Slavery

Ted Bowling, focusing on Deuteronomy 21:10-14, a passage giving instructions for the treatment of female prisoners-of-war, contends that, far from being a blatant example of sexual exploitation (as some 'progressives' have characterized it), this passage demonstrates God's protection of the most vulnerable among us. In the event an Israelite soldier became infatuated with a female prisoner-of-war, God protected the woman from a "one-night fling" in an effort to prepare her for an honorable marriage. She was to shave her head, removing any temptation from the young man, and enabling the woman to mourn for her family for thirty days. During this time of transition, she is given lodging as a guest in her captor's home, given new clothes and initiated into the laws, customs and practices of her new people. At the culmination of this time, the soldier makes the calculated choice of marrying her or setting her free. This thirty-day transitional period severs her from her pagan past and prepares her to enter as a full partner in the marriage relationship. Like the female prisoner-of-war, God's called-out one represent the lowly, rescued from the bondage of sin, experiencing a transition period of sanctification, during which time he is cleansed from his sins, as he awaits a future marriage to the One who has conquered, redeemed, and sanctified him.

Bill Onisick, asserting that any addiction (e.g., drugs, alcohol, food, work, hobbies) can enslave and control our brain, suggests that addiction takes us on a pleasure-seeking shortcut. Our IQ (Intelligence Quotient) is not much help in preventing or controlling addiction, but development of our EQ (Emotional Quotient) takes us to a new dimension in managing our (and others') emotions. When we develop our EQ, we develop self-awareness, preventing us from thinking more highly than we ought to. We also develop an awareness of our own ignorance, and we develop an awareness of where our emotions are coming from. When we move to the next level, GQ (Godly Quotient), we learn to empathize with other people (because we recognize we have similar proclivities and failings), and we incrementally transform from selfish and self-centered to selfless and other-centered with agape love. The development of GQ through God's Holy Spirit leads to genuine self-control.

Richard Ritenbaugh, reflecting on the leftist, 'progressive,' obsession with the removal of Robert E. Lee's monument, concludes that the media is either woefully ignorant of United States history or maliciously fomenting race war across the country. Robert E. Lee was not only a descendent of one of George Washington's prominent generals, but he also married George Washington's adopted son's daughter, as well as having a track record of supporting the Union. Most of Lee's family was pro-Union, thinking no greater calamity could beset the country than the disintegration of the Union. At West Point, Lee had high grades with not one demerit. His character and honor were noble and unimpeachable. Suppressed by the hateful 'progressive' left is the fact that Lee never held any slaves and immediately freed his in-law's slaves after his marriage. He said at one time he wished he owned every slave in the South so he could free them all. His rise to prominence in the Confederate Army stemmed from his loyalty to Virginia, considered by Lee to be under attack by vengeful Unionists. The current unhinged leftist hatred for selected historical monuments resemble Moab's insane desire to burn the bones of the king of Edom to lime. Presently, the mainstream media's animus is political, but it is only a matter of time before these evil angry insurrectionists might instigate religious persecution as well. As God's called-out ones, we need to offer intercessory prayers on behalf of our leaders in order that we can lead quiet and productive lives. It is vitally important for parents to teach true history to their children and not rely on the filthy lies proffered by the media and the leftist Satanically inspired 'progressive' school systems

Richard Ritenbaugh, while acknowledging that America's relationship with slavery has indeed been checkered, with chattel slaves and indentured servants contributing to the prosperity of earlier times, counters the 'Progressivist' claim that America invented slavery and historically practiced the most tyrannical abuses in the world. In point of fact, every ethnic group has both practiced slavery and has been victims of slavery. Israelites have been slaves multiple times, to the Egyptians, Canaanites, Babylonians, Assyrians, Babylonians and Romans. A culture of slavery pervaded life in the early Christian church , forcing Paul to pen instructions accommodating this practice in the context of love. As well, slavery was a part of the culture of ancient Israel, where God codified as part of His Law humane regulations, guaranteeing liberation of Israelite slaves after six years of service and the Jubilee. These regulations obligated masters to make provisions ensuring their slaves' successful transition to freedom. Contrasting the harsh treatment of slaves by some American slaveowners, God's treatment of us as slaves of righteousness is mild, with Christ's promise that His yoke is easy. Christ, having purchased us from a prior slave owner who was cruel, demands only a lifetime of reasonable service to our brethren with the same rigor as Christ has served us. God has given us a variety of talents and responsibilities to facilitate our serving one another in a spirit of humility, with none exalting himself above another. When we fulfill all the conditions for Christian behavior outlined in I Corinthians 12 and 13, we are still unprofitable servants unless we learn to forgive and meld in love (that is, in sincerity), compassion, and humility with our siblings in the God family.

John Ritenbaugh, referring to the peppery interchange of Donald Trump, labeling the mainstream reporters as liars, and the political reporters as incredible liars, focuses on the revision of a television miniseries, Roots. The original production alleged to be a 'true' history of Alex Haley, while in fact it vastly distorted the truth. Alex Haley did not even write the original story, but plagiarized it from Harold Courlander's, The African, a totally fictional account of an African boy sold into slavery by white European slave traders. Even that part of Courlander's story is a distortion of the truth, since the slave trading on the African continent was done by dark-skinned Muslims, a culture whose history has always been replete with trading of human flesh for sexual or labor purposes. When Courlander sued Alex Haley for plagiarism, the court awarded him $650,000, but ordered him to remain silent while the poisonous false propaganda permeated the airwaves, brainwashing over 100 million gullible Americans, leading to uncontrollable racial tension. Colleges and universities got on board by developing courses based upon the 'historical' events surrounding the Roots series, one of the biggest con-jobs of the 1970's, a lie which Hollywood and the leftist media eagerly wants to resuscitate to cause more tension and hatred between the races.

Kim Myers suggests that the government assumes an unseemly role as being entitled to do whatever it wants, dominating over the lives of its constituents, instead of functioning as a servant. Having in the last several decades ignored the Constitution, and the laws and precepts of the Bible, all branches of government are clueless as to fair weights and measures, proper ways to treat the poor and homeless. They have compulsively baited the entitlement trap, consisting of food-stamps, Medicare, Medicaid, subsidies, and welfare, turning its citizenry into abject economic slaves rather than uplift them out of poverty. When a person, under Old Testament Law, fell into economic peril, either by his own carelessness, or accident, God prescribed a way back to economic freedom and dignity through the Jubilee year. Furthermore, while he worked as a bondservant to his countryman, he was never demeaned as chattel or property, but was respected and maintained his dignity as he worked for food, shelter, and clothing. The apostle Paul demonstrated the work ethic, working with his hands, refusing to accept offerings from the congregation, even though he could have. Our Elder Brother Jesus Christ also demonstrated the work ethic, working diligently as the Father works diligently. Back in the 1950's young people seemed to have more responsibility, more often than not having summer and after-school jobs, earning their own spending money. Today, our young people, with the coaxing of the Federal government, have racked up insurmountable debt, shamelessly expecting the rest of the 'serf' society to pay for their schooling and bankroll them into careers. Sadly, the entitlement attitude has surreptitiously crept into God's church, with people seemingly feeling they should be served instead of eagerly serving others, completely at odds with Jesus Christ's admonition that leadership consists of serving with a foot-washing attitude. As we serve with Christ in the Millennium, it will not be with a "ruling over them" entitlement at

Kim Myers, tracing ancient Israel's abject bondage to the Egyptians and their subsequent redemption and journey to their great gift (that is, the Promised Land), draws a parallel to the Israel of God. We have been in bondage to sin, enslaved to alcoholism, adultery, lying, and other carnal pulls. Like the ancient Israelites, we have a tendency to gripe and complain, wrongly thinking that the days before conversion were enjoyable, forgetting we were wallowing in slop and eating garbage. Like the ancient Israelites, we sometimes come to yearn for our previous bondage. Because God loved ancient Israel, He spoke to Moses 72 times, giving specific guidance; He has given us His Holy Spirit for the same purpose. The ancient Israelites grumbled when God gave them the land of the Amalekites, fearing God would not back them, even after the backdrop of witnessing many incontrovertible miracles. After the deaths of the recalcitrant first generation (a collection of rebels who preferred bondage to godly freedom), an emergent second generation entered the land of milk and honey, with God winning all their military victories for them. No other people in the world have been given a gift like that. If we understood God's divine purpose for us, we would live our lives entirely differently. God's ways from the world's point of view are strange; the world thinks we are nerds. But living God's ways will enrich us with the fruits of the Spirit. Most of us do not comprehend the magnitude of the gift God has given us, a trillion times better than the gift He gave to the ancient Israelites. Obedience to God's law is the key factor in growing toward God's Holiness.

John Ritenbaugh, continuing his exposition of the angry, demon-possessed, dark fellow from Trier, Karl Marx, a mad man responsible for the deaths of over 100 million people, asserts that legions of leftist, 'progressive' humanist academics of American and European universities have proclaimed Marx the most influential voice of the last millennium. These Marxist-adoring educators are responsible for spreading their socialist/communist venom into the government, the public schools, and the churches, mis-educating the hopelessly gullible populace of western civilization so thoroughly in covert Marxist doctrine that a military takeover would not be necessary. The Communist Manifesto, published in 1848 and referred to as the bible of Marxism, calls for the confiscation of all private property, making the populace the slaves of the state, a Satanic doctrine which is totally antithetical to God's Word, which awards a promised land with private property to every subject in both the Old and New Covenants.

Martin Collins, reminding us that the Days of Unleavened Bread dramatize the difficulty of our perpetual lifelong struggle to extricate ourselves from the bondage of sin, points out that the despicable institution of human slavery has been perpetually with us, and is still practiced today around the world, whether we speak of sex slaves, sweat shops, or cultural caste systems. Consequently, there are 30 million people living in slavery around the world, with 14 million slaves living in India, and an estimated 60,000 slaves in the United States today. In theApostle Paul's time, 60 million slaves lived in the Roman Empire, with strict laws enforced in order to discourage revolt. Runaway slaves were branded with an "F-U-G" on their forehead, becoming the etymology of the word "fugitive." Although Paul was powerless to attack the system of slavery, he tried to neutralize its evil within the church, advocating that slave owners relinquish the owner-property relationship to a brother-brother relationship. Paul appealed to Philemon to develop this kind of relationship after his slave Onesimus ran away, stealing his money, running to Rome to assist Paul during his imprisonment. Paul wrote a humble, brotherly, diplomatic letter to his old friend Philemon, offering to pay a substitutionary debt for Onesimus if he would treat him as if he were Paul himself. Apparently, Philemon obliged, and the once lowly slave Onesimus evidently became a profitable bishop in his later life, paying back Paul's and Philemon's trust, demonstrating generosity and Christian hospitality. We learn from Onesimus that the Christian is not to run away from his past, but instead to rise above it, making overcoming more of a conquest than an escape. Like Paul's assumption of Onesimus' debt, Christ took our sins on His account and put His righteousness on our account. As an heir with Christ, our bondage is only temporary until we are resurrected as family members of the God Family.

John W. Ritenbaugh:  We find the only notable mention of what we now call the Night to Be Much Observed in Exodus 12:40-42: "Now the sojourn of the children of Israel who lived in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years. ..."

Martin Collins, continuing the series on the awakening of guilt in Joseph brothers, focuses on a message by Rabbi Daniel Lapin, who proclaimed that Moses never just said, "Let my people go" The second part of this request was "that they can worship God in the desert." Egypt has long served as a metaphor of sin and bondage. We all have our personal Egypt which could be defined as anything that holds us in bondage or abject servitude. We have to learn to rely on God to get us out of strait and difficult situations, realizing that God may want to develop some backbone and intestinal fortitude in us to mature spiritually, but most importantly to yield to the sovereign God of the Universe, who has our best interests at heart. As Joseph's brothers had to be subjected to three patterns of necessity: (1) nature, (2) the tyranny of man, and (3) circumstances beyond their control, we need to stop trusting in our own savvy and street smarts, but instead turn the controls over to God, realizing that as Joseph's brothers and father matured through these intense gut-wrenching, terrifying trials, we also can escape the most dire circumstances by placing ourselves under God's control.

The Bible makes frequent use of the yoke as a symbol of work, servitude, and union, but we moderns are unfamiliar with yokes due to our non-agrarian lifestyles. Ronny Graham describes the various kinds of yokes—including human yokes—and shows how they are relevant to our Christian lives.

Believe it or not, we are all affected by slavery, as human servitude comes in many forms: physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, economic, political, etc. Martin Collins exposes modern slavery in its many guises, comparing it to the Bible's depiction of Babylon the Great and its enslaving system.

John W. Ritenbaugh:  Perhaps the greatest of all social ideals is equality. ...

John Ritenbaugh, distinguishing the terms freedom and liberty, suggests that Christian liberty is far more restrained than the word freedom would connote. Mainstream Christianity often obscures the major emphasis of God's purpose in our lives, focusing on a genie in a bottle endlessly showering miracles. God deliberately put His chosen people through testing, trails, and deprivation to see what they would do and how they would respond to His laws. Building character and conforming to Christ's image requires suffering, privations, testing, and trials, including the degradation of slavery. We are still suffering under the bondage of sin. Through God's grace, we are provided liberty with specified limits and boundaries. Grace is not the entire story, especially after we leave Egypt. We are to deny worldly lusts, putting out sin, having been obliged to live in godliness, preparing to live in good works. Consequently, grace places limits on our freedom, training us for our future life in the Kingdom of God. Our behavior must be clearly distinguishable from the non-believers in society. We cannot emulate our forebears, who although freed from Egypt, maintained their slave mentality, immersed in their worldly lusts, rebelling before they even commenced through the Red Sea, grumbling about their diet. We must desire the life-giving manna, the Bread of Life, namely the instruction provided through God's Word, producing good conduct and good life, keeping us from the bondage of sin. We need to be continually packing our minds with the Truth of God, fortifying our goal of attaining the Kingdom of God.

For centuries, Christians have anticipated the coming of the end-time Great Tribulation, prophesied by Jesus in Matthew 24. However, Charles Whitaker describes a historical great tribulation, comparing it to what has happened in the United States since the 1930s.

John Ritenbaugh gives statistics from an army quartermaster who calculated the logistics of supplying food, shelter, and water for 2-3 million Israelites on their 40 year trek across the Red Sea and the wilderness—a task only an omnipotent God could fulfill. As was true in the physical journey of ancient Israel and the spiritual journey of the Israel of God, we have the powerful assurance that God will never leave nor forsake us. When God parted the Red Sea, the problems did not disappear. On our spiritual journey, once we have the benefits of Christ's Passover sacrifice applied to us, our problems do not instantly disappear. Our position is just as precarious as ancient Israel, if not more precarious. As ancient Israel was called out of Egypt, we are called out of spiritual Egypt. We have been in abject bondage to the world's corrupt systems and our own carnal desires, having lived our entire lives under Satan's dominion. Christ stated His intention in Luke 4 to preach the gospel to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, to recover the sight to the blind, and to set them at liberty. Jesus explains that the truth is the only thing that will set us free. A major player in our lives or spiritual journey is the truth and how we use it. Though Christ does not do our overcoming for us, He gives us abundant resources to accomplish this daunting task. He gives us in addition to the assurance that He will never abandon us as we struggle in our journey to the Promised Kingdom of God.

With populations around the world in decline, how will governments and businesses maintain the present standard of living? Charles Whitaker reveals that their solution, hinted at in the sudden surge in biotechnology, resides in technology discovering a brave new world.

Richard T. Ritenbaugh:  On a regular basis, the church receives a question from a subscriber or a visitor to one of its websites about the Mormon practice of baptism for the dead. ...

John Ritenbaugh reiterates that, though adjacent, Passover and the First Day of Unleavened Bread each contain unique lessons and spiritual instructions. Due to careless misreading, Exodus 12:42 has been incorrectly applied to the Passover (observed the night of Nisan 14) instead of the Night to Be Much Observed (observed the night of Nisan 15). Connecting verse 42 to verse 52, the subject refers to the night Israel left Egypt. In verse 22, God forbade the Israelites to leave their houses until morning, and verse 33 shows they left on Nisan 15, as does Deuteronomy 16:1. The term selfsame day (Exodus 12:41) refers to the covenant of circumcision God made with Abraham 430 years before the Exodus (Genesis 15), which occurred on the day after the Passover (Numbers 33:3). God charges us to realize that the day 1) commemorates Israel's liberty from bondage and 2) occurs on the anniversary of the Abrahamic covenant, and 3) that He watches over His people.

The first six element of motivation were positive, but the last in negative. John Ritenbaugh explains that our fear of being judged negatively by our Judge should spur us to greater obedience and growth toward godliness.

By this point, it should be clear that God is sovereign in everything! In this installment, John Ritenbaugh shows God's sovereignty in whom He calls to salvation.

Most of the time, the Israelites provide us with a bad example, but Mike Ford tells of one time in particular that their example illustrates a godly virtue.

We know the holy days typify the steps in God's plan. What happens between Pentecost and Trumpets, the long summer months? John Ritenbaugh expounds on the subject of sanctification.

In this sermon devoted to the Night Much to be Observed, John Ritenbaugh asserts that far from being the "pipe dream" of Herbert W. Armstrong as some have disparagingly called it, this event is a commanded part of the beginning of the Days of Unleavened Bread, a time focusing on God's watchful oversight as He delivers us from bondage, continuing His oversight throughout our pilgrimage. Numbers 28:16-17 clearly reveals that the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread occur on two different days. Exodus 12:40 clearly marks this event as a memorial of the covenant with Abraham 430 years prior- again emphasizing God's continuous watchful care.

John Ritenbaugh focuses on the consequences of the reorientation of culture from family or group concerns to individual rights, pleasure seeking, or the elusive drive toward equality. If everyone seeks his own gratification at the expense of the general welfare (family, church, society) conflict is inevitable (James 4:1). Because God sanctions all authority (Romans 13:1, I Peter 2:13), the only way a society can work (family, church, civil) is for everyone to submit to one another in the fear of Christ. Biblical submission is the respecting of divinely appointed authority out of respect for Christ. Our model of submission should be after the manner of our Elder Brother (Philippians 2:6-8). Submission is an act of faith in God, and an act of love for all concerned.

Christian freedom has nothing to do with location but how we think. Like Israel on the edge of the Red Sea, we are too willing to turn back to our enslavement. Like Christ, carrying the instrument of our death (the cross), we also carry with us the instrument of our own death (our carnal minds). By imbibing on God's Word (maturing from milk to meat), we will incrementally displace our carnality, responding to God's shaping of our character to attain the Kingdom of God and membership in His Family.

John Ritenbaugh warns us that the book of Amos is specifically addressed to us- the end time church (the Israel of God) - the ones who have actually made the new covenant with God. Having made the covenant, we must remember that (1) privilege brings peril- the closer one draws to God, the closer will be the scrutiny, (2) we can't rest on past history or laurels, and (3) we (the ones who have consciously made the covenant with God) must take this message personally. Absolutely fair in His judgment, God judges Gentile and Israelite according to the level of moral understanding He has given them. No human being can escape the obligation to be human, as God has intended — treating other fellow human beings humanely (not as things or objects of profit). Edom's perpetual nursing of anger (harboring bitterness and hatred continually) against Israel is especially abhorrent to Almighty God- a candidate for the unpardonable sin.

John Ritenbaugh suggests that Matthew, a former publican, wrote an orderly account of the Gospel easily outlined and analyzed. This account included Christ's genealogy, the circumstances of His birth, John the Baptist's introduction of Christ, Christ's presentation to the local congregation, the sermon on the mount (a collection of sayings that Matthew had collected over 30 years), the rising of the opposition (Pharisees, Sadducees, and local synagogue leaders), the installation of Jesus' personal staff (the twelve apostles), ordinary men ranging from a hated publican to a revolutionary zealot to a plain blue collar contractor, and working men, representing the twelve tribes of Israel, called not so much for their current abilities, but as to what they would become by yielding to God, much the same as it is for all of us. The commission to the disciples evolves from their preliminary marching orders to go to the House of Israel to their ultimate commission of going to the Gentiles. The observation is made that the disciples seem to appear in groups of four, with one disciple assuming the leadership position of each group. Jesus warns His disciples then and now to be aware of persecution from inside the church, the government (incited by slander and libel) and our own families. Jesus cautions us never to fear or show timidity because our lives are entirely in God's hands and He will provide us whatever resources we need to overcome and build character in our brief 70 to 80 years we are allotted to live in mortal flesh. If we remain steadfastly loyal to God, we will experience abundant life in His family and Kingdom. [NB: This series of Bible Studies from 1981-82 is incomplete.]