The Pillar and Ground of Truth: 12/07

A Slave Coffle

Exodus 6:1-9
1 Then the LORD said unto Moses, Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh: for with a strong hand shall he let them go, and with a strong hand shall he drive them out of his land.
2 And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am the LORD:
3 And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them.
4 And I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers.
5 And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and I have remembered my covenant.
6 Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments:
7 And I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.
8 And I will bring you in unto the land, concerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for an heritage: I am the LORD.

John 1:1-14, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”

Kathy Kiely, a newspaper reporter for the USA TODAY wrote these words on July 13, 2000: "Her name is Freedom, but she was cast in bronze and hoisted atop the U.S. Capitol by slaves. African-Americans helped erect not only the statue at the pinnacle of the Capitol but also the Capitol itself. They were never paid and, until now, never recognized for their work.”

Slavery existed within the boundaries of the present USA for over 200 years. It has been nearly 143 years since the slaves were set free in our nation in 1865. It is nearly impossible for men and women who were born in modern America to really know what it is like to be a slave.

To be enslaved…

There must be a slave master. There will be an individual who will become a slave.
Force will be used, fear, and punishment.
Deception will be incorporated to gain slaves
Lies told to cloud the reality of the horror of slavery.
A slave master will use the way of the whip (to drive the enslaved), the threat of the auction block (to place more fear of loss), and murder.
The slave’s mind is brainwashed to destroy his ability to think for himself and to replace his thoughts with the slave masters. Thus, losing a sense of self.
The Black slaves in the USA had no family names of their own, but they were known by their master’s name.[1]

They called it a “slave coffle.” This was a line of slaves chained together and then marched by the slave trader to some town where these enslaved humans would be auctioned off to the highest bidder.

Treated as merchandise - - as a thing - - men and women suffered at the hands of other humans because their skin color and their place of birth.

The children of Israel were enslaved by Pharaoh in Egypt. The Egyptians kept these children of promise in bondage, and their cry, groans, & sorrows were heard by the Lord.

God sees your state. He is aware of what it is that enslaves you. He knows where you are, and as Job said, “…He knoweth the way that I take…” (Job 23:10).

There are people in the church today who can testify to the freedom that Jesus gives.

People who were once enslaved by:
Jealousy

Envy

Hatred

Drugs

Alcohol

Gambling

Pornography

Illicit Relationships

Cigarettes

Gossiping

Back-biting

Strife

Digging up the past

Tale-bearing

Lying

Playing the busybody

Arrogance

Pride

Lust

Self-righteousness

Looking down on others

Spiritual superiority

Bad attitudes

Anger

Bitterness

Sickness

Disease

The Church is full of people who know what the Lord meant when He said, “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed” (John 8:36).

Are you free? Do you really want to be freed from sin?
What do you want to be free from? Hell?
Lust? Pride? Arrogance? Ditch Digging?
These examples of unrighteousness are indicators that some people still need to be set free. Signs that some of are still enslaved in one area, or another.

Gal. 5:1, “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.”

Do you groan out to God for freedom from the slavery of sin and satan? Do you want the bonds of sin to be broken from your life?
Do you cry out in your bed of oppression at night?

Ps. 6:6-7, “I am weary with my groaning; all the night make I my bed to swim; I water my couch with my tears. Mine eye is consumed because of grief; it waxeth old because of all mine enemies.”

Four Expressions of Redemption (Ex. 6:6-7):

"I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians" - Jehovah brought the Israelites out of Egypt and took the burden of slavery from off their shoulders. Jesus will bring you out of the world of sin and lift the burden of guilt that sin has set on your shoulders. You no longer need to suffer when Jesus frees you from sin.
"I will rid you out of their bondage" - The LORD delivered the Israelites from the chains of slavery. Jesus will deliver you from those addictions and behaviors that seem to hang on you like chains. Romans 8:2, “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.”
"I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments" - God showed Himself strong for the Israelites, revealed Himself to them by His redeeming name (Jehovah/LORD), and brought judgment on Pharaoh in Egypt and at the Red Sea. Jesus wants to show you His love and compassion by freeing you from the penalty of sin, by revealing His true nature to you, and by bringing judgment on those things that have enslaved you for so long. Isaiah 53:1-5, “Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”
"I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians" - The children of Israel are known as God’s people - - the children of promise. Because of Jesus we are “a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy” (1 Peter 2:9-10).

When Jesus redeemed you He paid the purchase price for your release. Your freedom was purchased by another and it includes:

Healing (Physical, Spiritual, & Emotional)
Victory over sin
Salvation
Eternal Life
Deliverance

Jesus frees completely and wholly, not partially or half-way.

There’s no use trying to sidestep the issue. You’re either free, or you’re not – holy, or not – right, or not.

If you’re free then you need to remind yourself of who you are:

You are the head and not the tail (Deut. 28:13)

You are above only, and not beneath (Deut. 28:13)

You are more than a conqueror (Ro. 8:37)

You are a peculiar treasure (Ex. 19:5)

You are a citizen of a holy nation (Ex. 19:6)

Lionel B. Fletcher wrote, “The thoughts that are welcomed in our minds…are a reflection of our true selves as we appear in the sight of God.”[2]

Sometimes the slave trader, that old enemy the devil, comes to kidnap a free born citizen of the kingdom of God.

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8).

Once you find freedom, don’t forget where God has brought you from.

Jesus met with some Jews one day and found that they’d forgotten their origin and who it was that delivered them from slavery. Jesus ignored their obvious mistake and went to the heart of the matter - - their slavery to sin.

John 8:30-36
“Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.”

Jesus properly identified satan when he said, “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).

The devil is a slave master who wants to take from you all your strength, vitality, purpose, and destiny; but Jesus is The Expression of Redemption for you today:

He alone is the spoken Word made flesh.
He alone is the Savior and Redeemer
Isaiah 49:26, “All flesh shall know that I the LORD am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.”
Isaiah 43:11, “I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour.”
The word “LORD,” as used in this passage refers to Jehovah. This is the redeeming name of God in the Old Testament.
When the angel told Mary that the child in her was to be called Immanuel he was signaling that He who was to be born was “God with us.” This simply means that Jehovah of the Old Testament is Jesus Christ of the New Testament.
He alone is the “express image” of God (Heb. 11:1-3).
“There is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time” (1 Tim. 2:5-6).
1 Tim 3:16, “…God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.”
“Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12)

Listen to me, Friend. You are not a slave. You are a child of God. Your condition is slavery, but you were created to have dominion over all the earth.

This is a true story:
Eliza was a pretty girl. Her master was her father and her mother was a slave. When the girls in the big house had suitors come to visit them, they’d ask, “Who is that pretty gal?” So they decided to get rid of her right away. The day they sold her, at the auction block, they stripped her to be bid off and looked at. The man that bought Eliza was from New York. The slaves in the community had enough money together to buy her freedom, but they wouldn’t let that happen. There was a big Swedish man there who bid for Eliza that day as well. He always bid for the pretty slave girls and bought them for his own use. He asked the man from New York, “What you gonna do with her when you get her?” The man from New York said, “None of your business, but you ain’t got money enough to buy her.” After the man from New York paid for her, he turned, looked at Eliza and said, “Eliza, you are free from now on.”[3]

John 8:36
“So if the Son sets you free, you will indeed be free.” (NLT)
“So if the Son frees you, you will really be free!” (The Complete Jewish Bible)
“So if the Son of Man sets you free, you will really be free.” (New International Reader’s Version)

Jesus came to Nazareth one day and opened the scroll of Isaiah and read:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears” (Luke 4:18-21).

The Expression of Redemption is Jesus for He came “to give his life a ransom for many” (Matt. 20:28).

Ox Yoke

Being freed from those things that once bound us - our fears, hang ups, habits, behaviors, hurts, shame, sin - we are now able to enjoy a pure relationship with Jesus Christ. The burdens we carry by ourselves might be overwhelming and may even bring us to despair, but when we use the freedom He gave us to walk with Him we find that burdens are lighter for He says, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light" (Matthew 11:28-30).

____________

SOURCE:
[1] Lester, Julius. (1968). To Be A Slave. Dell Publishing Co. Inc.: New York, NY.

[2] Fletcher, Lionel B. (1933). The Pathway to the Stars. Hunt, Barnard & Co., Ltd: London, England. p.25.

[3] Lester, Julius. (1968). To Be A Slave. Dell Publishing Co. Inc.: New York, NY.

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