Category Archives: Slaves

Battles, Bible, Enemies, Enslavement, Freedom, Oppression, Rescue, Salvation, Scripture, Slaves

IT WAS FOR FREEDOM

GALATIANS 5:1

“It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.”

Why do people fight wars? Most of the time it is for freedom. One group is trying to force another group to live a certain way, to surrender to their army, to deny their beliefs in favor of another. It’s almost always one group trying to force their will on another. We will see in today’s verse that spelled out so clearly.

Paul is emphatically stating that freedom is ours. That is why Christ died – to set us free. But from what? Well, he states that in the second part of the verse. He says, “do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.” Here he is referring, of course, to the slavery of the law. The law was forcing these young believers to follow the old Mosaic law, which Christ has set them free from. He was the final, perfect sacrifice for all mankind. They were free.

APPLICATION

All over the world today, Christians are facing the loss of their freedom – freedom to worship, freedom to share Jesus. Check out The Voice of the Martyrs website (www.persecution.com) to read some of the stories they share about these saints. We often think this sort of thing doesn’t happen in the 21st century. How wrong we are.

What else does God’s Word say about our freedom? Jesus explains it so well in the gospel of John. John 8:31-36 says, “31 So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, ‘If you continue in My word, then you are truly My disciples; 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’ 33 They answered Him, ‘We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, “You will become free”?’ 34 Jesus answered them, ‘Truly, truly I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. 35 Now the slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you really will be free.’”

There is really nothing else to add to that. Jesus said it all. The Son sets you free. Praise the Lord! Hallelujah! Aren’t you glad? No longer slaves. We’ve been set free! Sin has no more power over us. The penalty of sin has been removed. Praise His holy name.

Lord, I give You praise for the freedom You have given me in and through Christ. 

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Allegory, Bible, Chains, Devil, Encouragement, Freedom, God's Will, Holy Spirit, Law, Scripture, Slaves

ALLEGORY PART 1 – HAGAR

GALATIANS 4:24

“This is speaking allegorically, for these women are two covenants: one coming from Mount Sinai giving birth to children who are to be slaves; she is Hagar.”

I have to admit that I am not a grammatical genius. If you have read many of my blogs, you have probably already figured that out. Right? So, I looked up the definition of allegory. “It is a figurative sentence or discourse, in which the principal object is described by another subject resembling it in its properties and circumstances.” – Webster. Thank you, Mr. Webster! I am sure we all understand it now.

Paul tells us plainly that he is going to be speaking “allegorically.” This Greek word is only used one time in the New Testament. It literally means to speak publicly something other than. Paul is going to be comparing the story of Hagar and Sarah, Ishmael and Isaac to our slavery to sin and our freedom in Christ. This allegory is not to imply in any way that the Old Testament story is not true. You can use an historical truth allegorically to make a point, which is what Paul has done here.

APPLICATION

Now that I have bored you to tears with the English lesson on allegories, how do we use today’s verse in our lives? Well, let’s focus on the topic of this first part of the allegory – Hagar. Who was she? She was a servant girl of Sarah’s. But she was more than a servant. She had been given to Abraham by Sarah to try to conceive a child which would satisfy God’s promise to give then a child. God never instructed them to do this. They just decided to “help God along.”

This first part of the allegory isn’t very encouraging. Hagar and Ishmael represent slavery to sin. Even after Hagar gave birth to Ishmael, she was still a servant. Nothing had changed. You and I are slaves to sin until we come to Jesus. We have no power to resist. We have no way to escape the devil’s schemes. There is no hope. We can’t “perform” our way out of sin. We have to have the chains broken.

Praise be to God we have a “chain-breaker.” He is Jesus, the Righteous One. He is the One to whom we run for freedom. Paul is so aware of this. He now sees how bound to sin he was while he was under the law, which is also represented by Hagar. Paul wants these Galatians to be free in Christ, not bound to the law. In the same way, God wants us to be free in Jesus. Are you free today?

Lord, I am thankful You gifted men like Paul to write under the inspiration of the Spirit to give us these truths.

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Bible, Bondslaves, Freedom, Satan, Scripture, Slaves

A TALE OF TWO SONS

GALATIANS 4:22

“For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and one by the free woman.” 

This verse reminds me of the Charles Dickens’ classic, A Tale of Two Cities. It begins with this quote:

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way…”

Do you see the analogies there? The opposites? Paul, in his own way is going to compare two opposites in the next several verses. One was Isaac, the son of Sarah, who was born free. The other was Ishmael, the son of Hagar, who was a slave of Abraham. Thus, Ishmael was born into slavery. This is the comparison we will see played out over the next several days.

APPLICATION

Now, hold it a minute, Carl. I am not a slave to anyone. Really? If you are not walking in the Spirit, you are slave to sin. Romans 6:16 says this, “Do you not know that the one to whom you present yourselves as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of that same one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?”

Slavery isn’t just chains and cells. Slavery is bowing to the will of the flesh. Paul is going to compare freedom in Christ and slavery under the law. Believe me, he understood the slavery of the law because he had personally bound people with it as a Pharisee. He knew the hopelessness of it. And we can put ourselves under legalistic rules and regulations and lose our freedom in Christ.

But let me encourage you today to be “free indeed.” Free yourself from the lure of sin. Free yourself for self-inflicted laws. Let Christ lead you into true freedom in Him. Shake off the shackles that the evil one wants to tie you down with. He has no power over you. But through Jesus, you have power over him. Hallelujah!

O God, my Father, I am so thankful I have been born into freedom through Your Son.

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Alone, Bible, Deception, Devil, Foolishness, Judgment, Loyalty, Obedience, Opponents, Satan, Scripture, Slaves

WILD DONKEYS

HOSEA 8:9

“For they have gone up to Assyria, like a wild donkey all alone; Ephraim has paid fees for lovers.”

We have all seen wildlife shows where lions or jackals attack a herd. Have you ever noticed which animal they go after? They attack the young, the weak and the ones who are isolated from the herd. Those animals are easy picking. They lack the protection of the herd.

Hosea compares Israel to a wild donkey that is all alone. They were carried off to Assyria and became a target. Being alone in a foreign land was scary enough but being alone was worse. Assyria carried them there and put them in cities as slaves. They were scattered. They were without their God. They were alone!

APPLICATION

Are you feeling alone? There is no need to feel that way. If you are a believer, you have a family of believers all around you. You need their fellowship and their support. You cannot walk safely on your own. Just like that lone wild donkey, you are a target for the enemy. Satan loves to find a lone believer. His schemes make us easy prey when we are alone.

I belong to a couple of men’s groups that I do life with. They are my allies. They encourage me in my daily walk with Christ and hold me accountable when I fall. They are my brothers. I would not want to even try to live without them. I can tell them anything and know they will hold it confidential.

Having fellow believers around you serves as protection. We can all be on the alert. We can all sound the alarm. When we see a fellow believer all alone, we need to reach out and surround them. They may not know how alone they are and how vulnerable they are. Don’t let them do this alone.

I am so glad I have a family of believers to walk with me, Lord. Help me reach out to those who need others.

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Bible, Cleansing, Confession, Encouragement, Forgiveness, God's Will, Love, Redemption, Scripture, Slaves

PURCHASE PRICE

HOSEA 3:2

“So I purchased her for myself for fifteen shekels of silver, and a homer and a lethech of barley.”

When my daughter got married, our mutual friend in Uganda (who calls himself her African father) asked her fiancé for 20 cows. It was all a joke, but I managed to get a video recording of him asking that to play at their wedding. My son-in-law was glad he didn’t have to produce that.

Hosea had to buy his wife back from where she had obviously sold herself back into prostitution. Now you need to see this purchase price. Fifteen shekels was about half the price of a normal slave which indicated her worth now. Barley was the offering for adultery and the food for animals, which again showed how low her worth had become. But Hosea still bought her back.

APPLICATION

What is your worth? Do you see yourself worthy of purchase by God? Some people don’t. They don’t think God can forgive them for all their sins. Let me tell you He can. There is not a hole deep enough where God cannot reach down and pull you out. God wants everyone to come to him.

Perhaps you don’t think you need God. You’re just fine like you are. So not true. No one claim that. You may think you are too good for God. He has a way to humble those proud hearts, as well. Why? Because He desires a personal relationship with you.

So, what’s it going to be? Will you come to Him today? Let Him purchase you off the slave block of sin. You may think you’re free, but there is no freedom until you are His. Gomer thought she was free but was a slave to her sin. How about you?

Thank You, Lord, for paying the price for my sin through Your Son Jesus. I am free because of His shed blood.

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