SLAVERY ACCORDING TO GOD

SLAVERY ACCORDING TO GOD

Exod. 21:5-6 “And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free: Then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl; and he shall serve him forever.”

Among the first of the "judgments" following the proclamation of the Ten Words of the Law, were those which regulated slavery. A careful consideration of them will show that they abolished slavery, and substituted for it, covenanted labor. A man might buy a servant, but only for a period of six years' service. (Christ buys servants for a lifetime-then sets them free and calls them friends and shares all with them-John 15:15). In the seventh year he must go out free. No man was allowed to hold men or women as his property in perpetuity. Here, however, was an exception. There were certain circumstances under which one man could become the servant of another for the whole period of his life. That, however, could not be by the compulsion of the master, but by the deliberate choice of the servant. It has been said that no man ought to yield himself thus to the service of another, that such a choice could only issue in the degradation of life. There is an element of truth in the contention. Some men won’t face life. They prefer the ease of service in which there is no necessity for responsibility, to the strenuous activities which freedom always demands. Such choosing of bondage is always dishonorable. It should, however, be carefully noted that this is not the choice here indicated. It is rather that of a yielding to the claims of love. The servant has gained wife and children from his master. His master has earned his love. Rather than go out into personal freedom, he chooses to abide with his loved ones, and to serve a master whom he loves. There is nothing dishonorable in such action. Then service becomes noble. There is no higher exercise of freedom than that of choosing to serve in love. That is the bond servants attitude towards Christ. America chose to not follow His lead and Words. America Americanized slavery mostly through lust and greed.