From pictures I’ve seen, shows I’ve watched, there’s something about hard slavery that bows the back. It’s the classic portrait of a mistreated slave . . . shackles on the feet . . . head hung low . . . hopelessness embodied in their slow, plodding gate. Caged by a cruel master . . . crushed by oppression . . . curved by hard labor . . . that’s the picture in my mind of a slave. But God seeks to set the captive free . . . to rescue from the taskmaster . . . to liberate . . . to straighten the back . . . that those who were once slaves, might walk erect.

I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their slaves. And I have broken the bars of your yoke and made you walk erect.   (Leviticus 26:13 ESV)

Wrapping up Leviticus this morning. God, speaking to Moses on Mt. Sinai, concludes His instructions with some “straight talk” on the blessings associated with obedience and the harsh discipline that will result from disobedience (ch. 26). And as God talks about His purposes in rescuing His people from Egypt, I go into “application mode” . . . ’cause I am, by the grace of God, and through the finished work of Christ, “His people.”

God’s desire is to dwell or “tabernacle” among His people (26:11a). He wants to be in their midst . . . to interact with them . . . to be present among them. He wants to walk with them . . . and to be owned by them . . . and, in turn, declare them to be His precious, holy possession (26:12). He is the LORD God . . . Jehovah . . . the I AM . . . the One who brought them out of Egypt, out of the word, with a mighty hand. And His intent is that they should no longer be slaves to a taskmaster of destruction . . . but that their yoke should be broken . . . that they might stand straight . . . that their heads would be lifted up . . . that they would walk erect.

And I can’t help but reflect on my own rescue. Once a slave of sin. Captive to a mind in subjection to pride . . . in bonds to the taskmaster of the flesh . . . conscripted to serve the ways of this world . . . not even aware of the burden being carried . . . of the hopelessness being embraced . . . thinking that walking with a bowed back was just the natural thing to do. But praise be to my Redeemer . . . to my Rescuer . . . to my God . . . who called me out of darkness into marvelous light (1Peter 2:9). Through His work on the cross, the grip of sin was broken . . . by His resurrection, the taskmaster of death was defeated . . . the totality of the things of earth gave way to the possibility of the things of heaven . . . and God, who desires to tabernacle with His people, moved in. The chains were stripped away . . . my feet were loosed . . . my hands were freed . . . my back straightened . . . my head lifted . . . and by His grace, I can walk erect.

My head raised, not because of who I am, but because of who He declared me to be in Christ . . . because of who He is making me to be through the sanctifying work of the indwelling Spirit . . . because of the hope that is mine and the land that awaits me . . . because, by His grace and power, He has rescued me. My head raised, knowing I am blameless before Him, having had my trespasses forgiven, as the price of redemption has been fully paid. My head raised, because I have been adopted as a child of God through Jesus Christ. My head raised because, according to the riches of His grace, He has given insight to the mystery of His will that, in day soon to come, He will unite all things in Him. My head raised, because I have obtained an inheritance . . . even now there is treasure being laid up . . . a place being prepared. My head raised, because I have been sealed with the Holy Spirit as a guarantee of that which is now held by faith. My head raised because it is for freedom that Christ has set me free. (Eph.1:3-14, Gal. 5:1)

And so, by His grace, I walk erect. Trading the bonds of sin for the bonds of righteousness (Rom. 6:17-18). Pledging allegiance to a new Master . . . one whose yoke is easy, whose burden is light . . . who is gentle and lowly in heart and offers rest for the soul (Matt. 11:29-30). Exchanging the shackles that would trip me up and drag me down for an anchor for the soul . . . tethered to heaven itself . . . a hope that welcomes me into the very Holy of Holies (Heb. 6:19). Fixing my gaze upon the beauty of my Deliverer . . . desiring Him above all things!

Praise God for walking erect! Amen?