I'm going to take you on a journey through the scriptures that proves God does not like oppression. From Genesis to Revelation, this becomes fact. I got this revelation at youth group, which was a direct answer to a prayer by my youth leader team. As we prayed, before the students arrived, a leader asked God to give us a revelation and have a moment with us. This was mine.
There are so many scriptures that address this, so I will share a few. The rest you'll have to find for yourself! In Genesis, we see the first oppression in the Garden of Eden. Eve was tricked by the serpent to eat of the forbidden fruit. Her mind was attacked to doubt that God had her best interests at heart. He made her doubt His love for her and Adam. For the first time they knew shame! Before the first sin in the Bible, Adam and Eve walked with God in the cool of the day. Afterwards, they had to be banished from the Garden, and worse, be separated from God.
In Genesis 4:10, we see violence enter for the first time. Cain killed his brother Abel, and God states "What have you done? Listen! Your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground" Genesis 4:10 (NIV). By Noah, violence was so rampant that God decided he was going to start all over! God was grieved that he made man. He couldn't stand the violence and oppression. So God flooded the world and left only eight people and two of every animal alive. That may be really hard to gulp down, but what we need to understand is that God waited over 600 years! When the flood waters ceased and Noah, his family, and all the animals got off the ark, God put a rainbow in the sky as a covenant to Noah that He would never flood the earth again. This is found in Genesis 9:14-17. Noah became God's first rescue plan to save his creation.
Many years later, He called Moses to bring out Israelites out of slavery. He became God's second rescuer and deliverer of the promise of freedom from Egyptian oppression. The book of Exodus is all about one of my favorite stories in the bible! It oftentimes makes me think of the movie, The Prince of Egypt. In my opinion, it's a really good showcase of the story. What's so amazing to me is that, in this story, God says He heard the cry of his people and saw the oppression. He enacted a plan to end it through Moses, a once son of the Pharaoh. The most amazing scene is the parting of the Red Sea. You can see a little bit of the cartoon in the water, but wow! With the touch of his staff, the waters rose on both sides. I can't even begin to imagine how amazing that must been for Moses and for the oppressed Israelites!
From Moses we go to an oppressed and discarded David, shepherd boy turned king by Samuel, the Lord's prophet. When Samuel came to anoint one of Jesse's sons as king of Israel, he thought right away that the strongest and biggest was the choice, but God stopped Samuel and revealed his decision. "Do not consider his appearance or his height, I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outer appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart"1 Samuel 16:17 (NIV). God chose the one least likely choice. He saw him and raised him to be a powerful king, though his family thought he was worthless. Even his father rejected him, telling Samuel there is one more but he's only a shepherd, basically saying you don't want to choose him. This discarded boy turned out to be in the lineage of the most beautiful and redeeming, Jesus Christ, God's only Son!
Jesus was prophesied throughout scripture, but I want to give attention to the prophet Isaiah. When Jesus comes, there is an unrest like no other. All of Jerusalem was distressed! He is radical, a visionary, and not afraid to be who He is! One such time was when Jesus read in the temple from Isaiah: "The spirit of the Lord is on me, because He has anointed me to declare Good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness the prisoners" (Isaiah 61:1-2 NIV). That was pretty radical, and definitely not well received by the religious leaders! God also addressed release from oppression in Isaiah 58. Let the oppressed go free, and remove the chains that bind people (Isaiah 58:6 NIV). God does not like oppression. Through the person of Jesus He set in motion His plan to set us free!
We can't deny the love that Jesus showed to the oppressed. His message was His lifestyle. These words come from a song from Scott Stapp, the former lead singer of the band Creed. That's so true! He healed the sick, blind, deaf, lame, despised, rejected, shamed. He publicly declared he did not condemn a woman caught in adultery when the Pharisees held the stones ready to throw at her, according to the Law. He showed us by His life, death and resurrection that God's way is a better way. The religious leaders adapted the Law to suit their own interests, to oppress the already taxed and mistreated people. Jesus came to set them free!
A beautiful verse that I just came across during my 40 Day Sugar Fast is Matthew 17:20: "He replied 'Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, Move from here to there and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you'" (NIV). I always thought he was talking about a literal mountain, and it never made sense to me. Reading through Wendy Speake's Sugar Fast book now it makes sense! The mountains are everything that oppress us! Diseases, relationship struggles, financial stress, housing concerns, parenting, society's expectations, leadership disappointment, faith journeys, mental health, anything that takes our focus off of Christ are our oppressors or idols. We have the authority in the name of Jesus to cast them off!
I love to speak about how amazing Jesus is! He set me free from my own oppressions and I pray He can do the same for you! Study Jesus's ministry for yourself; it's incredible! When Jesus left Earth to go back to the Father he commissioned the disciples to preach the gospel to all nations and baptize them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. What a commission to fulfill! The disciples continued to spread the Good news and wrote the rest of the New Testament.
I love how scripture quotes itself! In the book of Acts, Stephen says "I have indeed seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groaning and have come down to set them free" (Acts 7:34 NIV). From Exodus, God has had a rescue plan for the Israelites oppressed in Egypt. From the Garden of Eden, he knew Jesus was going to be the ultimate chain breaker of oppression.
I will share one last scripture that I hope brings you a lot of peace in the future of God's plan. In Revelation, the last book of the Bible, Jesus speaks to John in a vision. "'He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death' or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away" He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" (Revelation 21:4-5 NIV). And this is where I will leave you. God doesn't like oppression, and since time itself, He has always had a rescue plan to deliver us from ours. Please hear me, those who are oppressed shall be free. It might not be this side of eternity but one day, when the last trumpet sounds and Jesus comes again in Glory, every knee will bow. The oppressed shall finally be free!
I love you with all my heart,
Tina Martina Putney
All scripture is NIV version
Wendy Speake, The 40 Day Sugar Fast "Where physical detox meets spiritual transformation"
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