- There was no end of all the people, all of whom he led. Yet those who come later will not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and a striving after wind. -
Today’s post is the final one for Chapter 4, and we are going to end along with it our discussion about the wise youth.
Our last post outlined how the old king abandoned the ancient ideals of what a ruler was supposed to uphold.
What evidence do we have this youth would act differently?
Well, for starters he is wise. Wisdom is the understanding and presence to act in the world as such. It wields both knowledge and intuition.
Though that may not feel like a satisfactory definition to some, it is one that matches well onto our discussion of truth.
It’s firm and flexible. You know a wise person when you see them act in front of you, and you rank wise people and actions as well.
Not only is the boy wise, but a large group of people follow him. Why does this matter?
We intuitively know how our rulers are supposed to act. When we see them, we follow, even if we cannot fully articulate why at the time.
In addition, we can realize those characteristics of our leaders we admire are not them. We can actually choose to follow the ideals and not a king, or president, while serving them.
Humans are remarkable creatures.
Now, something interesting happens. Despite all the people gathered around the boy, those who come later don’t rejoice in him.
How can that be?
Because morality pushes itself forward. It looks back and says, “Why did we ever think that was a good idea?”
It’s not so much as pushing forward as God revealing himself to us. At a certain point, we turn on those who came before despite their achievements and despite the good they did.
You can see this explicitly happening in America, regardless of your political side. No one can deny Jefferson was well regarded in his day and is now the subject of vitriol.
What is men’s praise to a wise king? Vanity is all, and worse, it’s feeding on the wind.
That’s one way to read these verses, but I think there is another message hidden here. One that might be reaching a bit.
You can be the judge if you think I’m pushing the text too far.
What does this verse say? There is an unending (infinite) number of people following the boy, and those who come after will not rejoice in him.
From the most unlikely areas comes the man and spirit who should sit in the king’s place.
Man, that sounds familiar.
When a dirty traveler rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, when the Sanhedrin dragged that heretical prophet to the authorities, and when society itself placed the criminal on the cross, I don’t think they had a clue they were acting according to His plan.
Do you find yourself living the principles of God and hated?
Pray, and ask God a careful question. Are you failing to live them out in some important way?
If you don’t hear an answer, rejoice. You will receive instruction soon in your failures or you stand in the same place as your Savior.
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