Sermon Tone Analysis

Scripture Reading

Introduction

I wonder if you would agree with me this morning that the world we live in is not at all lacking in expressions and examples of evil.

We can think of the great evils of history… and there are many of them...

Herod the Great – the same Herod the Great of the Bible that slaughtered male children to try and kill Jesus in the process – was definitely an evil ruler.

The ancient historian Josephus recorded a good many of his wicked deeds, including killing three of his sons, killing his favorite wife of his ten wives, drowning a high priest, killing his mother-in-law, a few uncles

When the Roman Emperor Nero came to power after his adopted father died, he gradually went on a murderous rampage.

First, he killed his mother Agrippina the Younger, and then he killed his first and second wives.

Finally, he plotted to burn his whole city down, called the Great Fire of Rome, so he could rebuild it.

Then, after it all died down, he blamed the fire on the Christians and had them persecuted, tortured, and killed.

Saddam Hussein ruled Iraq with an iron fist and had conquest on his mind at all times with visions of ruling over a unified Arab Empire.

He wantonly invaded Iran and Kuwait, which devastated his army and economy.

On his orders, friends, enemies, and relatives were murdered.

He had his rivals and their children tortured and raped.

Muammar Gaddafi - As a tyrannical despot of Libya, he did all the things they usually do.

He squashed political opposition by making it illegal.

He banned private enterprise, freedom of speech, and any unsound books were burned.

Despite Libya’s great economic potential, few of his people actually experienced economic prosperity as he squandered most of it on funding terrorist groups.

His rule is considered one of the most brutal and totalitarian eras in North African history.

General Idi Amin overthrew the elected official Milton Obote and declared himself president of Uganda in 1971.

He launched a ruthless regime for over eight years, expelling 70,000 Asians, massacring 300,000 civilians, and bringing out the economic collapse of the country.

Cambodia, Pol Pot rounded up academics, scientists, teachers, city residents, religious leaders and pretty much anyone educated and put them into concentration camps where they were mass executed.

An estimated two million people died of starvation, execution, or disease during 1975 to 1979.

Many, many examples could be given of ruthless and despotic leaders in the world.

Many, many examples could be given of evils that have taken place, and that continue to take place even in our very day in the world.

Well, the world has changed little over the course of time.

And today, we will be looking Solomon’s observation of evil in his own day.

We will consider 2 evils that he saw abounding in his day.

And I trust that we will be suitably challenged to recognise that evil still exists just as much today, but that we will then be driven to the right response, as those who know Christ.

1.

The Evil of Oppression (vv.1-3)

1.1.

The Evil of Oppression Stated (v.1)

Preliminary Remarks

Begins by saying that he looked again, and "saw all the oppression that was taking place under the sun

In all his evaluation of the world, Solomon looks to those who are under this yoke of slavery, and even others who are simply oppressed by others.

He is grieved as he considers all the oppression that he sees around him.

Before we delve into the further words of Solomon regarding the evil of oppression, just a few remarks about oppression itself.

What is it that he's talking about?

In a nutshell, oppression leads to the exploitation of the weak and vulnerable by the strong.

As we look through the Scriptures, we can find numerous examples of those who were oppressed by those who had power over them.

The weak were oppressed...

Psalm 10:2

2 In pride the wicked hotly pursue the afflicted; Let them be caught in the plots which they have devised.

In prophesying to the Shepherds of Israel who were failing in their responsibility, God said through the prophet Ezekiel...

Ezekiel 34:4

4 You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured.

You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost.

You have ruled them harshly and brutally.

The poor were oppressed...

Proverbs 22:22

22 Do not exploit the poor because they are poor and do not crush the needy in court,

In pronouncing judgment upon Israel, God said through the prophet Amos...

Amos 2:6–7

6 This is what the LORD says: “For three sins of Israel, even for four, I will not turn back my wrath.

They sell the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals.

7 They trample on the heads of the poor as upon the dust of the ground and deny justice to the oppressed...

Widows and Orphans were oppressed...

Job 24:3

3 They drive away the orphan’s donkey and take the widow’s ox in pledge.

In Job's day, it was even apparent that children were taken away from their widowed mother due a debt that was owed...

Job 24:9

9 The fatherless child is snatched from the breast; the infant of the poor is seized for a debt.

Isaiah 1:23

23 Your rulers are rebels, companions of thieves; they all love bribes and chase after gifts.

They do not defend the cause of the fatherless; the widow’s case does not come before them.

Foreigners were oppressed...

Psalm 94:6

6 They slay the widow and the alien; they murder the fatherless.

Jeremiah 22:3

3 This is what the LORD says: Do what is just and right.

Rescue from the hand of his oppressor the one who has been robbed.

Do no wrong or violence to the alien, the fatherless or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place.

Ezekiel 22:29

29 The people of the land practice extortion and commit robbery; they oppress the poor and needy and mistreat the alien, denying them justice.

Servants were oppressed...

Exodus 1:11

11 So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh.

Exodus 3:9

9 And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them.

I need to pause and just bring our minds to our current context.

Oppression exists today...

Every category of oppressed that I've mentioned is around today, and they are nearby... they are not far away.

They live among and around us....

The question is, are we aware of it, and are we sensitive to what is happening?

Note the two things that Solomon sees as he looks at those oppressed.

1.1.1.

The Oppressed Shed Many Tears

As Solomon looks on, he says that he "saw the tears of the oppressed..."

Friends, if we've never been in a place of oppression, where undue power is wielded against us, we will struggle to truly understand and perceive the burden that it places on people.

Being under any form of oppression leads to a burden and hurt that is not easily described and conveyed with words.

Tears are a certain reality among those who are oppressed.

Psalm 42:9

9 I say to God my Rock, “Why have you forgotten me?

Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?”

Exodus 3:7

7 The LORD said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt.

I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering.

Judges 2:18

18 Whenever the LORD raised up a judge for them, he was with the judge and saved them out of the hands of their enemies as long as the judge lived; for the LORD had compassion on them as they groaned under those who oppressed and afflicted them.

Psalm 137:1

1 By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion.

The oppressed know what it is to carry a great burden on their shoulders, and very often the sense of hopelessness leads them to tears.