Read Ecclesiastes 10:16-20
The old English series ‘Yes Minister’ and ‘Yes Prime Minister’ opens up the world of government and parodies the running of the English government by the civil service. The Minister or Prime Minister is simply a puppet in the hands of the civil service.
Solomon returns to the issue of wisdom for the entire nation but rather than looking at the role of the leader, he zooms in and looks at how foolish officers can bring down a nation. In modern day language, he zooms in on the civil service.
The picture is painted of a nation who has a foolish king, one who began as a servant - which equated with being foolish. The king appointed foolish officers throughout the kingdom and these officers wasted their time feasting and drinking even in the mornings. They feasted simply to get drunk. Feasting and drinking is the be all and end all of life as an officer (vs 19a). They are content to indulge their passions. And they think that money is the answer to everything (vs 19b). When a problem arises, throw money at it. Who needs wisdom when you have money? As the old adage goes, they had more money than sense.
These officers are lazy not diligent (vs 18) and will bring about the destruction of the kingdom much like a foolish man allows his house to be destroyed. It is not an active, willful destruction but one bought about by an unwillingness to do hard work.
The advice Solomon gives is to obey the King (8:2) and to avoid thinking evil of the rulers or reviling them lest you be found out or caught out. It would not be good to fall foul of such unwise rulers (10:20). They will not be sympathetic to your cause.
Today’s believers can learn a lot from this advise. Often we make so called biblical judgments against our rulers and condemn them unnecessarily, especially around election time. Perhaps it would be more biblical not to harbor such ungodly thoughts and to keep our mouths closed. Perhaps, as we saw earlier, it would be better to obey the governing authorities and to see that their rule (Romans 13:1-2) is given to them by God and that His purpose is in full swing.
No government can stop us from worshipping our Lord and our Saviour. While we need to be actively involved in the politics of the land that is a far different cry from bagging politicians and poo-pooing everyone who does things different to me. Let us strive to be godly and to worship God with every breath we take and every word we speak.
Prayer: Write down your prayer points in the space provided. Use today’s reading to help you get ideas.
Adoration:
Confession:
Thanks:
Supplication:
ª Ask the Lord to bring His blessing to tomorrows gathering of believers. Pray that it will be a day filled with joy, with holiness and with deep reverence and awe for our God. Pray that the Word would be boldly preached in each service that your church has tomorrow.
ª Pray that those who are slack in attending church would heed the call of God and not give up meeting together. Ask the Lord to give each person a higher priority to the gathering of believers so that the world can see that we worship God above all else.
1. Have you ever suffered from foot in mouth disease? What happened and how did you get out of the situation?
2. What should you do if a believers speaks foolish words that hurt or upset you?
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