Read Exodus 3:7-9 from your Bible
According to Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia: Oppression is defined as “the exercise of authority or power in a burdensome, cruel or unjust manner. And to “oppress” is to “physically press down on (someone) with harmful effects, to smother, to crush, etc.” It also means to “keep down by force; to make sad or gloomy.”
The antidote of God for oppression and affliction is deliverance (Exodus 3:8). God says I have seen the affliction of my people by which the task master (strange powers) has afflicted them. These powers have prevented them from enjoying their blessing and seek to dictate how they live their lives. It is also recorded that God says; “I want to remove them from this land of affliction to a land flowing with milk and honey.”
Read Exodus 3:8 from your Bible
The people of God can come into this large and good land only after deliverance. This is the same plan God has for us today. He has not changed his strategy. He wants to save you from Egypt, a place of sin, slavery and oppression, to a place of enlargement, abundance, destiny fulfillment, where milk and honey flows and where you will possess your possession. But this can only happen by deliverance. The blessing of salvation is not complete if christians are not delivered from oppression. Many christians are oppressed by poverty, sickness, ignorance, etc. and needs to pray their way to deliverance.
Read Exodus 3:9 from your Bible
This God’s people were not possessed by demons but were being oppressed by demonic powers. The Egyptians symbolized the power of oppression at the time. In the bible, when reference is made to Egypt, it is usually in reference to the power of or place of oppression. Egypt was the home of wickedness as at bible times where they practiced voodoo, occult, magic, etc. This was what it symbolized then and what God intended to deliver His people from. And until you receive this truth, anytime you are confronted with the subject of deliverance, you may rebuff it in anger or with disdain. It is unfortunate however, that the devil is capitalizing on this ignorance in the body of Christ to keep many Christians oppressed. As long as you continue to reject this truth, you will not see where God is drawing your attention to or the need for deliverance.
The deliverance must start from acknowledgment. You must first accept the message of deliverance and then make yourself available for it. I tell you the truth, even after being born again many Christians are still being oppressed especially because of ignorance and/or failure to stand their ground.
Read Ephesians 6:10 from your Bible
As we study further in the book of Exodus, we find that after the Lord demonstrated His power in Egypt and broke the chain of bondage from off His people and the Egyptians let them go, they decided to pursue them again and would have brought them back to the land of slavery if not that the power of deliverance was still at work which drowned Pharaoh and his army in the red sea. That is what I call “the pursuing powers!”
The enemy, after letting you go, may decide to pursue you again. If you are careless, ignorant and not strong in the Lord, you may allow yourself go through another round of oppression. This is why you see some christians backslide after giving their lives to Christ. Some complain few weeks after sharing a major testimony or fall back into the problem they were once delivered from. What happened to them? They simply allowed their brief success to blind them hence, they lost concentration. The Bible says we must be vigilant and sober, because while we rest, the enemy is prowling (1 Peter 5:8).
In my next write-up I will be teaching on What Possession Is.
Shalom!
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