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Scripture Reading: 2 Cor. 8:1-5, 15; 9:6-15
In 9:6 Paul says, “But this: he who sows sparingly, sparingly also shall reap; and he who sows with blessings, with blessings also shall reap.” Literally, the Greek word rendered “with” means upon. The blessings here are first bountiful givings as blessings to others, and then bountiful harvests as blessings from God. It is a natural law ordained by God that if we sow sparingly, we shall also reap sparingly, but if we sow with blessings, we shall also reap with blessings.
In verse 7 Paul continues, “Each one as he has purposed in his heart, not out of sorrow or of necessity, for God loves a cheerful giver.” We should not be sorrowful in giving. Instead, we should be joyful. If we are sorrowful in giving, it may be better not to give anything. Furthermore, our giving should not be of necessity. The Greek word rendered necessity here is the same as that used in chapter six. It means that we are pressed into something, forced into it. To give out of necessity indicates that giving is a calamity to us. We should not give because we are forced; neither should we give if we feel that giving is a calamity. In the thought of some, giving material possessions is like suffering a calamity. Giving should certainly not be like this with us. As Paul says in this verse, God loves a cheerful giver. The Greek word translated cheerful may also be rendered hilarious or gleeful. In our giving we should be cheerful, gleeful, hilarious.
Verses 8 and 9 say, “And God is able to make all grace abound unto you, that, in everything always having all sufficiency, you may abound unto every good work; even as it is written, He scattered abroad, he gave to the poor, his righteousness abides forever.” There are different kinds of grace. Titus was among the Corinthians to bring them the different graces. We today also need to have the various kinds of grace, one of which is the grace of giving.
In verses 8 and 9 there are a number of dear and precious thoughts. One such thought is that generous giving is righteousness in the eyes of both God and man. This thought is confirmed by the Lord’s word spoken on the mountain and recorded in Matthew 6. The Lord regards generous giving not only as a grace, but also as righteousness.
In verse 10 Paul goes on to say, “Now He Who bountifully supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed and cause the fruits of righteousness to grow.” Here we see the source of seed: it comes from God who bountifully supplies seed to the sower and bread for food. We should not think that the wheat used to make bread comes automatically from reaping a harvest. No, it comes from God. Even though we must sow, we should not trust in our sowing. It is our duty to sow, and we should sow for this reason. However, we should not trust in what we sow. If we trust in our sowing, God may withhold the rain or allow a storm to damage the harvest. Therefore, we must see that God is the One who provides the bread. He gives us the seed for sowing and also bread from the harvest for food. Furthermore, it is He who multiplies our seed and causes the fruits of righteousness to grow.
I would like to say a further word concerning the two illustrations used by Paul in chapters eight and nine: the illustration of gathering manna and the illustration of sowing seed and reaping a harvest. Paul was not a superficial person. He knew that fellowshipping with the churches concerning the ministry to take care of the needy saints far away in Judea was a very important matter. He realized that the saints in Macedonia and Achaia were in poverty. This is indicated by his word in 8:1 and 2: “Furthermore, we make known to you, brothers, the grace of God which has been given in the churches of Macedonia, that in much approvedness of affliction the abundance of their joy and the depth of their poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality.” Here Paul speaks of the depth of poverty. This expression indicates that the economic situation in Macedonia, and no doubt in Achaia as well, was not good. The saints in Macedonia and Achaia were poor. Since this was their economic situation, how could Paul encourage them, even entreat them, to supply material things to others? This kind of giving would certainly cause them to be even more poor. Moreover, what about the saints’ future? Paul knew some of the poor saints might say, “What about my future? I have very little. If I give away part of what I have, how shall I take care of my living in the future?” Because Paul understood the situation and because he was thoughtful, he handled the matter in a very considerate way. When he fellowshipped with the believers about the material supply for the needy saints, Paul was very considerate.
It was risky for Paul to fellowship with the saints about giving and even more risky to entreat them to give. However, Paul had an assurance and a confidence within him that caused him to take the risk. In our opinion, it is rather easy to ask wealthy people to give to those in need. But it is another matter to entreat the poor, those who do not have a sufficient supply for their own living, to give of their possessions. As we have pointed out, they may wonder about their future, especially about how they will earn a living if they give of what they have. Nevertheless, because Paul knew God’s economy and understood God’s way, he had the confidence to risk encouraging the poor saints in Achaia to give to the needy ones in Judea.
From his study of the Old Testament, Paul realized that God takes care of His people’s needs. God is able to feed His people in a miraculous way. There were more than two million children of Israel in a barren wilderness, in a wasteland where nothing grows. The wilderness was not a place suitable for farming or ranching. But throughout a period of forty years, God fed His people by miraculously raining down manna from heaven. I do not believe that anyone can explain what manna was or where it came from. But it is a fact of history that God fed His people with manna in the wilderness for forty years. It certainly was a miracle that more than two million people could survive in the wilderness for such a long time.
Both the raining down of the manna and the application of the manna were miraculous. Paul refers to this in 2 Corinthians 8:15 where, quoting Exodus 16:18, he says, “He who gathered much had no excess, and he who gathered little had no lack.” According to Exodus 16:18, an omer was used to measure the manna. Both those who gathered much and those who gathered little eventually had an omer. This is God’s heavenly balancing of the manna gathered by His people. No matter how many omers certain ones may have gathered, after the manna was measured, the result was that miraculously there was an omer for every person (Exo. 16:16).
On the sixth day of the week, the children of Israel were allowed to gather a double portion of manna to provide a supply for the Sabbath. But on other days of the week, they were not allowed to gather more than what they needed for one day. Those who tried to save manna for the next day found that it bred worms. This indicates that it is not God’s principle for His people to save up something for themselves. To save in that way is to be motivated by greed.
No doubt, as Paul studied the Scriptures, the thoughts and concepts of the Scriptures entered into him, inspired him, and governed him. Eventually these thoughts motivated him to write chapters eight and nine of 2 Corinthians. In chapter eight he was encouraging even the poor saints to give to the needy ones in Judea. Because he had a deep knowledge of God’s economy, he had the courage to ask the saints to do this. In this chapter Paul seems to be saying, “You don’t need to consider your poverty. Simply give to take care of the needy ones. Actually, you do not take care of your own needs. Your heavenly Father is the One who supplies your needs. He supplies the manna, and in this way He takes care of you. I can assure you that you don’t need to worry about the future. Because your future is under the care of the Father, I encourage you to give to the needy ones. In a miraculous way, the Father will send manna.”
From the children of Israel’s experience of gathering manna in the wilderness, we learn that our income is actually a kind of manna. The supply of manna did not depend on the gathering by the children of Israel. On the contrary, it depended on God’s raining. If God had not sent down the manna, how could the children of Israel have gathered anything? Their gathering of manna was altogether dependent upon God’s raining of the manna. The principle is the same with your income. You may think that your income depends on your working or on your job. But who gave you that job? The job was provided by God. But if you think that you obtained that job through your ability or education, God may cause something to happen in your company so that you lose your job. Then you may realize that your income does not depend on your ability, but depends on God’s sovereignty. It is very important for us all to understand this. If we think that our income depends upon our education, ability, or skill, we are superficial and shortsighted.
By using the illustration of sowing and reaping in chapter nine, Paul shows that God also uses natural law to feed His people. Sowing and reaping are matters of natural law. To give is actually to sow. But where do we get the seed used in sowing? The seed is supplied by God. The source of seed is God Himself. According to 9:10, He bountifully supplies seed to the sower.
We should not think that just because we sow seed, we are sure to have a rich harvest. Rather, we need to pray, “Lord, I have sown the seed. But whether or not I have a good harvest depends on Your mercy.” The growth of the seed sown depends on God. If He changes the weather, what we have sown may not yield anything. As a result, we would not have any food. Therefore, we need to worship the Lord and say, “Lord, even if my supply seems to come from reaping, the food is actually given by You.”
We as God’s children are under His care. God cares for us and feeds us in two ways: the way of miracle and the way of natural law. We need to thank the Lord for taking care of us in a miraculous way. Do you not realize that God has miraculously taken care of you and that you live by His miracles? The fact that you have a good job is a miracle. Furthermore, having a suitable dwelling place and being protected and preserved until now are also miracles. All these things come from God’s miraculous sending of manna. What we do each day is simply to fulfill our responsibility to gather manna. When you go to work each day, you gather manna. But the manna itself came from God’s miracles. If you cannot believe this now, someday you will believe it. You will see that even your physical life is dependent on God’s miracles. The first way God feeds His people is by miracles. May we all be impressed with this and worship Him for it! We need to realize that we are living not by our education or ability, but by God’s raining of manna.
The second way God takes care of us is by the natural law of sowing and reaping. Yes, we need to sow, but it is God who gives us seed for sowing. Furthermore, God causes the seed to grow so that we may have a harvest. We can sow the seed, but we cannot make anything grow. God supplies the seed, He causes the seed to grow, and He also gives us bread for food.
Concerning the supply both by miracles and by natural law, God is the source. On the one hand, He sends the manna. On the other hand, He supplies the seed for sowing and the bread for food. If we have a deep realization of this, we shall not worry about our future. The Lord Jesus said, “Do not be anxious for tomorrow” (Matt. 6:34). Knowing that the believers need not worry about the future because we have God as our source of supply, Paul had the boldness to encourage the poor saints to give to the needy ones. We should take care of God’s need and His purpose. He then will take care of our future. Our future is not under our own care; it is under the care of our Father. It is not according to our gathering, but according to God’s raining of manna. Furthermore, it is not according to our sowing, but according to His supplying. If God does not supply seed, what shall we sow? Our future also does not depend on our reaping; it depends on God’s causing the seed to grow until there is a harvest. Having a deep realization concerning this and possessing a thorough knowledge of God’s economy, Paul had the assurance and the peace to encourage the poor saints to give what they had to meet the needs of others.
Now we can understand Paul’s thought in chapters eight and nine. In chapter eight Paul used the gathering of manna as a basis for fellowship with the saints about giving the supply of material things to needy ones. In chapter nine Paul used the matter of sowing and reaping as a basis for this fellowship. Paul, therefore, had a twofold basis on which to fellowship with the saints about the ministry of material things. This gave him the assurance and the confidence to tell the saints that if they gave as much as possible, they need not worry about the future. Here Paul seems to be saying, “Saints, give as much as you can. There is no need to worry about tomorrow. Your future is altogether under God’s care. Because I have the confidence concerning this, I encourage you to give. I do not run any risk in asking you to give to the needy ones. If you take my word and act on it, there will be a multiplication of thanksgivings to God. Also, if you are willing to sow by giving, God will send an increase in your harvest. He will increase your fruit of righteousness.”
Why did Paul have the boldness to encourage poor saints to give? He had boldness because he knew the Word of God. Furthermore, he knew God’s economy and His divine way. He realized that it was a serious matter to ask churches in a poor economic situation to help others in need. He was not asking one individual to help another. He was encouraging the churches in Europe to help the churches in Judea. It may seem that Paul was taking a risk, for the saints could have suffered in the future. Paul knew, however, that he was not taking a risk, because he had the assurance that God would come in to rain down the manna, to supply seed for sowing, and to give bread for food. This is the proper way to understand Paul’s word in 2 Corinthians 8 and 9.
