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Death Is Better than Oppression
Ecclesiastes 4:1-3 Again I saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun. And behold, the tears of the oppressed, and they had no one to comfort them! On the side of their oppressors there was power, and there was no one to comfort them. 2 And I thought the dead who are already dead more fortunate than the living who are still alive. 3 But better than both is he who has not yet been and has not seen the evil deeds that are done under the sun.
INTRODUCTION
Good morning, Grace. We’re already a quarter of the way through Ecclesiastes. I hope it’s been anywhere close to as much of a gift to you all as it has been to me. God has used it to rekindle a love in me for those living with an under the sun view of life and an eagerness to keep my head above the sun.
Last week we considered the Preacher’s considerations on justice/injustice. This week we’ll consider his considerations on a particular form of injustice: oppression. Insodoing, we’ll see that the Preacher made four observations about oppression which led him to two conclusions. Before we get to all of that, though, we’ll first settle on a definition of oppression and get a brief overview of oppression in the Bible. That way, we’ll be in a better place to make sense of what the Preacher wrote.
The big idea of this passage is that oppression is everywhere and it is one of the most grievous things known to God and man. The bigger idea and takeaway, however, is that because God saved the world through the oppression of His Son, God’s people are liberated to liberate. We are freed from the oppression of sin to work toward freeing the oppressed, body and soul.
OPPRESSION
Definition
Oppression is talked about a lot today, isn’t it? It’s uncommon to go to any news site or turn on any news station and not be confronted with the topic. Like injustice, whenever we encounter oppression two things are virtually inevitable. First, we feel it deeply. And second, it’s defined loosely.
Of the second inevitability (loosely defined), consider this quote (from a Ligonier publication, Rev. Robert Rothwell, Tabletalk magazine, November 2022.)
Often, at least in the West, people cry “oppression” when[ever] they are told that they cannot do something they want to do. Tell a woman who wants to terminate her pregnancy for any reason whatsoever that she cannot do so, and you might be called an oppressor. Reject the notion that two men can get married, and somebody will accuse you of oppressing people who engage in homosexual acts.
But is it oppression simply to be restricted from doing something that you really want to do? Of course not. Laws are made all the time that restrict us from being able to do what we want to do. Are speed limits oppressive? What about laws against murder?
Oppression cannot be conceived of merely as a restriction on something we might want to do.
When we understand oppression as being told we can’t do something we really want, especially when we really believe what we really want is really tied to our personhood, it’s easy to see why it feels really painful.
But if that’s not an adequate understanding of oppression, what is? Again, I’ll quote from the same article for the beginning and foundation of a definition.
[Oppression is] an offense against justice and the humane treatment of others, but who gets to define justice and humane treatment? Ultimately, it is God, who defines justice and kindness in His moral law, which is revealed in the conscience and given to us in Scripture.
In the most basic terms, building on what we just read, according to God’s Word, oppression is sinfully holding someone down economically, morally, legally, or in the way of their innate dignity as a divine image bearer; it is exploitation; it is imposing unbiblical and unbearable burdens on another.
In the Bible, oppression is a very real, a very important, a very prevalent and a very wicked concept.
Given this definition, it’s even easier to see why it’s so painful to experience. More than simply not getting what we want (or believe we deserve), to be oppressed according to God’s Word is to held back from some good thing God means us to have or some good thing God designed us to need. And of course that hurts a lot wherever it is found.
If that’s what oppression is, how does the Bible present it? How does it show up in the Bible? How does God feel about and respond to it? How does God expect His people to feel about and respond to it? Is there anything that can be done about it?
Biblical Overview
Consider with me eight broad biblical principles on oppression.
Oppression is the occasion for many woes in the Bible.
Isaiah prophesied, “Woe to those who decree iniquitous decrees, and the writers who keep writing oppression, to turn aside the needy from justice and to rob the poor of my people of their right, that widows may be their spoil, and that they may make the fatherless their prey” (Isaiah 10:1)!
Likewise, the LORD spoke through the prophet Jeremiah, “Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness, and his upper rooms by injustice, who makes his neighbor serve him for nothing and does not give him his wages…” (Jeremiah 22:13).
“Woe” and especially “Woe to” are cries of ruin. It is a declaration that things can’t get worse for someone. And in this case, it is because oppression is an insult to God (Proverbs 14:31; James 2:6). “Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker….”
It’s often easy for those with good definitions to look down on those who are zealous against oppression without clarity on it. Likewise, it’s often easy for those who are zealous against oppression to look down on those who worry a great deal about the details when so many are suffering so much. It is rare to find anyone with a right definition paired with an appropriate zeal. It is right and good and necessary, therefore, for us to ask for the Spirit’s help to think God’s thoughts and feel God’s feelings regarding oppression.
There are few matters more serious than oppression in the Bible because there are few things more disgusting and insulting to God than the oppression of God’s creatures by God’s creatures.
And for that reason…
“Do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart.” Moses wrote, “You shall not pervert the justice due to your poor in his lawsuit. Keep far from a false charge, and do not kill the innocent and righteous, for I will not acquit the wicked.”
God’s people are forbidden from oppressing anyone, especially those who are easiest to oppress. This is not a suggestion or one good option among others. It is one of many prohibitions from the most high God. We are not even to go near those who oppress others, for their guilt is now and their destruction is imminent.
“The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble” (Psalm 9:9).
One of the primary ways He functions as a stronghold is in that He hears (listens to and answers) the prayers of the oppressed.
“Then we cried to the Lord, the God of our fathers, and the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression” (Deuteronomy 26:7).
And again, “O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted; you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more” (Psalm 10:17-18).
It is right, therefore, to echo the Psalmist’s plea whenever we are oppressed. “Redeem me from man’s oppression, that I may keep your precepts” (Psalm 119:134).
God provides protection to the oppressed who cry to Him. God is the one sure place of refuge. Believe that, Grace. Pray that, Grace. His answer might not be exactly what you hope for (for various reasons, including one we’ll consider in a bit), but He does hear and is working for all who turn to Him.
Pray this way for yourself and all who feel the crushing weight of oppression.
One such way is that He brings the oppressor to poverty, “Whoever oppresses the poor to increase his own wealth, or gives to the rich, will only come to poverty” (Proverbs 22:16).
Another way is that he draws near for judgment against “those who oppress the hired worker in his wages” (Malachi 3:5).
And on the positive side, “The LORD works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed” (Psalm 103:6).
Many in our world today argue (for all kinds of reasons) that we need to be an advocate for the oppressed. That is true, as we’re about to see. But our advocacy will never find its proper place when it is divorced from our dependance on God’s infinitely superior advocacy. We are not the oppressed’s true hope, God is.
“Give the king your justice, O God, and your righteousness to the royal son! 2 May he judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with justice! 3 Let the mountains bear prosperity for the people, and the hills, in righteousness! 4 May he defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to the children of the needy, and crush the oppressor!”
One of the most fundamental aspects of the righteous leader’s job description is to ensure justice for the oppressed; to judge justly, especially for the most vulnerable. The righteous leader’s job is to join God in defending the oppressed, fighting for their deliverance, and making it so the oppressor can never oppress again (the authorities must not bear the sword in vain).
We must be a people who pray for righteous leaders in our country and around the world; leaders who hate oppression as God does and fight against it with God’s authority. The apostle Paul commands us to do so.
1 Timothy 2:1-2 I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.
Fighting against oppression and for the oppressed is not merely for God and His rulers, though.
“Thus says the Lord: Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place” (Jeremiah 22:3).
Isiah echoes this and adds “…learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause” (Isaiah 1:7).
It is not an option for God’s people to remain indifferent to the oppression we witness. And we’re not merely to avoid oppressing others or feel bad about the oppression of others. We must join God and the authorities appointed by God in delivering the oppressed and correcting oppression.
Every one of us must find ways—in prayer, advocacy, fostering, TFG, feeding, clothing, anti-trafficking, supporting pro-life causes, etc.—to actively work for justice and toward the deliverance of the oppressed as well as the correction of the oppression.
If we’re not careful we’ll throw the baby out with the bathwater here. Many already have. Christians tend to fear talking like this because we hear this language mainly from those who do not honor God as God. The Church has largely abandoned this vocabulary and cause to the godless and the result is that oppression and correction are mis-defined and, therefore, the oppressed are often only further oppressed.
Let us stand up, Church, for all those reasons, but mostly because…
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:18-19).
These words of Jesus were a fulfillment of God’s frequent promises in the OT. For instance, “In righteousness you shall be established; you shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear; and from terror, for it shall not come near you” (Isaiah 54:14).
It is a grave error to believe that Jesus is indifferent to the earthly oppression of the world (as many have committed). But it is an even greater error to believe that liberation from earthly oppression is our greatest need (as even more are committing today).
Jesus did come to call mankind to repent of the sin of oppression and to work against it. But earthly oppression is but a picture of the immeasurably greater spiritual oppression that is ours at the hands of sin. Sin is a cruel, oppressive master, one we’re all born in bondage to, and one which always ultimately pays the wages of death.
Jesus did come to liberate the world from economic, moral, racial, and legal oppression. He called His people to work against it now and promised that one day all of that will be done away with forever. But even more significantly, Jesus came to graciously liberate us from our spiritual oppression; to pay sin’s eternally oppressive wages for all who hope in Him.
Consider Moses’ words concerning the Israelites, God’s chosen people, who were increasingly oppressed at the hands of their Egyptian masters.
“But the more they [the Israelites] were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad. And the Egyptians were in dread of the people of Israel” (Exodus 1:12).
God was a stronghold for them. He heard their cries and brought justice to them. More than that, He caused them to thrive more and more in order to demonstrate His physical power over every oppressive power.
And what was true on the physical level for Israel, was also true spiritually for the early Church. Their oppression at the hands of angry Jews and Romans only led to their rapid growth and increased joy. Again demonstrating that God’s spiritual power is over every other oppressive spiritual power.
In Acts 8:1-8 we read, “… And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. …4 Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. 5 Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. 6 And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip, when they heard him and saw the signs that he did. 7 For unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. 8 So there was much joy in that city.”
The world around us only has one category for oppression and the oppressed—an under the sun category where oppression is loosely defined, the oppressed are always in the right, and there is no real redemption for the oppressed or the oppressor. But God’s Word tells us of another category—an above the sun category where there is clarity, honesty, and salvation for oppressor and oppressed alike.
THE PREACHER’S OPPRESSION OBSERVATIONS
As I mentioned earlier, in the Bible, oppression is a very real, a very important, a very prevalent, and a very wicked concept. As we turn our attention back to our text for this morning, we are right to wonder how much of that the Preacher understood and/or believed. The answer, as we’ll see, is very little. He made four observations and from them, he drew two conclusions.
Oppression Was Everywhere the Preacher Looked
Looking at the beginning of v.1 in our passage we’ll see that the Preacher’s first observation was that there was oppression everywhere.
1 Again I saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun….
There really is nothing new under the sun, is there? What we hear and see so much of today was equally present (probably more so in a lot of ways) three thousand years ago. Everywhere the Preacher looked, he saw people oppressing and being oppressed. He was certainly right about this.
Oppression Was Crushing for the Oppressed
The second observation the Preacher made, which we see in the next clause in v.1, is that the oppressed were crushed to the point of weeping.
1 … And behold, the tears of the oppressed…
When the Preacher looked around, he not only saw oppression everywhere, but the devastation of the oppression everywhere.
Imagining his readers to be on the same path of seeking understanding and meaning as he was, the Preacher invited his readers to “behold” the tears of the oppressed. His implicit point was that whatever conclusions a person comes to regarding life under the sun, it must be able to accommodate the ever-present and soul-crushing reality of oppression.
That’s a good word, Grace. He was right about this too and it remains so today. A worldview worth adopting must be able to account for the sinfulness, the injustice, of the seemingly limitless oppression in the world today. And a truly Christian worldview must be able to do so consistent with a God who is sovereign, wise, and good.
Again, as I mentioned earlier, oppression has always been painful, and especially so for those who are limited to an under the sun perspective. Let us remember, therefore, the promise of God to hear the prayers of the oppressed, promises the Preacher seems to have missed.
The Oppressed Were Alone in their Despair
His third observation, still from v.1, is that not only were the oppressed crushed, but they were left alone in their crushed state.
1 … they had no one to comfort them!
And again at the end of v.1.
1 … and there was no one to comfort them.
God’s people were, evidently, indifferent to the oppression and the oppressed. Oppressors kept oppressing and the oppressed remained oppressed. No one was doing anything about it.
In repeating this observation, the Preacher seems to have been silently lamenting the fact that neither God nor anyone else had intervened on behalf of the oppressed. Curiously, though, it didn’t seem to have occurred to the Preacher, the King over Israel, to be a comforter himself.
Grace, may this never be the case among us. May we never forget that we are the hands and feet of Jesus. May we never forget that God’s care and comfort often come through His people—through us. And may these never-forgotten truths find expression in our lives such that no one within reach of Grace Church would suffer oppression undefended or the pain of oppression uncomforted. May we not merely (like the Preacher) lament the injustice. May we instead continually work in faith to deliver, correct, and sit with the oppressed.
More importantly, may we never forget God’s promise to defend and bring about justice for the oppressed. May we work hard, in faith, according to God’s commands for the cause of the oppressed, but may we never forget that it is always God working through us when we the oppressor is pushed back and the oppressed are comforted.
Oppression Is Only Possible when Someone Misuses their Power
The fourth and final observation made by the Preacher regarding the ever-present, ever-crushing, never-comforted oppression he saw was that it was perpetrated by the powerful.
1 … On the side of their oppressors there was power…
The great irony in this is that the Preacher is either Solomon or the voice of Solomon, one of the most powerful people to ever walk the face of the earth. If ever there was someone with power sufficient to address this kind of oppression it was him.
And the greater irony is that Solomon’s actions (outlined in 1 Kings 11) contributed greatly to the oppression the Preacher so mournfully witnessed.
Again, Grace, may we learn to lament the oppression as the Preacher did. But may we also learn to from what the Preacher didn’t do; that is, may we learn to use whatever power the LORD grants to do more than merely lament.
Power, in any measure, is given to be used exclusively for the good of others. It is never to be wielded selfishly, much less oppressively.
Older siblings, hear this. Men, hear this. Bosses, hear this. Parents, hear this. Elders, hear this. Civic leaders, hear this. Repent of using your God-given power and authority for your own selfish gain. And woe to those whose selfish gain comes from the exploitation of those whom you’re charged to love and serve.
And, Grace, may this also point us to the fierce kindness of God once again. All the power of God was unleashed on the Son on the cross in order to crush the oppressor and the greatest oppression of all (condemnation and death), and to rescue and restore the oppressed. He is our God and guide.
THE PREACHER’S OPPRESSION CONCLUSIONS
Given his observations, what were the Preacher’s conclusions? What did it mean that oppression was everywhere at the hands of the powerful, resulting in comfortless despair? How much of what we saw about oppression in the Bible come to bear on his conclusions?
It Is Better to Be Dead than Alive (2)
First, consider v.2.
2 And I thought the dead who are already dead more fortunate than the living who are still alive.
Oppression is so bad, so wicked, so evil, and so prevalent that it is impossible to not be negatively affected by it. There is truly a way in which understanding the oppression on earth (in quantity and quality) is to have joy continually stolen from you. It can’t not.
The Preacher’s first conclusion is that it is better to be done with it all. He said in the previous passage that he wasn’t sure what happens after we die, but he was sure that it’s better than witnessing the tears of the oppressed.
In life, we carry the burden of the pain of oppression continually. In death, whatever happens, at least our eyes are closed to the misery of the oppression, the Preacher reasoned.
How’s that for a first conclusion. Not “So I determined to comfort the hurting” or “So I determined to put a stop to it.” Not even, “so I cried out to God on behalf of those who cried out in the pain of their oppression.” Simply, the Preacher concluded, death is better than witnessing the oppression on earth.
It Is Better Still to Have Not Yet Been Born (3)
Maybe his second conclusion would be more faithful, more hopeful, more responsible?
3 But better than both is he who has not yet been and has not seen the evil deeds that are done under the sun.
What’s better than witnessing all the pain of the oppressed? Death, for when we’re dead we can no longer see the oppression. What’s better than death? Never having been born, for then we never had to see the oppression to begin with.
What a cynical, grievous, under the sun view of life. As we make our way through the rest of Ecclesiastes, we’ll see that the Preacher does have a bit more to say than just this, but that doesn’t change the fact that he did say this. As with many other things, the Preacher just can’t seem to get his head above the sun when trying to make sense of the things he saw in this life. And yet, as always, he’s exactly right if all we can see is all there is.
As I’ve said over and over, many people in your life, perhaps many in this room, are in the same place. They can’t get their head above the sun enough to see anything other than the grievous vanity of things on earth. They can’t imagine any real help, healing, or solution to the oppression so prevalent and destructive.
It is our responsibility and privilege to share the good news with them that there is indeed, in the person of Christ, real help, healing, and salvation, in this life and the next. That’s largely the point of the meal we’re about to turn to.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, the title of this sermon is “Death Is Better than Oppression.” You may have noticed that has a double meaning. It was certainly the Preacher’s conclusion as he contemplated the limitless tears of the oppressed. We could learn a great deal form his grief over something that grieves God so deeply.
At the same time, and in a more important way, it also refers to Jesus’ response to the deadly oppression of sin. He preferred His own death to the eternal oppression of His people. Death was better than oppression for Jesus in the sense that He would rather die for the spiritual oppression of the world than allow His people to remain in it.
Again, that’s why we turn to the table now, to celebrate exactly that!
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By Grace Evangelical Free Church // Wyoming, MNEcclesiastes 4:1-3 Again I saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun. And behold, the tears of the oppressed, and they had no one to comfort them! On the side of their oppressors there was power, and there was no one to comfort them. 2 And I thought the dead who are already dead more fortunate than the living who are still alive. 3 But better than both is he who has not yet been and has not seen the evil deeds that are done under the sun.
INTRODUCTION
Good morning, Grace. We’re already a quarter of the way through Ecclesiastes. I hope it’s been anywhere close to as much of a gift to you all as it has been to me. God has used it to rekindle a love in me for those living with an under the sun view of life and an eagerness to keep my head above the sun.
Last week we considered the Preacher’s considerations on justice/injustice. This week we’ll consider his considerations on a particular form of injustice: oppression. Insodoing, we’ll see that the Preacher made four observations about oppression which led him to two conclusions. Before we get to all of that, though, we’ll first settle on a definition of oppression and get a brief overview of oppression in the Bible. That way, we’ll be in a better place to make sense of what the Preacher wrote.
The big idea of this passage is that oppression is everywhere and it is one of the most grievous things known to God and man. The bigger idea and takeaway, however, is that because God saved the world through the oppression of His Son, God’s people are liberated to liberate. We are freed from the oppression of sin to work toward freeing the oppressed, body and soul.
OPPRESSION
Definition
Oppression is talked about a lot today, isn’t it? It’s uncommon to go to any news site or turn on any news station and not be confronted with the topic. Like injustice, whenever we encounter oppression two things are virtually inevitable. First, we feel it deeply. And second, it’s defined loosely.
Of the second inevitability (loosely defined), consider this quote (from a Ligonier publication, Rev. Robert Rothwell, Tabletalk magazine, November 2022.)
Often, at least in the West, people cry “oppression” when[ever] they are told that they cannot do something they want to do. Tell a woman who wants to terminate her pregnancy for any reason whatsoever that she cannot do so, and you might be called an oppressor. Reject the notion that two men can get married, and somebody will accuse you of oppressing people who engage in homosexual acts.
But is it oppression simply to be restricted from doing something that you really want to do? Of course not. Laws are made all the time that restrict us from being able to do what we want to do. Are speed limits oppressive? What about laws against murder?
Oppression cannot be conceived of merely as a restriction on something we might want to do.
When we understand oppression as being told we can’t do something we really want, especially when we really believe what we really want is really tied to our personhood, it’s easy to see why it feels really painful.
But if that’s not an adequate understanding of oppression, what is? Again, I’ll quote from the same article for the beginning and foundation of a definition.
[Oppression is] an offense against justice and the humane treatment of others, but who gets to define justice and humane treatment? Ultimately, it is God, who defines justice and kindness in His moral law, which is revealed in the conscience and given to us in Scripture.
In the most basic terms, building on what we just read, according to God’s Word, oppression is sinfully holding someone down economically, morally, legally, or in the way of their innate dignity as a divine image bearer; it is exploitation; it is imposing unbiblical and unbearable burdens on another.
In the Bible, oppression is a very real, a very important, a very prevalent and a very wicked concept.
Given this definition, it’s even easier to see why it’s so painful to experience. More than simply not getting what we want (or believe we deserve), to be oppressed according to God’s Word is to held back from some good thing God means us to have or some good thing God designed us to need. And of course that hurts a lot wherever it is found.
If that’s what oppression is, how does the Bible present it? How does it show up in the Bible? How does God feel about and respond to it? How does God expect His people to feel about and respond to it? Is there anything that can be done about it?
Biblical Overview
Consider with me eight broad biblical principles on oppression.
Oppression is the occasion for many woes in the Bible.
Isaiah prophesied, “Woe to those who decree iniquitous decrees, and the writers who keep writing oppression, to turn aside the needy from justice and to rob the poor of my people of their right, that widows may be their spoil, and that they may make the fatherless their prey” (Isaiah 10:1)!
Likewise, the LORD spoke through the prophet Jeremiah, “Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness, and his upper rooms by injustice, who makes his neighbor serve him for nothing and does not give him his wages…” (Jeremiah 22:13).
“Woe” and especially “Woe to” are cries of ruin. It is a declaration that things can’t get worse for someone. And in this case, it is because oppression is an insult to God (Proverbs 14:31; James 2:6). “Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker….”
It’s often easy for those with good definitions to look down on those who are zealous against oppression without clarity on it. Likewise, it’s often easy for those who are zealous against oppression to look down on those who worry a great deal about the details when so many are suffering so much. It is rare to find anyone with a right definition paired with an appropriate zeal. It is right and good and necessary, therefore, for us to ask for the Spirit’s help to think God’s thoughts and feel God’s feelings regarding oppression.
There are few matters more serious than oppression in the Bible because there are few things more disgusting and insulting to God than the oppression of God’s creatures by God’s creatures.
And for that reason…
“Do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart.” Moses wrote, “You shall not pervert the justice due to your poor in his lawsuit. Keep far from a false charge, and do not kill the innocent and righteous, for I will not acquit the wicked.”
God’s people are forbidden from oppressing anyone, especially those who are easiest to oppress. This is not a suggestion or one good option among others. It is one of many prohibitions from the most high God. We are not even to go near those who oppress others, for their guilt is now and their destruction is imminent.
“The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble” (Psalm 9:9).
One of the primary ways He functions as a stronghold is in that He hears (listens to and answers) the prayers of the oppressed.
“Then we cried to the Lord, the God of our fathers, and the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression” (Deuteronomy 26:7).
And again, “O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted; you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more” (Psalm 10:17-18).
It is right, therefore, to echo the Psalmist’s plea whenever we are oppressed. “Redeem me from man’s oppression, that I may keep your precepts” (Psalm 119:134).
God provides protection to the oppressed who cry to Him. God is the one sure place of refuge. Believe that, Grace. Pray that, Grace. His answer might not be exactly what you hope for (for various reasons, including one we’ll consider in a bit), but He does hear and is working for all who turn to Him.
Pray this way for yourself and all who feel the crushing weight of oppression.
One such way is that He brings the oppressor to poverty, “Whoever oppresses the poor to increase his own wealth, or gives to the rich, will only come to poverty” (Proverbs 22:16).
Another way is that he draws near for judgment against “those who oppress the hired worker in his wages” (Malachi 3:5).
And on the positive side, “The LORD works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed” (Psalm 103:6).
Many in our world today argue (for all kinds of reasons) that we need to be an advocate for the oppressed. That is true, as we’re about to see. But our advocacy will never find its proper place when it is divorced from our dependance on God’s infinitely superior advocacy. We are not the oppressed’s true hope, God is.
“Give the king your justice, O God, and your righteousness to the royal son! 2 May he judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with justice! 3 Let the mountains bear prosperity for the people, and the hills, in righteousness! 4 May he defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to the children of the needy, and crush the oppressor!”
One of the most fundamental aspects of the righteous leader’s job description is to ensure justice for the oppressed; to judge justly, especially for the most vulnerable. The righteous leader’s job is to join God in defending the oppressed, fighting for their deliverance, and making it so the oppressor can never oppress again (the authorities must not bear the sword in vain).
We must be a people who pray for righteous leaders in our country and around the world; leaders who hate oppression as God does and fight against it with God’s authority. The apostle Paul commands us to do so.
1 Timothy 2:1-2 I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.
Fighting against oppression and for the oppressed is not merely for God and His rulers, though.
“Thus says the Lord: Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place” (Jeremiah 22:3).
Isiah echoes this and adds “…learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause” (Isaiah 1:7).
It is not an option for God’s people to remain indifferent to the oppression we witness. And we’re not merely to avoid oppressing others or feel bad about the oppression of others. We must join God and the authorities appointed by God in delivering the oppressed and correcting oppression.
Every one of us must find ways—in prayer, advocacy, fostering, TFG, feeding, clothing, anti-trafficking, supporting pro-life causes, etc.—to actively work for justice and toward the deliverance of the oppressed as well as the correction of the oppression.
If we’re not careful we’ll throw the baby out with the bathwater here. Many already have. Christians tend to fear talking like this because we hear this language mainly from those who do not honor God as God. The Church has largely abandoned this vocabulary and cause to the godless and the result is that oppression and correction are mis-defined and, therefore, the oppressed are often only further oppressed.
Let us stand up, Church, for all those reasons, but mostly because…
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:18-19).
These words of Jesus were a fulfillment of God’s frequent promises in the OT. For instance, “In righteousness you shall be established; you shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear; and from terror, for it shall not come near you” (Isaiah 54:14).
It is a grave error to believe that Jesus is indifferent to the earthly oppression of the world (as many have committed). But it is an even greater error to believe that liberation from earthly oppression is our greatest need (as even more are committing today).
Jesus did come to call mankind to repent of the sin of oppression and to work against it. But earthly oppression is but a picture of the immeasurably greater spiritual oppression that is ours at the hands of sin. Sin is a cruel, oppressive master, one we’re all born in bondage to, and one which always ultimately pays the wages of death.
Jesus did come to liberate the world from economic, moral, racial, and legal oppression. He called His people to work against it now and promised that one day all of that will be done away with forever. But even more significantly, Jesus came to graciously liberate us from our spiritual oppression; to pay sin’s eternally oppressive wages for all who hope in Him.
Consider Moses’ words concerning the Israelites, God’s chosen people, who were increasingly oppressed at the hands of their Egyptian masters.
“But the more they [the Israelites] were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad. And the Egyptians were in dread of the people of Israel” (Exodus 1:12).
God was a stronghold for them. He heard their cries and brought justice to them. More than that, He caused them to thrive more and more in order to demonstrate His physical power over every oppressive power.
And what was true on the physical level for Israel, was also true spiritually for the early Church. Their oppression at the hands of angry Jews and Romans only led to their rapid growth and increased joy. Again demonstrating that God’s spiritual power is over every other oppressive spiritual power.
In Acts 8:1-8 we read, “… And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. …4 Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. 5 Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. 6 And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip, when they heard him and saw the signs that he did. 7 For unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. 8 So there was much joy in that city.”
The world around us only has one category for oppression and the oppressed—an under the sun category where oppression is loosely defined, the oppressed are always in the right, and there is no real redemption for the oppressed or the oppressor. But God’s Word tells us of another category—an above the sun category where there is clarity, honesty, and salvation for oppressor and oppressed alike.
THE PREACHER’S OPPRESSION OBSERVATIONS
As I mentioned earlier, in the Bible, oppression is a very real, a very important, a very prevalent, and a very wicked concept. As we turn our attention back to our text for this morning, we are right to wonder how much of that the Preacher understood and/or believed. The answer, as we’ll see, is very little. He made four observations and from them, he drew two conclusions.
Oppression Was Everywhere the Preacher Looked
Looking at the beginning of v.1 in our passage we’ll see that the Preacher’s first observation was that there was oppression everywhere.
1 Again I saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun….
There really is nothing new under the sun, is there? What we hear and see so much of today was equally present (probably more so in a lot of ways) three thousand years ago. Everywhere the Preacher looked, he saw people oppressing and being oppressed. He was certainly right about this.
Oppression Was Crushing for the Oppressed
The second observation the Preacher made, which we see in the next clause in v.1, is that the oppressed were crushed to the point of weeping.
1 … And behold, the tears of the oppressed…
When the Preacher looked around, he not only saw oppression everywhere, but the devastation of the oppression everywhere.
Imagining his readers to be on the same path of seeking understanding and meaning as he was, the Preacher invited his readers to “behold” the tears of the oppressed. His implicit point was that whatever conclusions a person comes to regarding life under the sun, it must be able to accommodate the ever-present and soul-crushing reality of oppression.
That’s a good word, Grace. He was right about this too and it remains so today. A worldview worth adopting must be able to account for the sinfulness, the injustice, of the seemingly limitless oppression in the world today. And a truly Christian worldview must be able to do so consistent with a God who is sovereign, wise, and good.
Again, as I mentioned earlier, oppression has always been painful, and especially so for those who are limited to an under the sun perspective. Let us remember, therefore, the promise of God to hear the prayers of the oppressed, promises the Preacher seems to have missed.
The Oppressed Were Alone in their Despair
His third observation, still from v.1, is that not only were the oppressed crushed, but they were left alone in their crushed state.
1 … they had no one to comfort them!
And again at the end of v.1.
1 … and there was no one to comfort them.
God’s people were, evidently, indifferent to the oppression and the oppressed. Oppressors kept oppressing and the oppressed remained oppressed. No one was doing anything about it.
In repeating this observation, the Preacher seems to have been silently lamenting the fact that neither God nor anyone else had intervened on behalf of the oppressed. Curiously, though, it didn’t seem to have occurred to the Preacher, the King over Israel, to be a comforter himself.
Grace, may this never be the case among us. May we never forget that we are the hands and feet of Jesus. May we never forget that God’s care and comfort often come through His people—through us. And may these never-forgotten truths find expression in our lives such that no one within reach of Grace Church would suffer oppression undefended or the pain of oppression uncomforted. May we not merely (like the Preacher) lament the injustice. May we instead continually work in faith to deliver, correct, and sit with the oppressed.
More importantly, may we never forget God’s promise to defend and bring about justice for the oppressed. May we work hard, in faith, according to God’s commands for the cause of the oppressed, but may we never forget that it is always God working through us when we the oppressor is pushed back and the oppressed are comforted.
Oppression Is Only Possible when Someone Misuses their Power
The fourth and final observation made by the Preacher regarding the ever-present, ever-crushing, never-comforted oppression he saw was that it was perpetrated by the powerful.
1 … On the side of their oppressors there was power…
The great irony in this is that the Preacher is either Solomon or the voice of Solomon, one of the most powerful people to ever walk the face of the earth. If ever there was someone with power sufficient to address this kind of oppression it was him.
And the greater irony is that Solomon’s actions (outlined in 1 Kings 11) contributed greatly to the oppression the Preacher so mournfully witnessed.
Again, Grace, may we learn to lament the oppression as the Preacher did. But may we also learn to from what the Preacher didn’t do; that is, may we learn to use whatever power the LORD grants to do more than merely lament.
Power, in any measure, is given to be used exclusively for the good of others. It is never to be wielded selfishly, much less oppressively.
Older siblings, hear this. Men, hear this. Bosses, hear this. Parents, hear this. Elders, hear this. Civic leaders, hear this. Repent of using your God-given power and authority for your own selfish gain. And woe to those whose selfish gain comes from the exploitation of those whom you’re charged to love and serve.
And, Grace, may this also point us to the fierce kindness of God once again. All the power of God was unleashed on the Son on the cross in order to crush the oppressor and the greatest oppression of all (condemnation and death), and to rescue and restore the oppressed. He is our God and guide.
THE PREACHER’S OPPRESSION CONCLUSIONS
Given his observations, what were the Preacher’s conclusions? What did it mean that oppression was everywhere at the hands of the powerful, resulting in comfortless despair? How much of what we saw about oppression in the Bible come to bear on his conclusions?
It Is Better to Be Dead than Alive (2)
First, consider v.2.
2 And I thought the dead who are already dead more fortunate than the living who are still alive.
Oppression is so bad, so wicked, so evil, and so prevalent that it is impossible to not be negatively affected by it. There is truly a way in which understanding the oppression on earth (in quantity and quality) is to have joy continually stolen from you. It can’t not.
The Preacher’s first conclusion is that it is better to be done with it all. He said in the previous passage that he wasn’t sure what happens after we die, but he was sure that it’s better than witnessing the tears of the oppressed.
In life, we carry the burden of the pain of oppression continually. In death, whatever happens, at least our eyes are closed to the misery of the oppression, the Preacher reasoned.
How’s that for a first conclusion. Not “So I determined to comfort the hurting” or “So I determined to put a stop to it.” Not even, “so I cried out to God on behalf of those who cried out in the pain of their oppression.” Simply, the Preacher concluded, death is better than witnessing the oppression on earth.
It Is Better Still to Have Not Yet Been Born (3)
Maybe his second conclusion would be more faithful, more hopeful, more responsible?
3 But better than both is he who has not yet been and has not seen the evil deeds that are done under the sun.
What’s better than witnessing all the pain of the oppressed? Death, for when we’re dead we can no longer see the oppression. What’s better than death? Never having been born, for then we never had to see the oppression to begin with.
What a cynical, grievous, under the sun view of life. As we make our way through the rest of Ecclesiastes, we’ll see that the Preacher does have a bit more to say than just this, but that doesn’t change the fact that he did say this. As with many other things, the Preacher just can’t seem to get his head above the sun when trying to make sense of the things he saw in this life. And yet, as always, he’s exactly right if all we can see is all there is.
As I’ve said over and over, many people in your life, perhaps many in this room, are in the same place. They can’t get their head above the sun enough to see anything other than the grievous vanity of things on earth. They can’t imagine any real help, healing, or solution to the oppression so prevalent and destructive.
It is our responsibility and privilege to share the good news with them that there is indeed, in the person of Christ, real help, healing, and salvation, in this life and the next. That’s largely the point of the meal we’re about to turn to.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, the title of this sermon is “Death Is Better than Oppression.” You may have noticed that has a double meaning. It was certainly the Preacher’s conclusion as he contemplated the limitless tears of the oppressed. We could learn a great deal form his grief over something that grieves God so deeply.
At the same time, and in a more important way, it also refers to Jesus’ response to the deadly oppression of sin. He preferred His own death to the eternal oppression of His people. Death was better than oppression for Jesus in the sense that He would rather die for the spiritual oppression of the world than allow His people to remain in it.
Again, that’s why we turn to the table now, to celebrate exactly that!