The title for our message this morning is Oppression Under the Sun. As I was preparing my message this week, I thought this is something again that you could find in the midst of our headline news. It's amazing how much if you've noticed in the past 20, 30 years, so much has been about oppression and the oppressor. That all in the context of race and communism socialism and capitalism. It's all about the oppressed and the oppressor. That's not all that different than what we saw in Ecclesiastes chapter 3, where instead of talking about the oppressed and the oppressor, we talked about justice and the lack of justice. Now we focused last week in the context of the Lord making all things beautiful, in the context of the time and how the Lord has a time for everything, in the fullness of the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, but also the emptiness and the cyclical nature of everything. Without seeing him as the great purpose in all things, we focused on how there is a judgment day and that God will judge. Verse 17, I said in my heart God shall judge the righteous and the wicked for there is a time for every purpose and for every work. And we saw how that went back to the Lord making everything beautiful. But we didn't dwell much on the verses before it. Verse 16, moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there. In the place where there's supposed to be faithfulness, righteousness, and truth, there was corruption and wickedness, and that iniquity was there. In other words, you're not going to find justice in this life, in this world. There is no justice, there is only corruption. And we could say those people who scream about social justice, which really, in root, is no justice. Justice is always justice according to the law, not according to power-broking and controlling who gets what. As we'll see, that's the game of the oppressed and the oppressor. But just as under the sun, apart from God, apart from the Lord himself, the one who will deliver us for Jesus' sake, apart from keeping our minds and our hearts on him, not only will there be no justice, but as we'll see in chapter four, there will be no comfort. There will be no comfort. Chapter four, verses one through three, talks about oppression. And though we won't develop it, oppression is an amazingly big and deep theme in the scriptures. Whether that is, for example, the oppression of the people of Israel and Egypt, whether that would be all the different Proverbs that talk about oppression and how the poor are to be cared for, or preeminently so, and perhaps the greatest theme that would unite them all, that in the Lord Jesus Christ, we are free and free indeed. He is our great liberator from sin and the devil, the great one who has saved us and set us free. But we're gonna consider oppression under the sun. So I returned and I considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun and beheld the tears of such as were oppressed. They had no comforter. And on the side of the oppressors there was power, but they had no comforter. Wherefore I praise the dead, wherefore I praise the dead, which are already dead, more than the living which are yet alive. Yea, better is he than both they, yea, better is he than both they, which hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun. Well, oppression under the sun, and the first thing we see are the differences. The differences. Firstly, the differences are the oppressor, the one doing the oppression, and the oppressed. Well, what does it mean to be oppressed? What does it mean to be oppressed? It means to be put down, treated wrongly, unfairly, to be abused, to be held down. That's what it means to be oppressed. What does it mean to be an oppressor? Well, it means you're the one holding the people down. It means you're the one subjecting them to your power. This is a theme throughout our lives. The difference, you might say, is one is put low, the other is put low by someone higher up. And we're familiar with this. I've mentioned it just in the context of the news. It's so much of the way people think these days are in the context of the oppressed or the oppressor. And how there must be government interference to make things quote unquote fair. Or in other words, you have one group that was being oppressed by another group. Well now what has to happen? The scales have to be balanced and those who were oppressed now have to oppress the others. And you see this in all different types of approaches to things, whether it's affirmative action, whether it's what some people call anti-racism. All it is is swapping out the roles of the oppressor and the oppressed. And sadly, neither side does what God's word calls us to do, and that is simply enforce the law of God. Because you can't find the law anywhere else. Even the law that people would find without God, natural law reflecting on creation, that comes from God too, whether they acknowledge it or not. That's the first difference between the oppressor and the oppressed. And we see this not only in the news, maybe you felt it with what we would call a bully. You ever been bullied by somebody? They look down on you. They make fun of you. They try and get other people to think poorly of you. They try and get you to think poorly of you. Maybe they push you around, give you a smack, beat you up. They bully you with their fists. Maybe they bully you with their words. They say mean, they say hurtful things. They seek to manipulate, to keep you down and use you. That's oppression too. I think with bullies, we classically think of public schools, at least that's how I think of them. That's when I was exposed to them. But bullies aren't limited to public school. Maybe some of you have found bullies at work. Because they're all over the place. Whether you're on a framing crew, whether you're on a concrete crew, whether you are in an office, doesn't make a difference. Wherever there are people, there are often bullies. And not just for workplaces. Sadly, in the church, there can be bullies too. Sadly, in the church, there can be bullies too. Pastors, elders, deacons, even certain members of the church, they try and bully people. They don't tell them what God's word said and that they have to do things according to God's word, what do they do? They try and hurt people, they try and manipulate people. and they use the power of the office of minister, they use the power of the office of elder, they use the power of the office of deacon, or they use their own supposed standing in the congregation as a member to manipulate, control, force, and bully people. And it's hurtful, and it should not be done. There's special judgment for God's office bearers when they do those things. And what a horrible witness it is when someone claims to be a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, to love him and love the brethren, and they bully others. Rather, what are we called to do? Just simply follow the word of God. Do what God's word says. But there's not just bullies in the workplace, or in school, or sadly, even in the church. In families, there can be bullies too. Maybe a brother or a sister. Sadly, even sometimes a husband or a wife, they act as bullies. And that's not right. You can find this whole dynamic of the oppressed and the oppressor everywhere. Everywhere. And it seems like Nietzsche, being a cultural observer and a prophet, Realizing in our way of thinking in the modern world, God is dead. So what are we left with? Power. And what is that? But power to oppress. There was one Jewish atheist who was talking about evolution and how he didn't feel there was any value in evolution scientifically. And he was reminded how other scientists say, well, if we accept intelligent design or creation science, well, we're going to return to the Middle Ages and to the inquisitors who are going to persecute people. And he said we should follow the scientific theory and truth wherever it leads us. And as a little funny line, but all too often is true in the hearts of people, he said, and I'm quite happy to return to the inquisition as long as I'm on the side of the inquisitors. In other words, as long as he had the power. And notice the second dynamic then in our text isn't just about the oppressed and the oppressor, but it's about their experience. That's the difference. So I returned and considered all the oppressions that are under the sun, and behold, the tears of such as were oppressed. The tears of the oppressed. That is the lot of the oppressed. Tears, grief, sadness, sorrow. But what is on the hand of the oppressor? What is on the hand of the oppressor? This is where we begin to see some of the interesting things for translation of these verses. As the text continues, and behold, the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter. Then it says, and on the side of the oppressors, or on the other hand, on the hand of the oppressors, on the hand of the oppressors, or on the side of the oppressors, there was power. They have the power. They have the power. Tears and power. That seems to be what it is tied down to, doesn't it? Maybe you've shed those tears because you were bullied because you were oppressed. And maybe you went from being an oppressor, sorry, maybe you went from being one of the oppressed to be the oppressor. because you didn't want to shed any tears anymore and you wanted to have the power. Maybe you were sick of being bullied so you became a bully. That happens right away. You become the monster so the monster won't hurt you. It's sad. Maybe you've been there. Nobody likes being in tears. Maybe you're foolish enough to think better to be the oppressor with the power, but it's not so. It's not so. How come? How come? Well, we'll see a bit further from verse two and following because better to never have been born than to deal with this dynamic of the oppressor and the oppressed, to deal with the problems of the tears and the problems of the power. But there is a similarity. there is a similarity. And you notice what the similarity is? The similarity is neither the oppressor or the oppressed. Neither the one with the power or the tears has a comforter. Has a comforter. If you look at the text, so I returned and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun. He's looking at all these oppressions, all these power dynamics and the way people are mistreated by those who are in power. By the way, who better to make that observation than Solomon? Not only is he wiser than anyone, not only is he richer than anyone, but he is the king in Israel. He has a chance to see oppression and its results. Maybe, as some have considered in light of the life of Solomon, he's reflecting on the fact that maybe he was an oppressor at times. Either way, what better person to consider all the oppressions that are done under the sun? And behold, the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter. We can understand that, but the oppressed have no comforter. They don't have any power, and there's no one to come and save them, no one to come and help them, no one to come and guide them, no one to come and strengthen them, no one to come and liberate them. They have no comforter. But on the side or the hand of their oppressors, there was power. They had power, they had ability, they had authority, they were able to exercise their will. I already noticed how on the side means on the other hand. Well, some people tie on the side or on the hand to power because the hand, some would argue, would exercise the power. Some going on for the text would say, and on the side of their oppressors there was power, but they had no comforter. And it's interesting to think about the parallelisms in Hebrew. Is this simply a refrain? Is this a refrain like in a song where the idea that they had no comforter is repeated in the context of the one that is oppressed? They were oppressed and they had no comforter. And then, but they had no comforter. Is it a refrain about each separate group? Maybe the similarity between the oppressor and the oppressed is they have no comforter. Is they have no comforter. Not only is that an interesting possibility to discuss when you consider the parallelism But notice, as we'll see in the future, the crashing conclusion that drops like a sledgehammer. And it doesn't make this conclusion for the oppressed. It makes an absolute blanket conclusion for the oppressor and the oppressed. Wherefore I praise the dead which are already dead more than the living, which are yet alive. Yea, better is he than both they which hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work which is done under the sun. In light of that amazing conclusion which we'll consider later and in some of the discussions about what the parallelisms in Hebrew to be, I submit to you that neither the oppressor or the oppressed has a comforter. Maybe you've been a bully. What's it like to be a bully? Maybe when you're doing the bullying, it feels good because you're putting somebody else down, but you are absolutely alone. Nobody likes the bully, no one trusts the bully. People use the bully, but nobody likes the bully because everybody knows the bully would bully them too. Maybe you've been a bully at work, or in your family, or at church, or at school. You know that's the case. I hope if you've gotten older, you found that out. And if you're a bully right now, you know exactly what I'm saying. You know exactly what I'm saying. Sometimes I think between the oppressor and the oppressed, who is the one more greatly to be pitied? Sometimes I wonder if it's not the oppressor. So whether linguistically or practically, the oppressed and the oppressor have no comforter here under the sun. They have no comforter under the sun. And to put it to you simply this way, we're all losers, whether we're the oppressed or the oppressor, without comfort. That leads to this astonishing conclusion. Not all that different than the conclusion that we saw when it came to justice. Not only in the context of God's timing of things and the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ, but that which hath been is now and that which is to be already hath been and God requireth that which is past in verse 15 of chapter three. And moreover, I saw under the sun the place of judgment. a place where there's supposed to be righteousness, fairness, objectivity, faithfulness to God's laws. I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there, and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there. Again, note the parallelism. That even in those places where truth is supposed to be hallowed most. Boys and girls, do you remember in the United States how Lady Justice is depicted? She's a woman who's blindfolded, that has a set of scales to be weighed justly, and a sword to carry out justice and punishment rightly, objectively, and in the history of our nation according to God's law. It's quite striking, you'll see pictures of her now. And there are many people, sadly, in our culture who think Lady Justice needs to pull down one of the sections of the blindfold so she can see, pay special attention. Justice, social justice, oppressed the oppressor. It's amazing how relevant Ecclesiastes is to us. But like with all things under the sun, Vanity. Surety of judgment. For what purpose? Ecclesiastes chapter 3. To show us we're all beasts. And we saw just the beginning of how the scriptures talk about how men are made beasts before God. And that, without understanding God and His salvation and His purposes in Jesus Christ, and that simply trying to make sense of life as it presents itself to us, not without the marvelous special revelation of our Lord and His plan of salvation in Christ. No. For the oppressed and the oppressor, there is simply no comfort. No comfort. And that is why the Lord sent the Comforter. Turn with me just to consider a couple passages in John chapter 14. In John chapter 14. John chapter 14, our Lord Jesus, being the one who comes to make all things beautiful, like we've mentioned previously in Ecclesiastes chapter three, God carries out that beautification in him. John 14 verse 16. He says, and I will pray the Father and he shall send you another comforter. Isn't that interesting? This is the paraclete, the one who comes alongside. You can talk about best translations of Greek words and best translations of Hebrew words, but notice how our Lord Jesus knows exactly what is missing and knows exactly what his people need. They need a comforter. They need a comforter. Verse 26. John chapter 14. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you. And notice where the comfort comes from. The comfort comes from the Comforter bringing you to the word of God. The Comforter comes, and what does He do as He gives us the Word of God? To use the language of Ecclesiastes and the setting of Ecclesiastes, He lifts our eyes above the sun to our great God and His faithfulness. He lifts our eyes above the sun, takes our eyes off the way people try and make sense of this world apart from God's Word. and he shows us how to think and how to live in light of who God is and what he's done in Jesus Christ as the word of God testifies to. Notice how practical this is. This changes how you go to school if you go to school. This changes how you run your workplace and act in your workplace. This changes how your family is structured. This silences the foolishness of the claims of Nietzsche and puts us back on the right foundation of God's word for every aspect of life. And it brings so much comfort. and not just a comfort for a child of God knowing his salvation is sure, knowing God will work all things together for good, but a comfort that children of God are to share. Turn with me to 2 Corinthians chapter one, verse four. 2 Corinthians chapter one, verse four. Beginning of verse three. Second Corinthians chapter one. Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort, who comforteth us in all our tribulation. If you're oppressed, your God is there to comfort you, even if no one else is there to comfort you. But that's a revelation from above the sun. who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble. It's not just a comfort for them and a comfort that ends with them, but a comfort they can share, an understanding they can share, a way of viewing life and the world and the personal comfort of knowing God has a plan and is working all things together for his glory and the good of his people. Something to share. that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. Puts aside every false comfort. How do the oppressed often think they will find comfort? Especially in our cultural setting, here in the United States and even in parts of Europe. We'll become the oppressor. They do that in psychological tests and experiments. What will comfort the oppressed? We'll make you the oppressor. We'll give you what those who oppress took from you. We will give you the power to have your will be done on those who did their will upon you. I think there's comfort in that. But there's no comfort for the oppressed or the oppressor. The bully and the bullied person both don't have comfort. The only place to find comfort is in the Lord who makes all things beautiful, is in his glorious work and all the things above the sun that are revealed in the word about our Lord Jesus Christ and about his salvation. All those things that used to be the foundation of our culture and society. Well, what is the conclusion then? Well, there certainly is a conclusion for those who are looking for things above the sun, but that's not the conclusion given us because the conclusion here in Ecclesiastes is for those who will only make sense of things below the sun, under the sun. And what conclusion are you left with as you consider the oppressor and the oppressed and the whole dynamic associated with it. Well, twofold, kind of grows in strength. Again, I considered all travail and every work that for this a man is envied, oh sorry, verse two, not verse four, chapter four, verse two of Ecclesiastes. What's his response as he sees there is no comforter? Wherefore I praise the dead. Praise the dead. Better to be dead. Wish I was dead. Better to be dead. Notice how it develops. Wherefore I praise the dead. You think that'd be strong enough, right? Which are already dead. The dead who are dead. that are already dead. It's lovely the contrast that's built here. I praise the dead which are already dead and he emphasizes more than the living which are yet alive. Better to be dead than alive when you consider the dynamic of the oppression and the oppressed and the comfortlessness of both. Better to be dead but more. That's the first thing he says. The second thing, the second thing is even more staggering. It's better to be dead than alive. And he says, yea, yea, better is he than both they. Better to be this than dead or alive. Which hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun. If you got the choice from being dead or being alive, don't choose either, just choose never to be born. Choose never to be born. Because if you're dead, that meant you were alive and you saw how horrible this is, and how vain and empty this is. And if you're alive, you're experiencing it now. The best thing to be is never born. It's never born. I think Solomon here is developing, in some ways crowning and refining some of the themes Job tells us. One of the things Job does as a man of faith holds on to the revealing of God that has been made thus far, and he receives other revelations. But one of the things we found out at the end of the book is God is what we would call incomprehensible. We can't wrap our minds all the way around him, and when things in life don't make sense, we have to trust him. Job began to ask the question, well, what's the point of trusting in God? When it seems like the same thing happens to me, it happens to others, or worse happens to me, or worse happens to others. Notice that parallels Ecclesiastes powerfully. And as Job is afflicted by the devil, but as far as Job knows from God, in Job chapter three, what does he say? After this opened Job his mouth and cursed his day. Boys and girls, he cursed his birthday. We celebrate our birthdays, he cursed his. Let the day perish wherein I was born and the night in which it was said there is a man child conceived. "'Let that day be darkness. "'Let not God regard it from above, "'neither let the light shine upon it. "'Let darkness and the shadow of death stain it. "'Let a cloud dwell upon it. "'Let the blackness of the day terrify it. "'As for that night, let darkness seize upon it. "'Let it not be joined unto the days of the year. "'Let it not come into the number of the months. "'Day or night, he hates that day, "'that day he was born. Lo, let that night be solitary. Let no joyful voice come therein. Let them curse it, that curse the day, who are ready to raise up their morning. Let the stars of the twilight therefore be dark. Let it look for light that have none. Neither let it see the dawning of the day, because it shut not up the doors of my mother's womb, nor hid sorrow from mine eyes. Why did I have to be born? Why did I have to see and experience all this? That is exactly the conclusion of Solomon in Ecclesiastes 3. Why died I not from the womb? Why did I not give up the ghost when I came out of the belly? Why did the knees prevent me? Or why the breast that I should suck? For now should I have lain still and been quiet. I should have slept then had I been at rest with kings and counselors of the earth. which built desolate places for themselves or with princes that had gold who filled their houses with silver or as in a hidden untimely birth I had been as infants which never saw the light there the wicked cease from troubling there the weary be at rest there the prisoners rest together they hear not the voice of thee oppressor. They hear not the voice of the oppressor. The small and great are there, and the servant is free from his master. Notice how as he is dealing, speaking, and reflecting all under the inspiration of the spirit, tied to his lament of the fact he was born is the dynamic of the oppressor and the oppressed. and the best thing is to simply be delivered from it all. Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery in life, unto the bitter in soul, which long for death, but it cometh not, and dig for it more than for hid treasure, where rejoice which rejoice exceedingly and are glad when they can find the grave? Why is light given to a man whose way is hid, and whom God hath hedged in? From my sign cometh before I eat, and my roarings are poured out like waters. For the thing which I greatly feared has come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me. I was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I quiet. Yet trouble came. That summarizes it right there. Same feeling that, same conclusion that is being reached by Solomon surveying things under the sun. Job is left without further revelation at this point and more comes, blessedly so. And child of God, maybe this is your experience too. Maybe that whole dynamic of the oppressed and the oppressor, bad stuff is going on in your life. People are victimizing you, they're using you, things don't make sense. You don't think anyone is there to help you, none understand. Maybe even like Job, God himself is against you. Maybe you're left with a conclusion, better I was never born. That's what life is like under the sun. Don't think, live, and act like life under the sun. Your life is hid with Christ as it were above the sun. Your guidance, your help, your comfort, your hope, your strength is in the word of God as Christ himself is revealed to you by the power of that same spirit. It shows you how to think, how to act, How to live. And it directs you powerfully to your comfort. That which you so greatly need. And this whole dynamic like we've seen in chapter three of God making things beautiful in His time and His purpose. And how we don't know God's purpose unless He reveals it. And how laboring in this life we travail and we can't make full sense of things and it's vain and it feels futile unless we look to Him That is exactly the way the dynamic of the comfort works. That is how one gets past this quagmire of the oppressor and the oppressed, looking above the sun in the saving work of Jesus Christ in God's great purposes. And the scriptures are full of it. That's how the scriptures talk about liberation, freedom, deliverance, all in the context of his plan of redemption. Psalm 94 verse 19. Psalm 94 verse 19. In the multitude of my thoughts within me, thy comforts delight my soul. What thoughts within him? What comforts that delight are tasty and marvelous and refreshing to his soul? all of God's work, all of God's judgments, all of God's doings and redemption. Matthew chapter five, verse four. Matthew chapter five, verse four. In the experience of the child of God that the Beatitudes express, blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. To put it to you in other language, blessed are those who realize what life is like under the sun. And as they look above it, they will be comforted. Isaiah chapter 51, verse 12. Isaiah 51, verse 12. I, even I am he that comforteth you. It is God. He is the one that comforts you. Like we saw from John 14. Christ sending another comforter. Him being the one who was the first to establish it. And the spirit to come along and apply it. So God's people would ever be led in the truth of the word. Ever have that eternal comfort. And like we saw from 2 Corinthians 1, verse four, comfort others with the comfort that only we have, because it's only we are the ones looking above the sun. And lastly, though many, many, many verses could be demonstrated to talk about comfort, just like many, many, many could to talk about oppression, the only true release from oppression The only true comfort comes when we look to God and His great plan. That's why we are free in Him and free indeed. Or as Revelation chapter seven verses 16 and 17 in one of the cycles of Revelation that runs through all of history in a parallel format. They shall hunger no more, "'neither thirst any more, "'neither shall the sun light on them nor any heat.'" In other words, they won't be burned or damaged. "'For the lamb which is in the midst of the throne "'shall feed them and shall lead them "'unto living fountains of waters, "'and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.'" The oppressed will no longer have tears. the oppressor will no longer have their power. And all those who by the grace of God and put their trust in him will find their comfort. That begins now in this life as you repent and believe and put your faith in Jesus Christ and honor him in his word and see things as the way we are called to above the sun rather than below it. Because if you don't, all you'll be left with is the game of the oppressor and the oppressed. Some of you may remember, a number of months ago, talking about the commandments about authority. Honor father and mother, and I used the phrase repeatedly, power, power, who's got the power? And how we all have a tendency to want to play the power game, rather than acknowledging the Lord. It's the same thing with a little oppressed and oppressor. Let us be free of this cycle of the oppressed and the oppressor under the sun, leaving ourselves comfortless, whether we have tears or power. Repent of such things. Hope every one of us individually, in our families. And would it be by the grace of God in our nation we would repent of this? and look to the Lord Jesus Christ. Find the comfort in him and live according to who he is, what he has done, and how he has revealed himself, and how he calls us to live. Just to put it to you a simple way, take a hold of the gospel. That's all of what God has been doing in creation and redemption. Don't live life under the sun. Live life above it. Amen, let us pray. Our Lord and our God, our great Heavenly Father, though it be painful for us, we thank Thee for this sad travail Thou hast given the sons of men to be exercised with, that we, as the Spirit would illumine our minds, would learn the vanity and futility of seeking to live or understand apart from Thy Word. So teach us, Lord, to honor Jesus Christ, to come to him in repentance and faith, to have that comfort that only the comforter can bring, and live according to what is true justice, so there would be no oppression, as we would honor thee, for thou art the one that hath all the power, all the authority. and all the good. Heavenly Father, we pray these things and we ask it for Jesus' sake alone. Amen.