Slavery is not exactly my favorite topic and for good reason. Tonight we're going to read from Exodus 21. But first, going to start with the exact same word as we always start with: context.
But those of you who have been coming to youth group for the past year already know this. We studied Exodus 1-15 last year and then watched “The Prince of Egypt.” The Israelites have been slaves in Egypt for 400 years, mistreated by the Egyptians through slavery and harsh labor. Despite their suffering, they multiply and grow in number. Pharaoh orders the killing of Hebrew male babies, leading to Moses being saved and raised in the Pharaoh's household. Moses eventually leads the Israelites out of Egypt after the ten plagues, which include the turning of the Nile into blood, frogs, gnats, flies, livestock disease, boils, hail, locusts, darkness, and the death of the firstborn. The Israelites escape through the parting of the Red Sea, while the pursuing Egyptian army drowns.
Next God begins to give rules and law to these people. It's important to note that the law here isn't written to justice slavery but to improve on a flawed system that was already in place.
Exodus 21:1-6 (NIV): "These are the laws you are to set before them: If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he shall go free, without paying anything. If he comes alone, he is to go free alone; but if he has a wife when he comes, she is to go with him. If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the woman and her children shall belong to her master, and only the man shall go free. But if the servant declares, 'I love my master and my wife and children and do not want to go free,' then his master must take him before the judges. He shall take him to the door or the doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he will be his servant for life."
Does this scripture bother your sensibilities? It should. The Israelites lived in a very different world than we know. There are roughly 2 million of them living in the middle of the desert with no laws or any form of government and led by a guy that they barely know. Remember that Moses was raised in the Egyptian palace until he left Egypt. And why exactly did Moses have to flee Egypt? He killed a man who was beating a Hebrew slave. This is the harsh kind of world that the Israelites have known for the past 400 years. So they don't really know Moses. Do you think they were very familiar with Yaweh at this time? We have to realize that God is not revealing Himself to a group of people who really know who He is. He's not revealing Himself to a people who have incredible familiarity with him.
All that aside was historically unprecedented for a slave to have any rights. Outside of Israel, slaves had no rights at all.
Think about the world that the Israelites are coming from. In ancient Egypt and the ancient Mediterranean region, as well as in the Greco-Roman world, the gods and goddesses were not characterized by goodness, justice, or fairness. Instead, power was the dominant force. However, there was a God who introduced a new way of being and emphasized that He is a god of justice.
Yaweh, the God of justice, guides a community unfamiliar with Him, emphasizing actions should be motivated by justice, not power or revenge. He introduces laws and regulations to shape society, rooted in justice, for people who have only known Egyptian slavery for 400 years.
Exodus 21:16 (NIV): "Anyone who kidnaps someone is to be put to death, whether the victim has been sold or is still in the kidnapper’s possession."
I'd also like us to note that there’s a difference between this kind of slavery in the Bible and the kind of slavery that we think of when we think of plantations and slavery in America. According to this verse, the slave trade that happened in the US during colonial times should be condemned and slave traders should be put to death.
Leviticus 25: 39-43 “‘If any of your fellow Israelites become poor and sell themselves to you, do not make them work as slaves. They are to be treated as hired workers or temporary residents among you; they are to work for you until the Year of Jubilee. Then they and their children are to be released, and they will go back to their own clans and to the property of their ancestors. Because the Israelites are my servants, whom I brought out of Egypt, they must not be sold as slaves. Do not rule over them ruthlessly, but fear your God.
What do you do if you are in debt? Or if you have a big purchase you’d like to buy?
What do you think people would do back then if they were in debt or didn’t have a profitable trade? Could they get a job at Dudley’s Pizza to pay the bills?
Slavery or "indentured servitude" was considered normal in that context, providing care for those in need. Guidelines were set for the treatment of slaves, emphasizing their humanity. Indentured servitude was an option for the destitute. Starting points are sometimes necessary for progress.
And we know that God is going to call them to a higher level. We see this in the teachings of Jesus at the Sermon on the mount and from Paul's writings as well. (See Philemon 1:8-18.)
Acts 2:42-47 (NIV) 42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
So here’s the point that the early church got to. Were there still slaves/indentured servants in that time period? Yes, I'm there were. Do we still have poor people and rich people today? Also, yes. And we also have a welfare system that wasn't around in ancient times.
So we see that Jesus and the apostles did not outright condemn slavery. They didn’t need to. The effect of the gospel is that lives are changed, one by one, and those changed lives in turn bring transformation to entire families, clans, and cultures. Christianity was never designed to be a political movement, but, over time, it naturally affected political policy. In nations where Christianity spread and took firm hold, slavery was brought to an end through the efforts of born-again individuals.
But, as Pastor Tim likes to say, the Good News of the Gospel is that despite any financial position we are in, rich or poor by worldly means, we are all offered the most costly gift of all, salvation paid for by the death and resurrection of Jesus.
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