HEBREW WORD STUDY – THE KING IS IN THE FIELD – MELEK BASHEDA מלך בשדה Mem Lamed Kap Beth Shin Daleth Hei

Ecclesiastes 5:9: ”Moreover the profit of the earth is for all: the king [himself] is served by the field.”

Ecclesiastes 5:9: “There is a profit in the land over all else, for the king is sustained by the field.”

As I write this it is the first day of the Jewish month of Elul. Elul in Hebrew means harvest as well as to examine, glean, search out, and evaluate. It is the 12th month of the Jewish civil year. It is the time of the high holy holidays of Rosh Hashannah and Yom Kippur. It is the ending of the year which is a time to reflect over the past year and determine where you are in your life and where you are going.

It is a time when the “King is in the field.” You see, back in the days of King Solomon, it was a common practice for Kings to leave their royal palace and mingle with their people. We just finished the Democratic Presidential Convention and are “anxiously awaiting” the Republican Presidential Convention next week where we will hear pretty much the same thing we heard this past week only it will be the Democrats who will be the bad guys and accused of being totally out of touch with the electorate. In reality, it seems all the politicians are out of touch with the electorate and they need to follow the advice of ancient kings and spend a little time mingling with the people. We will learn in our Song of Solomon class on our Learning Channel that this is the time when King Solomon found Himself a bride.

The Jews believe that the month of Elul is a special time for drawing close to God. Well, it is special if you spend a month in repentance and refection over your relationship with God. The origins of Elul as a month of special Divine grace and mercy go back to the time of Moses over three thousand years ago during the first year after the Jewish people went out from Egypt. Seven weeks after they left Egypt they received the Law at Mt. Sinai and entered into their eternal covenant with God as His chosen people. They were chosen to be the bearers of the Light, to introduce the world to the knowledge that God is just one God, not the multiple gods that everyone worshipped.

Then just 40 days later they violated that special relationship by worshipping a golden calf and Moses smashed the stone tablets which had the ten commandments written on them. He then returned to the mountain on the first day of Elul with another set of tablets for God to inscribe the commandments again.

He stayed another 40 days on the mountain during which time he obtained God’s forgiveness and reconciliation with the people of Israel Ever since that time the month of Elul serves as a month of Divine mercy and forgiveness.

The month of Elul is believed to be the time when the King is in the field. This is a metaphor of the king whose usual place is in the royal palace. Anyone who wishes to approach the king had to go through a lot of red tape and what we call today bureaucracy just to gain approval by a succession of secretaries and ministers. The person had to journey to the capital city and pass through many gates, corridors, and antechambers leading to the throne room. One’s preparation before the king had to be meticulous and they had to adhere to an exacting code of conduct, protocol, dress, speech, and mannerism just to enter into the royal presence.

But once a year during harvest time or among the Hebrews during the month of Elul the king would come with his royal entourage to the fields and the people. At such times anyone could approach him and the king would receive them all with a smiling face and a message of joy and hope. The simple peasant, such as the Shulamite woman in the Song of Solomon who could very well have been a slave could approach the king and he would receive her. The people had access to the king that was unavailable even to the highest-ranking minister in the royal court when the king was in the palace.

It is a little hard for us in the Western World to understand the absolute power of a king. Even in the United Kingdom the Queen is merely ceremonial and holds no real power. But in ancient times, when the king was in the field, it was a very special time for the people to draw close to their king who had absolute power.

This was a very important time for the king depended upon his people for his entire livelihood. He needed them almost as much as they needed him. The people all worked for the king. The work of their life was for the king. The purpose of their existence was for the king. Their job was to make the kingdom a true dwelling place for their king.

For us as Christians, our king is always in the field, always trying to make contact with His people. This is why the Jews look upon the month of Elul as a special, holy month. If the king was in the field twelve months out of the year, it would lose its specialness. Maybe it would not be a bad idea to make one month out of the year as a special holy month. Actually, we used to do that in December. Christmas was not just on December 25, it was the whole month. Just before our Rosh Hashannah or New Year. For one month everyone would practice joy and good cheer. They called it Christmas cheer and being in the Christmas mood. We would evaluate the past year and make New Year Resolutions. We would celebrate our King Jesus as being in the field, that is coming to earth as a humble human being just as the king of old would move among the people as one of them. We would decorate our homes, and prepare for family celebrations just as the Jews will do during the month of Elul.

You know it was not such a bad idea. After all our whole purpose here on earth is to make a dwelling place for God which Paul tells us is our bodies which are the temple of God.

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