Freedom of the individual is important in the modern Western world but this was not always so. Emancipation and the abolition of slavery were regarded as secondary issues in the ancient world to emancipation of the spirit. Not suprisingly, modern man has been troubled by the Old Testament's permissive attitude towards slavery, and even more so by the New Testament's approach. This has led some to suppose that the ancients were less "developed" than modern man and therefore on a "lower rung of the evolutionary ladder" of civilisation. The history of civilisation refutes such evolutionary hypotheses; all records of the oldest civilisations show man as a farmer from the beginning (e.g. Egypt, Babylon, India, China, etc.) and not, as the evolutionary hypothesis teaches, merely a hunter. One should also bear in mind the immotive feelings associated with the word "slave" for in its original sense it meant only "servant". A true slave is a servant, and not one under the bondage of cruel masters. The following revelation, from which personal counsel has been omitted, was given to a sister who was concerned about the whole issue of slavery in the Bible. It points out that all men and women are slaves in one form or another, either to each other or to false systems. The important thing is to be a slave of Christ and His righteousness. As has been pointed out elsewhere in the revelations, the Servant-Master relationship, so essential to a proper understanding of man's true relationship to God, has been almost totally obliterated by modern liberal thinking which places individual rights before all else. One of the missions of the New Covenant is to restore that true relationship again [Bergen, Norway].

1. And now I speak unto My daughter who hath been troubled in her soul over slavery and how it was that I, the Lord, justified My servants Abraham, Philemon, and others.

2. It is not the intent of God that any man or woman should be in bondage to another, for I created all men to be free everywhere, that they might choose the right and obtain true freedom, which cometh of the Lord Jesus Christ and His salvation.

3. I, the Lord Jesus Christ, took on the likeness of men and became a slave that I might bring the knowledge of My Father unto all peoples. For servants are slaves, even as I have told you (1 Cor.9:19).

4. Behold, it is a great honour to become a slave of the Most High God, for true slavery is submission and obedience to righteousness, and this is freedom.

5. Therefore if ye are slaves unto rightousness, blessed are ye (Job 42:8; Josh.1:2).

6. He who is obedient unto His master is his slave1 (Rom.6:22) and counteth it as an honour and is not ashamed;

7. For many, supposing they are free, are in truth slaves to sin and to wicked masters, and awful is their state.

8. All are slaves; only those who are slaves unto righteousness are truly free.

9. Ye are the children of promise because I, the Lord, broke the shackles of sin and have made you free according to the covenant of Sarah, for ye are not as those under the former covenant who were according to the covenant of Hagar (Gal.4: 3,7,22-23).

10. For once ye were slaves unto written law and an unequal covenant be cause of rebellion, but now ye are slaves to grace; and that grace hath made you free.

11. Under the lesser or carnal law of commandments it was permissable to take slaves of fellow human-beings, and these were either bought for money or taken as the spoils of war.

12. Such were the property of their master, to do with according as he pleased within the limits imposed upon him by the law (Lev.25:44-45).

13. It was not permissable for one of the Covenant of Moses to purchase another of the Covenant;

14. Nevertheless a Hebrew might sell himself into slavery in order to pay off a debt (2 Ki.4:1) but it was not permissable that his master retain him as a slave for more than six years or during the year of Jubilee, unless the slave chose to remain such (Ex.21:2-6; Lev.24:50).

15. This Law I gave unto Moses, saith the Lord, that My people might be led upwards toward the greater light once they had learned discipline through obedience.

16. My servant Joshua made himself the slave {servant} of Moses, My servant Elisha the slave {servant} of Elijah, and Mine own apostles unto He who speaketh unto you now (Ex.24:13; 1 Sam.29:3; Rom.1:1).

17. And ye also, when ye are fully surrendered unto your Heavenly Master, become My slaves {servants}, of your own free wills, under neither duress nor compulsion.

18. My slaves {servants} are free to go whenever they please, saith the Lord, but all those who love Me choose to stay, for I am their salvation.

19. No man or woman should be the slave or servant to another against his will.

20. Behold, My servant Abram bought many slaves in the land of Ur, for he was a wealthy man, and this was the custom according to the traditions of the pagan nations.

21. But he was a good and honourable master, neither oppressing nor dealing unjustly with his servants.

22. They loved him and served him; and thus, when Abram received the fullness of the Gospel according to the Law of Melchizedek, he made his slaves free, that they might choose to be their own masters or to remain in his household.

23. And because they loved him, they remained with him; and he adopted them as his sons [and daughters], and they were counted equal with his daughters after the flesh, even that he made his chief servant, Eliezer, his heir, yea, even to everything that he had, until I, the Lord, gave him a child after the flesh, even Isaac.

24. Therefore, beloved daughter, was My son Abraham justified, for he was obedient unto law at all times;

25. First to that imperfect tradition which he inherited from his fathers, and then to that perfect Law which he in- herited from the Great Father, even Almighty God, whose Law is without flaw.

26. Therefore My servant Abraham was justified in all that he did, for his faith was pure and his obedience exact.

27. And they who revile Abraham also revile his works because they are children of faithlessness and disobedience.

28. See that thou art obedient as Abraham was and hearken not unto those of impure hearts and immature souls who slander the true servants of God.

29. Therefore let the daughters of Abraham declare: "We will not turn aside from Thy law, O Lord;

30. "We have remembered Thine ordinances, and we have remembered Thy Name.

31. "We keep Thy law. We have promised to keep Thy words for ever and Thou hast given us good discernment and knowledge.

32. "May Thy Name be praised for ever, O Lord, and may our hearts be blameless before Thee for ever more. Amen."