Critical Theology
Disclaimer: “ 19. Therefore thus saith the LORD, If thou return, then will I bring thee again, and thou shalt stand before me: and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: let them return unto thee; but return not thou unto them. 20. And I will make thee unto this people a fenced brasen wall: and they shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail against thee: for I am with thee to save thee and to deliver thee, saith the LORD. 21. And I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem thee out of the hand of the terrible.”
Jeremiah 15:19-21 KJV
Did Yahweh Abandon His People?
Eager ears, waiting to hear, and hearts open to receive the Word of God. Holy Scriptures read, encouraging and reassuring them that their father was with them. That he loved them, cared for them, and had a plan for them. They took the chance of punishment if it meant they could worship.
Getting there to their meeting place faced perilous challenges. Hearts racing, the shadow of death looming, feet quickened, voices muted, souls longing. God’s people stealthily maneuvered in the dead of night, slipping away to go prayerfully undetected. Answering a call swelled up inside of them; a need spurred no doubt by the Holy Ghost, a desire placed in them by their heavenly father—a desire to worship.
Our brothers and sisters indeed took great risks to their wellbeings to gather together in private fellowship to attribute worthy praise to our God. Freedoms to praise, worship and serve that we have, and take for granted today, that many of God’s people had to risk their lives to engage in during the slavery era in the United States.
To participate without the restrictive supervision, mocking gaze, belittling segregation, or limitations brought on by the oppressors, if they were allowed to engage in any form of corporate worship at all.
To glorify and praise the one and only true living God and to be encouraged and edified with their fellow saints. God’s people, treated no better, oftentimes worse than animals, forbidden to read the Holy Scriptures, and not permitted to leave a slave plantation without permission, for any reason, risked it all. For these worshippers, if caught gathered together privately, they faced the evil cruelty by those who held them captive.
Punishments ranged from flesh-wrenching lashes painted across overworked backs, horrendous torture, or a handcrafted noose draped over a branch. They took the risk if it meant that they could gather together to praise the Lord, to be in his presence, to hear the fullness of Holy scriptures read over them, and not just a few approved selected verses if allowed any at all.
Freedom to Worship
How important is unrestrained worship to our God? Let's dive in, shall we? Exodus 9:13-14,
“13. And the LORD said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me. 14. For I will at this time send all my plagues upon thine heart, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people; that thou mayest know that there is none like me in all the earth.”
Let us not miss the reason the Lord gave Moses for letting His Hebrew people go; he said plainly to serve him. Now there may be reasons we would have liked God to give, but God made his intentions for us clear, to worship him. Make no mistake; worship is considered service to God. All Glory be to God.
In American history, God’s Hebrew people have relied on our faith. Through spirituals sung under harsh captivity to marches through rushes of water escaping fire hoses beating against dog-bitten flesh, we have been a people who looked to the cross, even while many crosses were set ablaze on our front lawns by the evil of the wicked.
While the enemy piled into ‘churches’ faithfully on Sunday mornings, passing by ominous paths that lead to burned and pummeled corpses hanging by the neck on tree branches at the hands of even some of its own congregants, our body of believers met how and when we could to honor our God, crying out also no doubt for strength, comfort, and deliverance.
Look at God
What is considered the bloodiest war in American history paved the way for an answer to prayer, I am sure, for so many. The civil war resulted in the emancipation of many of God’s people. It’s critical that I highlight a very key turning point in that not-so-civil war.
After tiresome battles, the North, the side advocating for freedom by way of not allowing the southern states to secede from the union, which was their true primary goal, was losing.
But God. As he has promised in his faithfulness to us his beloved chosen people to fight for us, came through for us again, Joshua 23:10-11,
“10. One man of you shall chase a thousand: for the LORD your God, he it is that fighteth for you, as he hath promised you. 11. Take good heed therefore unto yourselves, that ye love the LORD your God.”
Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, had resolved to let our people rot in the crushing despair of this country's evil cruelty and remain in chattel slavery to appease the southern states. And when the civil war began, he would not allow our brothers to join in the fight until after the north was losing.
Out of options, Lincoln finally agreed, and our brave, kingly warriors, with God on their side, attained victory over the south. Our valiant, determined, strong men enlisted to fight the south, and our God showed up. Hallelujah!
God delivered this victory, for His people, through His people, by his mercy, power, will, and strong hand, and had some of the enemy, for whatever their reason, fighting alongside us to do it! Psalm 96:1-7;
1. O Sing unto the LORD a new song:
Sing unto the LORD, all the earth.
2. Sing unto the LORD, bless his name;
Shew forth his salvation from day to day.
3. Declare his glory among the heathen,
His wonders among all people.
4. For the LORD is great, and greatly to be praised:
He is to be feared above all gods.
5. For all the gods of the nations are idols:
But the LORD made the heavens.
6. Honour and majesty are before him:
Strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.
7. Give unto the LORD, O ye kindreds of the people,
Give unto the LORD glory and strength.
Jehovah Nissi
Please don’t miss the wonderfulness of this glorious account of our history, which can only be likened to by others of our victories of success by the hand of our God in the bible.
God delivered us the victory over our enemies in their own occupied land, fought on their own stolen soil, while we were largely still their captives, even with their assistance, all while using their own weapons! Won’t he do it?! (wink, wink). All Glory and thanks be to God. Psalm 96:8-10;
8. Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name:
Bring an offering, and come into his courts.
9. O worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness:
Fear before him, all the earth.
10. Say among the heathen that the LORD reigneth:
The world also shall be established that it shall not be moved: He shall judge the people righteously.
11. Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad;
Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof.
12. Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein:
Then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice
13. Before the LORD: for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth:
He shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth.
Correct and Redirect
But this new emancipation didn’t mean complete freedom from the oppressors' evil tactics, violence, murders, constant harassment, and the unsettling of our peace. Newly emancipated people were still in the territory and cruel grasp of the sinful wicked.
We must understand the mindset that the enemy wants to keep us trapped in, one where we have no true God, no true identity, and no loving responsibilities as His people. Lies! All Lies! We are to be keeping the laws and the commandments, Romans 3:31, ( New Testament). Our failure to do so causes us great discipline at the hands of a father who disciplines the ones he loves, Hebrews 12:5-6 and John 15:10, Matthew 5:17; please see Jesus himself kept the law and commandments of God the father. Are we not Jesus followers?
Jesus fulfilled the law; yes, he kept it perfectly without transgression, not because we shouldn’t but because we couldn’t. There’s a difference. Romans 3:31.
Receive wisdom and instruction; everything is not the devil. A lot of the hardships or difficult situations, recourse, and consequences of the actions we face are discipline from the holy hand of our father as a way to redirect us back to him, to repent and return, Proverbs 1:7-8.
Sorry, I know it would be easier just to blame everything on the devil, then we wouldn't have to be accountable for the sinful things we have done and still do or be responsible for doing anything God has commanded us to do… but alas, such is life. Heed. Repent and return.
Jehovah Jireh
Based on historical archives, Abraham Lincoln was an avid supporter of giving and funding the relocation of the enslaved of our Hebrew people to our own island, Proverbs 21:1. This would have been more than likely a colony, but look around today; we would have almost certainly gained independence by now, especially if that be God’s will, similar to Luke 1:74-75.
An island inhabited by God’s people who have found a new renewal in their deep-rooted and sustaining faith is a far cry from one that people occupy with no fear of the Lord.
But in an ironic twist, abolitionists opposed this idea, and with the lack of support and with vocal opposition, the effort wasn't as successful as it could have possibly been. Lincoln, however, did attempt an unsupported and not so publicized experiment of emigrating some enslaved people to an island anyways, which was deemed a ‘failure.’
Forty years in the wilderness eating manna everyday might have been considered by some as a failure as well, and we might have returned to Egypt then, too, had it not been for the faithfulness of Moses, who intervened with God on our behalf.
Has God Abandoned His People?
I want to start off this section by saying that nobody has the right to criticize, lambaste, or judge anyone for decisions made by others in horrendous conditions we have never faced, myself included. That wouldn’t be right, and that wouldn’t be fair.
This is not a means to blame, not all! but in all things beloved, gentle guidance towards meaningful change. A change that must start in our hearts and minds through the work of the Holy Spirit and translate to an understanding of how we view and walk with our God. And how he expects, nay, commands that we walk—a walk of surrender and faith.
God will not abandon his people, no matter how the enemy might lie to you; he will not forsake us, not for his name’s sake, Isaiah 48:9-11.
Let us, brothers and sisters trust him completely, trust that he has a plan to prosper us both then and now; Jeremiah 29:11 plans far superior in every way to what we can imagine or attempt to implement.
Place complete faith in the sovereignty of our masterful Lord faithfully over any plans we have devised for our own comfort, self-seeking advancement, inclusion or acceptance in the world or its rulers, money, and especially over the failed promises of the enemy.
God seemingly presented an opportunity to inhabit a land that would separate us from our enemy, Ecclesiasticus 6:13. It understandably would not have been easy, as inhabiting a new land rarely is, and we staunchly replied…No, we would rather stay.
And now, we are where we are; it is what it is, and it was what it was; Psalm 105:25 says, “He turned their heart to hate his people,To deal subtilly with his servants.” Please note, God did that.
Make no mistake, our forsaking our God to worship and honor idols, our disregard for His law and disobedience of His commandments, have long made us a people deserving of being cast away, Jeremiah 15:1-9.
But, give thanks to the Lord Israelite, that our God hasn’t turned His back on us; Hebrews 13:5, Oh no, to the contrary, in love, truth in love, always, hear Him as He sends His servant to you, wake up family. No, our father has not abandoned us at all, not then and not now either. Keep the Faith, Keep God’s Law, keep God’s Commandments. Love you. His Glory.
