The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender. Proverbs 22: 7, NIV.
Our Gracious God, we are so grateful to You for Your everlasting love and mercies. We praise You for all that You have done for us, and we ask that You will bless us now as we study Your Word. In the blessed name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.
Today we will continue looking at verse 7 of Proverbs 22. Yesterday we concentrated on the effects of riches on its owners, or, on those aspiring to become rich. We saw that if we are not very careful, we could be controlled by riches, or, lose our way, and even our lives, while trying to acquire it. We will now look at the long lasting effect slavery can have on both slaves and masters. The people of Israel had been born in slavery. It was the only life they knew until the LORD sent Moses to tell Pharaoh to let His people go! Four generations had been born and lived in slavery; some, all their lives (Genesis 15: 13-16; Exodus 12: 40, 41)! And even when their bodies left Egypt, their minds remained behind. Their masters ruled not only over their bodies, but also over their minds! They still had the taste of slave food on the tip of their tongues, and would have preferred to die while eating it (Exodus 16: 3)! The rule of the rich over the poor can create a similar effect. One of the conditions that make the poor vulnerable is their necessity! That is why we have borrowers and lenders, masters and slaves. Some have needs while the others have means. And the borrowers need the means that the lenders supply. Many slaves believe that the only life that they can handle is the life in their master’s home. It is much easier to be provided for, than to make provision for one’s self. So any sign of a separation from the master seem threatening! Such a mindset is paralyzing. It tends to control and create dependence.
Another long lasting effect that the rich have over the poor is that their life style lives on in the memory of the poor who serve them, and, if some of the poor have the opportunity, they tend to imitate and even perpetuate, the behavior of their masters. One of the sins of which Israel of old was guilty was selling the poor that was among them, “This is what the LORD says: ‘For three sins of Israel, even for four, I will not turn back {my wrath}. They sell the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals. They trample on the heads of the poor as upon the dust of the ground and deny justice to the oppressed” (Amos 2: 6, 7a). This was in direct violation of God’s commands to His people. Having been slaves themselves, they were to deal kindly with those who were in a similar condition. Therefore, God instituted the year of Jubilee! A slave could serve for a maximum of six years. In the seventh year, the year of Jubilee he was to be set free (Exodus 21: 2).
But the masters are also affected. Everything that we do, first affects us, for good or for evil, before affecting anyone else! When we rule over others we assume a position that was never intended for us, and we become delusional. We begin to believe our own lie, and we set ourselves up for a fall! God, in the beginning gave dominion to humankind (man and woman), over the animal kingdom, and over the rest of creation, but not over each other. They were created as equals because both were created in the image and likeness of God! Then God said, ” ‘Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground’ ” (Genesis 1: 26-28, emphasis provided).
When human beings take it upon themselves to rule over other human beings, they are assuming the position of God, and there is only one God and Father. ” ‘But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have only one Master and you are all brothers. And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. Nor are you to be called ‘teacher,’ for you have one Teacher, the Christ. The greatest among you will be your servant. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted” (Matthew 23: 8-12). I really believe that what Christ was saying and doing had nothing to do with names, and positions. He was overturning rules and laws of men, that tended to create divisions of inferiority and superiority, that enslaved some while exalting others.
May God help us to be set free by the Son. For “if the Son sets [us] free, [we] will be free indeed” (John 8: 36).