The accusation is that the Bible, particularly the Old Testament, condones slavery by giving regulations for how Israel was to care for their slaves.
Is that true? I would say “yes and no.”
Exodus 21:16 “Whoever kidnaps a person must be put to death, whether he sells him or the person is found in his possession.”
So, the kind of slavery that we think of where any people are taken by force and enslaved is condemned in the Old Testament.
Leviticus 25:39 If your brother among you becomes destitute and sells himself to you, you must not force him to do slave labor. 40 Let him stay with you as a hired worker or temporary resident; he may work for you until the Year of Jubilee. 41 Then he and his children are to be released from you, and he may return to his clan and his ancestral property. 42 They are not to be sold as slaves, because they are my servants that I brought out of the land of Egypt. 43 You are not to rule over them harshly but fear your God.
God is providing a way for people in Israel to care for their families. If someone is destitute and his family is going hungry, he can become attached to a family as a servant. This is not “slavery” as we think of it. It is indentured service. It is helping people who need help in a way that allows them to earn their own way out of debt over a short period of time (7 years).
Leviticus 25:44 Your male and female slaves are to be from the nations around you; you may purchase male and female slaves. 45 You may also purchase them from the aliens residing with you, or from their families living among you—those born in your land. These may become your property. 46 You may leave them to your sons after you to inherit as property; you can make them slaves for life. But concerning your brothers, the Israelites, you must not rule over one another harshly.
So, there is a provision for Gentiles (those not part of the Nation of Israel) to be purchased and sold as slaves who are property.
The other provision for slavery is during a time of war.
Deuteronomy 20:10 “When you approach a city to fight against it, make an offer of peace. 11 If it accepts your offer of peace and opens its gates to you, all the people found in it will become forced laborers for you and serve you. 12 However, if it does not make peace with you but wages war against you, lay siege to it. 13 When the Lord your God hands it over to you, strike down all its males with the sword. 14 But you may take the women, dependents, animals, and whatever else is in the city—all its spoil—as plunder. You may enjoy the spoil of your enemies that the Lord your God has given you.
How are we to understand these passages?
These are provisions to improve and protect the lives of people. Yes, they would be slaves, but they would be alive. In the case of those who were sold, they would be sold from surrounding nations into the nation of Israel where they would be treated humanely. This strikes us as wrong in that being a slave in and of itself is an affront to our humanity, but we must keep in mind this would be an improvement to the quality of life of this individual from living as a slave in the nations surrounding Israel.
The great Economist and public thinker Thomas Sowell famously says that there are no solutions, only trade offs. Any thing you do to try to help in one area has consequences, sometimes these consequences are unintended, but you have to look at the big picture to see if an action is positive or negative. He has posited three questions to ask when you’re evaluating a political policy to determine if it has a positive or negative effect:
- Compared to what?
- At what cost?
- What is the evidence?
The answer to the first question in regard to Gentile slavery in Israel would be continuing to be a slave in the nations around Israel or dying in battle. Being a slave in Israel, where they were commanded to treat their slaves well, is a far better alternative than living in the harsh environment of slavery in the surrounding nations where there was no such requirement to treat people well. In war, this was a way for people to survive a battle. Slavery in Israel is preferable to death. We may find any form of slavery distasteful, but when the alternative is worse, we can see how Israel’s regulated form of slavery is better.
The second question relates to what it costs Israel to treat their slaves this way. They are not able to abuse their slaves and simply kill their enemies. It costs Israel to feed, clothe, house and care for these people. It would be easier to cast them aside and do nothing for them. Israel is called to sacrifice for the benefit of others.
The third question simply affirms what we’ve found. The Canaanites practiced gross sexual immorality, which included all forms of incest (Lev 18:1-20; 20:10-12, 14, 17, 19-21), homosexuality (Lev 18:22; 20:13), and sex with animals (Lev 18:23; 20:15-16). They also engaged in the occult (Lev 20:6), were hostile toward parents (Lev 20:9), and offered their children as sacrifices to Molech (Lev 18:21; 20:1-5; cf. Deut 12:31; 18:10). God told His people, “you shall not follow the customs of the nation which I will drive out before you, for they did all these things, and therefore I have abhorred them” (Lev 20:23). Living in Israel as a slave who was treated fairly was better than living in the nations around Israel as a free person, especially for women and children.
God’s goal does not seem to be instantaneously fix all the broken bits of the world. Perhaps we wouldn’t appreciate a “utopia” if it were granted all at once and would too easily fall back into evil practices. What we can clearly see is, as God’s law is practiced, it makes the world a better place. This is incremental improvement in the political sphere rather than a cataclysmic and drastic change all at once. We trust God that this is the best way because we can see that it is better.
In the Lord’s Prayer (better: “The Model Prayer”) we are to pray “your kingdom coming, your will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven.” That “coming” is an active verb, it is in progress. One day, Jesus will return, but until then, we follow God’s commands to point people to Jesus and make the world a little better. Every expression of God’s eternal law is revealed in practical application to a particular people at a specific time in unique circumstances. We have to take this “case law” and after drawing out the principle, apply it to ourselves in our time and in our circumstances. Some laws are more straightforward like “you shall not murder” while others are a lot more specific such as Deut 22:8 ” If you build a new house, make a railing around your roof, so that you don’t bring bloodguilt on your house if someone falls from it.”
In the New Testament, Paul condemns slave traders along with those who practice sexual immorality or are dishonest (1Tim 1:10). He also writes a letter to a slave owner named Philemon. His slave, Onesimus, had left and made his way to Paul. The point of this letter is to write to Onesimus’ master on behalf of this slave. Onesimus was to take this letter, thus necessitating this slave to return to his master. This was the law and Onesimus was Philemon’s property. It is clear in this once chapter letter that Paul is dealing with the reality of the legal situation in Rome while pointing to a better way. Paul wanted to keep Onesimus with him, but sent him back to Philemon so he would have the opportunity to do the right thing, which is to free his slave. Paul does not simply declare slavery an evil that should be eradicated, and perhaps that hits our modern ears a bit harshly. Paul does, however, clearly demonstrate that it would be right for this slave to be set free. He even appeals to a practical concern. Philemon came to faith as a result of Paul’s ministry so he owes Paul his very soul, on that basis Paul says he should free Onesimus if only because of the debt Philemon owes Paul. He is willing to use practical persuasion to get the results, but it is evident Paul’s desire would be for this slave to be freed because it is what is simply right.
On this side of history from the abolitionist movement and even a civil war waged to end slavery once and for all, people living with the practical reality of slavery thousands of years ago seems very out of context for us… because it is. Try to see the progression, God intervening to make things better, generation after generation, slowly revealing that we’re headed somewhere that is perfect. One day heaven will come down and everything will be set right, but that’s not yet. There is still darkness and evil in the world. Why doesn’t God metaphorically snap His fingers and make it all right instantaneously? I can’t really answer that question because I’m not God. What I do believe is, He has and always will choose what is best. We don’t have His perspective. We don’t know all the “as opposed to what” alternatives, but He does. We trust Him, that is faith.
We can recognize bits and pieces of His plan and we can recognize His justice, but the nature of God’s progressive revelation of Himself means we don’t see it all at once, so we can’t know everything. We have to trust Him as we try to understand and follow His will.
