Why God Hates Oppression

In Exodus 3, God appeared to Moses through a burning bush. God’s visit to Moses was to send him to Egypt to tell Pharoah to set his people free. God could see the affliction of his people and he heard their cry for help. God’s plan was to bring them out from the land of oppression and to bring them into a land of prosperity. God told Moses that when the people were released, that they would worship him in the mountain. They would also be able to sacrifice unto God in the wilderness. God prepared Moses for the stubbornness of Pharoah. “But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a mighty hand” (Exodus 3:19).

God knew that the Egyptians benefitted from having the Israelites as slaves to work for them daily. Pharaoh’s oppression was caused by his insecurities about the Jewish people. “And he said to his people, “Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us” (Exodus 1:9). His strategy was to set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens. “But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad. And the Egyptians were in dread of the people of Israel” (Exodus 1:12). How did the Jews manage to continue to expand despite the oppression of Egypt?

The hand of the Lord was on his people, so despite their affliction, they continued to increase and become great. “and made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and brick, and in all kinds of work in the field. In all their work they ruthlessly made them work as slaves” (Exodus 1:14). The next thing that Pharoah tried to do was to ask the midwives to kill all the male children. The midwives feared God too much to listen to Pharaoh and the Jews continued to increase in number. Pharaoh then asked his own people to throw all the newborn male children into the river Nile.

It was those atrocities that came up before God concerning his people. God’s promise for his people was to establish them. As such, no power on earth could eradicate the people of God. There are people in positions of power who are threatened by the presence of the children of God. Have you ever been in a job where God allowed you to continue to excel, despite the oppression from your Manager? Oppression stifles creativity and our worship before God. People who feel oppressed often struggle to express worship and praise. God wants his people to be free from oppression so that we can worship him freely. Look up to God because he has heard your cry and deliverance is on the way.

“So I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all the wonders that I will do in it; after that he will let you go” (Exodus 3:20).

A.P.-Y.