![[Photo of a Scripture verse]](https://www.deankwilson.com/Blog_images/Ecclesiastes_4_13.jpg)
| “Better a poor but wise youth than an old but foolish king who no longer knows how to heed a warning.” |
| —Ecclesiastes 4:13 |
Throughout the early chapters of King Solomon’s discourse on life without God, a reader can sense the king’s exasperation with what seems normative. This is no less true with what Solomon writes in Ecclesiastes 4:13-16:
Better a poor but wise youth than an old but foolish king who no longer knows how to heed a warning. The youth may have come from prison to the kingship, or he may have been born in poverty within his kingdom. I saw that all who lived and walked under the sun followed the youth, the king’s successor. 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.
Solomon laments and expresses concern over the leader that will follow him. And, his concern ultimately proves well-founded. An outsider of the Tribe of Ephraim, Jeroboam, will lead a revolt against Solomon’s son, Rehoboam. This revolt will divide the Kingdom into the Northern Kingdom of Israel with Jeroboam as king and the Southern Kingdom of Judah with Rehoboam as king.
Over time, the Kingdom of Israel, which consisted of ten of the original tribes, will fall further into sin and ultimately be carried off into captivity by the Assyrians in 722 BC. Remaining somewhat more faithful to God, the Southern Kingdom of Judah, which consisted of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, would eventually be carried off into captivity by the Babylonians in 588 BC, approximately 134 years later.
We should be able to imagine King Solomon’s grief as he senses the turmoil that lies ahead. As Solomon has stated before in this Book of Ecclesiastes, he declares again in this passage of Scripture, that seeking after power, authority, and advancement is meaningless—a chasing after the wind. That is, of course, when one seeks power, authority, and advancement apart from God.
As we begin a new day, in which God gives us the opportunity to serve as His ambassadors to a troubled and needy world, let’s remember that the only power and advancement that matters are those that come from God. If we are to move upward in an organization, it is God who must advance us. Apart from His provision for us, every other scheme to “get ahead” will fall prey to our poor efforts to chase after the wind.
