PROF.
BEN ONYEUKWU (REV.)
NCE
(English); Dip (Computer Studies); ND/HD (Journalism); Dip, BA (Theology) MA,
PhD.
Call: +2348037346939 E-mail: professorbenonyeukwu@yahoo.com
Deliverance from Human Slavery
Devotional Text: Exodus 3:1-10
INTRODUCTION:
The word “freedom”, according to the EN
English Dictionary is, “the state of being free of not being imprisoned or
enslaved. This implies that before freedom, one being freed must have been in
some sort of constraints or slavery. And, from the cited Dictionary, also, a
slave “is a person who is the property of another person and whose labour and
life is subject to that of the owner. This pictures the situation of the
children of Israel in Egypt, for over four hundred years, which the Lord God
said would be, pending the time He would set them free (Gen.15:9-14;Ex.
12:40-41). Thus, at the appointed time, “the LORD said, I have surely seen the
affliction of my people which are in Egypt and have heard their cry by reason
of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrow. And I am come down to deliver
them”... (Ex. 3:7-8). Also, for the purpose of clarity, please reflect that the
Scripture (Gen. 15:9-14) shows that Israelites suffered affliction in Egypt for
four hundred years as the Lord God said to Abraham, whereas, (Ex. 12:40-41)
records that they lived there, for the period of four hundred and thirty years,
which readily suggests that during Joseph’s reign in Egypt, probably, the extra
thirty years cited, they were not afflicted, and so, there is no contradiction
in the cited scriptures (see Acts 7:1-36)
GENERAL
REMARKS
(1) God hears
the cry of those in slavery (vs. 7)
(2) God is
against those who put others in slavery, (vs. 8)
(3) God provides
a better place for those He delivers from slavery,(vs.8)
(4) God always
chooses and sends someone He decides to use as instrument of freedom from
slavery, (vs. 9-10)
GOD AND THE
CRY OF THOSE IN HUMAN SLAVERY
God always shows His hearty concern over the
plight of the people. And, the case of Israel in the Egyptian slavery strongly
confirms this. His expression,... “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” (Ex.3:7) remains a message of hope to all who
are in any form of bondage or slavery. God is a freedom fighter, who matches His
Words with action, since He did not only express His concern about the
suffering of the children of Israel, but also indicates that He was present for
action, when he said,... I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the
Egyptians ...(vs. 8). The foregoing, therefore, reveals that God hears the cry
of those in any form of inhuman treatment, as well as shares their burdens,
with the readiness to deliver them from their predicament. By this, it becomes
obvious that:
(i)
Masters who treat their servants as slaves
provoke God to anger, since He hears their cry, (Ex. 3:7-8)
(ii)
Employers of labour, who pay their workers
slave wage risk the judgement
of the Lord, as He will
surely attend to their cry, (vs. 7-8)
(iii)
Any country or nation, community or race,
strong or wealthy persons who subjects the weaker ones
to any form of slavery or
inhuman treatment will definitely face calamity, when God responds to their
cry, (vs. 7-8).
GOD AND HIS
INSTRUMENTS OF DELIVERANCE FROM HUMAN SLAVERY
The Lord God constantly impacts His nature of
concern on the human instruments He chooses to use for the deliverance of
people in slavery or bondage, as He makes them into a people of great concern
over the plight of others, especially those who suffer men’s inhumanity to
other humans. This quality of life was found in Moses, though at the early
stage of his calling, according to the New Student Bible, published by Zondervan
Publishing House, Grand Rapids Michigan, “he had big doubts about his ability
to lead. He resisted God, bringing up his unworthiness (Ex.3:11) and lack of
authority (vs. 13), his fear of the people’s distrust (4:1), his speech
difficulties (4:10), and his sheer cowardice (4:13). The remainder of Exodus
should give people with similar self-doubts great hope, for it traces Moses’
personal development from fumbling start to his emergence as one of history’s
most decisive and powerful leaders”. This shows God’s transforming acts, which
Jesus Christ, our Great Lord and Blessed Saviour, equally demonstrated in the
lives of His disciples, whom He moulded into the most resourceful leaders the
world has ever known, despite the fact that they were mostly people of humble
beginning. The crux of the matter here is that:
(i)
It is the Lord God who chooses and sends
those He uses for the freedom of people in human slavery, (Ex.3:7-10)
(ii)
He sends those He chooses for His acts of
freedom to definite people, in definite human slavery, as well as cites
their point of freedom,
(vs. 7-10)
(iii)
In some instances people in human slavery
reject those sent by God to liberate them, (Acts.7:17-41)
GOD AND HIS
PROMISED LAND FOR THOSE DELIVERED FROM HUMAN SLAVERY
Every freedom fighter comes up with a promise
land, which remains a prototype of what the Lord God did with Moses. Nelson
Mandela of South Africa had a promise to set his people free from over three
hundred years of apartheid regime. Nnamdi Kanu of the Indigenous People of
Biafra (IPOB) has the promise of the restoration of the sovereign state of Biafra
out of the slavery of the Nigeria State. Before now, God Had demonstrated to
all that He hates all forms of human slavery, as well as promise better days
for those He sets free, when He said to Moses,... I have indeed seen the misery
of My people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave
drivers ... so, I have come down to rescue them... and to bring them up out of
the land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and
honey”...(Ex. 3:7-10), and so, any freedom that leads to another bondage is
doubtful. This upholds the truth that, if freedom is of the Lord:
(i)
It leads to a better living condition, (vs.8)
(ii)
The people possess their God-given place of
origin, (vs8)
(iii)
He plaques the slave masters until they are
forced to release the people, (Ex.12:29-39)
In
conclusion, please note that this lesson serves as a pointer that God hates
any form of human slavery, and so, He always engage hearty lovers of freedom to
the rescue of victims, as well as shows that the Lord has better plans and
programmes for those freed from human slavery. BE PART OF HUMAN FREEDOM!
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