Why Is “The King is in the Field" from Ecclesiastes 5:9 Significant during the Holidays?
Bible Study
Audio By Carbonatix
By One For Israel, Crosswalk.com
There’s a famous saying that goes around in Jewish circles in the month of Elul as we approach the High Holidays: “The King is in the Field.” The saying is taken from Ecclesiastes 5:9 (Ecclesiastes 5:8 in Hebrew). The verse involves a king, the idea of fields and produce that benefit everyone, and serving. Scholars haven’t known whether it relates to the verses before or after, and there are many different ideas about what it could mean as a result. It’s all a bit mysterious, but the general idea behind the traditional saying, “The King is in the field,” is that God Himself, our King, has made Himself accessible even to the most common people.
Though the rabbis who came up with this idea may be missing the key piece of the Jewish Messiah, they nonetheless have struck upon a prophetic reality. The Messiah, our King, has indeed come to live among us and made Himself accessible to each and every one of us.
Here’s the exact translation of Ecclesiastes 5:9 word by word (remember to read right to left, not left to right!):
Here are a few of the many attempts to translate the verse into English:
English Standard Version – “But this is gain for a land in every way: a king committed to cultivated fields.”
King James Bible – “Moreover, the profit of the earth is for all: the king himself is served by the field.”
New American Standard Bible – “After all, a king who cultivates the field is beneficial to the land.”
American Standard Version – “Moreover, the profit of the earth is for all: the king himself is served by the field.”
As you can see, not exactly cut and dried.
Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, an eighteenth-century rabbi from Belarus, explained it like this:
“The king’s usual place is in the capital city, in the royal palace. Anyone wishing to approach the king must go through the appropriate channels in the palace bureaucracy and gain the approval of a succession of secretaries and ministers. He must journey to the capital and pass through the many gates, corridors, and antechambers that lead to the throne room. His presentation must be meticulously prepared, and he must adhere to an exacting code of dress, speech, and mannerism upon entering into the royal presence.
However, there are times when the king comes out to the fields outside the city. At such times, anyone can approach him; the king receives them all with a smiling face and a radiant countenance. The peasant behind his plow has access to the king in a manner unavailable to the highest-ranking minister in the royal court when the king is in the palace.”
While he may have taken some poetic license here, not to mention many interesting detours from the Bible in other areas, this rabbi’s ideas about God’s kingship and how to approach Him ultimately line up with Scripture.
The Glorious King Seated on His Throne
The notion of God as a King who cannot be approached without palatial protocol is evident in the picture we see in the book of Esther. The Jewish queen Esther has to approach the throne of the Persian king in his glory in order to appeal on behalf of her people, but to do so would mean certain death… that is, unless he extends his scepter to her. It is a picture of Yeshua’s authority and grace towards us who should rightly perish in the presence of God, the King of kings, and the association of a scepter with the Messiah from the line of Judah crops up several times in Scripture.
In Isaiah 6, the prophet sees God in all His glory, seated on His throne, and falls on his face:
In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory!”
And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”
There are several instances of people finding themselves before God in all His glory and falling flat on their faces, acutely aware of their sin and God’s holiness.
The King “Coming into the Field” Is a Picture of the Incarnation
The picture of the King coming into the realm of the common man is a powerful picture of God making Himself accessible to us. Moreover, it is a promise repeated over and over again in Scripture, most obviously in Isaiah 7, when we are told that the virgin would give birth to a son whose name would be Immanuel, God with us.
But this promise to come and be with us does not just suddenly appear in Isaiah 7 – God’s intention to come and live among us is all throughout Scripture.
Back in the Garden of Eden, God and Adam walked together in the cool of the day. The close fellowship God once had with humanity is something His heart longs for and grieves for when it was lost. God’s love for us and desire to be with us is seen in action as He creates an environment in which sin can be dealt with and fellowship restored:
"I will set My Tabernacle among you, and My soul will not abhor you. I will walk among you and will be your God, and you will be My people." - Leviticus 26:11-12
We see God literally pitching up His tent right in the middle of the camps of Israel, with a fully functioning sin-disposal system, in order that He can be among them. He walks with them, accompanying them with a pillar of cloud and fire, and makes His desire for closeness and connection abundantly clear.
Even more than a temporary tent, God had a greater plan:
“‘Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion! For behold, I am coming and I will live among you’—it is a declaration of Adonai. In that day many nations will join themselves to Adonai and they will be My people and I will dwell among you.’ Then you will know that the LORD of Hosts has sent me to you. - Zechariah 2:10-11
The King Who Dwells in Us and Will One Day Reign Before Us
When Yeshua the Messiah came and walked among us, when He paid for our sin on the cross and defeated its power when He rose from the grave, everything changed. We could be made clean, holy, and righteous in His sight. His Holy Spirit is now pleased to dwell in our very hearts and lives. The King lives IN US. In ways that will be beyond our comprehension until we see Him face to face, we somehow have the honor to host the Lord of hosts.
The month of Elul is a month of penitence and preparation for Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Hebrew calendar. Every day the shofar is blown as a wake up call to Israel, calling us back to God, back to repentance. In this period, selichot blessings are prayed, asking God for forgiveness, with the expectation that He will hear and have mercy.
But the King is not just around and available in our area during the month of Elul. He is available 24/7, near to all who call on Him in Spirit and in truth. We can know Him now and walk with Him in fellowship today. He hears every word we say and knows our thoughts and prayers before we even say them.
However, as Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 13:12, there are far greater things to come. At the moment, our experience with God is like seeing “in a mirror dimly”, but one day we will see our King face to face. He came to earth to be with us, but one day we will be together in heaven with Him.
“Behold, the dwelling of God is among men,
and He shall tabernacle among them.
They shall be His people,
and God Himself shall be among them
and be their God.
He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes,
and death shall be no more.
Nor shall there be mourning or crying or pain any longer,
for the former things have passed away.” - Revelation 21:3-4
Photo Credit: Chat GPT
Originally published by One for Israel. Used with permission.
Established in 1990, ONE FOR ISRAEL began as a Bible college and has since expanded to a multi-faceted ministry with the express goal of reaching Israelis with the Good News of Yeshua, training and equipping the Body of Messiah in Israel, and blessing our community with Yeshua’s love. www.oneforisrael.org.
