It is Black History Month in America and Canada and at least in America slavery is still a hot button issue in this country. So I thought that I would talk today about in the Bible and all the misconceptions people have about God and slavery.
Whenever man creates a system it is inherently flawed. Man is not perfect. Man is sinful and therefore nothing created by man will be perfect or done correctly. Man created slavery. For this reason God created guidelines for how a slave was supposed to be treated because He knew we would mess it up.
FYI: Just because God allows something to happen doesn't mean that is His ideal. Just because He does not come out and condemn it doesn't mean He is condoning it. Because He has given us free will He doesn't intervene unless we ask Him to.
Many great people of God in the Bible had slaves. Abraham in particular. If we look however at how Abraham treated his slaves we get the closest representation of what God wanted the master/slave relationship to look like.
The most important thing to understand about slavery in the ancient times was that it was mostly economic. There was no slave trade or selling of bodies. It was you Joe owed Thomas money but you couldn't pay Thomas back so you became his slave until your debt was repaid. This mirror nothing of the slavery that occurred in America.
The other form was through battle and this was usually because of nation takeover. I.e. the numerous times in the Bible when the people of Israel got taken over by another nation and enslaved.
God gave the people of Israel very specific instructions about how slaves were to be treated. And it resembles NOTHING like the slavery that was perpetrated in America.
In Exodus 21 God gave these instructions:
For Male Slaves
(Exodus 21:1-6)
First, slavery was not supposed to be permanent. It was to last for six years. In the seventh year your debt is considered repaid and you are free to go. Unless the slave wanted to pledge permanent servitude.
Second, slaves are to be treated as a member of your household. This basically means like a brother or member of your family. They are to be fed, clothed and taken care of.
Third, if bodily harm was done to your slave there were consequences. If you kill your slave you are to be put to death for their death is to be avenged. If you caused them to lose a limb or part of their body they were to be set free.
For Female Slaves
(Exodus 21:7-11)
It was a little different for women. It was still debt motivated but you would be given as a wife to cover the debt of your family. If this was the case there were also very specific instructions.
If her future husband is not please with her for whatever reason he has to redeem her, which means allowing her family to buy her back. He cannot sell her.
If she is for the man's son the father is to treat her as his own daughter. Feeding her, clothing her and taking care of her as he would his daughter in his household.
If the man marries someone else his responsibility to the slave wife is not canceled out. He must continue to take care of her. Feeding her, clothing her and fulfilling his martial duty to her.
And if these things are not done she is to be set free and the debt canceled.
In Deuteronomy 15:12-15 God gave an update to his instructions:
Both men and women who worked for six years would be set free in the seventh, their debt canceled and they with a severance package if you will to start their life.
God adds that this should be done because the children of Israel were once slaves in Egypt and knowing how that feels they should want to bless these individuals.
Then in the New Testament, in both Ephesians 6:9 and Colossians 4:1:
God says to masters to treat their slaves with consideration. Do not threaten them and do not abuse them because we all live under the same God and He views us all the same.
For the slave masters that tried to justify the treatment of American slaves and slaves today with the Bible they clearly did not read Exodus 21:16 which says,
This is not God condoning this type of slavery. This is Him condemning it. In ancient times individuals went into slavery they were not kidnapped and sold into it. In ancient times slaves were not raped and beaten without impunity. In ancient times slaves were not held until death unless they chose to be.
Trying to equate biblical slavery with American slavery is a comparison of apples and oranges however because evil men used the Bible to justify enslavement people make that connection.
God's recurrent theme throughout the Bible is to love God and love people. Everything about American slavery runs counter to that. In the Bible God is basically saying if you must have slaves because this is your way of paying off debts follow these rules and treat your slaves as you would treat a family member because before me you are equals. Then once the debt is repaid let them go.
Many would say, well why did God let slavery happen in the first place? Lets give credit where credit is due. God did not enslave Africans, European men did. And like I said above we are granted free will. It is what makes us human. If God intervened in every aspect of our lives it would be as if we are puppets and that is not free will. However, when the slaves read God's word and cried out for deliverance God heard their cry and answered their prayers. He didn't do a grand show like many of us would like. It start out as grassroot movements. He empowered people like Harriet Tubman, Nat Turner and others to know that what the "white" man said about the Bible wasn't true and that God made them free and He gave them the strength to fight for that freedom.
God has been, is, and always will be a loving God. Whether we want to believe that to be true doesn't make it any less true. As I listen to the many negro spirituals that are remnants of my ancestors lives I know that many of them knew this to be true and I stand firm in that legacy.
Whenever man creates a system it is inherently flawed. Man is not perfect. Man is sinful and therefore nothing created by man will be perfect or done correctly. Man created slavery. For this reason God created guidelines for how a slave was supposed to be treated because He knew we would mess it up.
FYI: Just because God allows something to happen doesn't mean that is His ideal. Just because He does not come out and condemn it doesn't mean He is condoning it. Because He has given us free will He doesn't intervene unless we ask Him to.
Many great people of God in the Bible had slaves. Abraham in particular. If we look however at how Abraham treated his slaves we get the closest representation of what God wanted the master/slave relationship to look like.
The most important thing to understand about slavery in the ancient times was that it was mostly economic. There was no slave trade or selling of bodies. It was you Joe owed Thomas money but you couldn't pay Thomas back so you became his slave until your debt was repaid. This mirror nothing of the slavery that occurred in America.
The other form was through battle and this was usually because of nation takeover. I.e. the numerous times in the Bible when the people of Israel got taken over by another nation and enslaved.
_______________________________________________________________________
God gave the people of Israel very specific instructions about how slaves were to be treated. And it resembles NOTHING like the slavery that was perpetrated in America.
In Exodus 21 God gave these instructions:
For Male Slaves
(Exodus 21:1-6)
First, slavery was not supposed to be permanent. It was to last for six years. In the seventh year your debt is considered repaid and you are free to go. Unless the slave wanted to pledge permanent servitude.
Second, slaves are to be treated as a member of your household. This basically means like a brother or member of your family. They are to be fed, clothed and taken care of.
Third, if bodily harm was done to your slave there were consequences. If you kill your slave you are to be put to death for their death is to be avenged. If you caused them to lose a limb or part of their body they were to be set free.
For Female Slaves
(Exodus 21:7-11)
It was a little different for women. It was still debt motivated but you would be given as a wife to cover the debt of your family. If this was the case there were also very specific instructions.
If her future husband is not please with her for whatever reason he has to redeem her, which means allowing her family to buy her back. He cannot sell her.
If she is for the man's son the father is to treat her as his own daughter. Feeding her, clothing her and taking care of her as he would his daughter in his household.
If the man marries someone else his responsibility to the slave wife is not canceled out. He must continue to take care of her. Feeding her, clothing her and fulfilling his martial duty to her.
And if these things are not done she is to be set free and the debt canceled.
In Deuteronomy 15:12-15 God gave an update to his instructions:
Both men and women who worked for six years would be set free in the seventh, their debt canceled and they with a severance package if you will to start their life.
God adds that this should be done because the children of Israel were once slaves in Egypt and knowing how that feels they should want to bless these individuals.
Then in the New Testament, in both Ephesians 6:9 and Colossians 4:1:
God says to masters to treat their slaves with consideration. Do not threaten them and do not abuse them because we all live under the same God and He views us all the same.
_______________________________________________________________________
For the slave masters that tried to justify the treatment of American slaves and slaves today with the Bible they clearly did not read Exodus 21:16 which says,
"Whoever steals a man and sells him, and anyone found in possession of him, shall be put to death."
Trying to equate biblical slavery with American slavery is a comparison of apples and oranges however because evil men used the Bible to justify enslavement people make that connection.
God's recurrent theme throughout the Bible is to love God and love people. Everything about American slavery runs counter to that. In the Bible God is basically saying if you must have slaves because this is your way of paying off debts follow these rules and treat your slaves as you would treat a family member because before me you are equals. Then once the debt is repaid let them go.
_______________________________________________________________________
Many would say, well why did God let slavery happen in the first place? Lets give credit where credit is due. God did not enslave Africans, European men did. And like I said above we are granted free will. It is what makes us human. If God intervened in every aspect of our lives it would be as if we are puppets and that is not free will. However, when the slaves read God's word and cried out for deliverance God heard their cry and answered their prayers. He didn't do a grand show like many of us would like. It start out as grassroot movements. He empowered people like Harriet Tubman, Nat Turner and others to know that what the "white" man said about the Bible wasn't true and that God made them free and He gave them the strength to fight for that freedom.
God has been, is, and always will be a loving God. Whether we want to believe that to be true doesn't make it any less true. As I listen to the many negro spirituals that are remnants of my ancestors lives I know that many of them knew this to be true and I stand firm in that legacy.
The Unlikely Missionary
DHW
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