Wisdom and Power
Who is a wise person? Who knows the solution to a problem? A person’s wisdom brightens his appearance, and softens his harsh countenance.
Obey the king’s command, because you took an oath before God to be loyal to him. Do not rush out of the king’s presence in haste – do not delay when the matter is unpleasant, for he can do whatever he pleases. Surely the king’s authority is absolute; no one can say to him, “What are you doing?” Whoever obeys his command will not experience harm, and a wise person knows the proper time and procedure. For there is a proper time and procedure for every matter, for the oppression of the king is severe upon his victim.
Surely no one knows the future, and no one can tell another person what will happen. Just as no one has power over the wind to restrain it, so no one has power over the day of his death. Just as no one can be discharged during the battle, so wickedness cannot rescue the wicked.
While applying my mind to everything that happens in this world, I have seen all this: Sometimes one person dominates other people to their harm (Ecclesiastes 8:1-9).
It is wise to obey the king. But the king must remember why it is important to exercise power well.
Throughout Ecclesiastes 1:1-6:12 the Preacher meditated upon the hevel of life under the sun: all is vain, futile – truly absurd. He compares most human endeavors toward meaning as “chasing after wind”: people pursue pleasure, wealth, wisdom, or other things looking for ultimate purpose and satisfaction and will be disappointed and frustrated by all of them. To rage against such truths is itself futile and striving after wind. God understands better than we do. In Ecclesiastes 7:1-29 the Preacher seemed to have set forth a series of aphoristic exhortations not unlike the proverbs for which he is well known loosely organized around the theme of wisdom. In Ecclesiastes 8:1-9 the Preacher would continue in the same aphoristic vein and loosely organized his exhortations around wisdom in terms of the exercise of and submission to power.
Yet the Preacher introduced this portion of his exhortation by speaking of how a person’s wisdom can brighten and soften their appearance (Ecclesiastes 8:1). Perhaps the Preacher considered this a matter of fact; or perhaps it is an aspiration, an exhortation to those with wisdom to loosen up a little bit and not look so harsh once in a while. When we feel we have come to an understanding of something, a “eureka” moment, we do generally exult in it and such can be seen on our faces. So there is likely something to what the Preacher has declared here.
Then the Preacher considered how a person should conduct himself around a king in Ecclesiastes 8:2-6. A subject should obey the king’s command because he swore an oath of loyalty before God to do so. A subject should not leave the presence of the king quickly nor should he delay to come when he knows it will not be a fun time, since the king has great power. Who has the power to ask the king about what he is doing? Those who obey the king will not be harmed by him, and a wise person knows the appropriate time and protocol for matters. It is good to know as much since the oppression of the king is strong against anyone to whom it is directed.
Such insight, knowledge, and wisdom would prove most apt for the king’s advisers, counselors, officers, and staff; the average subject would rarely, if ever, receive an audience with a king. It might seem somewhat self-serving for Solomon the Preacher, as king of Israel, to encourage such deference; nevertheless, as a king with such power, his exhortation comes somewhat from experience, and yet also somewhat from aspiration. Ancient kings did tend to rule with absolute authority over their subjects, but plenty of intrigue was generally afoot in the court, and just as familiarity breeds contempt, so too the intimates of the king could easily fall prey to not providing him with due deference and honor.
As Christians we do well to appreciate the Preacher’s wisdom about honoring the king in terms of the ways of the world. Christians have been called upon to provide appropriate honor and subjection to the earthly authorities (Romans 13:1-7, 1 Peter 2:11-25), and they recognize their power over earthly life and death. No Christian should find him or herself providing undue offense to the dignity of governmental authorities. At the same time our primary loyalty is to the ways of God in Christ; and we might well be called upon to prioritize our higher loyalty (Acts 5:28-29). No one will be justified before God in Christ in doing heinous evil in the name of “just following orders.” Christians will generally find it difficult to navigate the tension between honoring God as God and proving subject to earthly authorities who tend to arrogate for themselves the prerogatives of God.
The Preacher then meditated some on the future. No one knows what will happen (Ecclesiastes 8:7). We do not have power over the wind, and likewise we do not have control over the day upon which we die (Ecclesiastes 8:8). As no soldier is dismissed in the heat of battle, so wickedness cannot rescue the wicked (Ecclesiastes 8:8).
Few things cause modern humans as much distress as their inability to know the future, especially since modern life is very future oriented. How much of our entertainment imagines what our lives would be like if we had insight into our future? How often have we lived more for the hope of a better future so we can endure the trials of the present? And yet we do not really know what will happen. We hope tomorrow will be better than today; perhaps today will prove better than tomorrow.
The Preacher has hit modern humanity right where it hurts: we do not have control over the day of our death. Modern life is all about mastery and control; we constantly strive to gain greater mastery over the forces of this creation which beset us. But our control will always be limited, and we rail against anything over which we cannot maintain control. We do better to heed the Preacher’s wisdom and accept our finite, created nature, and to live well as opposed to railing against the coming darkness.
The Preacher rounded out this section of his exhortation by an observation he has made in the world: people can dominate others to their own harm (Ecclesiastes 8:9). Certainly oppressed people primarily suffer from the oppression of those with power over them, but the Preacher here has the harm of the person with the power in view. This observation is an important counterweight to Ecclesiastes 8:2-6: a king has great power, and kings have been known to abuse their power, and in the process, the person most degraded and dehumanized is the king himself. Thus it goes with all who abuse their power; they are made less human as a result.
Few of us think about the amount of power we exercise in our lives; we tend to take it for granted until our power is threatened or we are deprived of it. We should all seek in wisdom to glorify God in Christ in all of our relationships, to subject our influence and power to His will and purposes, and in Christ seek to obtain the resurrection of life!
Ethan R. Longhenry
The post Wisdom and Power appeared first on de Verbo vitae.
