The bible has some hard topics, some which we wish we could just ignore. But we must always remember, 2 Timothy 3:16, All Scripture is God-breathed and is valuable for teaching the truth, convicting of sin, correcting faults and training in right living. Even the parts we don't understand, or even necessarily want to understand. So today, we will dig into one of those topics - Slavery in the Bible.
The first thing we need to do is recognize some groundwork to this topic. Elohim can not act outside of his nature, he is limited in only that. That Elohim is Love as per 1 John 4:8, Those who do not love, do not know God; because God is love. He remains the same, Hebrews 13:8, Yeshua the Messiah is the same yesterday, today and forever. That where there is Light there can not be Darkness, 1 John 1:5, And this is the message which we have heard from him and proclaim to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him — none! Matthew 5:48, Therefore, be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect. But what are such words to our western, English minds? They paint an incomplete picture until we also recognize Hebrews 12:29, For indeed, “Our God is a consuming fire!” or Psalm 89:15 (14 in some versions), Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; grace and truth attend you. Certainly there are many more verses which could be used but this paints the basic picture we are looking at of Yahweh. A Holy, Perfect Elohim who is loving, just, and casts out all darkness.
We also must remember something else vitally important as we go forward. 1 John 3:4 says, Everyone who keeps sinning is violating Torah — indeed, sin is violation of Torah. And what is the Torah but the very Law of God? If he defined what those are they meet his perfect standard, his Holiness. We see this in Romans 7:12, So the Torah is holy; that is, the commandment is holy, just and good. A Perfect Elohim can, by logic and his Word, not break his own law. That would make him imperfect, make him unholy, and thus make him not Adonai at all! Thus anything commanded within his law can not be immoral, Yahweh defines morality after all.
So with that we can see why it is so importantly to rightly understand what is going on with the topic of slavery. Because it can hold serious impacts on our doctrine and understanding of who Yahweh is, and if he is indeed the God worth worshiping! It's no surprise that this is a topic often jumped on by skeptics and atheists to condemn the bible and our Lord. Yet it is one that many Christians have failed to adequately stand up to, and instead sadly weakened our claim to understanding scripture. The instant reactions from Christians seems to be the cry of "Indentured Servitude!", and we do see some of that in scripture, but not all cases of slavery fall into this. So what is really going on? Additionally we have another aspect, well beyond the physical. Which really is our key to tying this all together.
So I want to hit with with a statement that you'll probably think I've lost my marbles over, but will elaborate on through this post. Biblical Slavery shows the Gospel! Some of you may even be wanting to stone Me right about now, heck I don't blame you considering the notions about slavery you probably have floating around your head. Vile Masters, poor conditions, cruelty and abuse, and you aren't wrong - at least not entirely. After the fall of man in Genesis 3 we are all born with sin nature, and there is nothing the Adversary loves more than to turn that sin nature against polluting the things of God. Yes, I just called slavery a thing of God - It's in his Law, in his commands, it is a thing of God. Now let's try to explain some of it, and see if we can't remove some of those preconceived notions.
So what Was a slave exactly according to the Bible? In the Hebrew the word used is Eved, which means both slave and servant. Eved is derived from the root verb la'avod, meaning, to work. So really, to the linguistic view a slave was no more than your run of the mill laborer, as many of us are to our jobs today. We are the eved, the workers, for those companies. The difference manifests not in the name, but in the method of payment and cause. Essentially that a slave was taken care of, all his expenses covered while not getting a 'wage' and the servant got a wage to cover those expenses. There are a few categorizations for slavery within scripture, Hebrew slaves, Alien slaves, paupers and debtors, criminals, prisoners of war, female slaves and children of slaves. I know many want to be up in arms over the last - I will get to it and address I PROMISE you.
Now lets get into the status of slaves in the concept of Biblical Law, the Torah. Slaves, no matter their origin, where members of the owners household. Being members of an Isrealite household they were expected to hold up to the standards in that household, even if gentile. Such as keeping the Shabbat, Exodus 20:10 tells us, but the seventh day is a Shabbat for Adonai your God. On it, you are not to do any kind of work — not you, your son or your daughter, not your male or female slave, not your livestock, and not the foreigner staying with you inside the gates to your property. What kind of slavery outside of the Torah gives you a day off every week? This was unheard of in other cultures even for the hired workers! Following the Holy Days, the Feasts of Yahweh. We see this in Deuteronomy 12:18, No, you are to eat these in the presence of Adonai your God in the place Adonai your God will choose — you and your sons, daughters, male and female slaves, and the Levi who is your guest; and you are to rejoice before Adonai your God in everything you undertake to do. They could even inherit the property of their owner if the master had no heir! Genesis 15:3 shows this, saying, You haven’t given me a child,” Avram continued, “so someone born in my house will be my heir. The one born to his house? A child of slaves. Even though a slave was property, that didn't mean they couldn't own property of their own. Instances of this in scripture are found through 1 Samuel 9 and 2 Samuel 9, 16, 19, and 30. And according to Exodus 21:20, If a person beats his male or female slave with a stick so severely that he dies, he is to be punished, Even an owner could be punished for murdering a slave.
Torah is full of commands to slave owners; from Leviticus 25:43, Do not treat him harshly, but fear your God, to Proverbs 30:10, Never disparage a slave to his master, or he will curse you, and you will deserve it. The Tanakh, Old Testament, made it clear that as Yah's people we where to treat slaves and servants equally, to care for them and show them love. There was even compensation should the owner cause harm to the slave, Exodus 21:26-27 shows, If a person hits his male or female slave’s eye and destroys it, he must let him go free in compensation for his eye. 27 If he knocks out his male or female slave’s tooth, he must let him go free in compensation for his tooth. If a slave had run away from a cruel master they could even run to someone for sanctuary, and were not to be returned; as it says in Deuteronomy 23:16 (15 in some versions), If a slave has escaped from his master and taken refuge with you, you are not to hand him back to his master. Scripture even reminds us to give a worker his wages, be that a hired man or a slave his necessities, in Deuteronomy 25:4, which is repeated and explained in 1 Timothy 5:18, For the Tanakh says, “You are not to muzzle an ox when it is treading out the grain,”[a] in other words, “The worker deserves his wages.” Care for slaves still in your care as a believer is even repeated in Ephesians 6:9, And masters, treat your slaves the same way. Don’t threaten them. Remember that in heaven both you and they have the same Master, and he has no favorites, and Colossians 4:1, Masters, treat your slaves justly and fairly. Remember that you too have a Master in heaven.
Now lets get into the status of slaves in the concept of Biblical Law, the Torah. Slaves, no matter their origin, where members of the owners household. Being members of an Isrealite household they were expected to hold up to the standards in that household, even if gentile. Such as keeping the Shabbat, Exodus 20:10 tells us, but the seventh day is a Shabbat for Adonai your God. On it, you are not to do any kind of work — not you, your son or your daughter, not your male or female slave, not your livestock, and not the foreigner staying with you inside the gates to your property. What kind of slavery outside of the Torah gives you a day off every week? This was unheard of in other cultures even for the hired workers! Following the Holy Days, the Feasts of Yahweh. We see this in Deuteronomy 12:18, No, you are to eat these in the presence of Adonai your God in the place Adonai your God will choose — you and your sons, daughters, male and female slaves, and the Levi who is your guest; and you are to rejoice before Adonai your God in everything you undertake to do. They could even inherit the property of their owner if the master had no heir! Genesis 15:3 shows this, saying, You haven’t given me a child,” Avram continued, “so someone born in my house will be my heir. The one born to his house? A child of slaves. Even though a slave was property, that didn't mean they couldn't own property of their own. Instances of this in scripture are found through 1 Samuel 9 and 2 Samuel 9, 16, 19, and 30. And according to Exodus 21:20, If a person beats his male or female slave with a stick so severely that he dies, he is to be punished, Even an owner could be punished for murdering a slave.
Torah is full of commands to slave owners; from Leviticus 25:43, Do not treat him harshly, but fear your God, to Proverbs 30:10, Never disparage a slave to his master, or he will curse you, and you will deserve it. The Tanakh, Old Testament, made it clear that as Yah's people we where to treat slaves and servants equally, to care for them and show them love. There was even compensation should the owner cause harm to the slave, Exodus 21:26-27 shows, If a person hits his male or female slave’s eye and destroys it, he must let him go free in compensation for his eye. 27 If he knocks out his male or female slave’s tooth, he must let him go free in compensation for his tooth. If a slave had run away from a cruel master they could even run to someone for sanctuary, and were not to be returned; as it says in Deuteronomy 23:16 (15 in some versions), If a slave has escaped from his master and taken refuge with you, you are not to hand him back to his master. Scripture even reminds us to give a worker his wages, be that a hired man or a slave his necessities, in Deuteronomy 25:4, which is repeated and explained in 1 Timothy 5:18, For the Tanakh says, “You are not to muzzle an ox when it is treading out the grain,”[a] in other words, “The worker deserves his wages.” Care for slaves still in your care as a believer is even repeated in Ephesians 6:9, And masters, treat your slaves the same way. Don’t threaten them. Remember that in heaven both you and they have the same Master, and he has no favorites, and Colossians 4:1, Masters, treat your slaves justly and fairly. Remember that you too have a Master in heaven.
Don't get me wrong, slavery wasn't all sunshine and lollipops in reality. As I stated, people have that nasty thing called sin nature, but it wasn't horrible in the biblical explanation of slavery either. It actually held some of the most human conditions for slaves in the known world, higher even than that of a free worker in the other nations. But with the hands of corrupt people it could also be a horrible thing, and that is what it eventually became and why humanity today has such a bad taste in their mouths about it.
People could sell themselves, or their daughters, to be slaves if they had a high debt to pay or couldn't afford to live. Now before you start fussing over men selling their daughters please, Think. How severe must a situation be for a man to give up his daughter? People back then didn't love their children any less than they do today. Can you imagine selling your child unless you simply can not provide for them? Thinking that slavery may be the only way to provide for them? To understand how important daughters where to a family as far back as the Tanakh just look to Genesis 34, where because of Dinah's rape her brothers conspired together and two of them went out and killed an entire city of men, taking all the possessions, the women and children as slaves, all to avenge their sister. What they did was wrong, we all know this, but just look at how important she was to them and ask if you think this was an option take lightly or often. It was the way to try and save the lives of people and pay what was owed. Luke 15:11-33 shows us the story of the Prodigal Son, a young man who felt clearly how the life of a slave who sold himself for slavery would be better even that being the hired freeman he was reduced to.
There is one key to this one, a foreigner who sold themselves of their daughter would have to be a slave until the debt was paid, which was rare as the costs of slavery were added and thus it was eternally growing. But a Hebrew who did so, if not paid off within seven years, was let Free. Leviticus 25:39-42 says, “‘If a member of your people has become poor among you and sells himself to you, do not make him do the work of a slave. 40 Rather, you are to treat him like an employee or a tenant; he will work for you until the year of yovel. 41 Then he will leave you, he and his children with him, and return to his own family and regain possession of his ancestral land. 42 For they are my slaves, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt; therefore they are not to be sold as slaves. Deuteronomy 15:12-14 goes even further, Deuteronomy 15:12-14, “If your kinsman, a Hebrew man or woman, is sold to you, he is to serve you for six years; but in the seventh year, you are to set him free. 13 Moreover, when you set him free, don’t let him leave empty-handed; 14 but supply him generously from your flock, threshing-floor and winepress; from what Adonai your God has blessed you with, you are to give to him.
People could sell themselves, or their daughters, to be slaves if they had a high debt to pay or couldn't afford to live. Now before you start fussing over men selling their daughters please, Think. How severe must a situation be for a man to give up his daughter? People back then didn't love their children any less than they do today. Can you imagine selling your child unless you simply can not provide for them? Thinking that slavery may be the only way to provide for them? To understand how important daughters where to a family as far back as the Tanakh just look to Genesis 34, where because of Dinah's rape her brothers conspired together and two of them went out and killed an entire city of men, taking all the possessions, the women and children as slaves, all to avenge their sister. What they did was wrong, we all know this, but just look at how important she was to them and ask if you think this was an option take lightly or often. It was the way to try and save the lives of people and pay what was owed. Luke 15:11-33 shows us the story of the Prodigal Son, a young man who felt clearly how the life of a slave who sold himself for slavery would be better even that being the hired freeman he was reduced to.
There is one key to this one, a foreigner who sold themselves of their daughter would have to be a slave until the debt was paid, which was rare as the costs of slavery were added and thus it was eternally growing. But a Hebrew who did so, if not paid off within seven years, was let Free. Leviticus 25:39-42 says, “‘If a member of your people has become poor among you and sells himself to you, do not make him do the work of a slave. 40 Rather, you are to treat him like an employee or a tenant; he will work for you until the year of yovel. 41 Then he will leave you, he and his children with him, and return to his own family and regain possession of his ancestral land. 42 For they are my slaves, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt; therefore they are not to be sold as slaves. Deuteronomy 15:12-14 goes even further, Deuteronomy 15:12-14, “If your kinsman, a Hebrew man or woman, is sold to you, he is to serve you for six years; but in the seventh year, you are to set him free. 13 Moreover, when you set him free, don’t let him leave empty-handed; 14 but supply him generously from your flock, threshing-floor and winepress; from what Adonai your God has blessed you with, you are to give to him.
And what of criminals and prisoners of war? You have a case here of justice. Enslaving a people who have done wrong. This is not much different that our own incarceration system in the west, except that they are now working. Even in America we have some of the privatized prisons making the prisoners labor. Yet these slaves, when trusted, could even hold to better conditions that our own prisoners today! They could also be punished for running away or other crimes. This does include the female slave when it comes to prisoners of war, but even among such there where basic rights. Such women could become married to the Isrealite men, making them equal to any other wife! They where not raped at will, and if so it was a violation of the Torah. So our modern views on female slavery have little to do with the reality within the context of scriptural mandate. When it came to some criminals their slavery could rely on the crime itself, such as we see in Exodus 22:2 (3 in some versions) which says, A thief must make restitution; so if he has nothing, he himself is to be sold to make good the loss from the theft.
One way you could Not become a slave was kidnapping. In fact to kidnap someone was to a penalty of death. Exodus 21:16 says, Whoever kidnaps someone must be put to death, regardless of whether he has already sold him or the person is found still in his possession. Deuteronomy 24:7 repeats this, “If a man kidnaps any of his brothers, fellow members of the community of Isra’el, and makes him his slave or sells him, that kidnapper must die; in this way you will put an end to such wickedness among you. 1 Timothy 1:9-10 goes so far as to show that the selling of people is against the Torah saying, We are aware that Torah is not for a person who is righteous, but for those who are heedless of Torah and rebellious, ungodly and sinful, wicked and worldly, for people who kill their fathers and mothers, for murderers, 10 the sexually immoral — both heterosexual and homosexual — slave dealers, liars, perjurers, and anyone who acts contrary to the sound teaching. This can look like a contradiction. As we will soon see the law did allow buying of slaves, so what is this about it being against the Torah to sell them? We must look to what was going on, these slaves for sale by foreigners where being ill-treated! It is the methods of those slave dealers that where the issue, not the job itself necessarily. While the biblical application of slavery was acceptable.
So before I leave you to long to mull over "But the Children!" let us look at that. By law these children would have been slaves, property, yes. That is indeed horrible to think about, in our western understanding of slavery. The truth is these weren't children running around doing all the work and being abused. The young children were treated of as just that, children. Often they where even so favored in their owners households that they could be heir to the household! It wasn't often until the child reached what we know as youth that they began to work in the household they were owned by.
So now lets look to the two passages people seem to get the most hung up on when discussing this topic. Starting with Exodus 21:2-6, “If you purchase a Hebrew slave, he is to work six years; but in the seventh, he is to be given his freedom without having to pay anything. 3 If he came single, he is to leave single; if he was married when he came, his wife is to go with him when he leaves. 4 But if his master gave him a wife, and she bore him sons or daughters, then the wife and her children will belong to her master, and he will leave by himself. 5 Nevertheless, if the slave declares, ‘I love my master, my wife and my children, so I don’t want to go free,’ 6 then his master is to bring him before God; and there at the door or doorpost, his master is to pierce his ear with an awl; and the man will be his slave for life. Many will scream about how the law is dividing the family. Making the man have no choice in this and then have to be 'mutilated' to give his life forever! Frankly, that just isn't true. Here we have a man who has been able to gain property over the six years of slavery, the option would have been available for him to redeem his wife and children and walk free. If he couldn't afford to do so often a deal could be struck with the owner to work a limited time for their freedom. Instead what we see in this case is a man who states, 'I love my Master!' He clearly has been well treated and knows that in staying with a good master his family is well provided for, probably even better than if they where all free. So in order that this does not cause an issue in the future, to mark him as committed for life to the master and not to be freed, he would agree to an ear piercing. Continuing on Verses 7-11, 7 “If a man sells his daughter as a slave, she is not to go free like the men-slaves. 8 If her master married her but decides she no longer pleases him, then he is to allow her to be redeemed. He is not allowed to sell her to a foreign people, because he has treated her unfairly. 9 If he has her marry his son, then he is to treat her like a daughter. 10 If he marries another wife, he is not to reduce her food, clothing or marital rights. 11 If he fails to provide her with these three things, she is to be given her freedom without having to pay anything. As you can see here a woman who is then married to her master is given no worse status than any other wife the man may take or any wife within Israel. If she is mis-treated she in fact had an additional 'step-up' in that he was to let her go Free, to receive a divorce, as their marriage was not founded on the same premise as a standard one.
Leviticus 25:44-46 is the next 'heavy hitter' when it comes to verses people want to poke at. It says, 44 “‘Concerning the men and women you may have as slaves: you are to buy men- and women-slaves from the nations surrounding you. 45 You may also buy the children of foreigners living with you and members of their families born in your land; you may own these. 46 You may also bequeath them to your children to own; from these groups you may take your slaves forever. But as far as your brothers the people of Isra’el are concerned, you are not to treat each other harshly. Now here we have the first key to our entire puzzle with slavery. That foreigners and hebrews are not given the same treatment by law, only one received grace. Many will scream that this is a case of God being racist but they couldn't be further from the truth. Bias, however, absolutely!
First let's look to how this is not at all a matter of race. Genesis 1:27 says So God created humankind in his own image; in the image of God he created him: male and female he created them. All of humanity stems from these two people, Adam and Havah. All of humanity, every race, every nationality. Every single person on this planet is created in the image of our Elohim by him, for his purposes. Because we are all in the image of him our nationalities or races are irrelevant to how he would form a bias, because each reflects him. Galatians 3:28 shows that it can not be a matter of racism either, saying, there is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor freeman, neither male nor female; for in union with the Messiah Yeshua, you are all one. We are all one, echad, in our Messiah! So by what grounds is Elohim bias? By what grounds does he offer this grace to the Isrealites but not the foreigners?
Romans 11 makes it very clear that we are Isrealites, Hebrews, if we have crossed over to following Elohim. That we are grafted in and adopted as sons and daughters of Avraham. Believers, no matter their race or nationality, are all united as children of God, his chosen people, Israel. Psalm 11:5 says, Adonai tests the righteous; but he hates the wicked and the lover of violence. We already know that God is love, but that he is also just. The opposite of love is not hate, contrary to popular opinion, but indifference. That he hates the wicked shows that he still holds passion over them. So we can now see that Yahweh is passionate about all those who are made in his image! But we can also see the line between those who follow wicked ways and those who follow him, his ultimate dividing line for bias, the same bias we see applied in Leviticus 25.
So before I leave you to long to mull over "But the Children!" let us look at that. By law these children would have been slaves, property, yes. That is indeed horrible to think about, in our western understanding of slavery. The truth is these weren't children running around doing all the work and being abused. The young children were treated of as just that, children. Often they where even so favored in their owners households that they could be heir to the household! It wasn't often until the child reached what we know as youth that they began to work in the household they were owned by.
So now lets look to the two passages people seem to get the most hung up on when discussing this topic. Starting with Exodus 21:2-6, “If you purchase a Hebrew slave, he is to work six years; but in the seventh, he is to be given his freedom without having to pay anything. 3 If he came single, he is to leave single; if he was married when he came, his wife is to go with him when he leaves. 4 But if his master gave him a wife, and she bore him sons or daughters, then the wife and her children will belong to her master, and he will leave by himself. 5 Nevertheless, if the slave declares, ‘I love my master, my wife and my children, so I don’t want to go free,’ 6 then his master is to bring him before God; and there at the door or doorpost, his master is to pierce his ear with an awl; and the man will be his slave for life. Many will scream about how the law is dividing the family. Making the man have no choice in this and then have to be 'mutilated' to give his life forever! Frankly, that just isn't true. Here we have a man who has been able to gain property over the six years of slavery, the option would have been available for him to redeem his wife and children and walk free. If he couldn't afford to do so often a deal could be struck with the owner to work a limited time for their freedom. Instead what we see in this case is a man who states, 'I love my Master!' He clearly has been well treated and knows that in staying with a good master his family is well provided for, probably even better than if they where all free. So in order that this does not cause an issue in the future, to mark him as committed for life to the master and not to be freed, he would agree to an ear piercing. Continuing on Verses 7-11, 7 “If a man sells his daughter as a slave, she is not to go free like the men-slaves. 8 If her master married her but decides she no longer pleases him, then he is to allow her to be redeemed. He is not allowed to sell her to a foreign people, because he has treated her unfairly. 9 If he has her marry his son, then he is to treat her like a daughter. 10 If he marries another wife, he is not to reduce her food, clothing or marital rights. 11 If he fails to provide her with these three things, she is to be given her freedom without having to pay anything. As you can see here a woman who is then married to her master is given no worse status than any other wife the man may take or any wife within Israel. If she is mis-treated she in fact had an additional 'step-up' in that he was to let her go Free, to receive a divorce, as their marriage was not founded on the same premise as a standard one.
Leviticus 25:44-46 is the next 'heavy hitter' when it comes to verses people want to poke at. It says, 44 “‘Concerning the men and women you may have as slaves: you are to buy men- and women-slaves from the nations surrounding you. 45 You may also buy the children of foreigners living with you and members of their families born in your land; you may own these. 46 You may also bequeath them to your children to own; from these groups you may take your slaves forever. But as far as your brothers the people of Isra’el are concerned, you are not to treat each other harshly. Now here we have the first key to our entire puzzle with slavery. That foreigners and hebrews are not given the same treatment by law, only one received grace. Many will scream that this is a case of God being racist but they couldn't be further from the truth. Bias, however, absolutely!
First let's look to how this is not at all a matter of race. Genesis 1:27 says So God created humankind in his own image; in the image of God he created him: male and female he created them. All of humanity stems from these two people, Adam and Havah. All of humanity, every race, every nationality. Every single person on this planet is created in the image of our Elohim by him, for his purposes. Because we are all in the image of him our nationalities or races are irrelevant to how he would form a bias, because each reflects him. Galatians 3:28 shows that it can not be a matter of racism either, saying, there is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor freeman, neither male nor female; for in union with the Messiah Yeshua, you are all one. We are all one, echad, in our Messiah! So by what grounds is Elohim bias? By what grounds does he offer this grace to the Isrealites but not the foreigners?
Romans 11 makes it very clear that we are Isrealites, Hebrews, if we have crossed over to following Elohim. That we are grafted in and adopted as sons and daughters of Avraham. Believers, no matter their race or nationality, are all united as children of God, his chosen people, Israel. Psalm 11:5 says, Adonai tests the righteous; but he hates the wicked and the lover of violence. We already know that God is love, but that he is also just. The opposite of love is not hate, contrary to popular opinion, but indifference. That he hates the wicked shows that he still holds passion over them. So we can now see that Yahweh is passionate about all those who are made in his image! But we can also see the line between those who follow wicked ways and those who follow him, his ultimate dividing line for bias, the same bias we see applied in Leviticus 25.
Yahweh has a purpose to every part of his plan of salvation for us. Even the parts that appear ugly at first glance. Not all of his plan gives him pleasure, we can see this in Ezekiel 18:23, Do I take any pleasure at all in having the wicked person die?” asks Adonai Elohim. “Wouldn’t I prefer that he turn from his ways and live? and Ezekiel 33:11, Say to them, ‘As I live,’ swears Adonai Elohim, ‘I take no pleasure in having the wicked person die, but in having the wicked person turn from his way and live. So repent! Turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, house of Isra’el?’ So even slavery has a purpose in justice and love. Love in that those who could not pay their debt or where so poor they could not survive had the option to sell themselves, pay the debt, and life securely working for a master. Justice in that a criminal could serve for what was stole, or prisoner of war would serve Israel rather than being able to conspire against Israel yet again. Even the parts which did get polluted and abused, while condemned by God's own Law, are used to his ultimate glory to teach us something.
What it teaches us can be viewed in understanding that slavery is not only a physical concept, but a spiritual one. All through scripture we see Elohim using symbolism to teach us about Him and about his kingdom. Be it as small as a tzitzit, or as large as the marriage covenant. Here we have no different and we see this fully elaborated on in scripture. John 8:34 tells us, Yeshua answered them, “Yes, indeed! I tell you that everyone who practices sin is a slave of sin. Many times in scripture we are told this, that we are slaves to sin, our sin nature. That we need to proverbially come out of Egypt, where our slavery is from. How Yahweh led us out of Egypt, how Yeshua is now our way out of the slavery of sin. We are Redeemed! We no longer need to be slaves to sin! Romans 6:20-22 says, For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in relationship to righteousness; 21 but what benefit did you derive from the things of which you are now ashamed? The end result of those things was death. 22 However, now, freed from sin and enslaved to God, you do get the benefit — it consists in being made holy, set apart for God, and its end result is eternal life. We are slaves to one of two things, to sin, or to Elohim. Yeshua has redeemed us so that we may be free from sin! His love for us is so great that even while he hates the wicked, who we where, he died for us to redeem us to become his. Romans 5:8 tells us as much when it says, But God demonstrates his own love for us in that the Messiah died on our behalf while we were still sinners.
So we can see then, that slavery does in fact serve a purpose to teach us. That is helps us to see the gospel in the Torah. It also held such limits in scripture to make it completely separated from the western mind of slavery, marking even the slaves of Israel as better cared for and in better working conditions than even the free workmen of other nations. God's Law proves yet again to be righteous, just and loving.
So, Eved, workers for a boss or slaves, obey your human masters with the same fear, trembling and single-heartedness with which you obey the Messiah. 6 Don’t obey just to win their favor, serving only when they are watching you; but serve as slaves of the Messiah, doing what God wants with all your heart. As it says in Ephesians 6:5-6. Heed 1 Peter 2:16, Submit as people who are free, but not letting your freedom serve as an excuse for evil; rather, submit as God’s slaves. And know, that slavery in scripture is entirely about modeling God's Grace for his chosen and his Justice to the Lost.
In slavery to Yahweh we have the ultimate of Freedoms, Freedom from sin. John 8:38 confirms this for us, So if the Son frees you, you will really be free! I leave you with Romans 8:1-8, Therefore, there is no longer any condemnation awaiting those who are in union with the Messiah Yeshua. 2 Why? Because the Torah of the Spirit, which produces this life in union with Messiah Yeshua, has set me free from the “Torah” of sin and death. 3 For what the Torah could not do by itself, because it lacked the power to make the old nature cooperate, God did by sending his own Son as a human being with a nature like our own sinful one [but without sin]. God did this in order to deal with sin, and in so doing he executed the punishment against sin in human nature, 4 so that the just requirement of the Torah might be fulfilled in us who do not run our lives according to what our old nature wants but according to what the Spirit wants. 5 For those who identify with their old nature set their minds on the things of the old nature, but those who identify with the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6 Having one’s mind controlled by the old nature is death, but having one’s mind controlled by the Spirit is life and shalom. 7 For the mind controlled by the old nature is hostile to God, because it does not submit itself to God’s Torah — indeed, it cannot. 8 Thus, those who identify with their old nature cannot please God.
