Daily Devotional For November 6, 2025
(God’s) judgments are true and righteous because He has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her fornications, and avenged the blood of his slaves out of her hand. Rev 19:2.
In the end-time setting of Revelation 15-19, God acts in judgment on Babylon, the great power that has oppressed His people. It is interesting, however, to note that God calls His people “slaves.” They are not Babylon’s slaves, but God’s slaves. Though they have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb (Rev 5:6, 9-10) there is a sense in which they remain “slaves” in this life. There is an interesting analogy to this language in American history. The American Civil War began as a battle over the relative rights of states verses the national government. But in the course of time a higher cause came into focus, freedom for the slaves in the southern states. Many who were reluctant to die for national union were willing to die so that all might be free.
Abraham Lincoln, the American President, longed to free the slaves, but knew it would be a pointless act if people believed the South would win the war. The Union armies marched from defeat to defeat until September of 1862. Then at Antietam Creek in Maryland, 3600 men died on the battlefield in a single day (the largest casualty count of any day in American history, including September 11). As a result of the carnage, the southern army withdrew to Virginia and Lincoln made the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring the southern slaves to be free.
All over the South slaves heard the news and cried out, “Free at last, thank God almighty, I am free at last!” Were they truly free? Yes and no. Though many slaves fell to the ground, weeping tears of joy as they heard the news, the daily routine did not change. Husbands, wives, and children continued to be sold away from their families. Slaves continued to be beaten, whipped and hung when they did not comply with orders. Many continued to be treated like cattle.
But something had changed. People were dying to set them free. Governments were acknowledging their right to freedom. Though they were slaves to the master’s lash, their hearts and minds had been set free. The day of liberation was coming, they knew that because it had already been proclaimed. Though they remained slaves in one sense, in another they were already free!
In Christ all human beings have been set free. The story of Revelation is full of carnage and anguish because the battle is joined to implement what Christ has already done. No matter what you are going through now, the decisive event has already taken place. It is not too early for God’s slaves to cry out, “Free at last, thank God almighty, I am free at last.”
Lord, help me today to live in the freedom that has already been won for me in Christ.