Slavery Part 1
6/14/17
This topic has been one of conversation for as long as I can remember and it is one that usually brings to the table heated words that may end in further divisions. However, it is also a topic that is eternally misunderstood both in its origins and in its continuity today for we must contend that slavery is both physical and spiritual and that its origins can be traced back further than what we believe. It was never God’s plan for us to be in such a state but it was our choice to do so and it imperative that we know the truth so that we can be totally free of this condition. There is only One way to this freedom and it begins and ends with God and His Son.
Many of us tend to trace the slavery roots of humanity back to a certain time period of human history and define it as when the first recorded ship or group of humans were transferred from their homes to another place on the globe. While this account can be deemed as accurate enough to satisfy our present curiosity it does not fulfill the truth about this practice and who it was originally set into motion on. Almost weekly I either hear about or read about people who demand reparations for what was done to their ethnic people from the past and while it has become a topic of great animosity and adversity many people have been against this concept for the reasons that have been given do not line up with current population statuses, another topic of heated debate within itself. We must grasp that if we cut ties with a problem at the middle of the problem and then leave the root or origin of that problem, the problem will continue to grow and thrive and will return until the origin is cut out and discarded permanently.
We will dive into the origins of this topic in this message and it is going to be one that God really wants us to understand especially if we are going to have the freedom that everyone wants to live in. However, there is a huge detail here that we must accept as the truth and one that if not taken into our hearts as the complete truth will not produce the results that all want and thus provide our enemy with an added method of his hate for our existence which will produce more devastation to our existence. All this time we have been looking through human eyes for the origin of slavery and we have continually been disappointed to find that the “origins” of this nasty condition cannot be solved. But as with most cases of searching, we have been looking in the wrong place for this highly valued answer and what is so amazing is that the answer has been right in front of our noses all along.
It is the answer that will explain all of our problems and will line out the answers to every question that humanity has ever asked, and one that our eternal enemy does not want us to understand. Of course, there will be those who scoff or doubt this answer and will not believe that the answer is simple as it is but in truth it is present and it comes from the Bible, the beginning chapters of the Bible to be more exact. As most of you know God has been directing me from the book of Genesis and that I have repeatedly mentioned that it has been to my amazement that I have learned so much from this book. I may never know every detail about this single book in the Bible while I am on earth but I do know that I will have eternity to figure all of its words out but until that day arrives I shall continue to share with you what God wants us to know not only from Genesis but from the remaining Word that God has given us.
This past week I had an experience that stopped me in my tracks, literally. I have had dreams from God over the past few years and these dreams have been pretty vivid with specific details that my mind cannot forget. To this day, I can tell you every portion of those dreams and the order in which I received them. All of them relate to each other but at the same time, there was a piece of that large puzzle that was missing. The dreams were not immaculate or complex in nature but normal everyday settings that one’s eyes would see if came upon, yet at the same time unusual enough to keep the curiosity of the heart wondering. The dreams all took place in different settings and places but there were a few details in each dream that were consistent, such as a window, doors, tables and some type of gathering of people. All seemed common but untidy when it came to the reasons why these places were chosen. While I may never completely understand the full content of these dreams, the experience I had recently shed some further light on why I had them and an explanation of what is going on around us, without us even knowing it.
The experience I had this past week was similar to these dreams but instead of me being asleep I was wide awake and at work so it was not a dream but a vision. This was my first vision and it was an experience that I shall never forget because it shook me when I realized what was occurring. I do not feel like the answer that God wants us to know in this message is complete yet, but it does define a setting that we have searched for and through this simple look into the spirit realm God has opened my heart to see deeper into His Word.
The portion of the vision that will be shared deals with the state of the angel and how he did not even look at me while I was around him. I know seems a bit odd and at first, I believed that I fully understood what was going on but God had a detail that He wanted us to understand about this angel and particularly what the angel was doing while I was gazing at him and his position. I was on his left side and I was able to see in detail his facial features, at least half of them for I never saw the other side of his body and to my knowledge I do not know if he even knew that I was around him at all for he never moved one bit, he never looked in my direction, nor did he lose eye contact from what he was looking at. It was clear to me at the time that he understood his job, his position and what he was supposed to do which he was doing as such, in a position to hear the command from the One who sent him there in the first place and would not be distracted from that mission until it was over. It is this portion of the vision that we begin with and a little bit later we will get into another portion of the vision that explains more about the two Scripture verse that we will be dealing with here Genesis 3:6 and Genesis 3:16.
In the vision that God gave me, it tells that the spirit of God in its pure form is unshakable and has a direct path with a setting that cannot be deterred. The angel not looking at me gives us the clue about this truth and how straight forward the spirit realm is and how operates. It also gives us the perfect example of how simple the spirit realm’s mission is and when an order is given it is expected to be followed no matter what occurs around it or who shows up in the area. It is this setting that we find Adam and Eve in when they were created by God in Genesis Chapter 2. God placed Adam in a perfect place that had no issues with sin of any kind along with one simple command that God gave that He expected to be adhered to at all times. The plan was unshakable and steady because it was established by God and not by anyone else. We sometimes argue that this plan was too simple and narrow to be orchestrated as the defining point of our existence in God’s realm, but it is true and it occurred in this manner and served as our origin of equality with the Creator of everything Himself. It is this setting that my eyes saw when I was looking at the angel and he did not return my look or acknowledge my presence, an unnatural act by human standards, but not spirit.
With the response to the serpent by Eve, it is evident that she knew that he had been lurking about for some time, at least. There are indications, through the actions of humans themselves, that when an object has presented itself for some time that object becomes a “normal” setting and the other parties involved will not be alarmed when it appears again which seems to be what occurred here in the beginning of Genesis Chapter 3. The conversation has begun between the serpent and Eve and it is a pretty straight up forward talk which gets right into the detail of why the serpent was there, to deceive her through the developed trust of her awareness during their recent history. There was no way that Adam and Eve were not aware of Satan’s presence for his presence would have served as a deterrent at the beginning and his presence would have become more comfortable as time went along.
In the vision, the first thing I heard was the water churning and clapping about and that sound did not leave until the vision was over, at first I thought that was very odd. As my movement continued in the vision the water sounds did not cease or diminish but continued steadily. The noise did not increase in decibels but it was loud enough that I could not ignore it, a continuous sound that I could not ignore. As stated above I did not know that it was a distraction at that time but as God has shown me since then, the water served as a distraction and was meant to be as such for I was supposed to keep my eyes on the angel and understand his focus and mission, not the surrounding conditions and what ongoing around us.
It is this setting that we find Adam and Eve in Genesis 3:1 for it is evident that these beings had become comfortable with each other. Satan’s presence was constant enough that it was not bothersome but intriguing to them, a curious offshoot in the Garden that God created; so, why bother with what God said to be aware of and instead play with it and call it a friend. It is this minor detail that defines the perfect distraction that would lead to the missing of God’s plan for His prized creations and an eternal change that would introduce a devastating policy of slavery for everyone else who is witness to this life. The question that we must truly ask ourselves is if we are listening to the water around us or are we staying focused on what God has given us to do.
This portion of the vision brings into light a detail about Lucifer as well, one that explains why he fell and lost his position in heaven. In the vision, the angel never moved, looked around, or made any other movement or gesture other than what he was instructed to complete. His eyes were fixed and no emotion or sound was made from him either. There was water around him and he was standing right above it yet he did not look down at the water nor did he see the condition of the water below him, he was not concerned at all just fixated at what he was supposed to do, waiting for further orders. What if that angel was more concerned about my presence or what the water was doing around him and underneath him? It would mean that he had been distracted by his surroundings and was concerned more about what was occurring around him than completing the mission that he had been sent to do.
In other words, he would have been comfortable with the abnormalities of the surroundings and had accepted them as “normal” which he knows are not just by its presence. The same distraction Lucifer had when he got his eyes on what God had made instead of keeping focus on what God needed to be done. This represents a huge detail that we need to understand or we shall fall into the same distracted category and result in our eternal downfall as well; oh wait, I believe it is safe to say that we have already fallen for this distraction. We cannot forget that through Lucifer’s own actions and choices he became a slave to his own distraction which led to his destruction.
Up to this moment, Adam and Eve have not disobeyed God’s command to the extent that it would warrant any type of life changing moment; however, with the statement (lie) that Eve responded with no argument from Adam, the serpent knew he had them where he wanted them. Their willingness to entertain a being that was exotic in nature and appearance was the distraction that was needed in order to bring about the plan of our enemy, just as the water played in the vision that God gave me. God’s command was simple and to the point and the angel in my vision did not waiver from God’s command to him at all the same way that Adam and Eve should have chosen to do a long time ago. The angel understood that God had given him a reason to be in that spot and he was not going to budge or be distracted for at any moment God could have given the command to complete the mission that the angel was sent to do. It is this point that God is making to our hearts today is that we cannot be distracted from what is going on around us because what God has placed into motion cannot be undone. But we need to be on constant guard for His voice so that we know what is going on and why things are occurring in the manner in which they are. Once again, we must ask ourselves are we listening to our surroundings or are we steadfast and focused on what God has commanded us to do.
When we read Genesis 3:6, we find that Eve, then Adam, partake of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, it is this act of eating that serves as the disobedient act that God warned Adam not to do. The only law that they had to follow was this simple and to the point directive that God gave them from the beginning. God did not place any wandering “ifs” or “buts” to this command so it would have been easy for them to understand “do not do this” statement. In freedom, complete and holy freedom, one can do what one wishes as long as they stay within the authority of the One who gave that freedom. If the one who grants this type of freedom places an enormous amount of rules and regulations over those who are in this freedom, then it cannot be a true and holy freedom but a slave-like setting. So, this means that someone who sees this type of living and knows that they cannot join in this setting will do everything possible to take people away from this type of freedom. We all know what the opposite of freedom is, slavery and that means whoever wishes to take someone away from freedom can only offer the opposite or their “own” freedom which when compared to the standard of God, is slavery at its peak.
We see this event and change in freedom status occur in Genesis 3:7 when it states: “And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons.” This is the first time that Adam and Eve have to do something that differs from their previous condition for they did not know they were naked and they had no reason to hide their bodies either. This represents a state being changed into another state which means their original state (God’s creation) was pure and perfect and the new state was not because they were dependent on something else than the previous. We all know that freedom does not come for free and that a certain standard needs to be in place in order for that freedom to stay intact, we see here that this single act of disobedience removes this freedom and a new condition of living is now in place. Up until this verse, everything was supplied for Adam and Eve and they did not have to worry about any need not being met after the disobedience occurred they needed a cover a great change from their original life. What seems to be a minute issue has now been claimed as a life changing process which needs immediate attention which means that their status of freedom has changed into a dependency. Equality no longer is relevant to their lives since the source of equality can no longer be their origin, a problem in which we see will be explained in Genesis 3:16.
If we are distracted in any form we will miss what God is saying to our lives and what He is telling us to share to the world. Lucifer was distracted in heaven and it caused him to fall for eternity. Now, Satan’s goal is for us to fall for his distractions big enough that we miss what is going on around us, miss God’s voice of warning and totally miss God in all aspects of our lives so that we share in his eternal downfall. God created us to be focused on the job given to us to complete. God also gave us the mechanisms to defend ourselves from those things that would deter us from completing this mission we have to do, hence the Garden of Eden setting in the beginning. God kept things pure and simple giving us the job to complete and the reason why to complete it but at the same time creating us in a way that we still could choose our own destiny and not be subject to a slave-like master. Wait a minute, it was mentioned a few paragraphs above that Lucifer became a slave to his own distraction and thus was the origin of his own eternal fall. Exactly, which means that Satan cannot tell the truth for the truth sets people free and provides an eternal answer for the condition of eternity. Therefore, Satan can only offer a slave setting that originates from his own kingdom which leads us up to Genesis 3:16 and the definition of the slavery constitution that rules our existence.
We see that God has answers for His people who seek Him at all times for it is these people who keep a steady heart and focused eye on their mission at all times. I do not know if the angel that I was looking at knew I was around him but I have a feeling he did. But my presence around his “space” was of no concern to him because he first understood who sent him to that position and second he understood that he had to keep on guard and not be distracted by any detail that emerged around him. This confirms that the angel did not know when God would give the command that he was waiting for either but that he did know what to do when commanded. God cannot be distracted by any means and when God sends out a command, message, note, or answer it is done so in simple and straightforward motion and at a specific time. We have this example in Daniel Chapter 9 when Daniel was praying yet listening for the answer to his question from earlier, as Gabriel showed up when the deterrence was overcome. One cannot battle adequately, see clearly, or hear correctly if they are distracted.
So, the question remains about how these two verses in Genesis tell us about a life of freedom and then the introduction of slavery as a way of life. We have the first part of the issue covered and established that our initial (original) living conditions were under God’s protection and thus true freedom, but now it is time to tackle the issuance into slavery, a lifestyle that we still live in today and unwilling to tackle appropriately and truthfully.
DLB
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