This year we are going through the Bible chronologically during worship. We finished the Old Testament last night after hearing a powerful sermon on the book of Malachi. We ended the service in 400 seconds of silence; to symbolize the 400 years of silence that the Israelites didn’t hear from God.
As we are sitting there in silence and darkness trying to picture being Jew living in the intertestamental period and waiting for the Messiah- their Savior. All I could think about was the 27 million slaves waiting for a savior. They are all in darkness, a dark situation where hope is dismal. Working long hours, in harsh working conditions, for little or no pay. They are probably crying out to their gods for help, or have given up all hope.
Sitting in the darkness I thought about all the unfathomable things that happen to the victims of human trafficking in the darkness. The rapes, abuse, tears, suicide, and listening to others around them experiencing the same horror.
I looked up at the screen and saw the seconds counting down 349 BC, 348 BC… and knowing that as each second passed we came closer to the birth of Jesus. Jesus quotes Isaiah in Luke 4:18 saying that,
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
19to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor”.
Jesus came to release the oppressed, and that’s why I am going on the World Race. To be His representative to the oppressed. To be a light in the darkness that is the flesh trade. That they have a hope in a hopeless situation. Jesus is SAVIOR and HEALER, RESTORER and FRIEND. They don’t have to be in the dark any more.
