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Expanded Comments |
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| 1 Send forth thy bread on the face of the waters, For in the multitude of the days thou dost find it. |
Bread – Truth. R3715:1*
Waters – Peoples. R3715:1*
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| 2 Give a portion to seven, and even to eight, For thou knowest not what evil is on the earth. |
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| 3 If the thick clouds are full of rain, On the earth they empty [themselves]; And if a tree doth fall in the south or to the north, The place where the tree falleth, there it is. |
Empty themselves – Inanimate things act under nature's law--there is nothing to indicate that this text refers to mankind at all. R2048:5
Tree falleth – When an individual dies. Q767:T
If any lesson or comparison to man were intended, it would be that so man falls helpless in death. R2048:5
There it shall be – As a tree is powerless to change its position, the world will be raised with the same kind of intelligence with which it went down into death. R2048:5, R4985:6, R4668:4; Q767:T, A105
There is no change in the grave, either for good or for evil. Q588:T
"There is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave." (Eccl. 9:10) A106
As one awakening from a sleep finds himself in practically the same condition in which he lay down, plus a slight invigoration, and is able to identify himself and speedily recall the events and circumstances which preceded his sleep. F714
There would he be forever were it not for the divine arrangement for his awakening. HG647:1
The earliest opportunity after death to gain knowledge and form character will be when "all that are in the graves shall come forth." (John 5:28, 29) R2050:5
No change of character takes place in the grave. R2050:5, R1965:4, R545:1
If one were raised perfect he would not know himself--his identity would be gone. R4985:6
They will come forth from the tomb in practically the condition in which they entered it--mentally, morally and physically. R5167:1, R4985:6
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| 4 Whoso is observing the wind soweth not, And whoso is looking on the thick clouds reapeth not. |
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| 5 As thou knowest not what [is] the way of the spirit, How bones in the womb of the full one, So thou knowest not the work of God who maketh the whole. |
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| 6 In the morning sow thy seed, And at even withdraw not thy hand, For thou knowest not which is right, this or that, Or whether both of them alike [are] good. |
Sow thy seed – God's message is so grand that whoever receives it in a good and honest heart must desire to live it and tell it to others. R4001:2
Withhold not – "Sow beside all waters." (Isa. 32:20) If the sowing has been toust expect the harvest work to be similarly broad. R4000:2
Continue to serve, even when apparently the most favorable opportunities are withheld. R3197:4
Thou knowest not – By tracting, etc., the truth reaches more people than we might realize. R5915:4*
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| 7 Sweet also [is] the light, And good for the eyes to see the sun. |
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| 8 But, if man liveth many years, In all of them let him rejoice, And remember the days of darkness, For they are many! all that is coming [is] vanity. |
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| 9 Rejoice, O young man, in thy childhood, And let thy heart gladden thee in days of thy youth, And walk in the ways of thy heart, And in the sight of thine eyes, And know thou that for all these, Doth God bring thee into judgment. |
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| 10 And turn aside anger from thy heart, And cause evil to pass from thy flesh, For the childhood and the age [are] vanity! |
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