Does God Condone Slavery? - a podcast by Christopher Stephens

I had a friend email me about slavery and the Bible and so I wanted to share what we have spoken about so far. This has too been an issue for me in the past. This is not an exhaustive explanation of a complicated conversation but I believe that it is a start. Please note that what you see below is a combination of an email, a homework assignment, and some sources that I did not cite. So please be gentle with criticism in that regard. I believe this is a conversation that should be had about the slavery that existed in America and that of an ancient near eastern culture.

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I had issue with this same topic while taking a class on the book of Exodus.  I had a professor who was born and raised in Israel and I believed that he was insensitive to slavery by telling us that American slavery was not the same as the slavery in the Bible.  But after looking closely at the text and historical context I had to admit that there was a difference between the two.  Also the Bible mentions other sinful actions like incest, rape, murder, etc. but it does not mean that God condones it.  I look at it like this as well.  Rappers rap about the reality of their environment, most times. They are reporting the reality of what they see.  Most of them however do not condone.  Most of them will not pick up a gun and kill someone, call their mothers derogatory names.  I believe that the biblical writers in both the OT and NT are both reporting what they see while God is meeting the people where they are.  He was willing to work within their culture to meet them, as they were spiritually children, in order to help them towards maturity.

 

I would say that American slavery was on the cusp of being genocide more than anything.  It is a marvel that they survived!  American slavery was based on race.  American slavery was violent, masters were allowed to rape their slaves, and the slaves had no rights as they were seen as property and not people.  Looking at the Bible and the ancient near eastern culture that was not the case.  Most people were not born slaves.  And it was not based on race.  Slavery was a common part of their culture.  Also most people would enter into slavery in order to pay a debt or make money.  From beginning to the end God has affirmed that man is made in his image (Gen 1:26-28) and through Paul God affirms that in Christ there is “neither slave nor free” (Gal 3:28).  But in the OT and NT you have slaves being mentioned.  First one must understand that a slave mentioned in this ancient near eastern context should be understood as being an indentured servant or bond servant.  Indenture means a legal agreement, contract, or document.  A bondservant was one who worked without wages.  There were these two types of servants.  But they were never for life, although they could choose that if they wanted. 

 

In order to understand how God sees these two type of slaves forced into this lifestyle to survive or for their wellbeing we look to the scripture.  We see in Exodus and Leviticus 25:39-40 they are described as hired servants.  Slavery was a well-known practice and rather than abolishing it, which would have been impossible, God taught them how to be godly within it.  There were laws that God put into place that his people had to pay their debts as well so this slavery system helped with that as well.  But the laws given within the Pentateuch (first five books of the Bible) are there to make having slaves an uneasy process.  Here are some scriptures below to show how God protected slaves.  I had a homework assignment that I did when studying it that showed some of these. 

Exod. 21:2- After six years, servants were allowed to go free

Exod. 21:6- Slave given opportunity to join himself to the master’s household

Exod. 21:7-11- Daughter sold into slavery by family; this is a type of concubine marriage relationship, in which the family is unable to support the daughter and she is unable to find another husband and may have been a necessary measure for the survival of the family and daughter’s welfare; the law protects the rights of the daughter against abuse.

Exod. 21:26-27- I must admit that this one seems cruel because your means of income are limited without an eye.  But this protects the slave from harsh masters and makes sure that the masters treat slaves right.  If slaves are not treated right they are allowed to be both free and debt free. 

Exod. 22:25-27- I love this one the most and wish it were still a practice.  This offers a way of protection for the person who has taken a loan that they never be taken advantage of and it seems to make sure that loans do not last forever.  I believe this also protects the heart of the lender in that they understand that money is not everything and relationship is more important. 

Exod. 23:10-12- This allows for slaves to be able to rest giving them a physical refuel. 

Lev. 25:35-37- This protects family from family who better off.  No one in this society should ever lose it all. 

Lev. 25:39-40- This allows for those who are related and not doing well to be taken care of by family in a role that is beneath the family member but not demeaning. 

Deut. 15:7-11- This seems to take care of those who are in need. And prepares the heart of those who have, to not focus on the return but the need. 

Deut. 15:12-18- This made sure that slavery was not a permanent way of life. 

Deut. 23:15-16- I promise I never noticed this or either skimmed over it my entire life!  How was this not used for the Underground Railroad?  This seems to have protected slaves who were being treated badly enough to want to run away.  Since the slavery of the Bible seems to be different than what I am familiar with in the history of America, it must have been bad for one to want to escape.  God gives an avenue for escape and protection.  

 

  Remember, slavery was a part of their ancient near eastern culture and not God’s way.  God found a way to protect people and free them without destroying their economy and means of living.  Deut. 23:15-17 was one that I had not really taken notice of and one that really shows how different slavery was among God’s people.  If a servant was being mistreated and decided to run away, God made cities of refuge where they would actually now be free! These things motivated masters to treat servants well, not rely on slaves for their living, and continue to see them as people. 

 

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Now unfortunately what happened was that these same passages of scripture were also dissected and used to control a kidnapped people in America.  There is not much we can do to change that.  But just because the Bible was used to control and deceive does not make it nor Christianity useless or unjust.  Bleach is one of the greatest cleaning agents in the world!  It can even be used in small portions for drinking water.  But if you pour a bottle down a human beings throat it will certainly kill them.  I am sure that it has been done before.  But do you see people outlawing and stopping the use of bleach just because it can be used in a harmful manner?  Most certainly not!  God never taught his people to uphold oppressive systems. There are many issues that are presented in the Bible that do not fit our current culture like women’s rights, violent punishment, polygamy, etc.  But that is where the science of exegesis comes into play.  We must treat God’s word as it is, the word of God.  We take the word, examine the author, context, history, literary genre, and bring out the meaning that God has intended.  We then apply it to our time and culture today.  I am going to stop here because I feel like I am rambling and want to make sure that you understand or leave room for questions. 

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