Slavery was legally abolished long ago. Despite that, we all know that slavery still exists in our modern world. The fact that other names are used to describe it does not alter its terrifying cruelty.
Come with me back to what must be one of the earliest records of human slavery. The year is around 1350 BC – some 3,500 years ago. The records are in the national archives of Israel – in particular in one of five preserved books written by Moses around that time.
The patriarch named Israel produced 12 sons and, around 1800 BC, the whole family moved to Egypt during a time of great famine in their native land. Over the following centuries the Israelites multiplied greatly and became (as often happens to minority ethnic groups) slaves to their Egyptian masters.
Then, around 1350 BC, the LORD God set his people (the Israelites) free. The LORD God chose Moses to lead them out of slavery.
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But, having escaped Egypt, a terrible incident took place as described in bold above. The freed slaves turned against their saviour. Not only must Moses take the blame for setting them free but also the LORD God was to blame for their present pain – for the things that weren’t yet put right.
“Then the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. Then the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD and against you. Pray to the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. And the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” ”
What today may, at first blush, seem like fantasy was, in fact, put forward by Jesus Christ when he met with a member of the Jerusalem Sanhedrin around AD 30. The Member’s name was Nicodemus. He consulted Jesus covertly in connection with purification – how to be made clean. Jesus told him: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born from above he cannot see the kingdom of God.” When Nicodemus questioned how this could take place, Jesus stated again, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”
Our “spirit” or “life” is the difference between a living person and a dead one. Jesus seems to be emphasising that cleansing within can only come through being born from above, through having God’s own “spirit” or “life” received from above.
Jesus clarified this for Nicodemus by drawing on the BC 1350 slavery incident above. Jesus said to him, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.”
The Son of Man (Jesus) was indeed “lifted up” on that cross AD 30 and rose from the dead. Can it be that a person today (as in Moses’ time) can be cleansed within from evil and from its awful outcomes?
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And, when a person looks to Jesus on that cross, is that person given new “spirit” – new “life”? Is that person “born from above”? Can this be true?
One of the criminals crucified with Jesus said to him, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
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