Leviticus 26:13
I am the LORD your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that ye should not be their bondmen; and I have broken the bands of your yoke, and made you go upright. I am the LORD your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that ye should not be their bondmen; and I have broken the bands of your yoke, and made you go upright.
The verse declares that God brought Israel up out of the land of Egypt so they should no longer be bondmen, breaking the bands of their oppressive yoke and making them go upright. Israel had been suffered to go into Egypt and into bondage because of unfaithfulness to God as a people, including a disposition to intermarry with other nations and thus be led into idolatry and a drift toward idolatry. Many had become content to remain in Egypt, and deliverance was delayed until the tyranny of Pharaoh was fully revealed and God's power and character were made clearer, so that the Israelites would desire to leave Egypt and serve the true and merciful God.
The verse belongs to covenant promises that were conditional on obedience, where obedience to God's commandments brings His favor, security, safety, peace, and presence, while disobedience and disregard of His requirements bring the opposite — punishment, curses, defeat, fear, and loss. The experience of the Jews in being ruled by a people who hated them displayed the curse connected with departure from God, not the blessings promised to the faithful. The chapter containing the verse stands written as an admonition for believers living at the end of the world, with Israel's experience after leaving Egypt showing that obedience brings favor and disobedience brings punishment, and calling readers to review their own course with repentance rather than self-justification.
The words including the verse were given by Christ to Moses. They instruct fair dealings with every person and correct management that is not in accordance with God's direction. The Lord has in a special manner wrought to break the long-worn binding yokes of debt from the necks of His people, so to place a yoke of debt upon the General Conference would not glorify Him and the Conference must not tread that same path of debt again.