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Topic: Say ‘No’ To Enslavement
[DCLM Daily Manna 14 June 2020 Daily Devotional by Pastor William Folorunso Kumuyi]
Text: Deuteronomy 15:12-23
12 And if thy brother, an Hebrew man, or an Hebrew woman, be sold unto thee, and serve thee six years; then in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from thee.
13 And when thou sendest him out free from thee, thou shalt not let him go away empty:
14 Thou shalt furnish him liberally out of thy flock, and out of thy floor, and out of thy winepress: of that wherewith the LORD thy God hath blessed thee thou shalt give unto him.
15 And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt, and the LORD thy God redeemed thee: therefore I command thee this thing to day.
16 And it shall be, if he say unto thee, I will not go away from thee; because he loveth thee and thine house, because he is well with thee;
17 Then thou shalt take an aul, and thrust it through his ear unto the door, and he shall be thy servant for ever. And also unto thy maidservant thou shalt do likewise.
18 It shall not seem hard unto thee, when thou sendest him away free from thee; for he hath been worth a double hired servant to thee, in serving thee six years: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all that thou doest.
19 All the firstling males that come of thy herd and of thy flock thou shalt sanctify unto the LORD thy God: thou shalt do no work with the firstling of thy bullock, nor shear the firstling of thy sheep.
20 Thou shalt eat it before the LORD thy God year by year in the place which the LORD shall choose, thou and thy household.
21 And if there be any blemish therein, as if it be lame, or blind, or have any ill blemish, thou shalt not sacrifice it unto the LORD thy God.
22 Thou shalt eat it within thy gates: the unclean and the clean person shall eat it alike, as the roebuck, and as the hart.
23 Only thou shalt not eat the blood thereof; thou shalt pour it upon the ground as water.
Key Verse: “And if thy brother, an Hebrew man, or an Hebrew woman, be sold unto thee, and serve thee six years; then in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from thee” (Deuteronomy 15:12).
MESSAGE:
On December 2, 1808, in his annual message to Congress widely reprinted in most newspapers, President Thomas Jefferson denounced the “violation of human rights” attending the international slave trade and called for its criminalisation.
The Lord in this chapter, prohibited the Israelites from keeping fellow Israelite servants beyond six years. On the seventh year, they should be set free and allowed to go wherever they want without any conditions. The servant who willingly expresses his or her desire to stay in service beyond six years, is to have a hole bored on the right ear to signify that he volunteered willingly to stay in service with his master beyond the stipulated period.
The Lord reminded the Israelites of the horrible experience they had while working as slaves in Egypt. He wanted them to act differently from the prevailing harshness and cruelty meted out to slaves and servants among the surrounding heathen nations. He wanted them to hate enslavement with passion.
Human trafficking in any form for the purpose of exploitation is a gross violation of human rights. Within the body of Christ, under the current dispensation, it is a serious offence against God for any believer to put people in servitude or subject them to oppression for any reason.
The Lord has already condemned in Scriptures the habit of keeping workers or employees under poor working conditions and failing to pay them their wages when due. God does not answer the prayers of those who oppress their fellow human beings.
To have His favour and blessings, we must obey His command to set free those we have placed under captivity and oppression, instead of engaging in endless prayer and fasting.
Thought For The Day: Set the captives free and release those under oppression.
The Bible In One Year: 2 Samuel 23-24
