Remember this day in which you went out from Egypt, from the house of slavery; for by a powerful hand the LORD brought you out from this place. And nothing leavened shall be eaten. (NASB) Ex. 13:3   To this day, the Jews celebrate their freedom from Egypt by a feast called the Passover. The familiar demand "Let my people go!" (Ex. 5:1) rings throughout the opening pages of Exodus and down through history. The slaves were freed from a hard hearted Pharaoh and their harsh taskmasters.      Does God Approve of Slavery? Consequently, it is not surprising that the Bible, and especially the Old Testament, speaks to the issue of slavery. Slavery was common in the ancient past. It is well known that slavery existed in the ancient nations of Sumer, Babylon, Egypt, India, Hittites, Greece, Rome, and Attica. History records that hundreds of thousands of men and women were slaves. They were treated differently in different countries. Some countries treated their slaves brutally, and others did not. Slaves were owned and their lives were usually of little value. They were treated as things to be stolen and as property to be purchased, traded, sold, killed, and abused. The Israelites' slavery experience in Egypt was not necessarily the worst.      When we talk about slavery, we must define what we mean by slavery. If slavery is simply defined as the absence of freedom to do what one wants, then we are all slaves. Every one of us is a slave to sin. When we become Christians, we are then slaves to righteousness. We are never spiritually free. We are always slaves - either to sin or to righteousness.     But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. (NASB) Romans 6:17-18   Yet, many in this world like the slavery of sin - pornography, lust, greed for wealth, fame, and gluttony are a few examples. Few people complain about this spiritual slavery. Slavery must be defined. We are all slaves to our governments. We are not free to do as we want. We are not free to do what we want in our culture. When we work for someone, an employer for example, we accept certain limitations in order to earn money. For example, the ancient Babylonian Code of Hammurabi was very gracious to "slaves."      Many have quoted the Bible to "show" that God approves of slavery. This was common during the Civil War era in the 1800's in the United States of America. It was a sad use of scripture. It resulted from either a careless reading of scripture or a desire to twist scripture to support one view. Others have read the Bible and condemned God because they find passages that seem to imply slavery is okay. They are disappointed that they did not find scripture that says slavery is wrong.      We must remember the Bible is a book of principles rather than a long list of laws and rules. Scripture does not specifically forbid many things that are sin. For example, the Roman Empire was an evil empire. It abused the people it conquered and yet God never called for its destruction or that of any other "evil government." God gives us spiritual principles to govern a believer's response to life's circumstances. He does not major in promoting social reform. Once God changes a man's heart, social reforms follow as a result of a Spirit-changed heart. In the New Testament God never called for the destruction of pagan temples or the end of temple prostitution. Yet, God calls sexual immorality sin. He also calls us to love one another.      Old Testament Laws. When we come to the Old Testament laws about slavery, we discover that God prohibited taking a man or a woman by force for any reason.     And he who kidnaps a man, whether he sells him or he is found in his possession, shall surely be put to death. (NASB) Exodus 21:16         < Back   Next >
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