FREEDOM FOR THE SLAVES

FREEDOM FOR THE SLAVES

PROCLAMATION

“Every seventh year each of you must free any fellow Hebrews who have sold themselves to you.  After they have served you for six years, you must let them go free. …”  Jeremiah 34:14 (NIV)

EXPLANATION

These are the words of The Lord God which were spoken to the prophet Jeremiah and proclaimed to the people of Judah.  While Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and his army were attacking Jerusalem and Judah, The Lord God spoke to Jeremiah and again told him to go to Zedekiah king of Judah and tell him that the city would fall and be captured and burned. (Jeremiah 34:1-3)  Then the word came to Jeremiah that everyone was to free their Hebrew slaves. (Jeremiah 34:8-10)  They did, but afterwards they changed their minds and took the slaves back and enslaved them again. (Jeremiah 34:11)  The Lord spoke to Jeremiah and said that He made a covenant with their ancestors when He brought them out of Egypt, that every seventh year, the sabbatical year, they would free any Hebrew slaves. (Jeremiah 34:12-16)  Because they went back on their word, He was going to punish them. (Jeremiah 34:17-22)

APPLICATION

Slavery and indentured servitude have for the most part been eliminated.  The Emancipation Proclamation, which was sign by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863, freed the slaves in America.  Although the slaves in Texas did not find out about it until June 19, 1865, “Juneteenth”, and “freedom” did not really occur until Congress passed and ratified the 15^th Amendment in 1870.  However, a loophole in that amendment allowed for “slavery” in the form of incarceration.  All believers, those who have undergone circumcision of the heart, need to understand that, just as in days of old, those who enslave us today will be punished.  Biblically, indentured servitude, work without pay, was not intended to last for a lifetime.  Some employees get paid so little that they feel like indentured servants and those employers will have to give an account. (Ephesians 6:9 and Colossians 4:1)  So, pray for those who are holding you down or back.  We all should be helping each other to achieve and accomplish more and not trying to limit or restrict each other.  We should help one another to become the best person that they can be and not use people for our personal gain.  Pray for each other because we all have something that we are a slave to and need to be free from.