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Freedom From Bondage

By David Hartsell

Moses was born during a perilous time for Israel. The Egyptian king who exalted Joseph and invited Jacob’s family to live in the land of Goshen was a distant memory. The new monarch did not know Joseph. He became frightened by the dramatic increase in Israel’s population. So he enslaved Israel and made them rigorously serve in Egyptian building projects. Out of fear, the Egyptian monarch ordered newborn male Hebrews to be thrown into the Nile River. Moses’ parents disobeyed this command. Instead they made a little basket in which they placed baby Moses and set him among the bulrushes near the bank of the Nile. Pharaoh’s daughter came to the river to bath. She found the basket and opened it to see the babe crying. She had compassion on the child and adopted him as her own son.

As Moses grew to manhood he defended a Hebrew who was being abused by an Egyptian. He killed the Egyptian. When this became known Moses fled to the land of Midian and lived there for the next forty years. In the mean time, things were getting worse for Israel. They were grievously suffering. “And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God acknowledged them.” (Ex.2:25) Israel was in bondage and they needed a deliverer. The Lord instructed Moses from the burning bush to return to Egypt and lead His people out of captivity. Moses obeyed and ten plagues later God brought them out of Egypt with His mighty hand. The final plague, the death of the firstborn, brought great suffering throughout all of Egypt. There was not an Egyptian household that was not affected. At the same time, not one death occurred among the Hebrews. They had been instructed to kill a Passover lamb and put the blood on the sides of the door and the lintel. “And when I see the blood, I will pass over you.” (Ex.12:13) Pharaoh was distraught and ordered the Hebrews to leave immediately. Israel had watched God do many wonders to protect them and humble Pharaoh. Now it was their turn to act. They had to turn their backs on bondage, trust God, and follow Moses to freedom.

There is a parallel between Hebrew bondage and our slavery to sin. Sin is often a horrible taskmaster. We become slaves to it. (Rom.6:12-18) We have all been under its power before. Like Israel, we needed a deliverer. Jesus Christ was sent by God to “deliver us from the power of darkness.” (Col.1:13) He did this not with animals’ blood but His own. (Heb.9:11-15) Even after all that our Lord has done, we must take steps to be free from bondage. We must have faith in Jesus as God’s Son, turn our backs on sin, and upon confession of our faith be baptized into Christ. (Gal.3:26-27) Israel went through a baptism that freed them from bondage. (I Cor.10:1-2) We must do the same!

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