Please read “E1. Meaning to the Meaningless” before reading any of my other articles on Ecclesiastes.
Ecclesiastes 10:5-17
I told my wife, “I get better looking each day.” She replied, “You must have started out as one ugly baby.” Most of us are not part of the beautiful people. We do not come from noble birth. Our parents were not mega rich, and we are not part of the ruling class. Most of us are just plain ordinary folk. In America, we do not believe that anyone is automatically better just because of his or her parents. The writer of Ecclesiastes would not have agreed. He thought that it was an evil thing for people not to know and stay in their place. It was not right that a slave should ride on horseback while a prince would go about on foot. He did not believe that a rich man should ever occupy a low position. Because they were rich, the ruler should automatically assign them a place of honor. He believed that a land ruled by a king who had risen from the servant class was automatically doomed to hard times. He believed that a king of noble birth would bring happiness to the land he ruled. His thinking was a result of earthly wisdom. Observation would have shown him that the rich and powerful had benefits because of their positions. On average, they would have been better educated, healthier, and more experienced in the use of power than a poor person would.

Thankfully, earthly wisdom does not rule the Kingdom of God. In the Kingdom of God, we all have the same father. In Jesus Christ, we are all children of God. We are all clothed in his righteousness. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for we are all one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:26-28) We may not be rich or powerful by earthly standards, but thanks to God’s love, we are of noble birth. We are children of the king.