Bondage

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                                                             BONDAGE
                                                                                            By Mae Shurow

The Lord sent His people down to slavery in Egypt to show us what slavery IS… to give us a vivid illustration of what bondage is and to show us that WE are a people in slavery, in bondage….

Then the Lord came to Pharaoh (a type of Satan), and said, “Let My people go!” He set ‘em free from the bondage they were in, but they wanted to go back to it (go figure!?!?)! They were deceived and thought it was the only way they would have protection and their needs would be met. The Lord feeds His children Bread from Heaven, yet the Israelites felt that they needed lots of leeks, onions, and garlic to sustain them!

The Hebrew people were enslaved by their physical needs and desires, and we are in the same condition today. We are enslaved with ceaseless, endless activities that we are deceived into thinking will keep us safe, secure, and happy. It is a heavy burden to bear – it wears us out, for we feel we must go to such pains to see that everything is done properly! And just when we think we have everything done, something pops up that we didn’t foresee, and we have to take care of THAT. Ironically, all that we labor for is of no profit because we can’t take care of ourselves – only God can provide for our needs. Only when we, as Jesus said “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt 11:28), will our yokes be easy and our burdens become light.

But we are tempted all the time with “things” that will do the job…better, faster, easier! It’s not really true – the “things” themselves are just more “stuff” that we have to work harder to get, must go to the trouble to learn how to use, and more “stuff” that we then have to take care of.

We are under constant strain. In our minds we are always hearing, “You better get that done; you better make sure of that; you better get up there and get in front of everybody else…” And we’re always worried about not having enough TIME to get everything done that we need to get done. We long to get it all done so we can RELAX…and Rest.

Mentally, we’re always under the strain of thinking about having way too much to do, and so our minds become a constant swirl of activity, so much so that we can never really rest. It is difficult for us to find time to help others, because we are sure that we have WAY more to do than they do! We’re always looking for time-savers and ways to do things faster…so we can get everything done so we can rest…but we are never able to rest because we have so much to do!

A People Robbed and Spoiled

This bondage is like a thief or robber who comes to steal, kill, and destroy. We will be robbed of time, talent, energy, intelligence, vitality, mental alertness, strength, and courage. The cares of this world will steal all our mental, physical, and emotional resources if we remain unaware of these tactics. We will be sucked dry and eaten alive if we don’t pay attention to what is happening. Before we even know it, all our thoughts and energy can become consumed with keeping ourselves and those we love safe, secure, and happy.

Minds and bodies on such overload cannot perform as they were designed to function, and even our memories and ability to reason quickly become affected. As a result, people robbed and spoiled of the use of their own facilities easily become very needy people – they become users. Because their own energy is “devoured,” they unwittingly try to harness the energy of others. With absolutely no time to spare to help someone else, they cry out for others to help them since they’ve got WAY too much to do – keeping themselves safe, secure, and happy – that they’ll never get done so they can rest. They feel if they can get anybody to do anything for them, they’re a step ahead of the game. But everything has to be done just so… They even have to do the same task over and over again to make sure it was done properly. (Tasks not properly done could endanger their safety, security, or happiness!) Paradoxically, any assistance they manage to solicit never profits them because they are still compelled to be busy making sure the other person is doing the job “just so” – just as they would like it done.

Time spent helping those in such bondage is worthless, emptiness, vanity…making bricks. The giver becomes drained and exhausted without ever being any real help to the user. The giver ends up feeling sucked in and used, and that’s really true because all their effort was for naught. Meanwhile, the user really thinks he needs the help, and doesn’t understand why others grow weary and at last refuse to be used. The user feels he has so much to do, but the giver abandons the user in the time of need! Of course, users end up resenting givers when they refuse to give any more.

A people in bondage are takers indeed, for they are under such a heavy load that they have nothing left to give. They become envious, covetous, and greedy – because they see that others have wisdom, resources, etc. that they could use! If they could only latch onto some of the resources of others, maybe they wouldn’t have to work so hard and could finally get some rest…how very sad.

As followers of Christ, we know we should not be weary in well-doing (2 Th 3:13). But the Bible does not instruct us to busy ourselves helping users, lest we be brought into the bondage of unfruitful works ourselves. In fact, we are told that the wise do the very opposite – when the foolish virgins asked the wise virgins to give them of their oil, they refused, telling them rather to go buy for themselves (Matt. 25:8-9).

2 Th 3:10-11 tells us that “if any would not work, neither should he eat. For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies.” We are further told to “…note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed. Yet count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother” (2Th 3:14-15).

When we look at the meaning of the words “disorderly” and “busybody,” we can more readily understand this passage. Disorderly means “sense of insufficient inclination to disciplined work” (Louw, 1996). Busybody means to “work all around, bustle about; occupied but busybodies, i.e. everywhere doing everything but doing nothing” (Zodhiates, 2000). The Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament says, “Doing something unnecessary or useless” (Louw, 1996), and Vine’s states, “to take more pains than enough about a thing, to waste one’s labor, or to be meddling with, or bustling about, other people’s matters; taken up with trifles” (1996).

Scripture is clear – we are to maintain good works – works that are profitable unto men (Titus 3:8), and the passage goes on to say “And let ours also learn to maintain good works for necessary uses, that they be not unfruitful” (Titus 3:14).

Proclaiming Liberty

Jesus came into the world to proclaim liberty to the captives (Luke 4:18), and He said, “As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world” (John 17:18). We have been sent into the world, even as Jesus was, to proclaim liberty to a humanity trapped in the infancy of their own understanding (Eph 4:14,18); a humanity that does not comprehend a Father in heaven that will provide for our every need upon listening to His voice.

How can we truly help those who are “children in their understanding” come into a maturity of faith? Jesus always spoke to people at the heart of their ability to comprehend, and we must learn total dependence on the Holy Spirit (John 15:5) – moment by moment – if we are to be enabled to minister in the same way! We must speak the truth in love, and in a way others can understand, teaching by word and example how God intended for His people to live. All must be done by the power of the Spirit, for we cannot manipulate others into truth by our own strength. And we must not allow others to manipulate us into helping them achieve their own objectives, thereby drawing the servant of God into worldly concerns! Jesus didn’t pray for the Father to take us out of the world, but that He would keep us from the evil (John 17:15), and we must depend on the guidance of the Spirit in order to truly help others while at the same time refusing to allow their distorted perceptions to control us.

The plight of mankind in bondage is making bricks…endlessly making bricks. In the darkness of their understanding, humanity is busily obtaining everything that appears to provide pleasure and safety that the world offers. A people so ensnared must work endlessly to accomplish an impossible task – to keep themselves safe, secure, and happy. If we so allow, a people in such bondage will bind us with their heavy chains and prevent us from being occupied in God-directed good and fruitful works. It is the Lord which teaches us to profit, and leads us by the way that we should go (Isa. 48:17). Let us see then that we walk circumspectly, not as fools who can be caught up in fruitless work. Let us not even be caught up in what may seem to be harmless activities like foolish talking or jesting (Eph. 5:4). Let us walk as wise men, occupied in the giving of thanks, understanding what the will of the Lord, redeeming the time. For, indeed, the days are evil (Eph 5:15-17).

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Written December, 2007
*All emphasis mine.

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Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996, c1989). Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament :
Based on semantic domains. New York: United Bible societies.

Theological dictionary of the New Testament. 1964-c1976. Vols. 5-9 edited by Gerhard
Friedrich. Vol. 10 compiled by Ronald Pitkin. (G. Kittel, G. W. Bromiley & G. Friedrich,
Ed.) Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.

Vine, W. E., Unger, M. F., & White, W. 1996. Vine's complete expository dictionary of Old
and New Testament words. T. Nelson: Nashville.

Zodhiates, S. (2000, c1992, c1993). The complete word study dictionary : New Testament
(electronic ed.). Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers.