“Slaves, in reverent fear of God, submit yourselves to your masters…” This Scripture from 1 Peter 2:18 has been a source of embarrassment for Christians, and torment from the world. Several Bible translations have replaced the word “slaves” with “servants.” Some preachers offer explanations meant to reconcile with our modern-day sensitivities. However, I’ve learned from experience not to evade uncomfortable Scriptures, hoping to defend God. The word is there for a reason.
We are currently living in slavery.
EVERYONE IN SLAVERY, REALLY?
Work is a good thing. The purpose of work is to create, cultivate, barter, or trade in peace. God took Adam and placed him in the garden “to work it and keep it.” It’s only after creation was cursed that Adam was told, “by the sweat of your face you shall eat bread.”
It’s the working and living environments that define slavery – and it’s the political, economic, and religious systems that create the structure for it. The few who control these structures run the world – and the devil controls the minds of those fixated on this world. For example, the most basic asset is land. Some people may live off the land, but who really owns it? It’s easy to say the government; however, isn’t it the few who control governments?
Especially in the West, where the majority migrated in recent centuries, land ownership is relatively new, and the majority do not own land (www.nytimes.com/2019/04/19/world/europe/england-land-inequality and www.landgate.com/news/largest-landowners-in-the-united-states-2025)
We are taught to work for others rather than to create wealth.We (the masses) accept this system without protest and are influenced to follow along. This is the kind of slavery that I am talking about, where a hierarchy of control structures – the invisible fences – keeps everyone compliant.
An invisible fence is an electronic fence buried underground. When a domesticated dog runs around, it looks like he has full freedom to go as it pleases because there is no physical fence. However, the dog has a collar with a chip; and when it attempts to go beyond the fence, it will receive an electronic shock to keep it in the designated area.
Our ‘electronic shock’ would be the structures around us that keep us subdued and compliant with the world’s system. These can include cultural norms, taxing infrastructures, economic systems, central authorities, law enforcement, and governments – the invisible fences used by the rulers, principalities, and powers of this empire.
WHO IS THE MASTER?
In Genesis 15:13, God told Abraham that his descendants would be under slavery for 400 years. Later, Abraham’s great-grandson, Joseph, was governor over all of Egypt. When the world faced famine, he oversaw food distribution in Egypt. The food wasn’t free. The people had to pay – first with money, then with their belongings. Eventually, people ran out of things to sell, so they sold themselves to the State. (Gen. 47:13-26)
During that period, Joseph brought his extended family to Egypt to avoid starvation. They remained in Egypt even after the famine, continuing to increase in number. Eventually, Joseph died and the new Pharaoh showed no affinity for Joseph’s family, the Israelites. Afraid of the growing numbers of Israelites, the new Egyptian leaders enslaved them. (Ex. 1: 8-14)
This mindset persists today; we give up our God-given rights and responsibilities to ‘governments’ in exchange for their benevolence. In turn, we are subject to rules and regulations that govern nearly every aspect of our lives, placing shackles on us.
SLAVE MASTERS
Our King gives us all we need to survive in this earthly kingdom. We are told not to worry about what we eat and drink, but to pursue Christ and His righteousness. Sadly, we see very few examples of how to live this life properly. We live lives ranging from one extreme to another – from being lazy or cowardly ‘waiting on the Lord,’ to amassing earthly treasures with no relationship with Christ, thinking that financial success indicates God’s favour.
While the Israelites were leaving Egypt, many complained because they wanted to return to Egypt (Num. 11: 1-6). They couldn’t envision a new state of being – the Promised Land – where they would be free. Consequently, the adult generation that left Egypt, except for two, did not enter the Promised Land. They didn’t want freedom; they wanted someone else to be responsible for them while they lived however they wanted.
From Eden, our assignment was to have dominion over the Earth. Instead, we chose to create our own system. We serve the gods of this world, and we are looking to them to provide for us.
HOW DO WE ESCAPE?
Romans 6:16 reminds us that we are slaves to the one we obey. We cannot escape slavery, but we can choose our master.
For now, our bodies are bound by this decaying world. Still, we can live free in it, starting with our mind, based on to whom we surrender our will. If we surrender to the flesh (or world), we’ll continue to reap the flesh; if we surrender to Christ Jesus, we’ll reap life and freedom.
You might say – Isn’t this answer just a spiritual thing? How do we escape physical slavery? Death. But we can take dominion of the physical by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Let’s see how Jesus demonstrated this, living as the Son of Man. He lived as human, under the rule of this system, yet He had power over the demons, sin, and sickness.
Jesus has unlimited resources. When Peter was asked to pay the temple tax, he could have called on his brother and friends to work and earn money to pay it. Instead, Peter went to Jesus, and then Jesus told him what to do. That’s our example.
The sequence matters.
We must first turn to Jesus regarding our work, our need for money, and how to live in this life, and then listen to what He says. Sadly, we usually get the order wrong: we start with work, slavishly collecting and storing for a rainy day; and after we’re exhausted, we come to Jesus, asking Him to bless the decisions we have already made. But Jesus wants our obedience more than our offerings.
EXODUS
We remain enslaved when we don’t know who we are. The way we rule is by dying to ourselves, allowing Christ to live through us. The gods of this world do not want humans to have dominion; they will lie, kill, steal, and destroy to remain in control. But Christ, with love and compassion, has freed us from slavery.
In the exodus story, God used Moses to lead the Israelites out of slavery; and now we are being led by the One greater than Moses—Jesus.
Now Christ has gone to heaven. He is seated in the place of honor next to God, and all the angels and authorities and powers accept His authority. (1 Peter 3:22)
The book of Exodus is not just history of what happened in the past, it is also a sweet reminder of what to expect in the future.
Exodus! Movement of Yah people!
Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that it shall no more be said, The Lord liveth, that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; But, The Lord liveth, that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither he had driven them: and I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers.Jeremiah 16:14-15
And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon. And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. Revelation 5: 4-5
Jennifer is a software specialist, who offers coaching and mentoring services to software consultants. Her first book, The Two Kingdoms, is available on Amazon.com.
