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The Eternal Quest for Freedom
Recently I visited Egypt and walked among
the colossal monuments of kings and queens of an ancient superpower. Even now, thousands
of years after these long-dead monarchs, the might and grandeur of the ancient Egyptian
empire is evident.
Although Egypt has changed in many ways, it is sobering to realize that human nature
and the human condition haven't changed that much. I saw much evidence that even
there, in a land of ancient abundance and plenty, bloodshed and oppression were all
too common.
Most students of the Bible quickly associate ancient Egypt with the suffering of
the Israelite slaves at the hand of a cruel pharaoh. Their suffering was indeed harsh.
According to the biblical account: ". . . Taskmasters were appointed over them to
oppress them with forced labour . . . until the Egyptians came to loathe them. They
ground down their Israelite slaves, and made life bitter for them with their harsh
demands . . . In every kind of labour they made ruthless use of them" (Exodus 1:11,13-14, Revised English Bible).
With a huge captive workforce, prospects looked bright for the Egyptians but never
so dark as for their Hebrew slaves. As if their brutal forced labor were not enough,
the Egyptian monarch instituted a policy of infanticide, commanding his minions to
throw newborn male babies into the Nile. No one knows how many innocent infants met
their deaths in the swirling, muddy waters of the Nile, nor how many Hebrew slaves
perished under the clubs and whips of their captors.
The story of the Israelites' deliverance from slavery has been dramatized in two
major films: The Ten Commandments and, more recently, The Prince of Egypt.
Both vividly depict the suffering of the Hebrew slaves and their exultation when
finally delivered from their oppression. Their story is one of hope and inspiration
for people of all generations who long for the end of oppression.
In later years another saga of slavery played out on the world stage. Over a span
of three centuries several million African men, women and children were systematically
captured and sold into slavery. Forcibly shipped to the New World, many never saw
their families and loved ones again. Then, once they made new families on American
shores, all too often those unions were later broken up as family members were sold
again.
Slavery was finally abolished in the United States after a decades-long struggle
by many courageous men and women, black and white alike. Scars from the American
slavery experience, however, remain with us to this day. Through its lingering effects
we can still sense some of the deep-rooted agony and pain brought on by generations
of degradation and humiliation. Bondage has never been a pretty sight.
We'd like to think we now live in an enlightened age. But do we really?
Not long ago a giant war machine used slave labor to build tanks, planes, bombs and
bullets with which to enslave much of Europe. Laborers were worked until they dropped,
then discarded like debris, their bodies burned or buried in mass graves. Families
were again split up, some sentenced to a quick death and others to misery at hard
labor before many of them, too, met their end.
It is sobering to think that these tragic conditions existed barely five decades
ago--and in geographical areas of man's greatest cultural achievements. Perhaps we're
not as enlightened as we think we are. The human heart still retains some desperately
dark places.
Has the world seen the end of slavery?
Don't answer too quickly. Man's time of slavery is not yet over. Slavery remains
alive and well and is more widespread than you think. Humanity has much to learn
and far to go before we finish our quest for freedom. The Good News is dedicated
to showing how that ultimate human freedom will come about.
--Scott Ashley
© 1999-2022 United Church of God, an International
Association
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Keywords: slavery freedom
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