Songs Sung in the Key of Freedom

Scripture:
“And they sang a new song:
Worthy! Take the scroll, open its seals.
Slain! Paying in blood, you bought men and women,
Bought them back from all over the earth,
Bought them back for God.
Then you made them a Kingdom, Priests for our God,
Priest-kings to rule over the earth.”
Revelation 5:9-10
Observation:
One of the ways that abolitionists and former slaves sought to subvert the system of slavery is by purchasing slaves into freedom. Humanity has had its neck under the foot of sin for a long time. A cruel master has dominated Creation, but now the Creator is back and this time he’s out for blood. Literally put God descended to become part of that which he sought to redeem. God paid in blood the cost of redeeming creation.
Through the efforts of great minds like Fredrick Douglas, the acts of those like Harriet Tubman, and the men who gave of themselves on the fields of battle the dream of slavery’s abolition in America came true. But even after Lincoln freed the slaves, many of the former slaves decided to tether themselves to their former masters because the bondage of slavery afforded a certainty that freedom did not. In the same way even though the ransom has been paid many choose to tether themselves to sin as their master.
God chose to redeem His creation for a purpose. He redeemed humanity to be a kingdom of Priest-Kings meant to be stewards of the earth. I am not sure but it seems that John in using the image of Priest-Kings to conjure up the memory of the Maccabeus, Israel’s emancipation from the tyranny of Greek oppression, and the era of their greatest expanse as a sovereign state. The Maccabeuses were a priest family that sparked a revolt against the occupying Greek forces and led Israel as kings for about a hundred-fifty years before eventually falling to the Romans under the inauspicious guise of sibling rivalry. Minus the folly of the sibling rivalry this would be a powerful image of hope to a group of people who are being oppressed and persecuted. I imagine that these songs were sung by the down trodden Christians to remind them about the hope they have in their redeemer, much like the negro spirituals that were sung by the oppressed African masses in the cotton and tobacco fields of the south. These songs were more than just ways to pass time and think of happier times to come, no they were a way for the oppressed to actively subvert the system that sought to break their spirits.
Application:
Today we stand and sing songs with arms held high, eyes closed, lusciously trying get close to God. Often the words that ceremoniously pass through our lips are nothing more than words we simply sing, completely devoid of their meaning and significance. Our songs of hope have been hijacked by songs that make us feel an emotive response to an environmentally induced spiritual sensuality.
The Church as a whole has yet to embrace its true purpose as Priest-Kings of the Kingdom of God regents here on earth. Instead the Church has sought to maintain a position of worldly power. Instead the church has tethered itself to another master who has lured her away with visions of grandeur. We, the Church, have been bought with a price. We, the Church, have been set free, but yet we still choose to put on the shackles of bondage instead of embracing our emancipation.
Prayer:
Lord, thank you for freeing me to serve you. Thank you for allowing me to submit myself to you. Amen…