Woe to a country
[Ecclesiastes 10:16-20]
Yesterday, on Tuesday morning, I heard news of North Korea's Yeonpyeong Island bombing provocation through internet news. Soon after the Cheonan incident happened, two marines and two civilians died because of the Yeonpyeong attack. When I think about how this could happen again on the Korean peninsula, my personal thought is that the leader of North Korea is a big problem. One day, I read an article on the internet by Mr. Hwang Jang - Kee, who claimed that Kim Jong Il, the supreme leader of North Korea, should die. It is a sad reality to see how such leader is tormenting and killing a lot of people. I think that the leader of the country is very important. It is no exaggeration to say that the wise and fall of a nation depends on the leader(s) of the country.
In today's text Ecclesiastes 10:16-20, King Solomon speaks of a country that is woe. Look at verse 16: “Woe to you, O land whose king was a servant and whose princes feast in the morning.” What country is a country that is woe? There are three things we can think of:
First, the country without ruler is a country that is woe..
Look at Ecclesiastes 10:16 – “Woe to you, O land, whose king is a lad and whose princes feast in the morning.” This means that although there is a king who rule over the country and princes, the king can not rule because he is young and his princes are prodigal (Park Yun-sun). Of course, all the kings cannot rule over the country because he is young. A good example is King Josiah of Judah in 2 Chronicle chapter 34. He rose to the throne when he was eight years old (2 Chron. 34:1) and when he was sixteen years old he reformed his country (v. 3ff). But the young king in Ecclesiastes 10:16 is a young man who immature and wants to do things his own way (Wiersbe). And this young king is childish (not childlike) and self-indulgent (Jamieson). If the king of the country is like this, at least his princes must be mature and keep their minds in order to rule the country wisely. But they feast in the morning (v. 16). In other words, they enjoy feasting from early in the morning (Park Yun-sun). So what will happen to the country? Since the king is immature and indulge himself like a little child, and his princes enjoy feasting in the morning, how can we say that there is rulers in that country?
I have once applied this word to our church. For example, if I am an immature leader who does whatever I want, our church Elder Yoon, who is a mature who serves our church wisely, then we can say that at least our church will have a ruler. But if I am young immature and self-indulgent and even Elder Yoon enjoys feasting in the morning, what will happen to our church? Can we say that our church leader is ruling the church? I think it is the same with family. In other words, when the husband who is the head of the family is mature, and his wife who helps the husband also is wise and governs the family together, the family will have order and peace. But what if the husband is immature and indulgent, and even his wife enjoys the worldly pleasure early in the morning? Can we say that there are those who rule such a family? The wise King Solomon tells us that there is no ruler in this kind of family, of church and of country.
On the other hand, according to King Solomon, there is a blessed country. Look at Ecclesiastes 10:17 – “Blessed are you, O land whose king is of noble birth and whose princes eat at a proper time-- for strength and not for drunkenness.” What does this mean? Here the word “king is of noble birth” means the king has honorable character (Park Yun-sun). If a king who ruled over a country has honorable character, how would he not rule over the country well? And King Solomon said that the king's princes “eat at the appropriate time – for strength and not for drunkenness” (v. 17). This means the princes have honorable character and they are abstinent and self-control when they eat (Park Yun- sun). What a contrast with the rulers of a country that is woe? Such a country is a country that is so blessed that its king and princes are mature and honorable, and govern the country well. In other words, a country that is truly blessed is a country in which good politics is practiced (Park Yun-sun).
I think the church and the family are the same. If the leaders of the church and of the family have honorable character and abstinent and self-control, then the family and the church ruled by such leaders can be said to be the blessed church and the blessed home. Especially here I have come to think of two things absolutely necessary for the leaders in the home, the church, and the country. It is "character" and "self-control." Of course, leaders need skills and ability. But what is more necessary is character. No matter how skillful or competent they are, if there is a problem with character, those who follow those leaders can not be happy. I do not know if they will be able to enjoy the sense of accomplishment, but I don’t think they will be able to live a life transformed with good influence. Self-control is also essential to our leaders. Without self-control, one of the fruits of the Spirit, the leaders will not be able to overcome Satan's many temptations in their spiritual battles and they will sin against God and men. Therefore, the need for a leader of a country, of a church and of a home is honorable character and self-control that can dispel the temptations of debauchery and pleasure. The citizens of the country, the believers of the church and the children who follow such leaders are truly blessed people. I hope and pray that Korea and the United States will be such blessed countries. I hope and pray that our church can become such a blessed church. May our families be blessed home by God.
Second, a country that has a leader who is lazy and prodigal is a country that is woe.
Look at Ecclesiastes 10:18-19: “Through indolence the rafters sag, and through slackness the house leaks. Men prepare a meal for enjoyment, and wine makes life merry, ….” This statement speaks of the prodigal life of the lazy rulers who are wandering and destroying the country. They keep enjoying pleasure and drinking wine for joy. They have no sense of responsibility and sense of justice to serve the people (Park Yun-sun). Imagine that if the leaders of the country do not have the responsibility and sense of justice to serve the people of the country, what will happen to that country? If the leaders of the country forget their responsibilities and enjoys pleasure with only drinking alcohol, what would the country be like? Sometimes, when I see a Korean drama that deals with the history of Korea, I see the king's servants enjoying alcohol and women and living prodigal. And they were corrupted and didn’t bear their own responsibilities but rather they killed the honest and responsible king’s servants.
One of the most popular Korean dramas these days shows a good image of the president but bad image of the opposition leader. I think this drama shows not only a bit of the history of Korea but also the reality of Korean government. That part of history and reality can be summed up in one word, corruption. I see not only the drama but also the news that the politicians who suppose to help the citizens to live will by governing and serving the country but instead they abandon their own position and are corrupted to fill their greedy hearts. Indeed, they are irresponsible leaders of the country. This is what Pastor Wiersbe said: “There is a difference between those who use an office and those who merely hold an office (1 Tim. 3:10). Immature people enjoy the privileges and ignore the responsibilities, while mature people see the responsibilities as privileges and use them to help others” (Wiersbe). Don’t you agree with what he said? I cannot help but agree that there are those who merely hold an office and those who use it. However, I think that the big problem is that there are some leaders who serve themselves by abusing their office rather than serving the citizen. If I apply this to the church, I think there are church leaders who just have office titles but do not serve the church. I think there are immature church leaders who are lazy and who refuse to take on their role as a member of the church. But the bigger problem is the leaders who abuse their office in the church and enjoy being served rather than serving the church members. As a result, the church is getting sick.
In his book "Laziness," Pastor Kim Nam Joon expressed his thought on laziness: ‘The identity of laziness is dislike, the root of laziness is self-love, the development of laziness is lust, the choice of laziness is careless, the consequences of laziness are painful ... '(Internet). When the leaders of a nation are lazy, their idleness develops and manifests their love according to their lusts. As a result, they end up living a life of debauchery, leading to making the nation corrupted. We need to listen to Charles R. Swindol. He said, ‘There is a professional thief who comes to our minds and takes away the healthy desire and enthusiasm for life.’ And he said, the thief's name is ‘postponing to tomorrow.’ In other words, lazy attitude to postpone work while annoying it makes the passion and the spirit of challenge necessary for life to cool down, and eventually it will take away the true happiness that a person can enjoy. Therefore, the value of life to be emphasized once again in our times is 'sincerity' (Internet). As a leader of a nation, the virtue that he needs is sincerity. A leader who is lazy and prodigal can never be used to build a blessed nation. Rather, God uses faithful and sincere leaders to build the country. The same is true of homes and churches. The Lord does not use lazy leaders in building up the home and the church. The Lord uses faithful and sincere leaders to build a family, a church, and a country. Therefore, the leaders must be faithful to build a country, a church, and a family that are blessed by God.
Lastly, a country with a leader who thinks that all we need is money is a country that is woe.
Look at Ecclesiastes 10:19 – “… and money is the answer to everything.” This means that the leaders of the country who are lazy and prodigal think that all the problems of the country will be solved if they have enough money. If you are a leader of a country with this idea, you are definitely a money-loving leader and you rely more on money than on God. Therefore, it is irresponsible to rule the country while enjoying lazy life and prodigal life under the thought that money is all, and will try to solve all things with money. And because they don’t bear their responsibilities, all citizens suffer. But they continue to raise the taxes of the country and try to solve all the problems of the country (MacArthur). What is the result? In the end, the leaders who love money and try to solve all problems with money will be ruined with money.
We must guard our hearts from the thought that money can do everything. I think many people, even Christians, think that 'Money is power', which is a dangerous idea. If people try to rule a country, a church and a family with this idea, then such a country, church and family will have problems because of money. Furthermore, because of the money, the country, the church, and the family will suffer disaster. Therefore, we must not only guard ourselves from the idea that ‘Money is power’ but also from those leaders who have such ideas. Not only we must guard ourselves from them, we must not follow them as well. The reason is that we may suffer disaster. Rather, the leaders we are to follow are godly leaders who rely on God rather than relying on money. We must follow the leaders like Apostle Paul who have learned the secret of contentment whether we are living in abundance or in need. We must be content with Jesus only and not with money. In doing so, our home, our church, and our country will be blessed by God.
I believe that the ups and downs of a country are under God's sovereignty. Not only country, I think the family and the church as well. Their ups and downs are under God’s sovereignty. The problem is that the leaders of the country (family, church) who have to bear the responsibility to govern the country (family, church) well do not fear God, are lazy, prodigal and have the idea that money can do everything. What is the result? Because of these leaders, the country (family, church) will suffer disaster. What if United States and Korea are about to suffer disaster, what should we do? This is what King Solomon teaches us in Ecclesiastes 10:20 – “Furthermore, in your bedchamber do not curse a king, and in your sleeping rooms do not curse a rich man, for a bird of the heavens will carry the sound and the winged creature will make the matter known.” What does it mean? If our leaders do not rule our country well because they are lazy and prodigal and think that money can do everything, we should be careful to curse and criticize such inappropriate leaders. The reason is because the curse or criticism that we made secretly about the leaders of our country can enter into their ears. Therefore, we should pray to God for them, rather than cursing and criticizing them. We should pray for God's mercy and grace, but also for the judgment of God. And we should pray to God for the leaders of our country (family, church), that God will teach them the qualities of resembling Jesus and of the fruit of the Spirit, self-control and faithfulness. In doing so, our country (family, church) will be blessed by God.