Tag: Slavery

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Slavery and infanticide as a population control plan?

Reading Time: 3 minutes

“Eventually, a new king came to power in Egypt who knew nothing about Joseph or what he had done. He said to his people, “Look, the people of Israel now outnumber us and are stronger than we are. We must make a plan to keep them from growing even more. If we don’t, and if war breaks out, they will join our enemies and fight against us. Then they will escape from the country.” ‭‭Exodus‬ ‭1‬:‭8‬-‭10‬ ‭NLT‬‬

History can be most creepy when one sees it repeat! Ancient kingdoms, ancient leaders and people circle and recycle over time; but what has really changed? Technology? Modern adaptation and advancement? Sure. The human heart… not so much. We believe ourselves to be so advanced, so much more humane and good. Ah, but “the human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?” Jeremiah 17:9. God knows it. And, if we’re honest we know it!

This new Pharaoh in Egypt simply saw a problem brewing on the horizon. And, not knowing that God had a plan for the Israelites, he assumed their multiplication had evil intent. Have you ever known a leader or social group who saw population growth in a specific ethnicity as a threat? Yeah – many times over, right? God was building a people group for a purpose, but it wasn’t to take over Egypt or to conquer the pharaoh, it was a long story of redemption itself.

This Egyptian leader, like many other leaders, took this population explosion as a threat to his own plans. Pharaoh’s plan to control was diabolical and pure evil. His answer, enslavement and infanticide. Make the Jews slaves through force and murder all the males to try to stop Jewish people from reproducing. You may remember these two deplorable actions have been repeated multiple times through our human history. And, in modern times, some still blatantly use this methodology.

Of course, with America’s sophistication, education and wealth, we don’t come right out and enslave other ethnic groups, right? And, course, we wouldn’t stand for murdering infants just because they may stand in the way of OUR plans? No, never! Oh Pharaoh, what lessons have we learned from your grand social experiment? How did it go? Did it work out like you planned? Pharaoh was wrong. And every world leader, every political, social leader has been wrong in thinking that they could just enslave and murder other human beings to keep them from “taking over!”

Pharaoh, Pharaoh, Pharaoh – you did get exactly what you didn’t want. A war. A war, not fought from the mistreated slaves in your care. No, a war from God himself. You invited the judgment and justice of God! Your selfish, hubris power became your own downfall. God came against Pharaoh and God caused Pharaoh to give the Israelites all the treasures they could carry, as they escaped from the county they helped build and helped prosper! We should heed history’s warning. Our own country, our own leaders, should be aware that God’s judgment and justice is not something to mocked nor to foster some social experiment. Power and wealth has blinded our social sense of right and wrong. It has twisted justice to suit the advantaged, not the poor, not the widow or orphan. It’s a grand lie, not new but always fashionable. A new king came to power in Egypt and God used him to bring about the exodus of His people and the architecture of what freedom costs, the death of the firstborn son. We will discover exactly what Pharaoh discovered, his coming to power and nefarious plans are all subject to God’s will. My prayer is that those who have believed the lie, that big lie of doing whatever we want, whenever we want to do it is not new, but very, very old and dark. Living that lie has horrible consequences, both in our lives and the lives of our children. But God will also have the last word! He will supernaturally pour out His Spirit and truth that will opens the eyes of the blind, depressed and enslaved. God’s mercy will flow in abundance in the last days, and many will turn and be rescued.

Prayer

Dad,
Help us. Have mercy on our souls. Forgive us of selfish pursuits that wreck personal and communal havoc on ourselves. Bring down the modern-day pharaohs that desire to steal your glory and desire to become gods. Protect the innocent. Bring justice to the poor and weak who have no time nor money to rescue themselves. We ache for truth and life to be known. Amen.

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Proverbs promotes purity

Reading Time: 2 minutes

“For the Lord sees clearly what a man does, examining every path he takes. An evil man is held captive by his own sins; they are ropes that catch and hold him. He will die for lack of self-control; he will be lost because of his great foolishness.”
‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭5‬:‭21‬-‭23‬ ‭NLT‬‬

The entire chapter is a contrast/comparison to giving into immoral decisions or staying true to one person and remaining pure. The cast of characters is the young man, referred to as son. The immoral woman, seen as a thirst trap, luring and devouring innocence. And, the wife of one’s youth, depicted as a spring, a fountain filled with blessing and satisfaction.

The wisdom writers get gritty in detail when they ask, “Why spill the water of your springs in the streets, having sex with just anyone?” Directly referring to not just love but a man’s semen seed for procreation. This is clearly a chapter on purposeful restraint, shutting down the entire fallacy that sex should be abundantly and freely engaged with anyone you like.

Again, since Proverbs is mostly a young man’s wisdom curriculum, I’ll let you figure out how to reverse the roles and applications for young women seeking moral men instead of being seduced by fantasy and false promises of “players.”

Proverbs chapter five gives a summary that captures a strong word of advice for the wise and the fool. God sees all. God knows the motive of EVERY human heart. In the end, the hell or heaven that one finds is determination of decisions. Hell is the cage constructed by our own desires. The ropes of slavery and captivity are woven by our sins. And death awaits because we will lack the will to be made pure and whole. The warning to the young and old – be very careful about giving into the lust and cravings of our body, mind and soul.

The promiscuous lies that promise peace and fulfillment are not just dangerous, they are deadly. Words like chastity and purity are for temporal and eternal safety as well as real satisfaction.

Prayer

Dad,
How absolutely ludicrous that the cultural lies pitched today are all word-swapped, redefining truth. Phrases and words like sexual freedom, exploration, experimentation all masked by this lie. It’s a very clever trap leading to the opposite of everything we really need. It quickly becomes exploitation leaving perpetrators and victims with hollowed out souls, finding no peace. We are left with a vicious cycle of unquenchable desires that become our master of a slaved life. Oh, how we need your Spirit to pour over us. Breathe life in us once again for we have descended back into the dust of our dirty lives.

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Pregnancy pain before delivery.

Reading Time: 2 minutes 
“This is what the Lord says: “I hear cries of fear; there is terror and no peace. Now let me ask you a question: Do men give birth to babies? Then why do they stand there, ashen-faced, hands pressed against their sides like a woman in labor? In all history there has never been such a time of terror. It will be a time of trouble for my people Israel. Yet in the end they will be saved!” Jeremiah‬ ‭30‬:‭5‬-‭7‬ ‭NLT‬‬

God asks some strange questions! The state and condition of Israel will go through extraordinary painful experiences. So much so that men, strong Jewish men will take the stance and position of a woman in the final stages of giving birth. Standing, hands on hips, breathing, focusing, screaming through the pain. His face, like that of the woman in labor, pale and exhausted. This is the travail of misery just before life is delivered, and Israel is expelled from Babylon.

One of my favorite commentaries, Jamieson-Fausset-Brown, writes, “Ask—Consult all the authorities, men or books, you can, you will not find an instance. Yet in that coming day men will be seen with their hands pressed on their loins, as women do to repress their pangs. God will drive men through pain to gestures more fitting a woman than a man (Jer 4:31; 6:24). The metaphor is often used to express the previous pain followed by the sudden deliverance of Israel, as in the case of a woman in childbirth (Isa 66:7-9).”

It’s the bluntness of the New Living Translation that gets me here – Have you ever seen an man deliver a baby? Ah, but God is not doing a gender comparison here. The answer is rhetorically clear – NO. It’s the comparison of pain, of which no man has nor desires to go through – birthing a child! Every husband who has been through the process of pregnancy with his wife knows what it’s like to watch this happen. Every wife who becomes a mother knows in body, soul and spirit what it’s like to GIVE BIRTH to a human! It’s extraordinarily painful. Yet, almost immediately after deliverance their is indescribable JOY!

No man knows the pain of childbirth. However, the pain of capture, captivity and humiliation is so great they may mimic the reaction of that pain like a woman about to give birth. The point God makes through Jeremiah’s words is the pain of captivity is great, but the Joy of deliverance is greater! Ah, there it is – the picture of all humankind waiting in labor to have new life delivered and that only comes through the messiah! We are at the precipice of that final moment of deliverance.

Prayer

Dad,
All humanity aches under the pain of what Israel had to go through. Their captor was Babylon, ours sin. We’ve only known life under the curse of sin. We’ve only known selfishness, strife and struggle. Yet, within this long saga of brokenness, we have seen glimpses of freedom. Through faith, we’ve also experienced love, mercy and forgiveness, for ourselves and for others. This miracle of life, even under the shroud of sin is extraordinary. I, like so many others, wait for the end. Not forebodingly, but eagerly anticipating life with you and with each other to be reset back to the original plan of perfection. How it will all work with the knowledge of good and evil along with eternal life – I honestly do not know or understand. But I know you will make it all work.

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Gotta Serve Somebody.

Reading Time: 3 minutes 
“Therefore, Jeremiah, go and warn all Judah and Jerusalem. Say to them, ‘This is what the Lord says: I am planning disaster for you instead of good. So turn from your evil ways, each of you, and do what is right.’” But the people replied, “Don’t waste your breath. We will continue to live as we want to, stubbornly following our own evil desires.” Jeremiah‬ ‭18:11-12‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Whoa, this ain’t no Jeremiah 29:11! You know that verse that is highly quoted and controversial among millennials that are sick of the positive toxicity postured in so many pulpits today. I’ve used it, I’ve quoted it and have given it away to inspire hope.

The context of that verse should ALWAYS be taken into consideration. Judgment had been pronounced and God put Israel in a 70 year timeout! So, from within captivity, within the punishment, yes, there is a promise of hope. However, it has a contingency trigger… “IF,” – IF you look for me! “This is what the Lord says: “You will be in Babylon for seventy years. But then I will come and do for you all the good things I have promised, and I will bring you home again. For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. I will be found by you,” says the Lord. “I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes. I will gather you out of the nations where I sent you and will bring you home again to your own land.” Jeremiah‬ ‭29:10-14‬ ‭NLT‬‬

But here, in the face of arrogance, brash attitudes, God says the complete opposite! You just can’t get any clearer than, “I am planning disaster for you.” Who are these “people” who continue to ruin it for the whole nation? Who are the “but the people replied.” Are they national leaders? Are they spiritual leaders? At one point, later in the text it says, “Then the people said, “Come on, let’s plot a way to stop Jeremiah. We have plenty of priests and wise men and prophets. We don’t need him to teach the word and give us advice and prophecies. Let’s spread rumors about him and ignore what he says.” Is this group of people civic or business leaders?

Whoever they are, they are loud and proud ignoring Jeremiah and the warnings he had given. And, they had a significant influence and sway over the general public. Isn’t that how life really goes? The hard working, simple, average folk just trying to live their lives start listening to the loud, brash activists, who are normally such a small group. Why are we so swayed, so influenced by these “people?”

I can tell you this, if someone doesn’t stand up for themselves, their community and their nation, it’s the bullies and blowhards that will lead us right into trouble. What do these folks care about community, they just selfishly want to tear things down and blame it on everyone else!

Surprisingly, the rest of the “people” just went along with ignoring God and His warnings and off they go into Babylonian captivity. It’s a sad message to digest, “you want to be free from me,” God says, “well, let’s just put you back into captivity to see if you remember how well you do on your own.”

What a paradox of life – being human is all about serving UNDER someone or something! If it’s not God, then it’s a maniacal dictator or a suffocating religion or a destructive ideology. It’s Bob Dylan’s hit song, released on my birthday, August 20, 1979 Gotta Serve Somebody – “But you’re going to have to serve somebody.”

Dylan faked his way into Christianity for a short time, just to win over the Jesus’ movement hot christian music market. His words are true though, “You might be a rock ’n’ roll addict prancing on the stage. You might have drugs at your command, women in a cage. You may be a business man or some high-degree thief. They may call you Doctor or they may call you Chief… but you’re going to have to serve somebody!

After warning and pleading with Israel to stop lusting after wooden poles and racing towards an evil, independent stupidity, God declares, ENOUGH! They had sunk into depravity, and they are seriously messing with God’s plans to redeem the whole world through Israel. Time after time, God let’s us go our own way. Let’s us plummet to the depths of our desires. Waits until we hit the bottom and start looking around for help and someone to rescue us. Then we recognize our failures, confess and repent and make our way back to God’s grace. Then start the cycle all over again. Oh, come quickly Lord Jesus! Not to escape this broken planet, but to end this cycle once and for all.

Prayer

Dad,
Help us, continue to have mercy and grace on us. Even in our sin.