What kind of leaders should you have? Let’s plunge into the Deeper Waters and find out.
We finish off Ecclesiastes with a look at verses 16-20 today.
Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child,
and your princes feast in the morning!
17 Happy are you, O land, when your king is the son of the nobility,
and your princes feast at the proper time,
for strength, and not for drunkenness!
18 Through sloth the roof sinks in,
and through indolence the house leaks.
19 Bread is made for laughter,
and wine gladdens life,
and money answers everything.
20 Even in your thoughts, do not curse the king,
nor in your bedroom curse the rich,
for a bird of the air will carry your voice,
or some winged creature tell the matter.
Here, the Teacher talks about the kind of government that a country can thrive under. If you have a leader who has no business being on the throne and takes time to feast and celebrate when they should be working, you’re gonna suffer for it. Note also that the passage does not condemn feasting. There is a time and place for feasting. It is also not to be done just to get drunk, but it is to be done to build up strength.
However, if you have people that are lazy, then do not expect the system under them to thrive. While one could think about this relating to house repairs, it could also speak of government as a house. If the leaders of a government are not responsible, then bad things will happen and it is the people who will suffer.
There are many resources that are here to help us out, but here, we could be seeing some cynicism on the part of the Teacher. If a leader just cares about food and drink, then again, the people will suffer. If all he cares about is building up his bank account, well money will be the answer to all of his problems, but it will cause others to just suffer more. When a leader has the proper attitude, his most important desire is for the benefit of the people that he is there to serve, a lesson that sadly Solomon’s own son didn’t learn. There’s a reason that I call him Bonehead Rehoboam.
So you have an awful government. Be careful who you talk about that to. If you are speaking too loudly and/or to the wrong person, word could get back and you will find yourself in danger. It would be interesting to know what the Teacher would say today if he could see an age where a person can make a post on social media and instantly have their lives ruined as a result. Make a comment that you shouldn’t make and there are countless people who can see it and respond to it.
Only the government under God through King Jesus is perfect. Every other government involves some tradeoffs of some sort. Citizens should be informed and seek to have wise leaders who will rule justly.
In Christ,
Nick Peters
(And I affirm the virgin birth)
Support Deeper Waters on Patreon!
