Board Chaplain Reflections: Ecclesiastes 8
Should we submit to authority or resist?
We see our spiritual ancestors doing both at different times, but in Ecclesiastes 8 King Solomon offers us a warning. Here’s a paraphrase:
Obey the king in accordance with your vow. Don’t be in a hurry to abandon him.
Do not join in on evil plots against him. He is a sovereign to you, he does not seek
Your advice.
Those who honor him avoid evil. But, there is a proper time and procedure for everything.
No one really knows what will happen, so be careful in your pronouncements. No one has the ability to restrain the wind, or authority over death. Evil will not deliver those who practice it.
Many Christians in the USA tend to want to resist or submit depending on which political party is in power, but Solomon offers a bipartisan warning: beware hasty resistance and revolutions.
For context: Solomon’s reign was considered a benevolent monarchy, but today we know that Christians around the world are under many forms of authority: democratic republics, sometimes left-leaning, sometimes right; benevolent monarchies, malevolent monarchies, authoritarian regimes, totalitarian regimes, etc.
Is Solomon’s counsel appropriate for us today?
What do other biblical figures from other times and circumstance say?
Solomon: don’t resist the king (which was himself!)
Jeremiah: seek the good of your oppressors
Jesus: render to Ceasar what is Ceasar’s
Paul: be in subjection to governing authority
Peter: for the Lord’s sake, submit to every authority
Yet we also see many of these same people, particularly Jesus, engaging in nonviolent resistance against authorities. In fact, Jesus was crucified because of his challenge to local and state leadership!
Or consider modern examples like MLK Jr and the Civil Rights movement, Wilberforce and the anti-slavery movement, and the list goes on—Christian resistance has often led to valuable transformation, but it’s also often resulted in destabilization and chaos that hurts a lot more than it helps.
So how do we know when and how to engage governing authorities?
We do it humbly and with great care, refusing to recklessly ‘burn it down’ because the revolution will come at a price, and it’s almost always paid by innocent bystanders.
Here are a few examples of rebellions and revolts that went terribly wrong, just before and after the days of Christ:
70 BC Maccabean revolt: destroyed
1st Century AD Theudas rebellion: put down
1st Century AD Barabbas uprising: put down
AD 66-70 War with Rome: Masada destroyed
AD 132 Simon Bar Kokhba revolt: Jewish homeland depopulated
By the time of the last resistance, at least 40 communities of faith had spread to 7 regions, well on the way to becoming a global body of Christian believers.
As we continue exploring Ecclesiastes, we pause at chapter 8 and consider the authorities in our lives and we ask for wisdom. Hasty resistance or rebellion is often self serving and not for the greater good. Don't be in a hurry to get rid of one authority when you can't clearly see what may come next. Don't pretend you know what is unknowable.
If motives are for evil, the people will not have an improved lot, only another center of authority.
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Photo Credit: Koshu Kunii via Unsplash