{"id":878,"date":"2008-11-18T12:13:11","date_gmt":"2008-11-18T12:13:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2008\/11\/ecclesiastes_4_-_oppressions_contentment_and_relationships.shtml"},"modified":"2021-05-29T02:44:46","modified_gmt":"2021-05-29T02:44:46","slug":"ecclesiastes_4_-_oppressions_contentment_and_relationships","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2008\/11\/ecclesiastes_4_-_oppressions_contentment_and_relationships.shtml","title":{"rendered":"Ecclesiastes 4 – Oppressions, Contentment and Relationships"},"content":{"rendered":"

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. And I thought the dead who are already dead more fortunate than the living who are still alive. But better than both is he who has not yet been and has not seen the evil deeds that are done under the sun.<\/p>\n

Ecclesiastes 4:1-4<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

An appropriate lament in an era where individuals are losing their homes (some innocent, some not so much) and jobs while executives continue to get large paychecks, big bonuses, go on lavish retreats and at worst get golden parachutes.
\nEcclesiastes 4:6 – “Better is a handful of quietness than two hands full of toil and a striving after wind.<\/em>” Paul said something similar to Timothy<\/a> – “Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment”. But Christians continue to fall for the pattern of the world that says much toil and much gain brings contentment.
\nEcclesiastes 4:7-12 – Surrounding these verses much used in weddings is a larger, more general truth. Relationships are more beneficial than hard work or what it gains you. How many families have been ruined by a father’s lone ambition to succeed, perhaps couched in ‘providing for his family’?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 sideRead More Ecclesiastes 4 – Oppressions, Contentment and Relationships<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nEcclesiastes 4 - Oppressions, Contentment and Relationships - salguod.net<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2008\/11\/ecclesiastes_4_-_oppressions_contentment_and_relationships.shtml\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ecclesiastes 4 - Oppressions, Contentment and Relationships - salguod.net\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Again I saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun. 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Good thing and bad things happen to everyone, there is no rhyme or reason. The good have evil befall them and the evil have good events. It's random, not related to our own behavior. The rain falls\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Quiet Time Journal"","block_context":{"text":"Quiet Time Journal","link":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/quiet-time-journal"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":870,"url":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2008\/11\/ecclesiastes_2_-_joy_in_work.shtml","url_meta":{"origin":878,"position":1},"title":"Ecclesiastes 2 – Joy in Work","author":"Doug Schaefer","date":"November 3, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Ecclesiastes 2:1-11 - Who hasn't, at some time or another, thought that just a little more income or even just a one time windfall, would make our lives so much better. I know I do. 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