OUR FATHER WHO RESISTS THE OPPRESSION OF ALL PEOPLE

When the Lord saw the misery and affliction of His people in Egypt, He was moved to action and in the book of Acts chapter 7 verse 34, He said these words to Moses to send Him to Egypt to free them;

I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt; I have heard their groaning and have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send you to Egypt.” ’

After the Israelites were freed from Egypt by the Lord, Moses was given this instruction in Exodus chapter 23 verse 9 to teach the people.

“Do not oppress a foreigner; you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners, because you were foreigners in Egypt.

To oppress someone  is to impose hardship and/or subservience on them especially by means of the unjust use of authority.

This verse cautions the children of Israel not to oppress foreigners in their midst. 

The Israelites, having endured the harsh oppression they were dealt as foreigners in Egypt, would have experience with the physical and psychological pain suffered under oppressive regimes  and as such, the verse instructs them to be cognitive of the vulnerabilities of foreigners and to take care not to oppress them.

Oppression in the physical realm is mirrored in the spiritual realm where the devil oppresses people by imposing physical afflictions, mental anguish and bondage on them.

Even as the Lord Jesus travelled in Judea and Samaria,  He was moved to take action against the oppression imposed by the kingdom of darkness by healing those afflicted. Acts chapter 10 verse 38 says it this way;

“You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.

The Lord our God takes action against oppression of all kinds and enjoins us to share in the work of alleviating oppresion among the people around us. He also instructs us to ensure that we ourselves do not perpetrate oppression against others.

Amen.

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