Biblical understanding of God's liberation of the oppressed

Biblical Reflection on Cone, Carroll, and Lapsley
Section 1
The Exodus was a major event for the Israelites since through it God was manifested as the Savior of people in affliction. The children of Israel were under bondage of slavery in Egypt. Their future was in the hands of the Egyptians and thus uncertain. God heard their cries and recalled his promise to the patriarch Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He saw their suffering and was mindful of them[footnoteRef:1]. God took it upon himself to save the Israelites and secure them a bright future, something which the Israelites could not achieve on their own. With wondrous and miraculous acts, God saved the children of Israel from Egyptian oppression[footnoteRef:2]. The children of Israel witnessed the mighty power by which God hit the Egyptians, and they put their trust in Him[footnoteRef:3]. [1: Exod. 2:24-25 (New English Bible)] [2: Exod. 6:6] [3: James H. Cone, "Biblical Revelation and Social Existence," in God of the Oppressed, 2nd ed. (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1999), 58.]

During the Exodus, God shows his loving kindness by helping helpless people. God shows himself stronger than the great Pharaoh that reigned over Egypt at the time. The Exodus became engraved in the minds of the children of Israel. This deliverance became the foundation of their covenant with God at Sinai[footnoteRef:4]. [4: Ibid, 59]

Exodus 19:4-5 relates the deliverance to the revelation of who God really is. The Exodus is indeed the starting point of the children of Israel. The covenant at Sinai was a welcome call by God on the Israelites to walk in his statutes until they reach the promised land. The Israelites had a choice to make, because obedience on their part was a prerequisite to the covenant. Getting into such a covenant implied that the Israelites had to live as a redeemed people, as a true testimony of God’s power to deliver from bondage. The covenant did not just mean that the Israelites had recognized the ultimate sovereignty of God. It also meant that they were willing to handle the weak among themselves as God had handled them[footnoteRef:5]. [5: Cone, "Biblical Revelation and Social Existence," 59.]

The Exodus reveals God as a God of history, who is known to free the afflicted. It is only this way that God’s attributes get to be known among his children. That is actually the reason behind God’s strife with Pharaoh, the unleashing of the ten plagues, and the stubborn spirit sent to Pharaoh[footnoteRef:6]. [6: Ibid]

The choice of God on the helpless Israelites teaches us quite a number of lessons. Suppose God had elected Egypt as the holy nation, instead of the children of Israel. This would have portrayed a very contrary character to what God is known for. Israel’s selection as the holy nation was the best God could do. God is hereby manifested as one who will always free people from political and social bondage. Theology must therefore look into the politics that is sensitive to the plight of the poor and critical of the rich. Theology must indeed see God as fully in control of History, standing with the weak and humiliating the strong[footnoteRef:7]. [7: Ibid, 60.]

The story of Exodus does not end with the giving of the covenant. God continues working his miracles among the children of Israel many years after they made the covenant. It is God who sustains the Israelites for the forty years they wandered in the wilderness. Even when the Israelites breached the covenant, God did not give up on them. He was always willing to forgive and bring them back to his statutes. His grace proved to be greater than all the sins of Israelites[footnoteRef:8]. Israelites plunged further into disobedience the moment they set kings to rule them. The kings sooner than later forgot the God who brought the Israelites out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand. They forgot that they were to emulate God by standing with the poor and weak. Such understanding will enable us better comprehend the rise of prophecy[footnoteRef:9]. [8: Cone, "Biblical Revelation and Social Existence," 60.] [9: Ibid]

Section 2
The book of Deuteronomy was authored about 1406 BC, just after the children of Israel came to an end of their wandering in the wilderness. The Israelites had come to the east of River Jordan, in a city called Moab, which was adjacent to Jericho[footnoteRef:10]. They were just about to enter the land that their fathers had been told of many years back[footnoteRef:11]. Forty years in the wilderness had transformed the children into adults who could fight and claim the promised land. Prior to this conquest, God reminded the Israelites of his covenant with them, through his servant Moses[footnoteRef:12]. [10: Deut 1:1; 29:1 (New Revised Standard Version)] [11: Gen 12:1, 6–9] [12: Merrill F. Unger, Unger's Commentary on the Old Testament (Chattanooga, Tenn.: AMG, 2002), 233.]

Moses spoke with the Israelites at least twelve times. This was a sign of the nation’s unity, which was started by God himself at Sinai and cultivated as they walked through the wilderness. While other nations at that time worshiped many Gods, Israel had only one true God. No other God was like him in all the earth. Deuteronomy 6:4 points to this strong belief among the Israelites, which stands true up to today. It states, “God is one.”[footnoteRef:13] [13: Deut 6:4]

The book of Deuteronomy repeats the ten commandments and numerous other statutes recorded in the books of Exodus and Leviticus. Deuteronomy is basically a compilation of instructions for the Israelites on how to live a godly life in their land of promise. The 27th and 28th chapter list the benefits that come with obeying God, and the losses that arise out of disobedience[footnoteRef:14]. [14: Unger, “Unger's Commentary on the Old Testament “, 233.]

The Hurricane Katrina’s devastating effects of 2005 can be related to the writings in the book of Deuteronomy. A colored girl, about ten years of age, was asked some questions in the vicinity of Superdome, where thousands of locals and foreigners had found shelter after the storm abated. The little girl said on live television, “I don’t want to die here.” This little girl had been saved from two disasters. First is the natural one of the hurricane, and the second one was political - she knew the danger of holding thousands of people in a room without power and adequate supplies. It is true that Superdome hosts thousands of people, but this is normally not more than three hours at any one time. Such neglect and chaos surrounding her was a sure recipe for death[footnoteRef:15]. [15: Cheryl B. Anderson, "Biblical Laws Challenging the Principles of Old Testament Ethics," in Character Ethics and The Old Testament: Moral Dimensions of Scripture, 2nd ed. (Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2007), 47.]