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Ecclessiastes, part 29, The Wisdom of Trusting God

Ecclesiastes 11:5 says,

⁵ Just as you do not know the path of the wind and how bones are formed in the womb of the pregnant woman, so you do not know the activity of God who makes all things.

Koheleth selects examples that were inaccessible to ancient observation—and, in many ways, remain mysterious even today. The path of the wind is invisible, uncontrollable, unpredictable. The formation of bones in the womb is hidden, gradual, and life-giving. Both processes happen without human supervision or comprehension.

The logic is explicit: If you do not understand even these created processes, how much less the totality of God’s work? Human beings are finite observers living within systems they did not design. God is not only the initiator, but the continual worker, the “God who makes all things.” Though His work is a mystery, it is not chaos—it is active divine governance.

This verse answers the problem of paralysis raised in verse 4. You cannot wait until you understand everything; understanding is not the prerequisite for obedience or generosity. Hence, wisdom humbly accepts the mystery of God’s sovereign work without surrendering responsibility on the level of man’s authority.

Koheleth preaches against two errors: (1) Arrogant rationalism that says, “I must understand before I act,” and fatalism that says, “I cannot understand, so I will not act.” Instead, he teaches humble diligence working within a divine mystery. The inability to comprehend God’s work is not a reason to stop working—it is the reason to trust Him while you live and work.

Nicodemus

Jesus understood Ecclesiastes 11:5 and compared natural “wind” with the “Spirit” of God. In John 3:8 He said,

⁸ The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born [begotten] of the Spirit.

The Hebrew word ruach encompasses both meanings. Just as Koheleth’s pregnant woman encompasses a mystery, so also is the mystery of sonship, “Christ in you” (Colossians 1:27). He said this to Nicodemus, who apparently did not understand that one must be begotten by God in order to “see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3, 4). He did not understand that the Holy Spirit begets Christ in us by the incorruptible, immortal “seed” of the word—the gospel—which is received through our ears (1 Peter 1:23-25).

Just as Nicodemus did not know how a baby’s bones were formed in the womb, so also he could not understand how the “bones” of a son of God could be formed in our spirit. Having founded the Corinthian church, Paul referred to himself as their spiritual father in 1 Corinthians 4:14, 15,

¹⁴ I do not write these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children. ¹⁵ For if you were to have countless tutors in Christ, yet you would not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel.

The KJV is more literal, telling us that “in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.” To the Galatian church, in Galatians 4:19, he claimed to be in difficult labor himself, giving birth to the church through His teaching.

¹⁹ My children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you.

Hence, in that sense Paul played the role of both father and mother, and yet the church too was pregnant with Christ. Christ was being formed in them, Paul says, and his teachings were providing the nutritional substance that would invisibly form the “bones” of this unborn baby (as Koheleth would put it).

Paul again shows his fatherhood in Philemon 10,

¹⁰ I appeal to you for my child Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my imprisonment.

It is clear, then, that spiritual pregnancy was a topic that Paul understood well, along with fatherhood.

Persistent Obedience

Ecclesiastes 11:6 says,

⁶ 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.

Here Koheleth answers uncertainty with persistence, not prediction. “Morning or evening” means from beginning to end, or from early to late. The point is not clock time but continuity. Wisdom works across seasons rather than betting everything on a single moment. Faithfulness is measured over time, not at isolated peaks.

“Do not be idle” targets the instinct to pull back after partial effort or disappointing results. Koheleth counsels against retreating into caution once action has begun. Stopping is more dangerous than sowing imperfectly.

Uncertain outcome does not imply scarcity. God’s governance may permit more than one success, even when the sower cannot foresee it. We simply do not know, he says. The lesson is that wisdom does not wait to see what will work; it works faithfully across time and leaves the results to God.

Koheleth’s final word in this unit is neither optimism nor resignation, but steady obedience under mystery—the posture of one who understands the limits of his authority and trusts God’s sovereign purposes anyway.

Koheleth’s core message in verses 1-6 is that wisdom is not control, prediction, or certainty, but faithful action sustained over time in trust of God’s sovereign governance. Ecclesiastes 11:1–6 stands as one of Scripture’s clearest calls to generous initiative, disciplined persistence, and humble trust in a world where certainty is unavailable, but where responsibility remains.