Obey the King
Greetings in the Lord!
Today's word comes from Ecclesiastes 8:2-8. It might be a little hard to relate to if you live in a nation that elects its officials and rulers and has set limitations for the length of their rule, or set terms in office, as today's passage discusses wisdom for relating to and living under a king. However, once that person is in office, their rule does simulate a kingship in many ways, and so we can still learn from the wise sayings of these verses.
"Obey the king's command, I say, because you took an oath before God.
Do not be in a hurry to leave the king's presence.
Do not stand up for a bad cause, for he will do whatever he pleases. Since a king's word is supreme, who can say to him, 'What are you doing?'"
"Whoever obeys his command will come to no harm, and the wise heart will know the proper time and procedure. For there is a proper time and procedure for every matter, though a man's misery weighs heavily upon him."
"Since no man knows the future, who can tell him what is to come? No man has power over the wind to contain it; so no one has power over the day of his death.
As no one is discharged in time of war, so wickedness will not release those who practice it."
There are lots of little tidbits in that passage to think about. The first few lines are giving the advice to be respectful of and to submit to the authority placed over them--for didn't God Himself put the king there? Whether a "good" ruler or "bad" ruler, we have to understand that God is Sovereign over all of life's events, therefore, we are commanded to submit to the authorities over us. It is about having a submissive heart attitude, or gentle spirit, or being teachable, or however you prefer to say it, but we are not to adopt an anarchist attitude. To rebel against the king is like having a rebellious heart towards God...and that is not for people who truly love the Lord.
The next few lines kind of repeat the same idea of obeying the king, but it offers this truth for comfort and hope---God will guide our actions and circumstances to respond to every matter in a godly way. There is a perfect way to deal with every trying situation, though our pain and suffering may tempt us to follow our own course or to take matters into our own hands. This is not God's way, and surely there will be trouble for the one who chooses to do that. So, in our case, because we love the Lord, if we do not like our current president and do not agree with their ideologies and belief systems, we simply vote against that person in the next election. If the burden is heavier on your heart and you want to do more, then join the campaign of the person you want in office and recruit others to vote for that person, too. That is the "proper procedure" given to us by the Lord for the people of the United States and any democratically-based nation.
Now the last couple of lines of our passage today are really interesting; it is a warning to the king and to those who he rules over: choosing to practice wickedness will enslave a person. In other words, exercising moral evil has the tremendous power to capture a person's will. Whatever wisdom they once had, whatever good intentions, whatever bright ideas or potential to do good, it will be lost once they embark down the road of entertaining moral evil and quickly twisted into an unrecognizable bent for doing wickedness. We've seen this in many leaderships and rebellions around the world all throughout history. Once a king or rebels decide to go down that road of wickedness and corruption, its a slippery slope to the mud pit below. There is no such thing as only doing "a little evil."
~Be blessed and be a blessing.
Today's word comes from Ecclesiastes 8:2-8. It might be a little hard to relate to if you live in a nation that elects its officials and rulers and has set limitations for the length of their rule, or set terms in office, as today's passage discusses wisdom for relating to and living under a king. However, once that person is in office, their rule does simulate a kingship in many ways, and so we can still learn from the wise sayings of these verses.
"Obey the king's command, I say, because you took an oath before God.
Do not be in a hurry to leave the king's presence.
Do not stand up for a bad cause, for he will do whatever he pleases. Since a king's word is supreme, who can say to him, 'What are you doing?'"
"Whoever obeys his command will come to no harm, and the wise heart will know the proper time and procedure. For there is a proper time and procedure for every matter, though a man's misery weighs heavily upon him."
"Since no man knows the future, who can tell him what is to come? No man has power over the wind to contain it; so no one has power over the day of his death.
As no one is discharged in time of war, so wickedness will not release those who practice it."
There are lots of little tidbits in that passage to think about. The first few lines are giving the advice to be respectful of and to submit to the authority placed over them--for didn't God Himself put the king there? Whether a "good" ruler or "bad" ruler, we have to understand that God is Sovereign over all of life's events, therefore, we are commanded to submit to the authorities over us. It is about having a submissive heart attitude, or gentle spirit, or being teachable, or however you prefer to say it, but we are not to adopt an anarchist attitude. To rebel against the king is like having a rebellious heart towards God...and that is not for people who truly love the Lord.
The next few lines kind of repeat the same idea of obeying the king, but it offers this truth for comfort and hope---God will guide our actions and circumstances to respond to every matter in a godly way. There is a perfect way to deal with every trying situation, though our pain and suffering may tempt us to follow our own course or to take matters into our own hands. This is not God's way, and surely there will be trouble for the one who chooses to do that. So, in our case, because we love the Lord, if we do not like our current president and do not agree with their ideologies and belief systems, we simply vote against that person in the next election. If the burden is heavier on your heart and you want to do more, then join the campaign of the person you want in office and recruit others to vote for that person, too. That is the "proper procedure" given to us by the Lord for the people of the United States and any democratically-based nation.
Now the last couple of lines of our passage today are really interesting; it is a warning to the king and to those who he rules over: choosing to practice wickedness will enslave a person. In other words, exercising moral evil has the tremendous power to capture a person's will. Whatever wisdom they once had, whatever good intentions, whatever bright ideas or potential to do good, it will be lost once they embark down the road of entertaining moral evil and quickly twisted into an unrecognizable bent for doing wickedness. We've seen this in many leaderships and rebellions around the world all throughout history. Once a king or rebels decide to go down that road of wickedness and corruption, its a slippery slope to the mud pit below. There is no such thing as only doing "a little evil."
~Be blessed and be a blessing.
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