A Little City with Few Men - Ecclesiastes 9:14

In the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon said, “This wisdom have I seen also under the sun, and it seemed great unto me:”, and in chapter nine and verse fourteen of his book Solomon shared about, “a little city, and few men within it” where we read,

There was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, 

and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it:

The verse reads, “There was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, …” Solomon began with the words, “there was a little city” or “there existed a small, insignificant and unimportant place of waking, guarded town and dwelling place”, “and few men within it” which means “and a small amount of male human beings inside of the city”; “and there came a great king” or “and there arose, lighted upon and entered a distinguished and important royal ruler and leader” “against it” which means “in opposition to it, the little city”. Solomon referred to a small dwelling place or town that had a small amount of people inside where an powerful royal ruler rose up in opposition to the small city. 

 

The verse goes on to say, “… and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it:” Solomon continued with the words, “and besieged it” or “and encompassed and surrounded the little city”, “and built great bulwarks” which means “and established and set up massive and numerous siege-works, strongholds or munitions” “against it” or “in opposition to the little city”. Solomon shared how the powerful royal ruler established massive munitions in opposition to the “little city”. 

When we think through the words in this verse, we learn how Solomon referred to a “small town or dwelling place” in which a small amount of people lived, and a mighty royal ruler arose in opposition to the small town. The “king” set up massive siege-works in opposition to the city, and we can imagine the terror those inside of the city experienced. We are not certain whether this was a true story or just one which Solomon employed to teach his readers good principles, but God employed this story in the Bible for us to see. God loves us, and He desires a personal relationship with us through His Son Jesus who died on the cross for the sins of all mankind and was raised from the dead after three days. When we put our faith and trust in Him as our “Savior and Lord”, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and give us His Holy Spirit who will guide us into all truth and teach us the value of depending upon Him regardless of who rises up against us. 

Next time Solomon says, “there was found in it a poor wise man”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".