When God delivered His people from the house of bondage in the land of Egypt, He commanded them, saying:
“And if thy brother, an Hebrew man, or an Hebrew woman, be sold unto thee, and serve thee six years; then in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from thee.”
And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt, and the LORD thy God redeemed thee: therefore I command thee this thing to day. (Deuteronomy 15: 12, 15)
When Moses was 120 years old, he reminded the people of Israel about the importance of the year of release. (Deuteronomy 31: 1 -11)
In Leviticus chapter 25, the Lord instructed His people:
I am the LORD your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan, and to be your God. And if thy brother that dwelleth by thee be waxen poor, and be sold unto thee; thou shalt not compel him to serve as a bondservant:
Further, He tells them that they should not rule over him with rigor, but shall fear their God. Moreover, He instructed them that if a brother is sold to a stranger living among them, he should be redeemed again; one of his brothers may redeem him.
The reason why God told His people to redeem their brothers and sisters who were sold—either to another Israelite or to a stranger—is because they belong to Him. Leviticus chapter 25, verse 55 says:
For unto me the children of Israel are servants; they are my servants whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.
This tells us that God does not want His people, whom He has already redeemed from bondage, to ever fall into any kind of slavery again. The Lord desires to redeem His people who have somehow gone into bondage once more, but this restoration should come through their brothers who are blessed, who are walking in the Spirit, and who are following and obeying the word of the Lord.
The Warning of Jeremiah: Breaking the Covenant
Now, let us look at Jeremiah chapter 34, verses 8 to 20. The word of the Lord came to the prophet Jeremiah after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem to proclaim liberty to them. Initially, all the princes and all the people entered into the covenant; they obeyed and released their brothers and sisters who were serving them as menservants and maidservants.
However, we see that afterward, they turned back from the covenant. They compelled the brothers and sisters whom they had set free to return, bringing them into subjection once again as servants and handmaids.
After this, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Jeremiah, saying:
Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondmen, saying,
At the end of seven years let ye go every man his brother an Hebrew, which hath been sold unto thee; and when he hath served thee six years, thou shalt let him go free from thee: but your fathers hearkened not unto me, neither inclined their ear.
The Lord further notes the short-lived obedience of Jeremiah’s generation:
“And ye were now turned, and had done right in my sight, in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbour; and ye had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name:
But ye turned and polluted my name, and caused every man his servant, and every man his handmaid, whom ye had set at liberty at their pleasure, to return, and brought them into subjection, to be unto you for servants and for handmaids.”
Because of this betrayal, the Lord’s judgment fell upon them—upon all the princes of Judah, the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, the priests, and all the people of the land who had entered into and then broken the covenant.
What we clearly see here is that the Lord does not want His people to be in bondage. If the people of God try to break His covenant and force their brothers and sisters back into chains, the judgment of the Lord will surely come upon them.
The New Testament Perspective: False Liberty vs. True Restoration
Now let us look into the New Testament. In 2nd Peter chapter 2, the Bible warns us that there will be false teachers among you who will secretly bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.
In verse 19, it says:
“While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption…”
These false teachers proclaim a liberty that seems good on the surface, but they are actually bringing back into bondage the people who have just escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Because of this, their later situation becomes much worse than the first. It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than, having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment delivered to them.
Does this not seem identical to what we saw in the book of Jeremiah? In that context, the people proclaimed liberty but then immediately forced their brothers back into bondage—a practice that God absolutely detests.
Proclaiming true liberty is a vital and holy work. Isaiah chapter 61, verse 1 tells us:
“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the meek; He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound.” This liberty has been given to us by Jesus Christ by redeeming us from the bondage of sin and has set us free. The work that we could not do has been done by our Lord and savior Jesus Christ.
While 2nd Peter chapter 2 warns that false teachers will falsely promise liberty only to lead people back into slavery, Galatians chapter 6 provides the true divine antidote for the spiritual body.
Fulfilling the Law of Christ
Galatians chapter 6, verse 1 instructs us:
“Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted.”
This means that those of us who are walking in the Spirit and obeying the word of the Lord have a responsibility to restore our brothers and sisters who have been overtaken by a fault. The brother or sister who needs restoration has been tempted and led away from the truth. God desires that this person to be fully restored back into the body of Christ, and He wants this restoration to be delivered through His people who are spiritually mature and blessed.
When we link this to “the Lord’s release” from the Old Testament, a striking pattern emerges: redemption and restoration are meant to flow to a hurting brother through God’s faithful people.
Verse 2 goes on to say:
“Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”
The law of Christ commands us to bear one another’s burdens. Part of this burden-bearing is the active work of restoring our brothers and sisters back to the fellowship of the Church—the very people whom God has already redeemed through His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.
A Shared Call to Deliverance
The beautiful alignment between the Law of Release and the Law of Christ is that both center on redeeming and restoring our brothers back to God. These are individuals who were already delivered by God from the house of bondage but were later tempted and overtaken in a fault.
The Lord has promised release to His people. Because they are His servants alone, they should never be subjected to any kind of bondage or spiritual slavery again. Therefore, every believer who is spiritual, walking in the Spirit, and obeying the word of the Lord must proclaim liberty to them. We must bear the burdens of our brothers and restore them in a spirit of meekness, just as Jesus did.
By fulfilling the law of Christ and bearing one another’s burdens, we ensure that none of the Lord’s servants remain in chains. Let us remain vigilant, remembering that while false teachers seek to counterfeit liberty and worsen people’s conditions, God’s true plan is to bring restoration to those who have drifted—and He chooses to do it through us who walk in His Spirit.
