Broken Wheel

Ecclesiastes 10:20

- Even in your thoughts, do not curse the king,nor in your bedroom curse the rich,for a bird of the air will carry your voice,or some winged creature tell the matter. - If you understood the interpretation of verse 19, you should be able to see a similar pattern already emerging in verse 20. The first thing we should notice is the contrast between verse 16 and today’s passage. What did it say? It said woe to the land when your child is a king! What does that mean? Is it only appropriate to curse the curse the king when he is a child? Well, not quite. To better understand the meaning, let’s continue with the verse. We see quickly that we are not to curse the king or the rich. Why would wisdom dictate to us not to curse the king or the rich man? We could say that perhaps the most moral thing is to not curse anyone. That gets a bit difficult when we think about someone doing something truly heinous. Should we not curse someone who butchers children? Are not kings capable of those atrocities? Let‘s slow down for a moment. The text is very careful. It says not to curse the king or the rich. What does this mean? Never want to miss another post? Sign-up below for free and get them sent straight to your email. This is an imposition not to curse our king or the rich people in our orbit. It is wisdom provided in the guise of self-preservation, not an unbreakable law. We are being told something practical here, not necessarily moral. We are being told to save our own skin by teaching our minds not to curse our betters. How do we know this? The verse go on to say that some winged bird will go on to spread what it is that we are pondering. In short, if we make a habit of cursing the king in our mind, those thoughts will make it to them eventually in a way that seems to us untraceable. A rumor gets away from you. Don’t tell so-and-so because I’m only telling you can spread to everyone you know. Be vigilant not to spread gossip. How can you do so? By not even speaking ill of others in your own mind. You will extinguish the fires before they even have a chance to be lit. Now, this is a strange verse in our day. We can curse the “king” (rather president) all day long without fear. We can call him old, weak, or stupid and no one does anything except argue back. How are we then as modern Americans supposed to treat this verse? First, we need to see this verse is good advice more than it is a moral teaching. In fact, we can find excellent parallels in our own life. Perhaps the most obvious aphorism is the customer is always right. The customer is your company’s profit. You want to curse them? It’s like preparing and drinking your own poison. Second, we can see that there are more productive ways in our life to deal with people we dislike than talking bad about them. Instead of complaining about politicians, why not get involved? Why not go door to door campaigning for local reps instead of watching tv and yelling at talking heads? It’s important to remember that some of that “news” is merely entertainment. If you only engage with it as a show, are you truly taking it seriously? Work before you complain. Meet before you judge. Converse before you condemn prematurely. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brokenwheel.substack.com/subscribe [https://brokenwheel.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

Ecclesiastes 10:19

- Bread is made for laughter,and wine gladdens life,and money answers everything. - This is a strange verse to find in your Bible. Typically, we look for moral teachings, especially in the wisdom literature. Why are we getting these lessons about wine and money? Are we not supposed to lean on God rather than our own resources? First, let’s just examine the veracity of these claims. Is bread made for laughter? Undoubtedly, it brings joy to any feast. I’ve never looked at a piece of bread though and laughed. Bread though isn’t made just for giggles. It’s made for sustenance. It keeps you going and growing and alive. If we baked bread and just laughed at it, we would be considered deranged. It is worthless unless you eat it. Wine can indeed gladden life. But, it does more. It leads to an ungoverned mind, the result of which leads to scandals that can ruin reputations and livelihoods. Never want to miss another post? Sign-up below for free and get them sent straight to your email. Even recently we have discovered how the lie a little bit of wine is good for you was nothing but a bad study paid for by the wine industry itself! Does alcohol make life better? No. It dulls our senses to pain and consequence. That makes life seem better without changing any of its circumstances. There is nothing more frightening than to experience an emergency. There is nothing more demoralizing to wonder how you will pay for the operation while waiting for the family member to recover. It is good to have money. It makes many of life’s problems that could arise for your family simply disappear. But, it doesn’t answer everything. You cannot bring a family member back to life. You cannot pay enough to get back the words you have already spoken in anger. Even while you’re terrified in the waiting room, counting up the bills, you’re still grateful that your family gets to go home together still complete. You wouldn’t trade that for the world, nor could you. So then, we have three statements here that are not precisely untrue, but are definitely not the whole picture. They show an aspect that is undoubtedly true and good to know, yet they are incomplete. What then are we supposed to take away? Who says money fixes all your problems? It’s the man who believes it to be true. Same for the man who says alcohol makes him happy and how much he loves to eat. We know or have been around people like this. If you ask, they won’t agree with their own words. They will point out the nuances we have already discussed. But, they won’t offer them up freely. They need to feel judged before they can speak to them. In fact, they say these partial truths knowing them to be partial truths to have others say them to them. By doing so, they create a culture of casting a blind eye to the parts of our pleasures or pursuits we do not wish to acknowledge so we can enjoy their benefits. If we say there are no negative consequences, are there? Wisdom can see the world with both. It knows money is useful, but not entirely. That bread is not to be wasted, and that wine makes you feel good with consequences. Beware of those who see only a truth and not the whole truth. Let wisdom be your guide. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brokenwheel.substack.com/subscribe [https://brokenwheel.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

Ecclesiastes 10:18

- Through sloth the roof sinks in,and through indolence the house leaks. - I have a problem. I am a compulsive cleaner. That doesn’t mean everything I own is spotless. Rather I cannot feel at rest while something in my house is dirty. If the dishes are filling up the kitchen sink, I feel every single one of them, including the time and effort it will take to clean them. Can I sit on the couch and be lazy? Sure, but it doesn’t mean that I’m not thinking about what needs to be done. It makes my rest restless. Now, I think in some ways this emotion is common to most people, but I do believe, especially in my conversations with others, I feel it more acutely. It is one of the reasons I feel disconnected from a common comment from those within my generation regarding home ownership. I hate home ownership. Something is always breaking! Never want to miss another post? Sign-up below for free and get them sent straight to your email. My initial thought is of course it is. Even with my predilections, I find a part of the emotion they are communicating within my own chest as well. I want to spend most of my time relaxing and enjoying the conveniences of modern life. If I’m really honest, one of the reasons I work so hard is so I can sit around. So, what can I do? Well, if I decide to rest more than I want to work and maintain my home, what is the consequence too that? The roof caves in. The house leaks. The floors creak. The HVAC system gets ivy in the motor. That mold keeps growing. Houses tend to fall apart on their own. They need no encouragement from us to start being run down and ragged. The real truth? This is everything in our lives. Even marriages and the like will begin to crumble if we do not take the time to make them special or provide the routine maintenance they need. The question then becomes why ever own a home? It’s a chore you have to work through your whole life! Why would you give that to yourself. Perhaps you might even ask the question, why get married. Who wants the extra burden in their life of taking care of someone else. Isn’t life complicated enough with all the other problems that it has thrown your way? Why put more work on your back and make things more difficult? The answer is simple. Have you been in a home? It is a house that has been cared for. It provides more to your life than the good itself. Have you ever been in love with your spouse for years after you have been married? It is better than being married for one year even with all the newness of the relationship. The maintenance creates safety, security, and acceptance. The work, even if its mundane provides a real security that makes your life more at rest. There is that word again. Work leads to a deeper rest. It is a removal of all the snakes from underneath the floorboards. It is not accepting a stone that hasn’t been flipped over. Once you know that there are no unknowns throughout your house, your rest can become deeper because you and your family have made it a home. How much more than our Savior and His work that has made our eternal house a True home. May we trust in His great work. Housekeeping – Hey everyone, Katie and I have made the decision to proceed with a surrogate for at least one of our three “snow babies.” With that all being said, I’m picking up a second job and she will be working overtime as well to help pay for this and potentially future transfers. For the foreseeable future, Broken Wheel is going to a once-a-week post on Wednesday. If this changes how you want to contribute, no hard feelings. Thanks for going on this journey with me! I am determined to finish this project and have loved every time I’ve had the opportunity to write here. Have a great rest of your week, and God bless. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brokenwheel.substack.com/subscribe [https://brokenwheel.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

Ecclesiastes 10:17

- Happy are you, O land, when your king is the son of the nobility,and your princes feast at the proper time,for strength, and not for drunkenness! - The first part of this verse may rub you the wrong way if you are an American. We are known quite famously for our distaste for nobility. Not to mention this insane discussion about a king. This verse builds off the prior. As we read it, we need to compare it with the previous in order to understand it better. Previously, we were told woe was coming to the nation who had a child as a king. Now we are being told to be thankful that our king is the son of nobility? How do these two relate? Perhaps the bad king is not from the line of nobility. This may be because he is a usurper or the favorite son of a conqueror. In a sense, he has no history with the nation, no ancestry to lean on or someone to guide him in how to rule a specific country. The woe referred to in sixteen may have already occurred in his or his nation’s conquest of the land. The parties and feasting may be at the nation’s expense that has already lost their men in a war. Why would you want your king to be a member of the nobility? Well, like it or not, they are the only family in town with any experience in running the country. Never want to miss another post? Sign-up below for free and get them sent straight to your email. Smith. Baker. Weaver. We gave these names so people would have an instant connection between the family and their trade. The same is true for kings in the past. We understand that information and skill sets today don’t necessarily come from one’s birth, but it is definitely a head start. The second part of this verse informs us that the king mentioned here is not a youth. How do we know? Because the princes are feasting at the proper time. As we said last week, it is good to have a king with experience. It is not a guarantee of wisdom, but it is the most common way by which men obtain it. Finally, and this is a beautiful part of the verse, they feast not for drunkenness but for strength. What does this mean? To be honest, most times after I have a big meal, I’m not good for much else than sitting on the couch. How can you feast for strength? If you have a celebration for a victory, does it not strengthen the crown? If you feast in response to a bountiful crop, doesn’t it grow the bonds of friendship between one another? It is as if you could feast at the proper time! Excess at some points in our life is a celebration of bounty. It is an echo of the paradise awaiting us. But, we are to never forget that this place is not our home. To do so will lead to drunkenness. What’s the lesson for a nation without a king? Perhaps it’s that a land is happy when its leaders and its supporters are all in the proper place, both ability and stage of life. We should strive in our own lives to make this true. We should trust in God where the brokenness of this world has caused this to not be true. Lean on God to see this world with His eyes. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brokenwheel.substack.com/subscribe [https://brokenwheel.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

Ecclesiastes 10:16

- Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child,and your princes feast in the morning! - Woe is a stark phrase. It means that great sorrow or distress is coming upon whom the word is directed at. It’s dire language for a king to use. They are precisely aware of what kind of woe can befall a land more so than others. There might even be times in their reign when they themselves are called upon to be the architect of woe upon another nation. Solomon here could possibly be speaking from experience. Not from his own kingdom, but perhaps from a nearby kingdom. What is the danger when children rule? Don’t they understand technology better than their parents? Can they not come up with intuitive solutions to old problems? Despite these advantages to youth, there is one thing the young can never have over the aged. Experience. This is important to hear; experience is not correlated with wisdom although it is one of the primary ways by which it is gained. Never want to miss another post? Sign-up below for free and get them sent straight to your email. You can go through many events in your life and not learn anything from them. You can also be young and hold tight to God’s word and gain wisdom beyond your years. This is rare and most people gain it through experience. Even though the young-in may have some great ideas, the chance of him being wise is low. In addition, he is a youth and filled with the passions that accompany it. What could this result in? Untimely wars or not being prepared for them, pursuing one’s own lusts and desires, or perhaps ignoring the plights of others due to limited vision. Perhaps even the king will have feasting in the morning instead of the evening. What is the problem with this? He is beginning the day without any attempt to work. He is getting the reward for being a king without providing his end of the bargain. Perhaps you have already begun to see it. In our day and age, are we ruled by the desires of the aged or the youth? We have this belief that revolution will come with the young. That the structures that have oppressed people for so long will topple to the ground. What do these individuals wish to achieve? They want the benefits of society while working as little as possible for themselves and others. Now, may they see actual corruption? Potentially, there is always the possibility that those in authority are blind or are willfully hurting others for their own gain. Corruption must be dealt with in the proper manner. This is something that the young fail to see and they create changes like that of the French Revolution – destruction to all that was dear. You don’t throw the baby out with the bath water. You don’t try to remove the splinter until the log is out of your own. You must use minimal necessary force. We see the opposite in our day and age. We see certainty with no facts, we see brashness disguised as empathy, and destruction of all definitions as liberation. A kingdom governed by unwise rulers, either old or young, cannot stand. They will flail around in the dark until their stronger and truly evil enemies come to remove them. Or perhaps nature will get a fair shot in. Or God. But we know this world is headed for judgement. Our Lord has lovingly liberated us from it. Even while we are headed for destruction, we can have hope in Jesus. What’s the lesson? Do not give authority to unwise leaders. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brokenwheel.substack.com/subscribe [https://brokenwheel.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]