one also who had received the one talent came up and said, 'Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed. 26 But his master answered and said to him, 'You wicked, lazy slave, you knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I scattered no seed. Mark 4:3 "Listen to this! Behold, the sower went out to sow; 4 as he was sowing, some seed fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate it up...Mk 4:14 "The sower sows the word. 15 "These are the ones who are beside the road where the word is sown; and when they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them.16 In a similar way these are the ones on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy...(Mk 4:17) Mk 4:18 And others are the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word...(Mk 4:19) Mk 4:20 And those are the ones on whom seed was sown on the good soil; and they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold." Mark 4:31 "It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the soil, though it is smaller than all the seeds that are upon the soil,32 yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and forms large branches; so that THE BIRDS OF THE AIR can NEST UNDER ITS SHADE." Luke 8:5 "The sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell beside the road, and it was trampled under foot and the birds of the air ate it up. Luke 12:24 "Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap; they have no storeroom nor barn, and yet God feeds them; how much more valuable you are than the birds! Luke 19:21 for I was afraid of you, because you are an exacting man; you take up what you did not lay down and reap what you did not sow.' 22 "He said to him, 'By your own words I will judge you, you worthless slave. Did you know that I am an exacting man, taking up what I did not lay down and reaping what I did not sow? John 4:36 "Already he who reaps is receiving wages and is gathering fruit for life eternal; so that he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together.37 "For in this case the saying is true, 'One sows and another reaps.' 1 Corinthians 9:11 If we sowed spiritual things in you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? 1 Corinthians 15:36 You fool! That which you sow does not come to life unless it dies; 37 and that which you sow, you do not sow the body which is to be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat or of something else....(1Co 15:38, 39, 40, 41) 1Co 15:42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body; 43 it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 2 Corinthians 9:6 Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully...(2Co 9:7, 8, 9) 2Co 9:10 Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness; John Angell James: A sparing liberality shall be attended with a sparing reward, and a bounteous liberality shall be attended with a bounteous reward. Look! as the harvest answers the measure of seed that is sown—just so, that he who sows but little reaps but little, and he who sows much reaps much—just so, saints' reaping at last will be answerable to their sowing here. All men's charities shall at last be rewarded proportionable to the several degrees of it. He who gives a pound shall have a greater reward than he who gives a penny (Ed: I would add the caveat that a better measure is the proportion of one's total wealth that is given - e.g. see the "widow's mite" Lk 21:1, 2, 3, 4). He who sows thousands shall reap more than he who sows hundreds. He shall have the most plentiful crop in heaven, who has sowed most seed here on earth, etc. They shall have interest upon interest in heaven, who sow much on this side heaven. (The Crown and Glory of Christianity) Galatians 6:7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. 8 For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. James 3:18 And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. Sowing, usually accomplished by broadcasting seed, could precede or follow plowing. Fields or individual plants were fertilized with dung (Je 9:22; Lk 13:8), and the rain and sun brought different crops to maturity at different times. Following the winter rains and the ‘latter’ rains of March-April, barley was ready to be harvested in April and May, and wheat matured three or four weeks later. Grain was pulled up by the roots or cut with flint-bladed or iron sickles (Dt 16:9). Every farmer exercises simple faith in the law of the harvest for without faith he would not even sow seed. The farmer knows if he sows in the spring, he will harvest in the summer. He also knows that if he sows sparingly, he will reap sparingly. On the other hand, if he sows abundantly, he knows he will reap abundantly. This (touto) he will also reap - Vincent points out that "this" (touto) is emphatic which conveys the sense "this and nothing else"! (cp Mt 7:16-note) "That very thing, not something different." (A T Robertson) Eadie... Let him sow what he likes, touto with emphasis—that and that only, that and nothing else, shall he also reap. (Commentary on the Greek text of the epistle of Galatians - Online) Reap (2325) (therizo from théros = summer, harvest time ~ time of harvests) conveys the picture of cutting ripe grain and gathering the bundles together. To reap, to harvest, harvest, reaping. The tissues of the life to be We weave with colors all our own; And in the field of Destiny We reap as we have sown. -W H Griffith-Thomas The immutable law of sowing and reaping dictates that we can be assured that we will reap what we sow, but we can never know exactly how much we reap until the time of the harvest. Will reap is the future tense regarding which Eadie writes... The future refers to the judgment, when the results of present action shall be felt in their indissoluble relations. The reaping is not only the effect of the sowing, but is necessarily of the same nature with it. He that sows cockles, cockles shall he also reap; he that soweth wheat, wheat also shall he reap. It is the law of God in the natural world—the harvest is but the growth of the sowing; and it illustrates the uniform sequences of the spiritual world. The nature of conduct is not changed by its development and final ripening for divine sentence; nay, its nature is by the process only opened out into full and self-displayed reality. The blade and the ear may be hardly recognised and distinguished as to species, but the full corn in the ear is the certain result and unmistakeable proof of what was sown. And the sowing leads certainly, and not as if by accident, to the reaping; the connection cannot be severed—it lies deep in man's personal identity and responsibility. (Commentary on the Greek text of the epistle of Galatians - Online) Don Robinson has an interesting series entitled "The 7 Laws of the Harvest". Here are the titles and links... 1) We Reap Only What Has Been Sown 2) We Reap the Same In Kind As We Sow 3) We Reap in a Different Season than We Sow 4) We Reap More Than We Sow 5) We Reap In Proportion to What We Sow 6) We Reap the Full Harvest Of the Good Only if We Persevere 7) We Can't do Anything About Last Year's Harvest, But We Can About This Year's SOWING & REAPING: OLD & NEW TESTAMENT TRUTH There are a number of verses in both the Old and New Testament which echo the truth of the immutable law of sowing and reaping... According to what I have seen, those who plow iniquity and those who sow trouble harvest it. (Job 4:8) Comment: Even before the farmer sows, he expends much effort in preparing the soil. So too those who plow evil ('aven) purposely and diligently pursue a course of wickedness. They sow trouble ('amal = misery, that which is an unpleasant, hard, distressing experience) as they revel in transgressing the moral law. Their sowing determines the kind of harvest they will reap. It is typical of Eliphaz’s style that he states that he has personally seen this principle at work. (Hartley, J. E.. The Book of Job. The New International Commentary on the Old Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co) Those who sow in tears shall reap with joyful shouting (cp Ps 30:5). He who goes to and fro weeping, carrying his bag of seed, shall indeed come again with a shout of joy, bringing his sheaves with him. (Ps 126:5,6) W A Criswell: The principle of sowing and reaping, which is applicable to the restoration of the exiles (Jews from Babylon after 70 years of captivity, also serves as an encouragement to all believers to be faithful in personal witnessing. All aspects of these verses are crucial to the Christian missionary and evangelistic mandate (cp Mt 28:16, 17, 18). The preciousness of the seed is an apt description of the intrinsic value of the message of redemption. Ps 126:5 depicts the earnestness of the enterprise, not to mention the difficulty of the task. However, the culmination of this strenuous and emotionally draining effort is rejoicing at harvest time. (Criswell, W A. Believer's Study Bible: New King James Version. 1991. Thomas Nelson) Tony Evans: THEY tell me that one kernel of wheat in the ground produces a stalk bearing three heads of wheat. In each head, there are fifteen to thirty-five kernels, altogether producing somewhat close to a hundred kernels from the stalk. When planted, these kernels will produce ten thousand kernels. When those ten thousand are replanted, they produce a million kernels. It’s amazing what one person can do if they just start right where they are. (Ibid) (Note: The following comments relate only to Ps 126:5. For Spurgeon's comments on Ps 125:6 see Psalm 126:6 - Treasury of David) Spurgeon's Comment: Hence, present distress must not be viewed as if it would last forever; it is not the end, by any means, but only a means to the end. Sorrow is our sowing, rejoicing shall be our reaping (cp 2Co 4:17, 18). If there were no sowing in tears there would be no reaping in joy. If we were never captives we could never lead our captivity captive. Our mouth had never been filled with holy laughter if it had not been first filled with the bitterness of grief. We must sow: we may have to sow in the wet weather of sorrow; but we shall reap, and reap in the bright summer season of joy. Let us keep to the work of this present sowing time, and find strength in the promise which is here so positively given us. Here is one of the Lord's shalls and wills; it is freely given both to workers, waiters, and weepers, and they may rest assured that it will not fail: "in due season they shall reap." (Treasury of David) George Horne (1730-1792): This promise is conveyed under images borrowed from the instructive scenes of agriculture. In the sweat of his brow the husbandman tills his land, and casts the seed into the ground, where for a time it lies dead and buried. A dark and dreary winter succeeds, and all seems to be lost; but at the return of spring universal nature revives, and the once desolate fields are covered with corn which, when matured by the sun's heat, the cheerful reapers cut down, and it is brought home with triumphant shouts of joy. Here, O disciple of Jesus, behold an emblem of lily present labour and thy future reward! Thou "sowest", perhaps, in "tears"; thou doest thy duty amidst persecution, and affliction, sickness, pain, and sorrow; you labour in the Church, and no account is made of thy labours, no profit seems likely to arise from them. Say, thou must thyself drop into the dust of death, and all the storms of that winter must pass over thee, until thy form shall be perished, and thou shalt see corruption. Yet the day is coming when thou shalt "reap in joy", and plentiful shall be thy harvest. For thus thy blessed Master "went forth weeping", a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, "bearing precious seed" and sowing it around him, till at length his own body was buried, like a grain of wheat, in the furrow of the grave (cp "the joy set before Him" - He 12:2). But he arose, and is now in heaven, from whence he shall "doubtless come again with rejoicing", with the voice of the archangel and the trump of God, "bringing his sheaves with him". Then shall every man receive the fruit of his works, and have praise of God. --George Horne (1730-1792), in "A Commentary on the Psalms." (Treasury of David) Thomas Fuller: I saw in seedtime a husbandman at plough in a very rainy day. Asking him the reason why he would not rather leave off than labour in such foul weather, his answer was returned me in their country rhythm: -- Sow beans in the mud, And they'll come up like a wood. This could not but remind me of David's expression, "They that sow in tears shall reap in joy", etc. --Thomas Fuller (1608-1661), in "Good Thoughts in Worse Times." (Treasury of David) Samuel Lavington: The Christian Husbandman 1) Illustrate the metaphor. The husbandman has a great variety of work before him; every season and every day brings its proper business. So the Christian has duties in the closet, in the family, in the church, in the world, etc., etc. 2) Whence it is that many Christians sow in tears. a) It may be owing to the badness of the soil. b) The inclemency of the season. c) The malice and opposition of enemies. d) Past disappointments. 3) What connection there is between sowing in tears and reaping in joy. a) A joyful harvest, by God's blessing, is the natural consequence of a dripping seed time. b) God, who cannot lie, hath promised it. 4) When this joyful harvest may be expected. It must not be expected in our wintry world, for there is not sun enough to ripen it. Heaven is the Christian's summer. When you come to reap the fruits of your present trials, you will bless God, who made you sow in tears. Improvement. a) How greatly are they to blame who in this busy time stand all the day idle! b) How greatly have Christians the advantage of the rest of the world! c) Let the hope and prospect of this joyful harvest support us under all the glooms and distresses of this vale of tears. Outline of a Sermon by Samuel Lavington, 1726- 1807. (Treasury of David) G. R. Comments: Two pictures. The connecting "shall" (Ps 126:5) 1) There must be sowing before reaping. 2) What men sow they will reap. If they sow precious seed, they will reap precious seed. 3) In proportion as they sow they will reap. "He that soweth sparingly", etc. 4) The sowing may be with sorrow, but the reaping will be with joy. 5) In proportion to the sorrow of sowing will be the joy of reaping. --G. R. (Treasury of David) The wicked earns deceptive wages (gain of the wicked is not "real", for it is not enduring Pr 10:25), but he who sows righteousness (= lives righteously, "right" by God's standards) gets ("reaps") a true reward. (Pr 11:18). Expositor's Bible Commentary: Ultimately, rewards are appropriate for different character traits. The line extols the benefits for one “who sows righteousness,” i.e., one who inspires righteousness in others while practicing it himself. What is sown will yield fruit (1Cor 9:11; 2Cor 9:6; Jas 3:18). (Gaebelein, F, Editor: Expositor's Bible Commentary OT 7 Volume Set: Books: Zondervan Publishing or computer version) The Pulpit Commentary: The “reward,” (~harvest, reaping) in a Jew’s eyes, would be a long life in which to enjoy the fruits of his good conduct. We Christians have a better hope, which is, perhaps, adumbrated by this analogy; as the seed sown in the field does not produce its fruit till the time of harvest, so righteousness meets with its full recompense only in the great harvest at the end of all things. (Pulpit Commentary - Exposition) The Pulpit Commentary: The principle of recompense. I. Every action is a secondary cause, and is followed by its corresponding effect. II. The effect corresponds in kind and in degree to the cause. III. Human conduct may thus be viewed as a sowing followed by reaping, work by wages, action by reaction. IV. The gain of the wicked is deception illusory. Illustrations: Pharaoh’s attempt to decrease Israel resulted in their increase and his own destruction. Caiaphas seeking by murderous expediency to save the nation brought about its ruin. The persecution of the Church at Jerusalem led to the greater diffusion of the gospel (Acts 8.). V. The reward of the righteous is stable and sure. Illustrations: The patient continuance in well-doing of Noah, Abraham, Joseph. Compare the sowing of St. Paul in tears, e.g. at Philippi (Acts 16.), with his joyous reaping, as his Epistle to the Philippians witnesses. The reward is eternal—“a crown of righteousness that fadeth not away.” (cp 1Co 9:25, 2Ti 4:8-note, Jas 1:12-note, 1Pe 5:4-note, Rev 2:10-note) “What we weave in time we shall wear in eternity.”—J. (Pulpit Commentary - Homilies) Critical and Exegetical Commentary: Goodness, says the proverb, is commercially profitable—the pay is prosperity, insured by the laws of man and the favor of God. (A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Book of Proverbs) There is one who scatters, and yet increases all the more, And there is one who withholds what is justly due, and yet it results only in want. The generous man will be prosperous, and he who waters will himself be watered. (Pr 11:24, 25) He who sows iniquity will reap vanity, and the rod of his fury will perish. (Pr 22:8). Pulpit Commentary: They who do evil shall meet with punishment in their very sins—the exact contrast to the promise to the righteous (see Pr 11:18). NET Bible Note: The verse is making an implied comparison (a figure of speech known as hypocatastasis) between sowing and sinning. One who sins is like one who sows, for there will be a "harvest" or a return on the sin – trouble...(Commenting on the last half of the verse) The expression signifies that in reaping trouble for his sins this person will no longer be able to unleash his fury on others. (NETBible Proverbs 228) H A Ironside: They who in their youth sow wild oats will have a terrible crop to reap in older days (Pr 22:8). No wonder the world has so many disillusioned and disappointed old men and aged women. They frittered away the golden hours of youth in careless living and selfish indulgence, and as a result their wrecked constitutions, and in some cases impaired minds, make their later years most distressing and unhappy. It is quite otherwise with men and women who, in the days of their youth, lived in an orderly manner walking before God in self-control, refusing to become the slaves of sensuality. For them gray hair is indeed a crown of glory, because they are found in the way of righteousness (Pr 16:31). Someone has well said, “The Devil has no happy old men.” But how different it is with those who have known and loved the Lord through the long years! When they reach the eventide of life, theirs is a peace and a serenity which is found only in the service of God. Of them it can be said, “At eventide it shall be light.” Sowing the seed of a ling’ring pain, Sowing the seed of a maddened brain, Sowing the seed of a tarnished name, Sowing the seed of eternal shame, Oh, what shall the harvest be? He who tends the fig tree will eat its fruit, and he who cares for his master will be honored. (Pr 27:18) Comment: "The proverb for today explains this reward for service in terms of tending a fig tree. Taking care of a tree is thankless work: most of the year the caretaker mulches, prunes, waters, sprays, or trims. But when the fruit comes, its caretaker is rewarded for his labor. The same is true regarding the servant who looks out for the interests of his master. Jesus says that God will honor those who serve His Son and go where He goes, even unto death (Jn 12:26). In economics, this is called the law of returns. What you cast on the water after many days will return to you (Ec 11:1) (MBI - Today in the Word) For they sow the wind and they reap the whirlwind. The standing grain has no heads; It yields no grain. Should it yield, strangers would swallow it up. (Ho 8:6-7). Comment: Note that the reaping comes later and greater! Do not be deceived! Next time you are considering some willful sin, stop and ponder Gal 6:7, 8 and Hosea 8:6! It just might be the best pause you'll ever make, because you cannot even predict the consequences. Surely if King David had been able to envision the consequences that his evil deeds would wreak on his family, he would have had pause and cause to turn his eyes away from Bathsheba! Warren Wiersbe: In their idolatry and political alliances, the Israelites were trying to sow seeds that would produce a good harvest, but they were only sowing the wind—vanity, nothing—and would reap the whirlwind. Nothing could stop the force of the Assyrian army. The harvest would be more powerful than the seed! The sowing/reaping image continues with the picture of a blighted crop of grain. The rulers of Israel thought their worship of Baal and their foreign alliances would produce a good crop of peace and prosperity; but when the time came for the harvest, there was nothing to reap. And even where heads of grain did appear, the enemy reaped the harvest and Israel gained nothing. In the image of the wind, Hosea said, "You will reap far more than you sowed, and it will be destructive!" In the image of the grain, he said, 'You will reap nothing at all, and your enemies will get the benefit of all the promises you made." (Bible Exposition Commentary - Old Testament) Related Resource: Spurgeon's Sermon on Hosea 8:7 - “What Shall the Harvest Be?” Leon J Wood (Expositor's Bible Commentary): The “wind” speaks of the emptiness of Israel’s sin; the “whirlwind” speaks of God’s impending destruction. Israel’s punishment had already begun: the stalks were not producing grain that could be milled into flour. God had apparently withheld the rain. Furthermore, if any stalks did produce grain, it was only for foreigners to snatch it up. Ryrie: Israel sowed the wind of idolatry and reaped the whirlwind of destruction. Henry Morris: Reaping follows sowing. "He that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption" (Gal 6:8). This principle was applied with great fury to ancient Israel, and a similar time of reaping awaits other nations that forget God (Ps 9:17). Sow (command) with a view to righteousness, reap (command) in accordance with kindness (Hebrew = hesed/heced - God's lovingkindness, His covenant loyalty and mercy); Break up (command) your fallow ground (Repent. Compare Peter's similar command to his Jewish audience in Acts 3:19, 20), for it is time to seek the Lord until He comes to rain righteousness on you (Until = inherent in this time phrase is His promise - no one seeks Jehovah in vain, if they seek Him is sincerity. Even as literal rain refreshes and waters the seed, so too must God by His Spirit give "spiritual rain" which alone brings forth spiritual fruit). 13 You have plowed wickedness (compare "sowing"), you have reaped injustice. You have eaten the fruit of lies (More of the reaping the rotten fruit of sin). Because you have trusted in your way (Here seems to be the root cause - Faith in man, not faith in Jehovah.), in your numerous warriors (Ho 10:12-13). Comment: Hosea's exhortation and encouragement (cp similar call in Hos 6:1, 2, 3) was a mercy filled charge in the midst of condemnation and soon coming judgment on the land of Ephraim/Israel because of her idolatry. This is essentially a call for repentance to bring forth fruit (righteousness) in keeping with repentance. The plow of repentance was needed to remove the outer layer of weeds and thorns that had resulted from idolatry. Verse 12 is an offer of divine mercy in the context of impending wrath. The only way for Israel to sow righteous deeds is by grace through faith, a faith which believes in and depends on Jehovah. The breaking up of fallow ground is a call for preparation of one's heart to receive the Word implanted which alone is able to save one's soul. Verse 13 is a historical recounting of Israel's sowing of wickedness and a prophecy of her soon to come reaping the fruit thereof which would be "destruction" (Hos 10:14, 15, cp "corruption" in Gal 6:8) Henry Morris: Sowing the wind is about to reap a whirlwind of judgment, in Israel, whereas sowing in righteousness would have reaped mercy. This is apparently a last call to repent and seek the Lord before final judgment David Guzik: Israel had sown the seed of sin, and they would soon reap judgment from God. Even now, if they would sow righteousness, they would reap in mercy at the next harvest. We all sow into our life but do we sow seeds of righteousness? What “crop” will grow up from the seeds planted today, or this past week, or this past month? Cast your bread on the surface of the waters, for you will find it after many days. (Ec 11:1) Henry Morris: The metaphor is that of spreading spiritual seed far and wide, trusting eventually to find its fruit in redeemed lives. This is the same message as in Ecclesiastes 11:1. Spiritual seed, "the word of God" (Luke 8:11), should not only be sown far and wide, but also in both morning and evening. Then it is "God that giveth the increase" (1 Corinthians 3:7). Sow your seed in the morning, and do not be idle in the evening, for you do not know whether morning or evening sowing will succeed, or whether both of them alike will be good. (Ec 11:6) Henry Morris: Spiritual seed, "the word of God" (Lk 8:11), should not only be sown far and wide, but also in both morning and evening. Then it is "God that giveth the increase" (1Co 3:7). And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. (Jas 3:18) A W Tozer has an interesting discussion of the law of sowing and reaping... Every man sows what he will later reap and reaps what he has previously sown. This is a law of life, says Paul, and we may as well know that we cannot beat it. God will not be mocked. We are all sowing our own future, and the seeds we sow are the deeds we do. And, ironically enough, sometimes deeds we neglect to do or are afraid to do become seeds also and bring forth their harvest. For in the total scheme of things it often happens that deeds undone have as great power for good or evil as deeds actually performed. The unbreakable link between harvest and seed was forged by the Lord God Himself at the creation. From Him went forth the word, “after his kind,” and that word has linked together the seed and the harvest, the sowing and the reaping, from that day to this. Our today is bound to all our yesterdays, and our tomorrow will be the sum of our present and our past. That is the fact, and we may make of it what we will. The sovereign God has permitted us to have a measure of conditional sovereignty, a mark of the divine image once given at the Creation and partially lost by the Fall. We may sow to the flesh if we will. There will be no interference from above. Thus to sow is our privilege—if we want to reap the harvest of corruption which must inevitably follow, a harvest no man in his right mind could deliberately choose. No, the snare lies in choosing the pleasures of sowing with the secret hope that in some way we can escape the sorrows of the reaping; but never since the beginning of the world has it been possible to separate the one from the other. (Tozer, A. W. The Next Chapter After the Last (94). Camp Hill, PA.: WingSpread) ><>><>><> Illustration of Reaping - The Emperor Charlemagne wanted to have a magnificent bell cast for the church he had built. An artist named Tancho was employed by the church to make it. He was furnished, at his own request, with a great quantity of copper, and a hundred pounds of silver for the purpose. He kept the silver for his own personal use, however, and substituted in its place a quantity of highly purified tin. When the work was completed, he presented the bell to the Emperor, who had it suspended in the church tower. The people, however, were unable to ring it. So Tancho himself was called in to help. But he pulled so hard that its tongue fell down and killed him, reaping what he had sown! ><>><>><> P G Ryken has written that "The book of Lamentations is one long illustration of the eternal principle that “a man reaps what he sows” (Galatians 6:7b)". (Ryken, P. G. Jeremiah and Lamentations : From Sorrow to Hope. Preaching the Word. Page 743. 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