The Bible and Slavery
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· 58 viewsDoes the Bible support slavery? Why doesn't God just outright condemn slavery? In other words, is God the problem or the solution?
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I’ve been given the weighty task of addressing what the Bible has to say about slavery. Before we get started, I want to acknowledge that, as a white person, I have historically benefitted from from the sinful system slavery. I am aware of that. And I condemn every ounce of that sinful system of slavery, the evils associated with it, and state openly that it is totally incompatible with the gospel of God’s grace. And I want you to know, as my family, that I am seeking to love you as best as I know how by explaining God’s heart towards this issue, by God’s grace.
With that said, would your pray with me.
“I love the pure, peaceable, and impartial Christianity of Christ; I therefore hate the corrupt, slaveholding, women-whipping, cradle-plundering, partial, and hypocritical Christianity of this land…Indeed, I can see no reason, but the most deceitful one, for calling the religion of this land Christianity. I look upon it as the climax of all misnomers, the boldest of all frauds, and the grossest of all libels.”
–Frederick Douglass, abolitionist and preacher
“[Slavery] was established by decree of Almighty God…it is sanctioned in the Bible, in both Testaments, from Genesis to Revelation…it has existed in all ages, has been found among the people of the highest civilization, and in nations of the highest proficiency in the arts.”
–Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States of America
There has been much evil done by supposed Christians to people over the years. And not only have evils been done by supposed Christians, but they have used the Bible to say that God actually approves of what they’re doing. One of most tragic examples of this is seen in God’s supposed ‘approval’ of chattel slavery in the New World from the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, not the least of which took place in this very country.
As you can tell from the two quotes, we’re in a confusing situation. You have two people saying Jesus is about opposite things. Both Frederick Douglass and Jefferson Davis cannot be right. One must be right, and the other, wrong. But worse than wrong, utterly sinful. And God takes a side. We must know what side He is on.
Church, how do we respond? What do we say when people quote Jefferson Davis at us, or talk about the laws in the Old Testament that talk about slavery, or quote to us, “Slaves, obey your earthly masters...”
The world around us is asking these questions. As followers of Jesus Christ, we are called to ‘give a defense for the hope that is in us’ (). The world around us is asking these questions. That is what this sermon is hoping to address.
I love the way pastor Rasool Berry put it, which will serve as my main question for the day. When it comes to slavery...
Is God the problem or the solution?
Is God the problem or the solution?
That’s the question, deep down, people are asking. Because they want to know if God is good. If He is loving. If He cares about justice. If He wants what is best for ALL people.
Before we jump into the specific of what God says about slavery, We must lay a foundation of how God has made all people, before we go any further.
If we truly grasp how God has made us, and what that means for us, it will be a life-transforming truth for how we think about a myriad of issues and how we interact with people throughout our life.
What does God say about the dignity, worth, and value of ALL human beings?
What does God say about the dignity, worth, and value of ALL human beings?
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
God creates mankind (the word used there translated ‘man’) in His likeness, separate from all other creation. In creation of mankind, God stopped simply saying ‘let there be’ and started saying ‘LET US MAKE’. God stepped down and started forming humanity with His own hands.
God creates mankind (the word used there translated ‘man’) in His likeness, separate from all other creation. In creation of mankind, God stopped simply saying ‘let there be’ and started saying ‘LET US MAKE’. God stepped down and started forming humanity with His own hands.
God made humans in a way that they are ‘after God’s likeness’. Humanity is to represent and reflect the glory of God. To show off His worth, beauty, goodness, and truth. This is one of our PRIMARY CALLS at Restoration. To be a people who show off the glory of Christ.
We bear His resemblance in a way no other creation does, and He has created humans with a capacity for relationship with Him.
This changes everything
Now tie that together with
And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place,
The apostle Paul makes something VERY CLEAR HERE–that from ONE MAN every nation of mankind was made.
And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us,
The apostle Paul makes something VERY CLEAR HERE–that from ONE MAN every nation of mankind was made.
We as the church must remember this and be ready to correct someone when they twist God’s word to try and say that certain ethnicities or people groups are of less worth or value, or are sub-human, or not created in God’s image. You better tell them and say “no, we all share common ancestry in Adam and Eve, and thus we are all in the image of God.
Rebellion against the image does not remove God’s image in you, nor does it negate our common call to love people who distort God’s image in them.
Rebellion against the image does not remove God’s image in you, nor does it negate our common call to love people who distort God’s image in them.
If people try and say that people were in the image, but they defiled it, and now are cursed, you better realize that God says that man is made in his own image AFTER sin had entered the world and distorted things.
Rebellion against the image does not remove God’s image in you, nor does it negate our common call to love people who distort God’s image in them.
Rebellion against the image does not remove God’s image in you, nor does it negate our common call to love people who distort God’s image in them.
I think oftentimes, we can look at people and say, well, they’re not even treating themselves as people who are made in the image of God, they’re not even respecting themselves…so why should I?
Christians, may we never say that. May we never interact with people how we may feel they ‘deserve’ to be interacted with because of what they’re doing. I’m glad that Jesus didn’t have that disposition towards me–that He didn’t look at me and say, we’ll, Jake has no sense of purpose, He’s enslaved to all this sin in his heart that’s against me, so I’m just going to let him rock. May it never be.
If people try and say that people were in the image, but they defiled it, and now are cursed, you better realize that God says that man is made in his own image AFTER sin had entered the world and distorted things.
May we remember that we’ve all distorted the image of God in us, because we are all sinners, but the beauty of the gospel is that ‘God shows his love for us in that while we were sill sinners, Christ died for us’ (). He died for us and calls us back into restored image. That was for free.
I think oftentimes, we can look at people and say, well, they’re not even treating themselves as people who are made in the image of God, they’re not even respecting themselves…so why should I?
Christians, may we never say that. May we never interact with people how we may feel they ‘deserve’ to be interacted with because of what they’re doing. I’m glad that Jesus didn’t have that disposition towards me–that He didn’t look at me and say, we’ll, Jake has no sense of purpose, He’s enslaved to all this sin in his heart that’s against me, so I’m just going to let him rock. May it never be.
May we remember that we’ve all distorted the image of God in us, because we are all sinners, but the beauty of the gospel is that ‘God shows his love for us in that while we were sill sinners, Christ died for us’ (). He died for us and calls us back into restored image. That was for free.
Therefore, in light of what we’ve seen about the image of God in ALL HUMANITY, here is the truth we are going to explore further.
God is utterly opposed, in fact, God hates, the dignity-erasing, de-humanizing, abusive, ethnicity-based, person-stealing slavery of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade.
God is utterly opposed, in fact, God hates, the dignity-erasing, de-humanizing, abusive, ethnicity-based, person-stealing slavery of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade.
It is a direct affront to the image of God in every individual. It is spitting in our Creator’s face when we look at someone who is His divine creation, worthy of dignity, honor, and respect, and call that person ‘property’.
The fact that people in the New World, including our country, used Christianity–used the heart of God–to affirm those practices for hundreds of years is absolutely disgusting, and it breaks Jesus’ heart.
There is a stark difference between the Christianity of our God and the Christianity of America. In fact, the Christianity of America that used God and His Word to justify slavery is not Christianity.
Now, all of this sounds true, but we must ask then, what do we make of the term ‘slavery’ in the Bible? I’m glad you asked.
Defining ‘slavery’ in the Old Testament
Defining ‘slavery’ in the Old Testament
What about the ‘curse of Ham’?
What about the ‘curse of Ham’?
We can all agree that words have meaning, right? Let me explain...
If I was talking to you about a paper I was writing, and needed you to proofread it for me, I could simply tell you ‘I put it in the cloud’, and you’d have a sense of what that was. Fifteen years ago, if I told you I put my paper in the cloud, you would have no idea what I was talking about.
Cloud
Bachelor
Likewise, a favorite past-time of mine is to go cat-fishing. In the internet age, going ‘cat-fishing’ is not something you would tell people you do for recreation, as it means something different than actual fishing.
So we can agree that words have meaning because of the meaning people ascribe to them, right?
The same is true when we talk of the word ‘slavery’ in the Old Testament. We tend to interpret the word in light of our historical context, which has known slavery to be the terrible, dehumanizing, ethnicity-based person-stealing and ownership of another.
This is not what the Old Testament is talking about when you see the word ‘slavery’ or ‘slave’.
Two verses you might want to have locked away for the beginning of the conversation, that solidifies that this is not the kind of slavery the Bible is talking about.
“Whoever steals a man and sells him, and anyone found in possession of him, shall be put to death.
Leviticus
the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine,
“If a man is found stealing one of his brothers of the people of Israel, and if he treats him as a slave or sells him, then that thief shall die. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.
These two passages make it explicitly clear that the kind of man-stealing and selling of people were crimes that God hates, and in that time, were punishable by death.
These laws covered both Israelites () and non-Israelites ().
Likewise, says that those who enslave others are sinners, and that act is not in accord with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
So what does the word mean when we see it in the Old Testament?
When you see the word ‘slave’ in the Old Testament, the idea of it is ‘servanthood’, most commonly in the form of debt-repayment.
When you see the word ‘slave’ in the Old Testament, the idea of it is ‘servanthood’, most commonly in the form of debt-repayment.
When you see the word ‘slave’ in the Old Testament, the word can equally be better translated ‘servant’, and is not an inherently negative word. It’s a word that is related to one’s work for another.
A more accurate translation of what was going on was ‘servanthood’.
In those times, there was no economic surplus – you could not declare bankruptcy. That wasn’t an option. If crops failed or there was a disaster in the land, what was the option? It was either to starve and die, or ‘sell’ your labor services and work for someone else to take care of their family or pay off a debt.
Even though this word meant servitude, God made provisions that sought to prevent voluntary debt servitude.
Even so, God eve sought to prevent voluntary debt servitude.
God encouraged Israel to lend freely to the poor. ()
“If among you, one of your brothers should become poor, in any of your towns within your land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother, but you shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be.
God gave laws for gleaning after the harvest, for Israelites and non-Israelite. ()
“When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God.
God instituted a three-year tithe to protect the vulnerable, whether Israelite or not. ()
“At the end of every three years you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in the same year and lay it up within your towns. And the Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance with you, and the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, who are within your towns, shall come and eat and be filled, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands that you do.
God allowed for smaller sacrifices in the temple by those who could not afford the sacrificial animals. ()
“But if he cannot afford a lamb, then he shall bring to the Lord as his compensation for the sin that he has committed two turtledoves or two pigeons, one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering.
It is under that framework of understanding that we read these servitude laws. So why were they necessary?
In those times, there was no economic surplus – you could not declare bankruptcy. That wasn’t an option. If crops failed or there was a disaster in the land, what was the option? It was either to starve and die, or ‘sell’ your labor services and work for someone else to take care of their family or pay off a debt.
It is under that framework of understanding that we read these servitude laws.
“If a stranger or sojourner with you becomes rich, and your brother beside him becomes poor and sells himself to the stranger or sojourner with you or to a member of the stranger’s clan,
“If your brother becomes poor beside you and sells himself to you, you shall not make him serve as a slave:
“If your brother becomes poor beside you and sells himself to you, you shall not make him serve as a slave:
So what was the option? It was either to starve and die, or ‘sell’ your labor services and work for someone else to take care of their family or pay off a debt.
Servanthood was not imposed upon by outsiders. Debt-servanthood was a choice.
“If a stranger or sojourner with you becomes rich, and your brother beside him becomes poor and sells himself to the stranger or sojourner with you or to a member of the stranger’s clan,
You may bequeath them to your sons after you to inherit as a possession forever. You may make slaves of them, but over your brothers the people of Israel you shall not rule, one over another ruthlessly.
It was not imposed upon by outsiders.
I mean, think about it – if everyone you owed debt to today came to your house and demanded to cash in on that debt, what would you do? You would have to think of something to receive provision/pay off debt. It would be something like debt-servanthood.
Rather than owning the person, the person worked under the master. And this happened on all socioeconomic levels–not just menial jobs. Servants were in households, could own property, and even have servants of their own.
“Servant laws existed to help the poor, not harm them or keep them down.”
God even made provisions that sought to prevent voluntary debt servitude from happening in the first place.
Deuteronomy 15:12-
God encouraged Israel to lend freely to the poor. ()
God gave laws for gleaning after the harvest, for Israelites and non-Israelite. ()
God gave laws for gleaning after the harvest, for Israelites and non-Israelite. ()
God instituted a three-year tithe to protect the vulnerable, whether Israelite or not. ()
God allowed for smaller sacrifices in the temple by those who could not afford the sacrificial animals. ()
The Old Testament also prohibited unavoidable lifelong servanthood. Masters were to grant their fellow Israelite servants release every seventh year with all debts forgiven and supply them from their own herd, grain, and wine. ().
The Old Testament also prohibited unavoidable lifelong servanthood. Masters were to grant their fellow Israelite servants release every seventh year with all debts forgiven and with provision to get off their feet and get going.
“If your brother, a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, is sold to you, he shall serve you six years, and in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you. And when you let him go free from you, you shall not let him go empty-handed. You shall furnish him liberally out of your flock, out of your threshing floor, and out of your winepress. As the Lord your God has blessed you, you shall give to him. You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you; therefore I command you this today.
This release of Hebrew servants every seven years was a reminder that poverty was not God’s ideal. Servanthood in the Old Testament existed because of the world’s brokenness and sinfulness.
Servitude was circumstantial–whether because of debt, of being someone who was outside the covenant people of God who came to Israel for safe-haven, or because of mercy in warfare.
It was not based on ethnicity, it was not forced, and it was not meant to continue forever.
Israel was to remember that ‘they too were slaves in the land of Egypt’ in their dealings with those among them that were slaves. In other words, don’t treat your servants like you were treated (harshly and oppressively).
In fact, the only way servanthood was for life was if the servant loved the person he was serving. he could voluntarily attach himself to his family forever.
But if the slave plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,’ then his master shall bring him to God, and he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost. And his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall be his slave forever.
But if the slave plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,’
But if the slave plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,’ then his master shall bring him to God, and he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost. And his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall be his slave forever. “When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she shall not go out as the male slaves do.
That sheds some light onto the often positive scenarios of Israelite servanthood.
Likewise, the Israelites have these two provisions that help shed light on God’s care and heart for those in servitude. The Anti-Harm Law and Anti-Return Law:
Anti-Harm Law =
“When a man strikes the eye of his slave, male or female, and destroys it, he shall let the slave go free because of his eye. If he knocks out the tooth of his slave, male or female, he shall let the slave go free because of his tooth.
Israel’s law codes demanded release of injured servants. God did not allow the physical abuse of his servants. In fact, we will see from that an employer’s disciplining of a servant, if resulted in immediate death, meant that the employer was to be put to death for the murder.
This is in STARK contrast to other Ancient Near Eastern Law codes – where the masters, not the slaves, were financially compensated for their own ‘loss’.
Anti-Return Law =
“You shall not give up to his master a slave who has escaped from his master to you. He shall dwell with you, in your midst, in the place that he shall choose within one of your towns, wherever it suits him. You shall not wrong him.
Israel was to be a safe harbor to foreign runaway slaves. In slavery that existed in the Antebellum south, there was a six month imprisonment and one thousand dollar fine for those who harbored runaway-slaves, alongside severe treatment of the returned slave by their master.
In summarizing slavery in the Old Testament, scholar Muhammad A. Dandamayev says it like this,
Scholar Muhammad A. Dandamayev says it like this,
We have in the Bible the first appeals in world literature to treat slaves as human beings for their own sake and not just in the interests of their masters.
This is because our God views people, no matter the social status they found themselves in, as people, inherently worthy of dignity, respect, and fair treatment.
God constantly reminds Israel.
fajaj
“You shall not wrong a sojourner or oppress him, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.
Leviticus 19
“You shall not oppress a sojourner. You know the heart of a sojourner, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.
So why does God even include slave laws?
So why does God even include slave laws?
You might wonder: “If God’s heart is for slavery to not exist, then why would he put these laws in the Old Testament? “
It’s important to see these laws as permissive or regulatory laws, rather than laws that are God’s principle.
Living in a broken world in the Ancient Near East where everyone had servants, where there was no financial backing for people, God gave laws to regulate and actually protect slaves in a way no other Ancient Near Eastern law did.
We see this principle of regulatory law in action in Matthew 19:8, when it comes to divorce. The Pharisees (the regilious elites of the day) asked Jesus if it was lawful for a man to divorce his wife. Jesus appeals to God’s original intention in Genesis 2:24 – “a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.”
BUT THEN, they ask, why did Moses tell people to issue a certificate of divorce. Jesus responds,
He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.
And then Jesus commands them not to divorce their wife.
We have to understand parts of the OT law as permitting/regulating something rather than saying, ‘this is good’.
Because of the brokenness of the world, and the hardness of hearts, God gives laws not to endorse things, but to regulate them. To limit and protect people.
If God waited to give laws to people until all societal evil was removed, we’d still be waiting for Him to give laws, and that society would have NO REGULATIONS upon the evil.
It’s kind of like how there are gambling laws in states to regulate gambling. That doesn’t necessarily mean the law-writers endorse it, but rather, they’re putting a limit on it.
Or if you tell your friend to vote in the next election–you’re not necessarily saying that you approve of democracy as God’s ideal political system.
Dr. Peter Williams says,
“God’s instruction that allows for certain evil practices
So if you see something in the Old Testament, don’t think that God was necessarily happy either.
If you see something in the Old Testament that you aren’t happy about, don’t think that God was necessarily happy either.
God even sought to prevent voluntary debt servitude.
Encouraged them to lend freely to the poor.
“If among you, one of your brothers should become poor, in any of your towns within your land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother, but you shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be.
Laws for gleaning after the harvest, for Israelites and non-Israelite.
“When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God.
God instituted a tithe to protect the vulnerable, whether Israelite or not.
“At the end of every three years you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in the same year and lay it up within your towns. And the Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance with you, and the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, who are within your towns, shall come and eat and be filled, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands that you do.
God allowed for smaller sacrifices in the temple by those who could not afford the sacrificial animals.
“But if he cannot afford a lamb, then he shall bring to the Lord as his compensation for the sin that he has committed two turtledoves or two pigeons, one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering.
,
“But if he cannot afford two turtledoves or two pigeons, then he shall bring as his offering for the sin that he has committed a tenth of an ephah of fine flour for a sin offering. He shall put no oil on it and shall put no frankincense on it, for it is a sin offering.
It is within this structure, this heart, that God then gives permissive/regulatory laws for Israelite servitude.
Over and over again, God charges Israel to
God even sought to prevent voluntary debt servitude.
Confusing verses in the Old Testament
Confusing verses in the Old Testament
In light of the truth that God’s original intention is for servitude not to exist, but has given regulations for it within a broken world, there still leaves some confusing passages in question. We will tackle a few of them here:
What about the ‘curse of Ham’?
What about the ‘curse of Ham’?
Regulatory...
People have often said that
He drank of the wine and became drunk and lay uncovered in his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside. Then Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned backward, and they did not see their father’s nakedness. When Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done to him, he said, “Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers.”
In , Noah and his sons repopulate the earth after the flood. Noah gets drunk, and Ham, his son shamed him.
Sinfully, people have used this verse to justify the slavery of African people, saying that they are ‘cursed’, stating that Ham’s sons settled in Africa and birthed those nations.
Ham had some sons who then settled in Africa, Cush, Mizraim, and Put. But this curse was not on Ham. The curse was on Ham’s son, Canaan. Canaan’s descendents settled not in Africa, but the Middle East. They inhabited Canaan, the Promised Land.
The Canaanites were the people that were constantly at enmity with Israel and were inhabiting the Land that God had given to the Israelites. The ‘curse’ was fulfilled in God’s judgment against them, when the Canaanite nations were driven out by the Israelites because of their wickedness and sin (after 500 years of God’s patience, nonetheless).
So this curse has nothing to do with people of African descent, and in fact, Moses married a Cushite woman (), a dark-skinned African woman.
The only rebuke in that narrative is when Moses’ sister gets mad at Moses for marrying the Cushite woman. God strikes her with leprousy for her sin of racial superiority.
The curse on Ham’s son, Canaan, has nothing to do with ethnicity. It was because of the Canaanites shameful, sinful actions that God judged them. That curse has long been when God gave Israelites entrance into the Promised Land. And God even spares repentant Canaanites (see Rahab and her family).
To say that it is a curse on those of African descent is terrible biblical interpretation, is the heinous sin of ethnic superiority that has no place in God’s kingdom, and must be harshly rebuked and stood against.
Pro-slavery Southerners drew upon not because it was biblically accurate, but because they could use it to resonate with their deepest cultural values. Their own idolatry.
To say that it is a curse on those of African descent is terrible biblical interpretation, is the heinous sin of ethnic superiority that has no place in God’s kingdom, and must be harshly rebuked and stood against.
To say that it is a curse on those of African descent is terrible biblical interpretation, is the heinous sin of ethnic superiority that has no place in God’s kingdom, and must be harshly rebuked and stood against.
Were foreign slaves considered property?
Were foreign slaves considered property?
As for your male and female slaves whom you may have: you may buy male and female slaves from among the nations that are around you. You may also buy from among the strangers who sojourn with you and their clans that are with you, who have been born in your land, and they may be your property. You may bequeath them to your sons after you to inherit as a possession forever. You may make slaves of them, but over your brothers the people of Israel you shall not rule, one over another ruthlessly.
As for your male and female slaves whom you may have: you may buy male and female slaves from among the nations that are around you. You may also buy from among the strangers who sojourn with you and their clans that are with you, who have been born in your land, and they may be your property. You may bequeath them to your sons after you to inherit as a possession forever. You may make slaves of them, but over your brothers the people of Israel you shall not rule, one over another ruthlessly.
First of all, this word ‘buy’ doesn’t necessarily mean to buy as property.
The great love story of Ruth and Boaz says that she was ‘bought’ by Boaz as his wife. ()
Also Ruth the Moabite, the widow of Mahlon, I have bought to be my wife, to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brothers and from the gate of his native place. You are witnesses this day.”
Boaz was nothing but exhibiting lovingkindness towards Ruth. This word bought may better be translated as acquire, and it is not in reference to owning their personhood.
“If I have rejected the cause of my manservant or my maidservant, when they brought a complaint against me, what then shall I do when God rises up? When he makes inquiry, what shall I answer him? Did not he who made me in the womb make him? And did not one fashion us in the womb?
The manservant (same word translated ‘slave’ in these other verses, is said to come from the same womb as Job). The dignity of all persons is affirmed, once again.
People’s bodies retain their rights, even if their services are rendered to people for financial reasons, etc.
Also, because God owned the land in a special way and lent it to Israel, the only way foreigners could be a part of the Israelite society was for them to be a part of an Israelite household. They couldn’t acquire land in Israel, so they didn’t have much of a choice if they desired to be in Israel, which was markedly better living conditions than any other Ancient Near Eastern society, but to be a part of an Israelite household.
If they did embrace the God of Israel, they could have a change of status and become a free person who acquired wealth. We see that implication in Leviticus 25:47.
“If a stranger or sojourner with you becomes rich, and your brother beside him becomes poor and sells himself to the stranger or sojourner with you or to a member of the stranger’s clan,
But no matter what, we know servants were to be treated with kindness, because Israel knew what it was like to be oppressed in Egypt.
Also, all servants were given days off () and unlike any other society, servants ate alongside the family they were serving before the Lord ().
Is beating a slave okay?
Is beating a slave okay?
“When a man strikes his slave, male or female, with a rod and the slave dies under his hand, he shall be avenged. But if the slave survives a day or two, he is not to be avenged, for the slave is his money.
At first glance, it appears that this verse is saying it’s okay to beat one’s slave. This verse is in the context of passages that talk about bodily injury being caused to one another.
Verse 12 says that a man who strikes another man and kills him merits the death penalty. The same thing is said here–if a man strikes a slave and the slaves die, the man will be put to death. This word avenged always implies the death penalty.
Verse 18-19 talks about how someone was responsible to care for a person they struck and didn’t die–they are to pay them for the loss of their time and make sure the person is thoroughly healed.
The same is true here. Verses 26-27 imply that the same treatment of a person is required whether slave or free.
“When a man strikes the eye of his slave, male or female, and destroys it, he shall let the slave go free because of his eye. If he knocks out the tooth of his slave, male or female, he shall let the slave go free because of his tooth.
But if there is harm, then you shall pay life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe. “When a man strikes the eye of his slave, male or female, and destroys it, he shall let the slave go free because of his eye. If he knocks out the tooth of his slave, male or female, he shall let the slave go free because of his tooth.
Exodus 25
If the man causes permanent bodily injury, even if a tooth gets knocked out, the slave is to go free.
Another struggle in verse 21 is that it says ‘for the slave is his money’. This does not mean the master is free to treat the slave however he pleases–if that was so, then he could knock out teeth, etc. which is strictly prohibited.
The master would have to have him healed, an economic loss, and would have to pay for the loss of the slaves labor. These laws were written to factor the person’s intent–was it murderous? If it was, the master wouldn’t cover the costs, and would have to answer for that injustice. But if they did, then it was understood that discipline was not intentionally harmful, the master wasn’t trying to murder the slave, and he suffered economic loss in his healing and loss of labor (‘the slave is his money’).
Also, if the master truly was abusive, the slave was permitted to flee and was protected by Israelite law.
So , in context, is actually written to protect the servants.
Remember, then, that the servitude in the Old Testament, though not ideal, was something that God regulated in the Old Testament law in order to protect those who were vulnerable.
It was voluntary.
It was not based on ethnicity.
It was not intended to be forever.
Servants had real access and privilege in the family and the temple of God.
God put many provisions to even keep it from happening in the first place, and protected people who did enter into that circumstance.
All peoples were regarded with dignity and care, because all are made in His image.
So there we have it, folks, our Old Testament view on slavery.
Does the New Testament Endorse Slavery?
Does the New Testament Endorse Slavery?
The issue of slavery in the New Testament is a confusing one at first glance.
Bondservants, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord.
Bondservants, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ,
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What do we do with this?
The imago dei is affirmed all throughout.
Once again, we have to begin with the fact that the New Testament declares a fundamental equality of all peoples. This flies in the fact of what Roman slavery taught (that slaves lacked personhood).
The Bible yet again asserts that all humans are made in God’s image. In speaking of the power of the tongue (i.e. ‘words’), James says,
Paul did not outright condemn slavery, because to do so would actually destroy them.
With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.
Paul says outright the kind of slavery that occured during the Transatlantic Slave Trade was pure evil. (1 Timothy 1:10).
Paul tells slaves to get their freedom if they can ().
Masters, do the same to them, and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him.
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
By addressing slaves, Paul is simply urging Christians who cannot change their circumstances to live holy lives.
In addressing slaves , Paul is simply urging Christians who cannot change their circumstances to live holy lives.
By addressing slaves, Paul is simply urging Christians who cannot change their circumstances to live holy lives.
The legal system didn’t give Christians space to change laws. It was not a democracy. There were no voting rights, freedom of speech, or protest.
Note though, that slavery in the Roman world was not race-based.
A direct issue for slaves to rebel would mean their mass execution at the hands of the Romans.
There were also Roman limits to the emancipation of slaves.
There were also Roman limits to the emancipation of slaves.
Laws that allowed only certain amounts of slaves to be freed per household. Paul could have commanded masters to free their slaves, but they would not be free.
Another law said that if they were freed before they were 30, there would be disadvantages. It would be nearly impossible to become a citizen.
So immediate, informal freedom of them would leave them socially vulnerable in that society.
Commands given show that Paul did not approve of the chattel, people-as-property slavery that we saw here in the states.
Commands that are given show that Paul did not approve of the chattel, people-as-property slavery that we saw here in the states.
Paul says outright the kind of slavery that occured during the Transatlantic Slave Trade was pure evil. ().
the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine,
He says that enslavers, those who take another captive to enslave them, are ungodly sinners that are out of step with the gospel.
Likewise, the Scriptures are the only place where masters are given instructions in their dealing with their servants.
Masters, do the same to them, and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him.
Do not threaten your slaves. If you’re not to threaten, you better believe they’re not allowed to hit them.
God doesn’t prefer masters.
And...
Masters, treat your bondservants justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
What can we do?
Give them what is right and equal. Don’t deprive them. Treat them justly and fairly.
The social position of masters according to Paul was to be one of responsibility and service.
In this Roman system where people were not
Christians were saying, He is Lord. He is the boss.
They were not politically in a place to abolish Roman slavery.
Even so, In , Paul tells slaves to acquire their freedom whenever possible.
But they were not politically in a place to abolish Roman structure of slavery.
But they were not politically in a place to abolish Roman slavery.
What could they do? They could start a scandalous society within where people, regardless of social status, were treating each other justly, fairly, and as equals.
A society where they knew that in Christ, there was neither Jew nor Gentile, Slave nor free, etc. and all are one in Christ.
Christianity formed this society that was saying, Jesus is Lord. He is the boss.
What can we do?
What can we do?
What can we do?
They were commanded to love others like Christ loves us (). That command alone would abolish the abusive, people-owning oppressive slavery of Rome (and the slavery seen in our country).
Family is asserted in the gatherings. says that servants are BROTHERS and part of Christ’s body. Brother and sister is not common language.
They were greeting each others holy kisses. It was not a part of the culture for a slave to kiss a master. And Paul is commanding that. You kiss family. Siblings.
They were called to embody family across social boundaries.
A society where they knew that in Christ, there was neither Jew nor Gentile, Slave nor free, etc. and all are one in Christ.
The Romans would have been scandalized with this. They set up this social hierarchy to oppress and break down, and Paul is dismantling from the inside out.
The Romans would have been scandalized with those boundaries being cross. They set up this social hierarchy to oppress and break down, and Paul is dismantling.
The church was society where they knew that in Christ, there was neither Jew nor Gentile, Slave nor free, etc. all are one in Christ.
Paul tells masters that they ought to view their slaves as equals.
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
Paul tells masters that they ought to view their slaves as equals.
Then we have this small letter Philemon.
Each one should remain in the condition in which he was called. Were you a bondservant when called? Do not be concerned about it. (But if you can gain your freedom, avail yourself of the opportunity.) For he who was called in the Lord as a bondservant is a freedman of the Lord. Likewise he who was free when called is a bondservant of Christ.
Philemon
In , Paul tells slaves to acquire their freedom whenever possible.
Then we have this small letter Philemon.
Imago Dei. Salvation of Nations. Holiness of God.
Philemon is this Christian in Ephesus who’s slave, Onesimus, ran away, perhaps stealing things from Philemon. Long story short, Onesimus met Paul, became a Christian, and Paul sent him back to Philemon to reconcile.
Paul tells Philemon this (of Onesimus)–
I would have been glad to keep him with me, in order that he might serve me on your behalf during my imprisonment for the gospel, but I preferred to do nothing without your consent in order that your goodness might not be by compulsion but of your own accord. For this perhaps is why he was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back forever, no longer as a bondservant but more than a bondservant, as a beloved brother—especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord. So if you consider me your partner, receive him as you would receive me.
Philemon 13-
How do you think Philemon would have received Paul? As brother. As freed man IN THE FLESH AND IN THE LORD.
“The implications of the gospel would ensure slavery’s end. Though no prooftext dismantled Roman slavery with a single blow. The Bible decimated slavery with a thousand hits.”
God’s Word intends to remove it not by immediate proclamation…but by applying the principles of the gospel to the consciences of men, and thus, by changing the sentiments of the society, gradually and kindly work its entire extermination.
The Bible did not cut off the branches of slavery; it laid the axe to the root of the tree.
The Bible didn’t
“Slavery is a clear violation of ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ It is impossible to love your neighbor and simultaneously use your strength to refuse him personal freedom.” –Aaron Menikoff
Commands that are given show that Paul did not approve of the chattel, people-as-property slavery that we saw here in the states.
Jesus, the True Jubilee
Jesus, the True Jubilee
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.
Confusing verses in the New Testament
Confusing verses in the New Testament
Jesus wins in the end.
And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her, since no one buys their cargo anymore, cargo of gold, silver, jewels, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk, scarlet cloth, all kinds of scented wood, all kinds of articles of ivory, all kinds of articles of costly wood, bronze, iron and marble, cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and slaves, that is, human souls.
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
All of Philemon.
In the Old Testament, every 50th year there was to be a jubilee where all servants were set free, debts incurred were forgiven, the land was given rest, and families restored to their property the way God had set it up. This was a picture of the true freedom that was to come.
Jesus, the True Jubilee
Jesus, the True Jubilee
Jesus is the one who sets the captive free from sin and death and ensures that there is a total defeat of both physical slavery and spiritual slavery. He has overcome sin and death, once for all, and we can turn to Him for true freedom. And He has called us, the church, to embody that to the world around us–agents of freedom in society and in spirit, through the proclamation and demonstration of His gospel.
So in answer to our question–Is God the problem or the solution–He is the solution.
Will we respond to His freedom?
Instead of the Jubilee where the land was given rest and people were freed from their debt obligations, Jesus is the one who sets the captive free from sin and death and ensures that there is a total defeat of both physical slavery and spiritual slavery. That He has overcome sin and death, once for all, and we can turn to Him for true freedom. And He has called us, the church, to embody that to the world around us–agents of freedom in society and in spirit, through the proclamation and demonstration of His gospel.