Nat Turner was born into slavery in Southampton, Virginia in October 1800. Nat’s mother and grandmother had been brought over from Africa to be slaves. Having once known freedom, both had an intense hatred of slavery. Nat was far from the typical slave. First of all he was educated, being taught to read and write at an early age by his master’s son. He was also very religious. He frequently read the Bible, prayed and fasted. He would often preach to his fellow slaves while they were working in the fields. He also claimed to receive visions from God. It was these visions that proved to be his undoing.
Turner felt that God had chosen him to be a special instrument to help the blacks escape from slavery. To throw off the yoke of their oppression. Several heavenly signs convinced Turner of the time of his revolt. First there was an eclipse of the sun. This was followed six months later by an atmospheric condition which made the sun appear bluish-green. On August 21, 1831 Turner started his rebellion with a few trusted slaves. First they killed Turner’s current owner, Joseph Travis, and his family. From there they killed practically every white person they came into contact with. Among them was Levi Waller, his wife, and 10 of his children, whose decapitated bodies were all piled on the front lawn. All told approximately 50 whites were killed.
Turner had hoped that his actions would cause a massive slave uprising but only 75 slaves joined his rebellion. Within days over 3,000 members of the state militia were sent to quash the rebellion. It wasn’t pretty. Upwards of 200 blacks, only some of whom had joined the rebellion, were killed. Turner managed to escape and went into hiding. He was discovered 6 weeks later. A trial was held. He was found guilty and executed on November 11, 1831.
There are mixed views on the significance of Turner’s rebellion. The abolitionist writer, William Lloyd Garrison, referred to it as the “first step of the earthquake”, meaning that he saw it as one of the first steps toward the abolition of slavery here in our country. While that may be debatable the immediate aftermath of Turner’s rebellion is not. It was anything but positive. Hundreds of innocent blacks were killed. Many Southern legislatures passed laws making it illegal to educate slaves and free blacks. And for blacks to peacefully assemble. White ministers were required to be present at all black worship services. So, did Nat Turner really hear from God?
That’s always a hard question to answer because hearing from God is so subjective. If I say that I have heard from God, who can question me? Who can deny my claim? The fact is that the Bible is full of people who heard from God. Sometimes these claims were accepted. Sometimes they were denied. Just look at Jesus. He claimed that He was God’s Son. It eventually got Him crucified.
Just the same, there are several factors that I think that should be taken into account when someone says that they have heard from God. First, does it line up with or contradict Scripture? This is not as easy as it might seem because most extremists like Turner love to take Scripture out of context. This is why it is important for us to take all of Scripture into account. Turner would have done well to remember Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:43-45 to love our enemies. And the Apostle Paul’s words to slaves in Ephesians 6:5-9 and Colossians 3:22-25. Does this mean that God condones slavery? No. It simply means that as we read in James 1:20 that, “human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.” Simply stated there are some things that we need to wait on God to change. When we take matters into our own hands, we often make them worse. Much worse.
Second, when we feel that we have heard from God we need to run it by others. People who are spiritually-wise. Mature. Who know God’s voice. In Proverbs 11:14 we are told, “Where there is no guidance the people fall, but in abundance of counselors there is victory.” The ability for us to be deceived by either Satan or our own thoughts and desires is great. Making sure that we have an objective viewpoint can’t be overstated.
The fact is that Turner’s rebellion cost a lot of people their lives, both black and white. It killed the abolitionist movement in the South. It intensified the fear of Southerners of future rebellions. It caused a loss of civil liberties and much pain and grief for many blacks for the next 35 years. It hardened attitudes in the South toward slaves and ultimately led to a long, bloody Civil War. A war that adversely affected millions of people.
So we need to be careful when we think we have heard from God. We need to ask Him to confirm what He wants us to do. To open or close doors. To make sure that what we hear aligns with Scripture. To have the blessing of spiritually-mature people who can confirm what we have heard.
Hearing from God is a great experience. We just need to make sure that the it is really God who is speaking. And not us. And certainly not the enemy.
Lord, I thank you that You speak to me. Through Your Word. Through Your Spirit. Through others. Through circumstances. Help me to know that it’s really You speaking. Help me to acquire an intimate knowledge of Your Word so that I can know right from wrong. Truth from error. And place spiritually mature people in my life whom I can take into confidence. People who can encourage or caution me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Turner felt that God had chosen him to be a special instrument to help the blacks escape from slavery. To throw off the yoke of their oppression. Several heavenly signs convinced Turner of the time of his revolt. First there was an eclipse of the sun. This was followed six months later by an atmospheric condition which made the sun appear bluish-green. On August 21, 1831 Turner started his rebellion with a few trusted slaves. First they killed Turner’s current owner, Joseph Travis, and his family. From there they killed practically every white person they came into contact with. Among them was Levi Waller, his wife, and 10 of his children, whose decapitated bodies were all piled on the front lawn. All told approximately 50 whites were killed.
Turner had hoped that his actions would cause a massive slave uprising but only 75 slaves joined his rebellion. Within days over 3,000 members of the state militia were sent to quash the rebellion. It wasn’t pretty. Upwards of 200 blacks, only some of whom had joined the rebellion, were killed. Turner managed to escape and went into hiding. He was discovered 6 weeks later. A trial was held. He was found guilty and executed on November 11, 1831.
There are mixed views on the significance of Turner’s rebellion. The abolitionist writer, William Lloyd Garrison, referred to it as the “first step of the earthquake”, meaning that he saw it as one of the first steps toward the abolition of slavery here in our country. While that may be debatable the immediate aftermath of Turner’s rebellion is not. It was anything but positive. Hundreds of innocent blacks were killed. Many Southern legislatures passed laws making it illegal to educate slaves and free blacks. And for blacks to peacefully assemble. White ministers were required to be present at all black worship services. So, did Nat Turner really hear from God?
That’s always a hard question to answer because hearing from God is so subjective. If I say that I have heard from God, who can question me? Who can deny my claim? The fact is that the Bible is full of people who heard from God. Sometimes these claims were accepted. Sometimes they were denied. Just look at Jesus. He claimed that He was God’s Son. It eventually got Him crucified.
Just the same, there are several factors that I think that should be taken into account when someone says that they have heard from God. First, does it line up with or contradict Scripture? This is not as easy as it might seem because most extremists like Turner love to take Scripture out of context. This is why it is important for us to take all of Scripture into account. Turner would have done well to remember Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:43-45 to love our enemies. And the Apostle Paul’s words to slaves in Ephesians 6:5-9 and Colossians 3:22-25. Does this mean that God condones slavery? No. It simply means that as we read in James 1:20 that, “human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.” Simply stated there are some things that we need to wait on God to change. When we take matters into our own hands, we often make them worse. Much worse.
Second, when we feel that we have heard from God we need to run it by others. People who are spiritually-wise. Mature. Who know God’s voice. In Proverbs 11:14 we are told, “Where there is no guidance the people fall, but in abundance of counselors there is victory.” The ability for us to be deceived by either Satan or our own thoughts and desires is great. Making sure that we have an objective viewpoint can’t be overstated.
The fact is that Turner’s rebellion cost a lot of people their lives, both black and white. It killed the abolitionist movement in the South. It intensified the fear of Southerners of future rebellions. It caused a loss of civil liberties and much pain and grief for many blacks for the next 35 years. It hardened attitudes in the South toward slaves and ultimately led to a long, bloody Civil War. A war that adversely affected millions of people.
So we need to be careful when we think we have heard from God. We need to ask Him to confirm what He wants us to do. To open or close doors. To make sure that what we hear aligns with Scripture. To have the blessing of spiritually-mature people who can confirm what we have heard.
Hearing from God is a great experience. We just need to make sure that the it is really God who is speaking. And not us. And certainly not the enemy.
Lord, I thank you that You speak to me. Through Your Word. Through Your Spirit. Through others. Through circumstances. Help me to know that it’s really You speaking. Help me to acquire an intimate knowledge of Your Word so that I can know right from wrong. Truth from error. And place spiritually mature people in my life whom I can take into confidence. People who can encourage or caution me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
A direct relationship with God is different from an abstract relationship with God. In the bible God has ordered the murder of whole communities due to the inhabitants being completely corrupted and evil. Read about Sodom and Gomorrah. The fact of the matter is, people who don't have faith and don't know the difference between good and evil will allow evil (such as slavery) to go on indefinitely because they actually don't know God. Whereas, a person who has a direct relationship with God realizes that slavery is evil and those who support it cannot be allowed to continue with it. You can question Nat Turner's relationship with God, but you can rest assured that he was sure of his own faith, and God was sure of his faith. That is why he chose Nat Turner to carry out his wishes and did not rely on the garden-variety lukewarm Christian who actually doesn't know the difference between good and evil.
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