Biblical slavery explained

Biblical slavery explained

There are a lot of unbelievers and atheists alike, who revel in attacking the Bible on the issue of slavery. There is a vast difference between regulating something and approving something. New-world slavery is vastly different from biblical slavery.

The new world is all about race and was ignited by the process of kidnapping. Runaway slaves could be murdered or returned to their masters for extreme punishment. Beatings, rape, forced sex, torture, imprisonment, indoctrination into gangs, cults, and extremism are all the norm. New world slavery is (not) of the persons freewill who have no rites or possessions.

Did they experience this in the Old Testament?
The answer is a resounding no, this is not what went down in Israel.
The modern understanding of slavery should never be judged the same as in biblical times. The Hebrew word Ebed is taken from the verb עבד (abad), to work or serve, slave, servant, man-servant, subjects, worshippers of (God), servant, in a special sense as prophets, Levites, servant of Israel
servant as a form of address between equals. The explanation of the word (ebed) is not inherently contrary but relates to labour. The word identifies someone as dependent on someone else with whom they stand in some sort of affiliation. Being an (ebed) could be a position of distinction. Everyone is a servant or slave of someone else. The meaning of the word (ebed) is either servant or bondservant but can also be translated as (slave). It is not an inherently (negative) term and is related to work. The term shows the person is subservient to another. All subjects of Israel are servants of the king. The king himself is a servant of their God. So in the time of the Old Testament, no one is free, everyone is subservient to, an (ebed) of someone else. Biblical (ebed) was vastly different from the idea atheists have, or the barbaric slavery methods of Greece, Rome and North America:

Matthew 23:11
“But the greatest among you shall be your (servant).”

Are you a servant?

Have you embraced the Christian virtue of being an enabler for others?
It is intrinsic in saying Jesus is Lord that you are a slave who apprehends that obedience is the necessary response. The reality of Christ’s sovereignty has been obscured by hiding the word (slave). As a Christian Jesus is ruler over our life. Whatever He requires we submit to that. Christians are slaves, we are douloi, which is plural for (owned). Biblical slavery or (servants) had a contract for a period of time and was voluntary not forced.

The person was housed, fed, paid and clothed rather than having no rites, very little food, and beaten. Jacob is a fine example of a person with nothing coming into a seven-year contract as a servant. A father selling his daughter as a servant was never done without the approval of the father. She would be treated not as a sex slave, but as part of the family with a specific job to administer for seven years. The parents as overseers were very proud of their siblings’ name, status, virginity, and well-being and would never sanction modern slavery as we see today. The servant had a wage initiated by both parties out of poverty, not racial standards.

There was no rape involved with God’s legislation of servants or ebed. Rape was punishable by death, and you had the same laws for the servant as a free person. There was also no sex outside marriage which is what it should be today, this is classed as fornication. If the Master fell in love and married the servant girl, the Bible required the person to be granted the full rites of a wife. She would be blessed within the marriage covenant between God, the husband and the wife. Marriage was for life and divorce was only allowed if one spouse died, fornication or adultery:

Exodus 21:16
“He who (kidnaps) a man and sells him, or if he is found in his hand, shall surely be put to death.”

Kidnapping in Israel was against the law. It was not a fine or a prison sentence. This one law would make new world slavery virtually impossible today because it’s ripe with kidnapping. The book of Exodus states that if you were found with a kidnapped servant even if you were not aware you would be put to death. Harsh maybe, but a stark warning to vet your workforce properly:

Exodus 21:26-27
“When a man strikes the eye of his slave, (servant) 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 21 gives the bigger picture that any physical violence is not tolerated, and the contract is broken for any violation of the law. This was protection or upholding human rites for the service the servant would do for up to seven years:

Exodus 21:20-21
“And if a man (beats) his male or female servant with a rod, so that he dies under his hand, he shall surely be punished. Notwithstanding, if he remains alive a day or two, he shall not be punished; for he is his property.”

Exodus states if he beats his servant the Master will be punished by death as you would expect under the law. There was no nation at that time that had legislation like this. We must remember a few verses back if there was a beating or a loss of an eye or tooth they go free. If the abused servant remained alive the punishment of death would be rescinded to the master, as the servant was their property and would be set free after they recovered from their injuries. The work contract would be terminated:

Exodus 21:2-4
Hebrew Servants
“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.”

Hebrew servants obtained a seven-year contract. They can serve six years and the seventh be released from the stipulation. If a man comes to the end of his contract and has a covenantal wife or kids, they are also contracted servants of the same Master under the law to work the allotted time.

The servant has a couple of options either to wait, but out their contract, or make a lifetime pledge to the Master. We can see that Agape’s love was also evident if the servant and his family wanted to stay within the household. They consummated this sacrifice with a sign in the ear made by an awl.

The principal ideas to start with: Nails were driven through flesh?
Blood on doorframes?
Permanent piercing, with holes and scars forever?
Does it sound at all familiar?

These are all mirrors for the coming Christ. “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep”, and again, “I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.”

Priests were made sanctified to the Lord by their ears, thumbs and big toes being made hallowed with the blood from the sacrifice, and then leprosy, a picture of sin in the Bible, cleansed and atoned for by blood applied to the same places, followed by anointing oil applied on top.

As born-again Christians, we are servants, priests and ambassadors till Christ comes:

Deuteronomy 23:15-16
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.”

If the Master was violating the law and being ungodly to the servant then they could flee to bring protection into the picture. The servants are also permitted the Sabbath rest as well why was this?
Because the holy Sabbath was a day of rest, and communing with God. It was and is a moral law, part of the Ten Commandments to be observed throughout the generations:

Leviticus 25:39
“If any of your fellow Israelites become poor (poverty) and sell themselves to you, do not make them work as slaves.”

Leviticus 25 states that if a Jew or a Hebrew sells themselves to you after becoming poor through poverty and selling himself through choice he is not to be made a servant. They are offering themselves willingly until Jubilee. The Jubilee was a special time every fifty years when all debts were forgiven and they could go back to their homeland.

The difference with foreigners they do not have land promised to them by God. This is a separation of the Hebrew servant and the non-Hebrew servant. The non-Hebrew servant does not get automatically released from his contract but they still enjoy all the protections under the law. Any atheists reading this must note the logic that biblical slavery was different from the modern concepts the Bible is ridiculed with.

There was atrocious slavery at the time by the pagans, but this was a direct violation of God’s law and not part of the set apart apart-Israel the chosen nation:

Leviticus 19:33-34
“When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not (mistreat) them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.”

Leviticus 19:33-34 applies to the foreign servant too.

Deuteronomy 10:17-19
“For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and (loves) the (foreigner) residing among you, giving them food and clothing. And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt.”

The Old Testament had many ancient appeals for human rights which can be seen. God’s regulations served to protect and provide for people and still allowed poor people to attach themselves to a family. In the New Testament slavery did exist but it was not a Hebrew thing, it was Roman which did not have the regulations of God attached to it. God was not starting a nation he had already achieved that with Israel. Individual and personal laws were given on how mankind should behave and be holy. There is advice given, but Roman slavery was far more brutal without the divine wisdom of God:

1 Timothy 1:10
“The sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, slave-traders (kidnappers), liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine.”

There are lots of scriptures that advise Masters and servants:

Ephesians 6:9-10
“(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.”

Masters and servants are equal and should never rule with cruelty:

Ephesians 6:5-8
“(Slaves), obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. Obey them not only to win their favour when their eye is on you but also as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good they do, whether they are slave or free.”

We are to walk in submission, do our work and do it well. Humble yourself to be a bond-servant to the Lord and love one another as yourself:

1 Corinthians 7:21
“Were you called while a slave? Do not be concerned about it; but if you can be made free, rather use it.”

We are all free in Christ bought at a price. Joseph was sold into slavery but God used it for his glory as he was faithful. The Bible condemns the elements of slavery that made it so wrong today. Abuse, sex, child trafficking, rape, forced labour, and kidnapping are all condemned within the scriptures. God will judge each person for what he has done on the earth, by the moral standard engraved on their hearts, whether they have known Christ or not. God’s invisible attributes are all around us in creation so there is no excuse:

Acts 17:26
“From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands.”

God made us all from one blood. Even the idea of racism is strange, how many races are there?
We are humans that are made in the image of God, colour is irrelevant:

Galatians 3:28
“There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither (slave) nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

This is why Christians were at the forefront of the anti-slavery of the modern world, like William Wilberforce who was a British politician, philanthropist, and a leader of the movement to (abolish) the slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780, eventually becoming an independent Member of Parliament for Yorkshire. They were convicted by the scriptures and the moral presets of the Bible.

At any given time in 2019, an estimated 40.6 million people are in modern slavery, including 24.9 million in forced labour and 15.4 million in forced marriage.
It means there are 5.4 victims of modern slavery for every 1,000 people in the world.
1 in 5 victims of modern slavery are children.
Out of the 24.9 million people trapped in forced labour, 16 million people are exploited in the private sector such as domestic work, construction or agriculture; 4.9 million persons are in forced sexual exploitation, and 4 million persons in forced labour imposed by state authorities.
Women and girls are disproportionately affected by forced labour, accounting for 99% of victims in the commercial sex industry, and 58% in other sectors.

Share on Facebook

Tweet

Follow us