BIBLICAL ADVICE FOR LIVING UNDER OPPRESSION
Ecclesiastes 7:7-10 (ESV)

We live in oppressive times where canceling of free speech, including religious speech is no longer tolerated by its citizens and most notably the government. Today, I am going to show you from God’s Word that we are not supposed to look back at the “good old days” in comparison to the present, and we certainly are NOT to become angry. For God has allowed for both, and there is “a time” for everything. Let’s get started.

Ecclesiastes 7:7-10 (ESV) says:
“7 Surely oppression drives the wise into madness, and a bribe corrupts the heart.
8 Better is the end of a thing than its beginning, and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit. 9 Be not quick in your spirit to become angry, for anger lodges in the heart[a] of fools.10 Say not, “Why were the former days better than these?” For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.”

In our current state of decline in the United States and the West in general, I can see God’s wisdom playing out loudly in the world. The bottom line is that when we ask WHY the OLD days were so much better than the PRESENT, we are questioning God’s wisdom and plan for the world and our individual lives. It’s true. The world is always changing and it’s in God’s control-not ours. Let’s break down Ecclesiastes 7:7-10 in an effort to gain some better clarity as to what God is saying. 

1) FIRST: (Verse 7/Opening says) 
“Surely oppression drives the wise into madness, and a bribe corrupts the heart.”
A. Government oppression drives the law abiding, biblically wise citizen in the United States into “MADNESS”.

B. As God makes clear through Solomon, Bribes corrupt the heart. This is the current state of our Corporate/Marketplace and governmental leadership-including our Executive, Congressional, and some of our Judicial system. Bribes have become much the norm in society now through “Crony Capitalism” and “Judicial pay-offs”. But, SO WHATS? It’s all temporarily and these folks are digging an eternal hell hole for themselves. As such, we ought to be praying for them and for ourselves as God takes us through and not FROM this trial.

2) SECOND: (Verse 8 says) “Better is the end of a thing than its beginning,”

A. This was baffling for me to ingest and i'm confident that it is baffling from a human perspective, in general because the beginning of vacation, the start of a career, and the beginning of a marriage are always better than the “END”. Beginnings are exciting, fresh and new. The END of things are sad, sobering.

B. But, from God’s perspective, the BEGINNING is the start of something NEW. The end of LIFE in the flesh on earth is the beginning of LIFE in ETERNITY with God. The birth of a new born baby represents fresh life yet untained by the world-full of innocence and love. Death represents the opposite. The END is better than the BEGINNING because something new is right around the corner. For the old thing or older-person, it seems selfishly like the end. But, didn’t we as an older person get to live our lifetime and to enjoy it? I would suspect that those of us with very little would agree with this verse more than those of us with more.

3) THIRD: (Patience is better than pride)
“…and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.” (Vs.8b). 

I find verse 8b fascinating. It seems like people want friends who are “cool”, but what makes a person cool? Guys and girls like hard to get person to court, date or to marry. But why? Doesn't that amount to "playing games out of pride?" This is the modern attitude of our culture. In the end, it’s much better to be patient and selfless than to be selfish and prideful. (They both go together) I would assert that for the Christian, being patient and selfess is necessary to hear God’s will.

4) FOURTH: “9 Be not quick in your spirit to become angry, for anger lodges in the heart of fools."

When I was in Portugal, I mentioned the fact that anger and “road rage” has become such an epidemic that in the United States, there is an entire real life dash-cam television program on it (road rage). They were shocked. Verse 9 tells us to: “ Be not quick in your spirit to become angry, for anger lodges in the heart of fools.” 

We are (and look) foolish when we lose our patients (remember the previous verse 8). Losing our patients leads us to say things and do things we cannot take back and soon wish we hadn’t. We would be wise to learn the biblical discipline of patients and practice it daily.

5) FIFTH: (It’s a sin to look back to the “Good Old Days”)
Lastly, verse 9 tells us: 
“Say not, “Why were the former days better than these?”

IF we are honest with ourselves, we will admit that while the past had some incredibly great times-which were much simply times, there are as many exciting and meaningful times to be had in God's will-in the present. That’s if we allow God to have His way and not push forward with our own. 

A) In C.S. Lewis’ book “The Screwtape Letters”, the chief demon “Wormwood” tells his underling demon to keep the new Christian looking to the “good old days” of the past”, or things yet to come “In the future”, but whatever you do KEEP that believer OUT of the PRESENT. WHY? Because God has no past and has no future. He is a simple, infinite, omniscient and all power God. As such, He is “I AM” as one moment. And for us to be in the present is for us to be closest to God.

B) The bottom line is that the temptation for us to glorify the past at the expense of the present must be resisted. The pleasures or advantages of those DAYS may be more imaginary than real.

6) SIX AND LASTLY: (Asking God WHY the good old days were so much better than the present is not only futile but “unwise”.)

THE SECOND HALF of 10(b) says:
“For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.” (Vs. 10b)

A) This verse is the second part of vs. 10 which tells us not to look at the good old days or days yet to come but to stay in the present-“FOR it is not from wisdom that you ask this”. In other words, this verse exposes the fact that we live for the temporal pleasures in this life while God’s wisdom tells us that we are to live with a much broader view of reality and eternity for and in Him. 

As such, it is unwise for us to live with some romantic notion of what life was like in the past or what life is going to be like when the next turning in history comes. We are to embrace the present, however difficult and full of trials that might be. We must strive to understand and accept what God is doing and trust in that God is in control. And through this we will find that God will give us a JOYFUL (not necessary happy) heart. While it may seem like the world is falling apart, God has many things for you and for me to do for him in the PRESENT if we only look for it and ask God what He wants of us..

IN REALITY
This may entail some SUFFERING, TRIALS, GOOD TIMES and BAD. If we joyfully accepted so many decades of good times, we must be ready for some trials in life. God has a mission for you, me and our children in how we are to live out our lives in this crazy world. 

As such, should embrace that truth and avoid the APATHY trap of throwing up our hands and doing nothing-proclaiming that “Jesus is returning and overly focusing on trying to figure that out (speaking of the return of Christ) while a dying world void of hearing the Good News of Jesus Christ passes by. By doing so, we risk living a life of disobedience and the failure by decision to neglect fighting the good fight-against what God has for us in the present.

As I awoke this morning, I made the decision to look at life differently. It’s a choice. YES, we live in oppressive times where canceling of free speech, including religious speech is no longer tolerated by its citizens and most notably the government. God tells us that we are not supposed to look back at the “good old days” in comparison to the present, and we certainly are NOT to become angry. God has one special thing for you and for TODAY. And that is His plan for each of us in the present. I pray you will all embrace this truth as God’s plan unfolds.

Ecclesiastes 7:7-10 (ESV)
“7 Surely oppression drives the wise into madness, and a bribe corrupts the heart.
8 Better is the end of a thing than its beginning, and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit. 9 Be not quick in your spirit to become angry, for anger lodges in the heart[a] of fools.10 Say not, “Why were the former days better than these?” For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.

In our modern age, money, power, greed and lust now supersede godly, biblical character. In turn, this has reeked havoc upon the United States and countries around the world. Today, I am going to show you why a GOOD NAME REFLECTS GOOD CHARACTER, and WHY character is essential the success of any human being, nation and the world. 

According to JSTOR.ORG, in an article titled, “What Makes a Nation Great?” by A. Linscheid, Vol. 21, No.2 (Sept. 1943) pp. 76-81 (6 pages) Published by: Taylor & Francis Ltd., Linscheid opens with this: “Because the world is at war and war tests a people more rigorously  than peace can possibly test it, we hear some nations called great, others mediocre, still others atrocious or even worse. This brings us face to face with the question, “WHAT MAKES A NATION GREAT?”

“There are two factors and only two-natural resources and the character of the people who live in a country. Natural resources are important. There must be a sufficient amount of natural wealth to enable a considerable number of people to make a living according to a decent standard and to lay by something for a the proverbial rainy day. No great nation has ever grown up in the Sahara Desert, in the Desert of Gobi, or on the ice cap of the Arctic or the Antarctic. Natural resources are a prerequisite.”

“But when that has been said, it must also be said that of the two factors named, CHARACTER is by FAR the more important. There many instances where nations poor in resources have left a record rich in achievement ; and converse, there are nations relatively rich that have left no record worthy of the name. 

WHAT IS CHARACTER?

IN AN ARTICLE by HOUSTON CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY-Dunham Bible Museum, titled, “THE BIBLE AND AMERICAN CULTURE” by MARK A. NOLL, McNanis Professor of Christian Thought, Wheaton College, NOLL wrote this:

“Allene Stuart Phy once observed that there is often a “LUDICROUS DISCREPANCY…BETWEEN THE ANCIENT WISDOM OF SCRIPTURE AND THE VULGARITIES OF AMERICAN POP CULTURE.” But Phy also saw clearly that even there “VULGARITIES” show the “PROFOUND WAYS IN WHICH THE HOLY BOOKS OF THE JEWISH AND CHRISTIAN RELIGIOUS RELATE TO [the] LIVES OF AMERICANS”. 

Scripture and the Holy Spirit is what forms the Christian character. Let’s take a look at what the wisest man to ever lived, king Solomon said about CHARACTER in that forging a good name for yourself is much better than material wealth, power, fame and fortune. Let’s take a look.

Ecclesiastes 7:1 says: “A good name is BETTER than precious ointment , and the day of death than the day of birth” (ESV).

WHAT IS KING SOLOMON SAYING IN THIS VERSE?

First, we need to understand that the two parts of the verse (good name and death) go together as Solomon is making the simple point that the day of death is better IF one has made a GOOD NAME for himself during his or her lifetime.

Solomon is saying that a GOOD NAME is essential so that one’s life has a continued or lasting REPUTATION and INFLUENCE. It's easy to do a singular good thing or have a good reputation for short period of time-but difficult to carry that reputation over your entire lifetime into death. It's easy to start the race strong, but difficult to finish the race strong. 

Simply put, it's not easy, but rather difficult dififcult to achieve what Paul says to Timothy: 

“I HAVE FOUGHT THE GOOD FIGHT, I HAVE FINISHED THE RACE, I HAVE KEPT THE FAITH" (2 Timothy 4:7). 

Anyone can finish the race without keeping the faith and/or with a terrible, tainted reputation or name. But, it's worth keeping right with God as best we can to finish strong.

Solomon says that a good name is “BETTER THAN OINTMENT” which is PERFUME. Solomon is using “ointment” or “perfume” as a “word-picture” because his readers would know exactly the point he was making in that “perfume” was very expensive and exclusive, and only available to the very wealthy (in biblical times). 

Solomon used this as an illustration and a standard for comparing a good REPUTATION to wealth, riches (OINTMENT or PERFUME) which were very desirable, expensive, and out of reach items for most people in biblical times.

SO WHAT-WHT IS THE POINT?

The central POINT is that it’s the continued influence that our name carries long past our years of life on this earth and into eternity that is most important and what I want to focus on today.

Our name is really all we have, and a good name can be a special valued asset worth much more than all the riches of the world. If you have a good name, that name connects you with your past family ancestors and history, your present business, family and even community dealings. On the contrary (or the opposite) leads only to bad living which can and will ultimately derail and destroy your family name, personal reputation and standing in your family and community. 

Again, righteous living will accomplish quite the opposite in that people will want to do business with you, marry into your family, and TRUST you and those with a good name. REMEMBER, birds of the same feather flock together-meaning that good people tend to affiliate with others who speak the truth, are trustworthy and who have a good name and reputation.

LASTLY, your actions, words, teachings, character, and service will bless others in this life. It is almost impossible to comprehend the number of people you will effect for the good in the name of Jesus Christ when we make a “good name” for ourselves during the few days we have on this earth. 

All of us, including politicians and business leaders have made a name for ourselves, but not always a good one. Our national leaders have impacted many millions of lives-but not for the positive, right or good in many cases. But for many of us, neither have we.

WHEN we breathe their last, all of us will stand before God to give an account of our thoughts and actions towards God and others. In the end, our “NAME” or reputation will instruct those who come after us as to the what we DID or did NOT DO in good and bad character. That will be our reputation and that will be our legacy.

In closing, let’s remember that ALL of us make a name for ourselves, all of us will be known by our character, and all of us leave a LEGACY based on a good or bad name. Since we are guaranteed to leave a GOOD or BAD name and legacy, let’s leave a GOOD ONE. “A good name is BETTER than precious ointment , and the day of death than the day of birth” (Ecclesiastes 7:1 ESV).