© 2021 Philip M Spence
The story of Israel’s oppression and ultimate liberation is found in the Biblical book of Exodus. They had come to Egypt at a time of famine. They were accepted and benefitted from living in the land of Egypt. However, they multiplied rapidly and became a force within the nation. What resulted was a new Pharaoh who became paranoid about a perceived threat to his reign and acted to dominate the Israelites and render them impotent as a force (Exodus 1:7-14).
The issue illustrated in the first chapter of Exodus is one of dominion. The new king of Egypt was afraid of losing his domain. He believed that he would lose his dominion over his kingdom because the people of Israel had grown to be a dominant force within Egypt. He became so paranoid that he enslaved and subjugated the Israelites, then began to have every male child killed at birth to slow the growth of the people.
Within Egypt there was a clash of kingdoms, and the battle lines were drawn regarding who would ultimately have dominion. Pharaoh was absolutely committed to maintaining his dominion, but God had a plan for His people. This situation will always come about where Kingdom people understand that they are born for dominion but live in a world dominated by sin and the devil. The clash of kingdoms will always be about who is going to have dominion (Genesis 1:26-28).
The dominion of other kings brings slavery and bondage, but the dominion of the King of Kings brings freedom and peace. If we allow anyone or anything apart from the King of Kings to rule in us, we lack the freedom He came to give.
Moses could have used all his training in Pharaoh’s house to help his people cope with living in bondage in Goshen, the region the Hebrews were confined to live. He could have made them as comfortable as possible in the situation. He could have led them to believe that this was their lot and that things would not change. He could have taught them how to work the system more effectively for their benefit. In fact, he could have worked the system for them.
Moses could have stayed in the palace and enjoyed all of its benefits. It was his right to do so, and he could have justified this in the light of doing everything he could, as a member of Pharaoh’s household, to help the people of Israel in their slavery. He possibly could even have changed their status in the nation of Egypt to make life more comfortable. However, none of this would have given them full release to pursue their destiny.
There was one small problem for Moses– he was born to be the deliverer of God’s people, not their nanny. His destiny was to lead them out of slavery and into their land of promise, not to find a way to make them comfortable in the land of bondage. Moses was born to be a deliverer, and nothing would stop him from being who he was born to be and doing what he was born to do.
Deliverers make it possible for those in slavery and bondage to change their allegiance from the things that have dominated and ruled their lives, to being under the lordship of the King of Kings. The people of our time desperately need deliverers!
Deliverers are the catalysts for people to be released from the kingdom of darkness so they can enter the Kingdom of Light. Deliverers bring hope and freedom into the lives of oppressed people. Our darkened world needs the hope that deliverers bring more than ever! (Romans 8:19-21).
The above is an excerpt from the book A Kingdom of Deliverers. To download your copy, go to Amazon.com or click the button below:
Blessings,
Phil Spence