# 503 Ecclesiastes – In search of meaning in life. 4:13-16, 5:8-9. Politics!

Politics can be a risky business. Just recently the British PM resigned after a lot of pressure to do so over the last few months. The usual term for a PM in the UK is 5 years. He lasted only 2 years. Before him the PM only lasted less than 2 years and before him the PM only lasted for 50 days! Not great for any country.

Although some politicians and countries do better than others, things don’t seem to have changed much though since Qoheleth wrote Ecclesiastes. Consider his thoughts on the politics of his time:

4 ¹³ Better a poor but wise youth than an old but foolish king who no longer knows how to heed a warning. ¹⁴ The youth may have come from prison to the kingship, or he may have been born in poverty within his kingdom. ¹⁵ I saw that all who lived and walked under the sun followed the youth, the king’s successor. ¹⁶ There was no end to all the people who were before them. But those who came later were not pleased with the successor. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

We are not sure if this is a real story from his time or just an example of what happens at times for us to apply to our day. Whichever, it sounds very familiar.

Wright explains: “An old and failing tyrant—who has stopped listening to anybody else; doesn’t that sound familiar among political leaders? — gets replaced by a young, energetic, and wise new ruler. He had come from a very unpromising background but rises to the top and becomes everybody’s hero. But then what happens? It all goes horribly wrong, and the new ruler ends up just as unpopular as the one he replaced. It’s a familiar sequence, even in modern democratic states. Some presidents or prime ministers get elected in a haze of messianic adulation and expectation. But the honeymoon period is short. Popular public heroes do not often grow old and stay heroes. Political popularity can be a very fickle thing. You might as well go chasing after the wind.” (# 60)

Another modern-day example of this situation is in Pakistan, where for various reasons, no Pakistani PM has ever completed a full term of 5 years since the establishment of the office in 1947.

Qoheleth then continues in chapter 5:

5 ⁸ If you see the poor oppressed in a district, and justice and rights denied, do not be surprised at such things; for one official is eyed by a higher one, and over them both are others higher still. ⁹ The increase from the land is taken by all; the king himself profits from the fields.

Again, Wright explains:

“The phenomenon he observes works at various levels to increase oppression. First of all, when there are layers of people responsible for any civic administration, it becomes so much harder for ordinary people to get access to anyone who can address their problem or grievance. Often people just give up in frustration and exhaustion—which is probably what the bureaucratic layers are hoping to encourage. But second, when anything does go seriously wrong and there is some real injustice or scandal, the more layers of accountability there are, the easier it is to shift the blame in complicated circles and spirals without ever reaching a point where genuine blame and guilt can be assigned and brought to account.” (# 60)

I guess most of us, if not having experienced this ourselves, know of examples of this happening in your own country. And as Qoheleth expresses, when you see the poor oppressed in a district, and justice and rights denied, do not be surprised at such things.

Sadly, as Wright says: “This author has perceptions and insights that are all around us still. He wrote in an ancient agricultural context, but he perceives processes at work in politics and economics that didn’t die out with antiquity.” (# 60)

But not being surprised at such things doesn’t mean we should condone them. Rather, as the people of God we should be outraged at such injustice and as far as possible seek to advocate for those treated unfairly, as the following Bible verses say:

Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy. (Proverbs 31:8-9) 

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.  (James 1:27) 

Micah summarizes it as follows:

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
    And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
    and to walk humbly with your God. (Micah 6:8)