Liberating the Oppressed

MEMORY VERSE: “I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.” —Exodus 20:2

EXODUS 3:7-10; 19:3-8

THE Apostle Paul, in referring to the deliverance and subsequent experiences of the children of Israel, said, “Now all things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.”—I Cor. 10:11

We find that, in harmony with this, Egypt pictured the world in the Bible. (Hos. 11:1; Isa. 19:19-22) The Israelites who were in bondage and slavery in Egypt were the Lord’s people. They were held in bondage without hope of release by their oppressor or through their own power.

Prominent in God’s arrangement for the deliverance of the children of Israel was the passover. The account is recorded in the 12th chapter of Exodus. The death of the firstborn of Egypt was the tenth and last plague visited upon the Egyptians. Previous plagues had not moved Pharaoh to release the children of Israel, but God’s promise was that this last plague—the death of all the firstborn—would cause the Egyptians to expel them from the land:

The children of Israel were to be saved from this plague by means of the arrangement of the passover. God told Moses to instruct the Israelites to take out from the flock a lamb of the first year, without spot or blemish. The lamb was to be slain “at even” on the 14th of Nisan. The blood of the lamb was to be sprinkled on the door posts and lintels of the house, and all the children of Israel were instructed to be inside their houses. And at midnight, when the death angel passed through the land, the firstborn of Israel would he saved because of the sprinkled blood. In Exodus 12:30,31 we read, “And Pharaoh rose up in the night … and there was a great cry in Egypt … and he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, Rise up, and get you forth from among my people, both ye and the children of Israel.”

The children of Israel took a spoil from the Egyptians and left Egypt with a “high hand” on the day after the passover—on the 15th of Nisan. (Num. 33:3) Then subsequently the nation experienced a second deliverance when they were, by the power of God, enabled to cross the Red Sea, and Pharaoh and his minions were destroyed in the closing waters.

These things, states the apostle, were examples picturing the reality—the liberation of the oppressed human race. The passover lamb pictured Jesus. The apostle states that he was “holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners” (Heb. 7:26), and that he was “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” (Rev. 13:8) But in I Corinthians 5:7 we have the statement that Jesus is the anti-typical passover lamb:” For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us.”

And so the blood of Jesus provided on Calvary’s cross is for the ultimate liberation of the whole world of mankind, but this great deliverance is to be accomplished in the next day—the day of Christ’s thousand-year kingdom—which is yet future. In the meantime, during this nighttime of the Gospel Age the church of the firstborn in the reality is being passed over. These are those “which follow the Lamb withersoever he goeth,” who have been willing to give up their own wills and sacrifice their very lives in the service of the Lord, the truth, and the brethren. Because of this they have become the firstfruits unto the Lord. (Rom. 8:29; Heb. 12:23; Jas. 1:18; Rev. 14:4) If faithful, they will have the privilege of living and reigning with Christ during the kingdom.—Rev. 20:1-4

Jesus said, “But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you. Or else how can one enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he first hind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house.” (Matt. 12:28,29) And so it is in the kingdom. Partial liberation of mankind will be accomplished when the blood of Christ is applied on behalf of Adam, and as a result the curse of adamic sin will be lifted from the human race.

But in the resurrection, mankind will return with the same mind that they took into the grave. It will require the thousand years of Christ’s kingdom, under the righteous rule of Christ and his church, and under conditions free from Satan’s influence, to spoil Satan’s goods. These “goods” are selfishness, greed, pride, and all the other weaknesses of the flesh. When all enemies are destroyed, then the oppressed world of mankind will be fully liberated.—I Cor. 15:24-26

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