Evil Leaders and
Kings
Ecclesiastes 8:2-10
8:2
Obey the king's command, I say, because you took an
oath before God.
3 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.
4 Since a king's word is
supreme, who can say to him, "What are you doing?"
5 Whoever obeys his
command will come to no harm, and the wise heart
will know the proper time and procedure.
6 For there is a proper
time and procedure for every matter, though a man's
misery weighs heavily upon him.
7 Since no man knows the
future, who can tell him what is to come?
8 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.
9 All this I saw, as I
applied my mind to everything done under the sun.
There is a time when a man lords it over others to
his own hurt.
-
10 Then too, I saw the
wicked buried—those who used to come and go
from the holy place and receive praise in the
city where they did this. This too is
meaningless.
This
is the Word of the Lord ... It is meant to
change the way we think, and the way we live.
Commentary
by Bob Pardue
What about Evil
Leaders?
Bipartisan?
Solomon says that we should
obey our laws and the leaders of our country even
if they are not always right. There is a right way
and a wrong way of doing things. If a president or
other leader is not doing the right thing, people
have the right to vote out the politician in mind,
to use parliamentary procedure to remove
them.
Even an evil leader is
still the leader.
Some leaders are caught and
punished while in office and some are not. Some of
these people in power do things that are totally
immoral (like a certain president Clinton) but the
immorality is brushed off with the courts saying
basically that being immoral has nothing to do with
being a good leader.
I'm not singling out just one
person to be mean or judgmental; not in the least.
I can safely say that we have all done evil things
and things that displease God. This
has always been a point that non-Christians have a
difficult time understanding.
How can we be Christians
and still sin?
I don't proclaim to be a
pastor or a learned educator in the ways of
Christianity but I feel that one of the major
differences between Christians and non-Christians
is that, although we as Christians still fall short
and do things that displease God, we are forgiven
through the grace
of Jesus Christ who
died to take away our sins. Jesus acts as our
redeemer when we face God in judgment.
Not perfect - just
forgiven.
In verse ten of this passage,
Solomon is most likely talking about how an evil
person is many times praised after their death in
the very town where they practiced their wrong
doings. At a funeral the eulogy giver tries to only
point out the good points of a person, even if that
person was the most unjust creature in
town.
Please understand that we are
not here to judge. Only God can do that. So, we
have to live our lives the best we can as
Christians and aspire to do better at setting an
example for others and in the eyes of the Lord.
But, as much as we try, we will NEVER be
perfect except through the acceptance and
forgiveness of Jesus Christ.
Love in Christ
- Bob
If you have never made the
commitment to receive the love and life-changing
experience of Jesus Christ, please take a moment to
read John
3:16 for more
information.
Verses about the evil leaders do and
Solomon's evaluation are from Life Application
Study Bible: New International Version
Also Read these Passages for
Study
Ecclesiastes
7:9-14 -
Best of
Times - Worst of
Times
Ecclesiastes
7:15-18
- Can
You be Too Good
?
Ecclesiastes
7:26-28
- Are
There any Wise
Women?
Ecclesiastes
8:1 -
How to
Become Wise
|
