When The King Is A Child Series

WHEN THE KING IS A CHILD

16 Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child, and thy princes eat in the morning! 17Blessed art thou, O land when thy king is the son of nobles, and thy princes eat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness. (KJV)

16 Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child or a servant and when your officials feast in the morning! 17 Happy (fortunate and to be envied) are you, O land, when your king is a free man and of noble birth and character and when your officials feast at the proper time – for strength and not for drunkenness. (AMP)

Ecclesiastes 10:16-17

Introduction

Whenever the Bible uses the word ‘woe’, it is expedient that optimal attention be given to the context. In the King James Version of the text above, the Bible recorded the appearance of the word ‘woe(s)’ to be about one hundred and three (103) times. The word ‘woe’ is synonymous to saying ‘cursed are you’. And the word ‘curse’ appears in the Bible about one hundred and eighty-three (183) times. Adding this together gives us a whopping total of two hundred and eighty-six (286).

Our concentration here is on the above text and it is crucial we understand the grave danger in this matter of discourse.

‘Woe to you, O land’: this word sank greatly in my heart as I imagined a curse being put on a particular land simply because the person at the helm of affairs is simply a child.

Now, we need to pay close attention to every word, letter, and phrase in the verses of the Bible, especially the articles ‘a’ and ‘the’ are used. And most importantly, trust God to get a better picture of when ‘a child’ rules and when ‘the son’ rules. Is there any significant difference in this? What makes ‘a’ different from the word ‘the’, and what is the difference between ‘child’ and ‘son’ or ‘a child’ and ‘the child’ against ‘a son’ and ‘the son’? Another angle is understanding the hierarchy difference between ‘When a child rules a land’, ‘When no leader rule the land’, and ‘When the son (God’s elect) rule the land’.

Though I might not be fully able to explore all the implications of this distinction in this write up, I look forward to having a book dedicated to this topic where full revelation will be made. But permit me to share some of the major highlights on the above topic. Kindly read up the following scriptures: Isaiah 3:4,5 & 12; Isaiah 5:11; Proverbs 31:4-6; Hosea 3:6-11; Daniel 1:4-5, 8-12, 16; Daniel 5: 1,2, & 4; Proverbs 20:1; Proverbs 22:6; Proverbs 22:28, Proverbs 23:10, 20, 21, 29, 30, & 31; Ecclesiastes 7:8; 1 Samuel 8:1-22; Luke 2:40-52 and Galatians 4:1-2.

The above scripture passages are not arranged according to their chronological importance to this discussion. I pray God will help that much will be said that will perfect that which He intends to achieve via this book and topic.

TO START WITH, King James Version in verse 17 used ‘The Son’ but Amplified version has it as ‘a free man’, ‘of noble birth’, and ‘character’.

Those are three expressions to qualify ‘the son’. Then what exactly is the difference between being ‘a child’ and ‘the son’? Before then, let us briefly examine the articles ‘a’ and ‘the’ in the dictionary context.

ARTICLES are considered as modifiers of nouns and pronouns. Articles are either ‘definite’ or ‘indefinite’.

DEFINITE ARTICLE

‘THE’ is the definite article. It is used to indicate a specific class of nouns or pronouns, or a specific member of a class of nouns or pronouns. For example: The leopard is no longer found on our continent. (The leopard as distinct from other species). (ii). She helped me with the work I had to complete this morning. (specific work).

INDEFINITE ARTICLE

‘A’ and ‘AN’ are the indefinite articles. They are used as modifiers to indicate an unspecified class or member of a class of nouns. E.g. (i) My daughter gave her department enough work for a week. (The week is unspecified: it could be any week).

Looking at the definite article and the indefinite articles, take for instance:

S/No Definite Articles Indefinite Articles

1. The boy A boy

2. The ball A ball

3. The airplane An Airplane

4. The book A book

If you consider the options above, the words preceded by the definite article (the Boy, the ball, the airplane, and the book) imply specificity. Not just any boy but the boy. When we say “the boy is brilliant”, we are being specific about a particular boy. But saying “a boy is brilliant” is not a cogent thought. Which boy? A boy. No one is sure of the boy being spoken about; he is unknown. This can also be applied to other examples cited above.