Proverbs 20:4

4 The lazy man will not plow because of winter;
He will beg during harvest and have nothing.

Proverbs 12:11

11 He who tills his land will be satisfied with bread,
But he who follows frivolity is devoid of understanding.

When you think of technological advancement, you probably think of things like the space shuttle, the internet, or that smartphone in your pocket that is listening to you right now and preparing appropriate ads to delight and slightly creep you out. In reality, things like the printing press, the steam engine, and the electric light bulb have probably done far more to change the course of history. Even these, however, pale in significance to one item that has shifted the paradigm of human development: the plow.

First developed around 3,500 BC, plows transformed cultures from hunter-gatherers into agrarian societies. The rhythm of the land and the rise and fall of floods shaped cultures, which mostly formed in the rich bottomlands of rivers. Around 1,000 BC the iron plow appeared in China and the ancient near east, and empires began to be built. The heavy plow broke and turned the wet soils of northern Europe, enabling Rome to spread and conquer whole peoples–and provide bread and circuses to its bustling cities. 

Finally, in 1837, an Illinois blacksmith named John Deere used a broken saw blade to develop the first steel plow. It was light, tough, and easily sharpened or replaced–and it helped turn the American heartland into the breadbasket of the world. In latter years, Deere's eponymous green tractors have played no small part in this remarkable sweep of history.     

The humble, hardworking plow that tills the soil is the subject of the remarkable and beautiful 1931 painting entitled Fall Planting by artist Grant Wood. It depicts the furrowed and rolling farmland of his native Iowa. Done with a bright palette and his hard-edged style, Wood (known for his most famous work American Gothic) pays homage to the walking plow with steel share used by Midwestern pioneers to turn the thick prairie sod into farmland.

When viewing Fall Plowing, you are reminded of when the change of seasons meant more than the arrival of college football or 94 shopping days till Christmas.  An art publication remarks that in the painting, Wood placed the plow, “midway through a turn of the soil, as if it were a sacred relic, the source of the lush farmlands and bountiful harvested fields that stretch out behind it.”

There is a fascinating connection between this iconic American painting and the book of Proverbs. In chapter 20, Solomon reminds you of the importance of fall plowing, and the outcome of the choices you make in life:

4 The lazy man will not plow because of winter;
He will beg during harvest and have nothing.–Proverbs 20:4

This is a terrific passage that vividly captures a certain kind of foolish person, and the logical consequence of his actions–or lack thereof. This section of verse couplets begins with verse 2 and what one commentator calls “the king’s mighty roar” as he seeks to rid his kingdom of destructive fools.

Verse 4 reintroduces you to one of them, “the sluggard” or the lazy fool. Far back in chapter 6 and further, Solomon includes this dilly-dallying procrastinator in his list of fools that God despises. The sluggard is one who is even too selfish and too lazy to eat the food on his plate:

24 A lazy man buries his hand in the bowl,
And will not so much as bring it to his mouth again.–Proverbs 19:24

Man, that is lazy. In my experience, lazy people have little trouble eating, and here in America if one is lazy, chances are they are also filled with snacks. When I think of one of my teenaged sons choosing between completing a household chore he does not want to do or eating a bag of potato chips, his arm gets a good workout excavating chips from the bottom of that bag.  

No, Solomon is addressing an issue of the heart, for in the end, the sluggard, or lazy person, by choosing to forego and hard work is making plans for his own future suffering. More than escaping mindless labor, he is neglecting work that must be done at a specific time and in a specific way–at the risk of his own survival, for winter is coming.

As the summer draws to a close and the ground begins to be touched with frost,  there begins a new and vital stage of work and future planning. In an agrarian society, such as ancient Palestine, a farmer would spend the summer months growing and beginning to harvest his crops. The autumn Feast of Tabernacles was a Jewish harvest feast that would fall in October (21st day of Tishrei) each year. After a short, joyous rest, the farmer would begin to prepare for spring planting. This was done by fall plowing.

Fall plowing took advantage of the rainy season, which lasted from October to April. This was vital to do, for the organic material of the harvested crops could be turned under and provide rich nutrients that would make the land ready for planting again in springtime.

This practice is necessary today and is done in different ways, according to local conditions around the world. Dear friends of mine, and members of my church who own a farm at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains here in South Carolina, tell me that in the fall, they pull up dead plants and control the weeds until the time comes to till it back up into rows. Their work in autumn prepares for work in spring to produce a beautiful, vegetable-filled garden.

Another friend and church member is a forester by trade. He too, describes the vital importance of certain seasonal work that must be done in the management of forest land, or “sylvaculture.” For instance, he tells me that he and his crews must wait until the cool months to begin replanting. 

Most pine seedlings, he says, come from nursery stock, and these are more delicate than “volunteer” (natural) seedlings. Soil below 6 inches stays warm during southern winters, and so fall planting ensures the survival of young trees that need the few months before summer’s heat returns in order to find purchase and gain strength to one day become 100-foot pines. Once the weather gets cool enough, he and his crews race the clock, calendar and forecast to plant acres of new forest.

All of this takes time and preparation. One weed-infested garden patch becomes a nightmare of labor to cultivate and plant a vegetable garden, and one planting too late in the season can produce stunted trees. 

What sort of things in your life require not only proper planning, but for you to work during specific seasons of living to produce what you need to succeed, satisfy your life goals, or to properly serve Christ? 

If you are a young person (such as whom Solomon is considering as he writes) your early years are filled with opportunities for education, learning new skills and developing your God-given gifts. Do you take advantage of this time to think ahead of what career or calling you may pursue–or a spouse for you to marry? Cultivate your future by keeping your hand to the plow of education and by making good moral choices that will please your Heavenly Father.

As Jewish scholar, Rabbi Malbim reveals about this relationship between work in your youth for a bountiful harvest in adulthood:

Youth is the time to prepare the seed-bed of one’s character for moral wisdom to take root.–Rabbi Malbim, “Commentary on Proverbs”

For a husband or wife, being a parent can mean hard, sometimes thankless work when your children are young or in their teenaged years. While you are raising your family, do you also prepare for what your marriage will be like after your they are grown? Many couples struggle once sons and daughters have grown up and moved away. After all the years of sacrifice, they look at each other and see two strangers. Take time to cultivate your marriage, even during those unglamorous or difficult years. 

Have you reached your silver-haired retirement days? How can you best cultivate these autumn years of your life to help develop strong friendships for Christ and the community of His church? Do you spend your time fighting boredom by involving yourself in petty squabbles and gossip, or do you find new purpose by lending a hand, head, and heart to others in need of fellowship?  

If you are a pastor or church leader, do you take time to cultivate relationships with your people? Life in the ministry can be a calendar-fueled nightmare of appointments, obligations, and the “tyranny of the urgent.” If you can make time for regular study and rest, and visitation among your people, you will help forge a stronger church–and more deeply love those under your care.

Fall plowing means that winter is coming. Solomon continues his illustration by revealing the consequence of the lazy man who will not contribute to work during those vital months: he will miss out on the harvest. As he says in chapter 12:

11 He who tills his land will be satisfied with bread,
But he who follows frivolity is devoid of understanding.–Proverbs 12:11

His “frivolity” in the fall, will result in his insolent demanding for his share of the harvest next year–a harvest to which he did not contribute. In 20:4, the Hebrew וְשָׁאַ֖ל (Sa’al) means that “he asks” or “demands” a portion of the fruit of other’s hard work. But in the end, he will get nothing. Commentator Bruce Waltke explains:

According to God’s law of reciprocity, neglect leads to loss, sin to death, and selfishness to self-victimization.–Waltke, “Proverbs”

Does this “self-victimization” sound familiar? You see that it describes much of modern western culture with unsettling accuracy. Look around at your neighbors and friends, at the voices on social media and in entertainment. Everyone is a victim–and most of them are self-diagnosed as such. 

During Jesus’s day, there was a great neglect of workers needed for a harvest of a different kind. In Matthew 9, as Jesus walks the dusty miles of his earthly ministry, he visits the cities and villages of His people, preaching the gospel of the Kingdom. But His heart was broken:

36 But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.–Matthew 9:36

Jesus’s conflict with the Scribes and Pharisees began to grow with white-hot anger in their neglect of not only His Father, but of His people under their spiritual care:

37 Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. 38 Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”–Matthew 9:37-38

Christ is calling you to look not only to your own future, but to His future kingdom! Will you spend your limited time on earth working to prepare the ground of the hearts of your neighbors, or among your fellow believers for the harvest that is yet to come? 

Fall plowing, then, involves much more than simply looking ahead to your own future career, marriage, or pension–it can mean the difference between an eternity in heaven or hell for your neighbor or someone you love. Like a farmer who works his land, he can feel the soil in his hands and know the harvest that is to be. Work the soil of your life and the lives of those around you for a harvest of Gospel blessings. 

The Monday—Friday DEEPs are written by Mike Slay and this Saturday Deep is written by Matt Richardson. To subscribe to all the DEEPs click here:

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The weekly study guides, which include the Monday–Friday devotionals plus related questions for discussion or meditation, are available for download here:

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ESV stands for the English Standard Version. © Copyright 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved. NIV stands for The Holy Bible, New International Version®. © Copyright 1973 by International Bible Society. Used by permission. All rights reserved. KJV stands for the King James Version.