Do not take advantage of each other, but fear your God. I am the LORD your God.
On Mount Sinai, God told Moses to relay this information to the children of Israel. In fact, it became a law after the conversation. No one, in the land of Israel, must take advantage of another. Doing so is dishonoring God. Likewise, every child of God must not take advantage of another person. Surprisingly, God himself took full advantage of the stubbornness of Pharaoh.
Why did God take advantage of someone? Does it mean God, himself, broke the law? We need to understand The book of Genesis and Exodus before we make an attempt of answering those two questions, not doing so will lead to misinterpretation of the Bible.
I have read more than a thousand article on what transpired between God and Pharaoh. The pastors, who wrote the articles, denied the fact that God took advantage of Pharaoh. Their articles reminded me of Uzzah, the son of Abinadab.
Helping God
And when they came to Nachon's threshing floor, Uzzah put forth his hand to the ark of God, and took hold of it; for the oxen shook it.
And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote him there for his error, and there he died by the ark of God.
Uzzah accompanied the ark of God, a sacred vessel. With his brother, Ahio. While they were, both, driving the cart that conveyed the ark of God, the oxen shook the ark. Immediately, Uzzah used his hand to support the ark so that it won’t fall. Even David thoughts Uzzah was helping God, but the aftermath revealed otherwise. Uzzah, who wanted to help God, lost his life in the process. What Uzzah did, when they moved the ark of God from his father’s house, is what so many pastors are doing. They want to help God defend his actions by denying the fact that he took advantage of Pharaoh. God himself said…
And the LORD said unto Moses, Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you; that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.
And the Lord said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh: for I have hardened his heart, and the heart of his servants, that I might shew these my signs before him
Exodus 10:1 (KJV)
He hardened his heart, he took advantage of him, and he stated the reason for doing so. To answer the two questions, God did not break the law of exploitation in Leviticus 25:17.
God took advantage of the stubbornness of Pharaoh, that law of exploitation was not in existence.
for where no law is there is no transgression
Romans 4:15 (KJV)
In other words, God took advantage of Pharaoh before the law of exploitation was enacted. So, God did not break any law when he exploited the weakness of Pharaoh. If God were to have done this act after the law was given, he would have been a lawbreaker.
The law does not free people from sin. Because God made a law, that one should not take advantage of another, does not mean everybody will obey. That is the reason everyone must prepare himself or herself against exploitation.
Overcoming sexual exploitation
And it came to pass after these things, that his master's wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she said, Lie with me.
But he refused and said unto his master's wife, Behold, my master wotteth not what is with me in the house, and he hath committed all that he hath to my hand;
There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back anything from me but thee, because of thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?
And it came to pass, as she is spake to Joseph day by day, that he hearkened not unto her, to lie by her, or to be with her.
And it came to pass about this time, that Joseph went into the house to do his business; and there were none of the men of the house there within.
And she caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me: and he left his garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out.
Genesis 39:7-12 (KJV)
This young man, Joseph, was a type of Jesus Christ. He was wise and discreet. In fact, the leader of Egypt, Pharaoh, attested to his wisdom. If Pharaoh, who had thousands of wise men in his charge, could prefer this young man to his wise men, this means Joseph's wisdom must have been extraordinary.
Out of the people who were assaulted in the Bible, sexually, Joseph was the only one who overcame it. To avoid committing sin, the Bible encourages three approaches. First, we can resist. Second, by being steadfast. And Thirdly you can flee. Not knowing the right approach in whatever situation we find ourselves is the reason behind the trauma of sexual abuse so many people are experiencing.
You can't avoid sexual exploitation by being steadfast. Even resistance is never enough when you are in a situation that Joseph and several others found themselves. With the extraordinary wisdom of Joseph, he didn’t outsmart his Master’s wife, who wanted to assault him, by resisting – mere refuse – her. Instead, he ran away from the room: He took the third approach – to flee.
If anybody wants to assault you, the best approach you need is the third one. You know that anyone who wants to take advantage of you will do so forcefully. That may not give you the chance to run. Joseph knew he could not run away from the room without preparing himself. He planned his exit strategy when the woman was ready to take advantage of him. It could be very difficult to run away from someone who is ready to force himself or herself on you. That is the reason we need to learn from Joseph. He distracted the woman, a bit, by discussing it with her. The conversation was a strategy he deployed to create more time for himself so as to exit the room. The conversation was not to convince the woman or change her mind from perpetuating the act, but to ensure he had ample time to escape.
Discussing with an exploiter
There is always ample time to converse with an exploiter. Tamar, by her brother, employed this strategy without planning her exit strategy. When Joseph discussed with his Master's wife, he talked about what would be of interest to her. The conversation started with his master who is the husband of the woman. He outplayed her by talking about what would be of interest to her. He didn’t beg the woman. It was just all about her interest, at first. In a bit, it caught her attention (she listened hurriedly), but she was not ready to change her mind. Tamar employed this conversational strategy; however, she was assaulted because she started the conversation about the law of the land and Amnon – her half-brother. Do not assume everyone cares about the law of the Land. Anyone who does will not take advantage of another. After discussing what is tenable in Israel and about assaulting her. She talked about the shame that will come to after assault.
Do not assume everyone we have your interest in mind. Of course, anyone who cares will never attempt assaulting you. She, Tamar, thought her half-brother would have her best interest in mind. Unfortunately, her conversational strategy failed.
It is not necessary to discuss your interest to someone who is ready to oppress you. It is never a good strategy to discuss your interest when you have a very short time, not in convincing the person, in planning your exit. The reason you are to start the conversation is simply to plan your exit. Forgetting the reason is equal to admitting your readiness to the act. The only way to make the exploiter listen is by getting his or her attention. That can only be begotten, in a very short time, by mentioning the person's interest. After all, the person is selfish. Why not play on his or her intelligence by focusing on the interest of the person, not yours? After discussing with Amnon, Tamar thought her brother would change his mind. The brother, however, continued and eventually raped her.
The third approach, I mentioned earlier, is not as easy as you think. “and he left his garment in her hand and fled and got him out” (Genesis 39:12). Just as it was not easy for Joseph to escape, it won’t be easy for anyone to escape in such a situation. Joseph ran out without his cloth. He disregarded the cost of his escape strategy. Being a wise boy, he knew leaving his cloth could be dangerous. He left half-naked and eventually faced the consequence of leaving his cloth behind. The cloth earned him a prison term which no one knew how long it would last. From experience,
Joseph knew losing his cloth is never a good idea. He left it. The first cloth he lost nearly cost the life of his father. losing the cloth convinced the dad of his death. Believing he was dead, Jacob, his father, forgot him thereby separating him totally from his family. You may lose your cloth in the process of escape. It may even cost you more than you think. You may work out naked. In essence, it is not an easy task to escape from the presence of an exploiter.
If you are thinking it is easy to escape as a male, you need to think of what happened to Joseph after he escaped. As a female, you will likely be faced with the opposite sex – a male. So, it may cost you more in the process of escape. In other words, you may get injured and walk out naked. Of course, it is not a good idea to walk out half-naked. However, it is better to come out as a VICTOR, half-naked, than to come out as a victim, fully covered and well-dressed.
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