Divine Mercy and the Resurrection of the Cruelly Oppressed

The specific teaching regarding certain individuals who were held in the most cruel and degrading forms of slavery in the United States is that they will be as though they had never beenSWk 41.2+1. While God marked every suffering and the foul blot of the institution, some were so terribly degraded and kept in such ignorance of their Creator that they were not able to develop a character or a knowledge of God's lawTEd 23.4+1. In His infinite mercy, it is understood that these will be left in their graves; they are not to be punished with the wicked, but they will be as if they had not been, while their masters must answer for the souls they have neglected and oppressed1T 264.1+1.

The Fate of the Cruelly Oppressed

• Degradation through Ignorance: Many who were held in bondage were kept in such blindness and ignorance that they were almost destitute of a knowledge of GodSWk 41.2.

• A Burden of Responsibility: The accountability for these souls rests upon the masters who stood in the way of their salvation and treated them as chattels rather than human beingsSpM 26.4+1.

• Divine Compassion: God, who sees every sorrow and hears every cry, judges with perfect equity, knowing when a soul has been so crushed by circumstances that it could not exercise the power of choice8MR 98.1+1.

• The Final Contrast: While many from all nations and classes will be resurrected to glory or judgment, those who never had the opportunity to know light because of their bondage are handled with a unique mercy that spares them from the final suffering of the wickedSWk 41.2+1.

It is a solemn but comforting thought that our Heavenly Father is a God of perfect justice and tender mercy, who understands the deepest trials of the human experience and judges each heart with infinite wisdom3SP 186.2+1. 🕊️

...were in blindness and ignorance, that their minds had become beclouded in faith, and that they were almost destitute of a knowledge of God. They had become degraded by associating with a nation of idolaters, and had corrupted their ways by practicing idolatry. Yet there were many who were righteous and steadfast among this downtrodden people. The Lord directed Moses to give them a message from Himself. He said: “Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments: and I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and ye shall know that I am the Lord your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.” This nation of slaves was to be taught of God. Jesus Christ, enshrouded in the pillar of cloud and fire, was to be their invisible leader, the ruler over all their tribes. Moses was to be the mouthpiece of God. For forty years God ruled over them as they journeyed through the wilderness. But the Hebrew nation is not the only nation that has been in cruel bondage, and whose groanings have come to the ears of the Lord of hosts. The Lord God of Israel has looked upon the vast number of human beings who were held in slavery in the United States of America. The United States has been a refuge for the oppressed. It has been spoken of as the bulwark of religious liberty. God has done more for this country than for any other country upon which the sun shines. It has been marvelously preserved from war and bloodshed. God saw the foul blot of slavery upon this land, He marked the sufferings that were endured by the colored people. He moved upon the hearts of men to work in behalf of those who were so cruelly oppressed. The Southern States became one terrible battlefield. The graves of American sons who had enlisted to deliver the oppressed race are thick in its soil. Many fell in death, giving their lives to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to them that were bound. God spoke concerning the captivity of the colored people as verily as He did concerning the Hebrew captives, and said: “I have surely seen the affliction of my people ..., and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; and I am come down to deliver them.” The Lord wrought in freeing the Southern slaves; but He designed to work still further for them as He did for the children of Israel, whom He took forth to educate, to refine, and ennoble. Christ...— SWk 41.2 (1901)

God is punishing this nation for the high crime of slavery. He has the destiny of the nation in His hands. He will punish the South for the sin of slavery, an...— 1T 264.1 (1885)

...r the heathen and for papists in the day of the execution of God's judgment than for such men. The cries and sufferings of the oppressed have reached unto heaven, and angels stand amazed at the hard-hearted, untold, agonizing suffering, man in the image of his ...— RH August 27, 1861, Art. A, par. 3 (1851)

...dient children; that he paid an infinite price for their redemption; but that they would not accept freedom from the galling slavery of sin. They chose to stand under the black banner of rebellion to the close of mercy's hour— RH September 5, 1899, Art. A, par. 7 (1851)