PROCLAIM LIBERTY

 

Wednesday, July 5, 2023

 

PROCLAIM LIBERTY

 

Luke 4:18-19

18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,

19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. KJV

 

          In 1772, England was involved in what was called the Seven Years War with France. The American colonists referred to this war as the French and Indian war. Because of their filial connection with the British Empire, the colonies were heavily taxed. On June 9, 1772, William Duddingston sailed the HMS Gaspee into Newport, Rhode Island to inspect and to seize certain undeclared cargo.

 

          Duddingston encountered the Colonial “packet ship” (small cargo ship) Hannah and seized several kegs colonial rum. A group called “The Sons of Liberty” later boarded and burned the Gaspee to the waterline. This protest predated the Tea Party by about eighteen months.

 

          In 1774, in response to “The Gaspee Affair,” Parliament passed The Coercive Acts which were meant to punish the American colonies and to bring them into line. It didn’t work.

 

          Occupation and punitive taxation caused the Jews to think that Messiah would come to liberate them from Rome. Jesus, reading from Isaiah, explained that he came to liberate them from the bondage and consequences of SIN.

 

          The liberty that we enjoy as believers may, or may not, address the abuses of a bully government. In the end, injustice will be addressed firmly.

 

Blessed art Thou Lord, who gives freedom to those who are bound by sin. AMEN