Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone? A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken. (Ecclesiastes 4:11–12)
After making the statement that “two are better than one,” Solomon spells out why. I covered the first reason yesterday, and here are the last two.
Mutual Support When We Are Vulnerable. “Furthermore, if two lie down together they keep warm, but how can one be warm alone?” (4:11 NASB). Here again, it’s our tendency to take passages literally and miss the point of the whole idea. It’s true that married partners, on a cold, windy, wintry night, find warmth from one another.
But let’s not limit this to bedtime warmth. We need someone when there are elements that we can’t change—when we can’t make it hot if it’s cold. That’s the point. We’re exposed. We are unguarded. We’re vulnerable. It’s better to have two than one, because the other person will support us when we’re in a vulnerable spot.
Consider how you’ve felt on the first day in a new school or at a new job. Any time or place where you feel self-conscious and your major battle is “How am I going to make it through right now?” be reminded of verse 11—you are cold and you need help in keeping warm. Two are better than one.
Mutual Protection When We Are Attacked. “And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart” (4:12 NASB). All of us can identify with this. There is an adversary we all fight. He is relentless, determined, and clever. He’s called the devil. There is also an entire demonic force that would intimidate us even more if we could see them at work. But even though we cannot see them, we sense their presence and we are aware of their attack.
Verse 12 concludes with “A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart.” This is not simply a reference to Christ, who certainly is our Companion—the best of all—it’s a reference to more than just one companion. It may be several—two or three. But the thought here is that a cord of three strands is held with comforting words, or arms around the shoulder, or visible presence so that the waters of your soul are calm.
If you hope to make it through days of disillusionment and times of trouble, the secret is friendship. Or, to repeat the terms of an equation, “One plus one equals survival.” There’s no bridge quite like a friend, especially when you’re forced to live on the ragged edge of troubled waters.
