Liberty for Liberty
TEXT: JEREMIAH 34:12-22
“Therefore thus saith the Lord; Ye have not hearkened unto me, in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother, and every man to his neighbour: behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, saith the Lord, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth” (Jeremiah 34:17).
“Fellow-citizens!... The existence of slavery in this country brands your republicanism as a sham, your humanity as a base pretense, and your Christianity as a lie. It destroys your moral power abroad; it corrupts your politicians at home.” With these words, Frederick Douglass, an American abolitionist, writer and orator, in the 17th century, condemned the prevailing practice of slavery in his country.
Israel was involved in the dehumanizing practice of slavery – enslaving their compatriots. This practice had persisted from the exodus of Israel from Egypt. God frowned at it, but by a permissive will allowed them to keep the slaves for only six years and by the seventh year the slave was to be released. This law was flouted so much that the sword of God’s wrath was drawn against them. God permitted the army of Babylon to besiege Jerusalem preparatory to its destruction. The people repented of this evil, complied with divine instruction and made a solemn covenant with God by cutting a calf in two and passing in between. For this, God had a change of mind and turned off the Babylonian army.
As soon as the siege was over, Israel relapsed into the evil by recalling their Jewish slaves. God expressed His displeasure for the covenant breaking action of the people and, in most damning terms threaten to visit them with war, pestilence, famine and captivity. In essence, the Lord insisted that their liberty would be determined by the liberty they allowed their less privileged fellow citizens.
Today, we may pride ourselves as free from slave deals. But we can in many ways be culpable. For instance, when you exploit others’ ignorance or weakness to your gain; when you ride roughshod over others; when you fail to forgive another person, especially a fellow believer – you are guilty of the evil of slavery. Set them free and be free.
Thought for today: He who holds another man’s head in his armpit is not free until his victim is free.