Should you avoid angering the king? Let’s plunge into the Deeper Waters and find out.
There’s a saying that if you aim for the king, you’d better not miss. Solomon might have had something like that in mind in Ecclesiastes 8.
2 I say: Keep the king’s command, because of God’s oath to him. 3 Be not hasty to go from his presence. Do not take your stand in an evil cause, for he does whatever he pleases. 4 For the word of the king is supreme, and who may say to him, “What are you doing?” 5 Whoever keeps a command will know no evil thing, and the wise heart will know the proper time and the just way. 6 For there is a time and a way for everything, although man’s trouble lies heavy on him. 7 For he does not know what is to be, for who can tell him how it will be? 8 No man has power to retain the spirit, or power over the day of death. There is no discharge from war, nor will wickedness deliver those who are given to it. 9 All this I observed while applying my heart to all that is done under the sun, when man had power over man to his hurt.
In my paper on this I wrote that:
“Under the sun” does not show up in chapter 7 but does make an appearance in chapter 8. The passage refers to a king and what evil can take place under men of power, something discussed already in chapter 3 with corrupt judges. The Teacher gives an account of a king who lords power over others, but the king himself gets hurt in the process. A king can send soldiers to fight in a war and while the king himself may not die, he can suffer shame and great loss. Perhaps the Teacher could have in mind someone like Pharaoh in Egypt who hardened his heart repeatedly to Moses and ended up with Egypt in ruins. While certainly other people suffered as a result, Pharaoh has gone down in history as the villain of the story. Another possibility could be David himself and the situation with Absalom where David sent his men out to fight in a war and yet lost his son as a result of the conflict. Had he not shaped up per the advice of Joab, David would have lost the loyalty of all his men. Someone could say to the Teacher “But all those other men died!” and the Teacher could reply with “Yes, and they ceased their suffering under the sun. The king still lived with the shame of what happened.” Considering how the Teacher can speak of stillborn children, those who have never been born, and the dead as better off than the living. Why should he change his mind here?
Angering the king can lead to consequences, but at the same time so can not angering him. One must be careful when approaching a ruler and knowing how to speak properly. While we do not have a king in the West today, we do have rulers and leaders. Watch how you speak to those who have authority over you.
In Christ,
Nick Peters
(And I affirm the virgin birth)
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