Home » Kent Brandenburg » The Essence of the Bondage Mentality or Worldview, Witnessed in Old Testament Israel and Reflected in the Democrat Party in the United States

The Essence of the Bondage Mentality or Worldview, Witnessed in Old Testament Israel and Reflected in the Democrat Party in the United States

The Israelites lived in bondage in Egypt.  In this bondage, they ate a preferred variety of food without a threat of immediate death.  If they went along, they could go along.  However, God wanted Israel to leave the bondage of Egypt to the liberty of the land that He would give them.  He raised up and then used Moses and Aaron to lead them out.  God also hardened Pharoah’s heart to do his will.  The Apostle Paul explains in Romans 9:17-18:

17 For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.

18 Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.

Deuteronomy 4:20 communicates a similar purpose:  “But the LORD hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, even out of Egypt, to be unto him a people of inheritance, as ye are this day.”  A very short while after Israel left Egypt, the people wanted back in Egypt in bondage.  They could escape Egypt, but they could not escape their bondage mentality or worldview.  They wanted back in bondage as seen in many passages in the Old Testament.  Reacting to lesser food, they said (Numbers 11:1-7):

1 And when the people complained, it displeased the LORD: and the LORD heard it; and his anger was kindled; and the fire of the LORD burnt among them, and consumed them that were in the uttermost parts of the camp.

2 And the people cried unto Moses; and when Moses prayed unto the LORD, the fire was quenched.

3 And he called the name of the place Taberah: because the fire of the LORD burnt among them.

4 And the mixt multitude that was among them fell a lusting: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat?

5 We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick:

6 But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes.

Israel said in Numbers 20:5, “And wherefore have ye made us to come up out of Egypt, to bring us in unto this evil place? it is no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates; neither is there any water to drink.”  They spoke another version in Numbers 21:5, “And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread.” They would rather stay in bondage, because liberty meant manna, while bondage apparently brought fish, cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlick.

A second group of passages repeat the words, “die in the wilderness” (Exodus 14, Numbers 21, 26), as in Exodus 14:11-12:

11 And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt?

12 Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness.

If the people of Israel trusted God, would they die in the wilderness?  It seemed like it to them.  They made decisions based on this worldview or mentality.   You might call the bondage mindsight also a crybaby one, because everytime Israel chose bondage, they cried or complained like a baby to God.

Also reflecting the bondage or crybaby worldview or mentality was Israel’s desire for a king.  God warned against having a king.  1 Samuel 8:1-18 (click to see this passage, while reading here) records what God thinks.  Israel expressed the desire in verse 5:  “And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.”  Their bondage mentality or worldview guided their desire.  It displeased the Lord (verses 6-8) and it still does.

Thomas Ross writes about 1 Samuel 8 and chronicles the given reasons God opposes the bondage worldview, what he calls “big government” mentality.  He exposes the following arguments:

  • Loss of freedom of association (verses 10-13)
    • Loss of freedom in a military draft (verses 11-12) [in contrast to God’s will, Deuteronomy 20:1-9]
    • Loss of freedom of occupation (verses 11-13)
  • Weakening of the private sector for the public sector (verses 11-13)
  • Loss of Freedom of Property (verses 14-16)
    • Loss of freedom and protection for physical property through “redistribution” (verse 14)
    • Loss of freedom and protection for growth in wealth and income through 10% taxation (verse 15)
    • Loss of freedom and protection for human “property” (verse 16)

In the end, Israel would regret its bondage or crybaby mentality or worldview (verse 18).  Thomas Ross lists reasons in the text for taking this false view of the world:

  • Rejection of the Word of God (verse 19)
  • A Desire to Follow the Ungodly (verse 20a)
  • Abdication of Responsibility (verse 20b)
  • Faithlessness (verse 20a and c)

When Israel finally went into captivity, Israel also wanted to stay, similarly to returning to Egypt.  Daniel begrudges this and God prophesies the chastisement (Daniel 9-12).

The Democrat Party of the United States reflects the bondage and crybaby mentality.  I call it bondage rather than slave even though the latter works, if expounded.  The Bible says everyone is a slave, either to righteousness or unrighteousness, so it seems unescapable.  The Democrats keep people in bondage to government, which is bondage to unrighteousness according to God.  Slavery to God isn’t bondage, but liberty.   With liberty comes responsibility.

Going back to Egypt meant dependence on Egypt.  Israel could rest in the world system, following along with its ways, never breaking from its position or direction.  The Democrats sacrifice the permanent on the altar of the immediate.  They encourage everyone to live a temporal life.

Late in his life, Booker T. Washington visited Washington DC from Tuskegee and on his way, he witnessed and then criticized African Americans for moving to and crowding near Washington DC to obtain their means to live.  This became Booker T. Washington’s debate with socialist African American leader W.E.B. Dubois, offering different trajectories for the future.  Dubois’s view won out.  This became the strategy of the Democrat Party, especially represented by Woodrow Wilson and then Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Victor David Hansen on June 29 wrote a piece titled “The Cry Baby Leftist Mind.”  This agrees with what I’m writing here.  The overturning of Roe v. Wade brought out further crying.  What will women do now?  How will they survive?  Democrat California says, “We will pay for your abortion.”  Even Republican governor Kristi Noem of South Dakota reacts by saying, “We must do what we can to help women in crisis,” as a beginning comment.  She further said, “We will continue helping women navigate pregnancies they did not plan.”  That is better than paying for the abortion, but it panders to a bondage and crybaby mindset.

God does not approve of the bondage and crybaby mindset.  It will not succeed in a nation.  People will not be better.  They will be worse.  Let us oppose it together.


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AUTHORS OF THE BLOG

  • Kent Brandenburg
  • Thomas Ross

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