Eric Poulin

Posts Tagged ‘slavery’

Debt is slavery

1 Nephi 17:40

“And he loveth those who will have him to be their God. Behold, he loved our fathers, and he covenanted with them, yea, even Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and he remembered the covenants which he had made; wherefore, he did bring them out of the land of Egypt.”

Some historical refresher… Before the Exodus, the Israelites had been in Egypt for 400 years after Joseph had Jacob’s family move in. At some point during that time, the Israelites became slaves to the Egyptians. Many believe the Israelite “slavery” was not nearly as bad as is commonly depicted in major motion pictures. How did they turn into slaves? Among the reasons, debt is high in the list.Interestingly, modern-day prophets refer to debt as slavery – even the Lord refers to this as he instructs Martin Harris to “Pay thy debt… Release thself from bondage” D&C 19:35.

The evocation of the Moses story was a powerful lesson to Nephi’s family – to any family, even in our day. We will do well to remember that the Lord will deliver us from bondage and slavery as we are consistently loyal and obedient to him. We need to be careful about our debts, yes; but sometimes we fall into financial bondage without much choice in the matter. We can be delivered from our debts, but in the Lord’s time. The scripture says the Lord “remembered the convenants” he made. Clearly he didn’t forget, but they were fulfilled unto the Israelites after many years of slavery and unanswered prayers. We too many need to spend time, even years at a time in our personal bondages, even in debt, before we too are delivered. Our delivery will likely be less miraculous than a deliverer bringing us on an Exodus from our debtors. Rather, small graces must be taken advantage of. Rather than spending unexpected income on frivilous items, pay down your debts. Over time, the Lords tender mercies will add up to our deliverance.

1 Nephi 4:33-34

“And I spake unto him, even with an oath, that he need not fear; that he should be a free man like unto us if he would go down in the wilderness with us.
And I also spake unto him, saying: Surely the Lord hath commanded us to do this thing; and shall we not be diligent in keeping the commandments of the Lord? Therefore, if thou wilt go down into the wilderness to my father thou shalt have place with us.”

This is the beginning of another common theme in the Book of Mormon; which is obedience to the Lord’s commandments makes us free.

While Zoram was certainly under duress while making his decision to go with Lehi’s family into the wilderness (and it seems his life was on the line), part of the reasoning was that he would be following the commandments of the Lord. Zoram decided to go with them, and thus by his following the commandments of the Lord, he became free in at least the following ways:

• he was a servant (of Laban) who managed someone elses wealth and never gaining any of his own. We know the Lord wants us to be prosperous, and this is not possible in servitude. Now he could be a free man, servant to none. He could seek wealth in his own way, and we learn later in the Book of Mormon, that the Zoramites become a wealthy and prosperous people.
• he escaped the destruction that would soon befall Jerusalem. Those who remained in Jerusalem when it was overtaken by the Babylonians, were either killed and put into subjection of the Babylonian rulers. Hard to be prosperous under the wrong circumstances. The Lord prepared a way for Zoram to be prosperous; all he had to do was follow the Lord’s prophet. We too have this opportunity as we follow our prophet who gives us commandments, advice and warnings, which, if we heed, will keep us in circumstances where the Lord can prosper us.
• he escaped some spiritual death since those in Jerusalem had stoned and imprisoned the prophets. The word of the Lord was no longer with them. Lehi and Nephi became the prophets which brought the word of the Lord to Zoram.