The Boy King and the Breakfast Drunks Text: Ecclesiastes 10:16-17
Introduction: The Character of a Kingdom
The book of Ecclesiastes is a profound meditation on the nature of reality under the sun. The Preacher, Qoheleth, tells us repeatedly that all is vanity, a chasing after the wind. But this is not the cry of a nihilist throwing his hands up in despair. It is the observation of a man with his eyes wide open, who understands that this world, in its cyclical and often frustrating nature, is designed to point us beyond itself. It is a world that God has made beautiful in its time, but it is also a world that will not satisfy the deep longing He has placed in our hearts. That satisfaction is found in Him alone.
Within this grand theme of vanity and wisdom, the Preacher frequently stoops to give us intensely practical, street-level wisdom. He is not just a philosopher in an ivory tower; he is a king who has seen how the world works, from the highest corridors of power to the cracks in the pavement. He understands that the character of a nation's leadership has profound consequences for the people who live under that leadership. A nation's health, its stability, its very blessedness, is directly tied to the maturity and self-control of its rulers.
In our text today, Solomon draws a sharp, vivid contrast between two kinds of lands, two kinds of governments. It is a contrast between a cursed land and a blessed land. And the determining factor is not its GDP, its natural resources, or the size of its military. The determining factor is the character of its king and his princes. One is governed by childish impulse and indulgent appetites. The other is governed by noble maturity and purposeful strength. This is not just ancient political theory. This is a timeless diagnostic tool for evaluating the health of any society, including our own.
We live in an age that despises maturity and celebrates perpetual adolescence. Our leaders are often driven by polls, passions, and the insatiable appetite for the next fleeting approval. They feast on popularity in the morning and are drunk on their own importance by noon. Solomon warns us what kind of nation this produces. It is a land under a curse. The alternative he presents is a kingdom of grown-ups, where strength is cultivated for a purpose, and feasting is a celebration of that strength, not an escape from responsibility.
The Text
Woe to you, O land, whose king is a young man and whose princes eat in the morning.
Blessed are you, O land, whose king is of nobility and whose princes eat at the appropriate time, for might and not for drinking.
(Ecclesiastes 10:16-17 LSB)
The Cursed Kingdom of the Child (v. 16)
The Preacher begins with a pronouncement of judgment, a woe.
"Woe to you, O land, whose king is a young man and whose princes eat in the morning." (Ecclesiastes 10:16)
The first mark of this cursed land is that its "king is a young man." The word here is not just about chronological age, though it certainly can include that. The Hebrew word refers to a youth, a lad, someone not yet ready for the burdens of rule. Think of Rehoboam, Solomon's own son, who rejected the counsel of the old men and listened to his hot-headed young friends, and in so doing, tore the kingdom in two (1 Kings 12). The problem is not youth itself, but the folly, the impulsiveness, and the lack of seasoned wisdom that so often accompanies it. A child-king is governed by appetite, not by principle. He is swayed by flattery, prone to tantrums, and lacks the long-term vision necessary to build a stable kingdom.
This is a spiritual and moral category. You can have a 60-year-old man who is a child-king, a man ruled by his passions, his ego, and his immediate desires. A nation is in deep trouble when its leaders are slaves to the immediate, unable to delay gratification, and lacking in the moral fiber that comes from years of tested character. They are children playing with matches in a world full of gasoline.
The second characteristic of this woe-filled land flows directly from the first: its "princes eat in the morning." This is not a prohibition against breakfast. The point is about the purpose and timing of their feasting. To eat in the morning, in this context, signifies indulgence and a dereliction of duty. The day's work has not yet begun, the serious matters of state have not been attended to, and yet the leadership is already deep in their cups. Their first thought is for their own pleasure, their own comfort, their own appetites.
This is a picture of a leadership class that sees their position not as a stewardship, but as a privilege to be exploited. They are consumers, not producers. They are takers, not givers. Their goal is revelry, not rule. They are feasting on the nation's resources for their own gratification. When the leaders of a land are primarily concerned with their own pleasure-seeking, the foundations of justice and order begin to rot. The people's labor is not being protected; it is being consumed by a parasitic ruling class.
The Blessed Kingdom of the Noble (v. 17)
In stark contrast, Solomon shows us the nature of a blessed land.
"Blessed are you, O land, whose king is of nobility and whose princes eat at the appropriate time, for might and not for drinking." (Ecclesiastes 10:17 LSB)
The blessed land has a king who is "of nobility." The Hebrew here means "son of nobles" or "free-born." It points to a man of high character, a man who is not a slave. And what is he not a slave to? He is not a slave to his passions, his appetites, or the clamoring demands of the foolish. He is a man of substance, of gravitas. He is free to rule justly because he first rules himself. This is the essence of true nobility. It is not about bloodlines; it is about character. The noble king is a mature man who understands the weight of his office and the covenantal responsibility he has before God.
And look at his princes. They also eat, but their eating is different in two crucial ways: its timing and its purpose. First, they eat "at the appropriate time." This means they put their duties first. The work of governing, of judging, of defending the realm, comes before their personal refreshment. They understand that feasting is the reward of labor, not the substitute for it. They are men of order, discipline, and priority. They eat after the work is done, not before it has begun.
Second, their purpose for eating is "for might and not for drinking." They eat for strength, not for drunkenness. Their food and drink are fuel for their calling. They are strengthening themselves to continue their work, to be mighty in their service to the kingdom. For the princes of the cursed land, the feast is the goal. For the princes of the blessed land, the feast is the means to a greater goal: the faithful execution of their duties. They are not indulging in debauchery; they are replenishing their strength for the tasks God has given them.
This is the fundamental difference. The foolish leader asks, "How can my position serve my appetites?" The noble leader asks, "How can my appetites be disciplined to serve my position?" One leads to a woe, the other to a blessing. One leads to national decay, the other to national strength.
Christ, Our Noble King
As with all the wisdom of the Old Testament, this passage finds its ultimate fulfillment in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the true King of nobility. He is the Son of the ultimate Noble, God the Father. He is the only truly free man who ever lived, a slave to no sin, no passion, no foolish impulse.
Consider His life. Did He eat in the morning for drunkenness? No, His food was to do the will of His Father (John 4:34). He came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45). He feasted with His disciples, to be sure. He turned water into the best wine. But His feasting was always purposeful. It was for fellowship, for teaching, for displaying the abundant goodness of His coming kingdom. His strength was not for His own indulgence, but for the mighty work of redemption. He set His face like flint toward Jerusalem, toward the cross, and did not allow anything to deter Him from His task.
He is the King who ate at the appropriate time. After the mighty work of creation, God rested. After the even mightier work of redemption was finished on the cross, Christ rested in the tomb. And now, He calls us to a feast, the Lord's Supper, which we eat for might and not for drunkenness. We come to this table not to get drunk on wine, but to be strengthened in our faith. We come to be fortified for our duties as citizens of His kingdom.
Application for the Commonwealth
This text is a political text, and we should not spiritualize it away. It gives us a clear standard by which to judge our own leaders. Do we have child-kings? Are our princes, our elected officials and bureaucrats, feasting in the morning? Is their first concern their own power, their own pleasure, their own perks? Do they see their office as a means of self-enrichment or as a solemn duty before God?
We should pray for noble rulers. We should seek to elect men of character, men who are not slaves to their passions, men who understand that leadership is about strength for service, not about indulgence. A nation that celebrates and elects child-kings is a nation asking for a woe. A nation that honors and elects noble men is a nation that is on the path to blessing.
But this also applies to every lesser authority. It applies to fathers in their homes, to elders in the church, to employers in their businesses. Are you a child-king in your own home? Do your appetites rule your family? Do you feast on television, hobbies, and leisure in the morning, while the duties of discipleship and instruction are neglected? Or are you a noble king, a man of character, who eats for strength to lead, protect, and provide for your household?
The principle is clear. God blesses maturity, self-discipline, and purposeful strength. He curses perpetual adolescence, indulgence, and the dereliction of duty. The health of our land, our churches, and our homes depends on which kind of leadership we cultivate and which kind we tolerate. May God grant us the grace to be a people ruled by the Noble King, and to be noble ourselves in all our delegated spheres of authority, eating and drinking at the proper time, for strength and not for drunkenness, all to the glory of God.