slavery
from a biblical perspective
Many readers probably remember the old Bob Dylan song where it was stated, "You've gotta serve somebody, either the devil or the Lord". We might nod in agreement, and yet serfdom or slavey itself is commonly rejected as evil and detestable. To be a slave in any way or fashion is for some a hard concept to get their mind around. But maybe from the Biblical perspective, slavery isn't always so bad.
The apostle Paul's insight is most enlightening.
- ROMANS 6:16 Do you not know that when you offer [paristemi] yourselves to someone as slaves, to obey him, then you are slaves of him whom you obey? This is true, whether the master be sin (slavery to him ends in death), or obedience (slavery to him ends in righteousness). [Barrett's Translation]
Paul wrote here that each one of his readers had been given a choice of either offering themselves as slaves to sin, or else offering and presenting themselves to be obedient slaves to GOD. As such, the option with which they were faced wasn't between being enslaved or being set free, but rather it had more to do with what kind of master they were enslaved to. Was slavery for them going to end in nothing more than death and decay, or was it going to produce righteousness and end in eternal life?
Paul continued.
- ROMANS 6:17-18 Thanks be to God! You were indeed slaves of sin, but from the heart you gave your obedience to that Christian doctrine to which as slaves you were handed over. You were liberated from sin, and you were made slaves to righteousness. [Barrett's Translation]
Many of them had evidently made this choice to become slaves to GOD. They had decided, as slaves, to devote and whole-heartedly commit themselves to the Christian teaching which they had received, thus being set free from the bondage of sin. It wasn't that having previously been slaves, that when they became Christians they were then set free to live as they pleased. Rather, they were to exchange slavery to sin for slavery to GOD.
- ROMANS 6:20-23 KJV For when ye were the servants [slaves] of sin, ye were free from righteousness. What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death. But now being made free from sin, and become servants [slaves] to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Being enslaved to sin they produced no spiritual fruit; but when they were converted to Christianity they became ashamed of those things which they had previously done (6:19). Thus, being freed from those unholy and ungodly ways, throwing off the bonds of that barren and ruinous lifestyle, they became slaves to GOD. Now, they were going to be able to produce that fruit of the spirit (GALATIANS 5:22-23) which would ushere in holiness and eventually everlasting life.
Apparently then, there can be merits to slavery. It must sometimes be good to be a slave, that is if you have the right master. And yet it seems as if most everyone strives to be free so as to do as they please, but hardly anyone has any desire whatsoever of being enslaved. Howbeit, in Paul's illustration, slavery was a universal and unavoidable reality; the only real choice that might be involved, was to whom were they going to be enslaved.
In reality there are actually several different kinds of slavery, each with its distinctive characteristics. There was a bondage type slavery where the person was taken captive, often held in chains and forced to endure hard labor. Then there was a debt slave where the unfortunate individual became so indebted to his creditors that there seemed no way out except to sell himself, or his children, into slavery until his debt was satisfied. Finally there was a temple slave, where one would offer himself to some temple priest, where he would serve as a slave for some indefinite period.
Of course Paul was speaking figuratively here in ROMANS. The slavery to which he referred was one which his readers had evidently offered themselves into. They had originally presented themselves as servants and slaves to a sinful lifestyle, but having awakened to the reality of the resurrection (1:4), a life after death, having become ashamed of living an existence which was going to end in nothing other than death and decay, they changed masters and became servants and slaves to the pursuit of righteousness (TITUS 3:3-8).
This gospel was the power of GOD unto salvation (1:16). Who commit such things are worthy of death (1:32). Those which do such things were not going to escape the judgment of GOD (2:3-10), To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life:
The purpose for their obedience to the gospel, the reason for all of their slaving, was so as to be judged worthy of eternal life. Somehow, somewhere, they had become convinced that there was a life after this life, where Christ sat at the right hand of GOD. They somehow knew that living according to the dictates of their bodily desires, walking according to the impulses of the flesh, was not going to land them there in that kingdom. Rather, they were going to need to addict themselves to the gospel, learn the instructions and apply the lessons which would eventually produce the fruit of the spirit.
Day of judgment (2:16). They recognized what it seems too few today recognize, and that was that their lifestyle was going to have a direct bearing and impact upon whether or not they were going to be judged worthy of eternal life. GOD quickens the dead (4:17), believing on HIM who raised Yeshua from the dead (4:24), we shall be saved by His life (5:10), grace reigns through righteousness unto eternal life (5:21), we shall be in the likeness of His resurrection (6:5),
6:22-23 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
8:11-12. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. 13) For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. Christ is at the right hand of GOD (8:34)
Believe that GOD raised Him from the dead (10:9). Cleave to that which is good (12:9). Overcome evil with good (12:21). Cast off the works of darkness (13:12). Christ is Lord both of the dead and the living (14:9).
14:10-12. But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.
But it must also be recognized and admitted that a sinful lifestyle can inflict no less pain and suffering upon a person as did a cruel master in ages past. Sin can just as easily rip apart a family as could a greedy overlord. And sin, such as theft and drunkenness, adultery and gambling, can just as readily ruin a person's health and livelihood as did actual slavery in days gone by.
As such, for the first century believers, becoming a Christian wasn't just a social or trivial thing that many of Paul's readers casually joined or attached themselves to. When they became enslaved to the pursuit of righteousness, it was more than just a once a week affair. Instead, it became the driving force of their lives. Indeed, practically every waking hour their new purpose and goal was in learning, and then applying those lessons so as to become righteous. Subjecting themselves to the Christian principles they had now become slaves of righteousness.
- ROMANS 12:1 KJV I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that [as slaves] ye present [paristemi] your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
This Greek word paristemi, rendered present in the above passage, and offer in the former passage (6:16), often had to do with an individual being presented as a servant or slave to some Lord or master. Luke used it when Mary and Joseph presented Yeshua (Jesus) to GOD after His days of purification (LUKE 2:22).
Paul used the word a little later in this same epistle when warning his readers not to judge one another, stating "for we shall all stand before [paristemi] the judgment seat of Christ" (ROMANS 14:10). And indeed we shall. We are not our own masters but we are ruled over either by our carnal desires or by our pursuit of righteousness. Howbeit, if one was living righteously, it would be an honor and a great privilege to stand before His throne and thankfully proclaim, Here am I, a faithful slave of my great Master! Thus, being a slave didn't always need to be a low and degrading position.
In some ancient cultures, to be a slave could be a dignified and prestigious position, that is if your master was himself a dignified and prestigious individual. Slavery was not always tainted with the cruel and inhumane experiences which we today associate with it. Thus, Paul beseeched his readers to present their own bodies as holy and acceptable slaves to GOD. As such, though we might be ashamed of those sins which were formerly our master, now we can be thankful and hopeful that we are at long last enslaved to the pursuit of righteousness.
For Paul's readers, the choice was either to be an obedient slave to the gospel so as to learn to become righteous, or they were going to remain slaves to sin. According to his argument here, the choice wasn't between being a slave or being free, but rather being a slave to sin or becoming a slave to GOD. Slavery wasn't an option; it was a continuing and unavoidable reality for each person. Either they were going to be in bondage to sin, or being freed from sin they were going to be in bondage to the Christian doctrine.
As such, freedom's only real and eternal advantage was when it became a freedom from sin, as Yeshua taught His followers.
- JOHN 8:31-34 NRSV Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, "If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free."
- They answered him, "We are descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean by saying, 'You will be made free'?" Jesus answered them, "Very truly I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin".
The freedom He was proclaiming was freedom from sin. Yeshua wasn't teaching that if they became His disciples that then they could go and live as they pleased, but rather, if they devoted themselves to His teaching, then they would learn to become free from sin. As such, regardless how free we may think that we are, if we are slaves to sin we have no true freedom. Perhaps that is why so many today are unhappy and unfulfilled, aimlessly drifting through life. They may loudly and proudly proclaim their liberty, as did some in Yeshua's audience, but they are too often just slaves to their desires.
Peter espoused this same truth.
- 2 PETER 2:19 KJV While they [the false teachers of verse 1] promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.
Of how much worth is physical liberty if we in turn are bound and imprisoned by our bodily desires? Too often, libertines seem oblivious to the fact that many of them are being driven by their physical impulses, helpless in their efforts to resist the unrestrained temptations of life. Let's not waste and pittle away our physical freedoms by just becoming re-imprisoned by our vices.
Yeshua declared in His Sermon on the Mount, "Now no one can be slaving for two lords, for either he will be hating the one and loving the other, or will be upholding one and despising the other. You can not be slaving for God and mammon" (MATTHEW 6:24 Concordant Literal Version). The word rendered here as mammon does not represent merely money, but rather "that in which the men of the world falsely trust" (The Riddle of the New Testament, Sir Edwyn Hoskyns, page 28).
Albert Barnes in his Commentary on the Gospels, tells us on page 71;
- Mammon is a Syriac word, a name given to an idol worshipped as the god of riches. It has the same meaning as Plutus among the Greeks. It is not known that the Jews ever formally worshipped this idol, but they used the word to denote wealth. The meaning is, ye cannot serve the true God, and at the same time be supremely engaged in obtaining the riches of this world. One must interfere with the other.
Too often we have a tendency to make a god out of our wealth. We worship and adore it instead of it serving us. In his series, Things to Come, Volume 4 and on page 20, E. W. Bullinger has the following comment on the word as used in this passage.
- Those who know not Got regard accumulation of treasure not only as their hope, but as a protection against want- the only protection they know of. . . . One function of a god is to deliver from evil- another is to give joy. The service of Mammon is thus shown by the structure [MATTHEW 6:19-34] to refer to both functions, and not as is commonly supposed only to accumulation of wealth.
In His sermon Yeshua was denouncing their misguided trust in wealth as being either their sole security from the mishaps and missteps of life, or else the primary avenue for finding the enjoyments which this world might offer. Each of His listeners were going to have to decide for themselves if they were going to be driven by a false trust in power and wealth, or if they were going to settle down into a lifetime quest for truth and righteousness.
As a further note on this passage, it has been said that in the ancient oriental culture, masters often only gestured to their slaves their desires. He might wave his finger or even shift his eyes to give his slave indiscreet instructions. This is why they could not have two masters, for they could never be closely watching both of them.
Nevertheless, Yeshua was not rebuking the disciples here for being prosperous, or faithfully and diligently working at their job or task. Nor was He encouraging them to commit themselves to a lifetime of poverty, without a cent in their pocket. Rather, the question which they were to be continually asking was to whom were they going to devote themselves; who or what was going to be their source of strength and fortitude; who was going to be their Master? Was it going to be the instruction and dictates of the gospel, or were they going to devote themselves and trust in uncertain riches (1 TIMOTHY 6:17)?
According to Paul's assessment in his epistle to the Romans, serfdom was profitable and desirous if it was a bondage to GOD, being enslaved to the gospel, thus learning to become righteous (1:16-17). Becoming slaves to the gospel and faithfully and consistently adhering ourselves to its teaching, the believer is then able to free himself from sin's grip.
- GALATIANS 5:13-14 KJV For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Here again Paul noted their freedom, but it was freedom from the works of the flesh, some of which he then itemized (verse 19-21). He cautioned them that being unbound from the Law they were still called upon to be slaves to the gospel (1:6-10).
But besides Paul's figurative use of slavery, and because this institution was still quite prevalent in their day, he elsewhere instructed them on what was the proper attitude of an actual slave to his master. Was it then time for the slaves to rise up and throw off the chains of bondage? Did being a believer during this new Christian dispensation then mean that they could ignore or refuse to obey their earthly masters?
- 1 CORINTHIANS 7:21-22 NRSV Were you a slave when called? Do not be concerned about it. Even if you can gain your freedom, make use of your present condition now more than ever. For whoever was called in the Lord as a slave is a freed person belonging to the Lord, just as whoever was free when called is a slave of Christ.
Paul explicitly instructed his readers here that if they happened to be slaves when they became Christians, then they should accept that reality. Don't allow yourself to be consumed with the passion to become free, or attempt to violently overthrow your masters. Paul taught this because if the believer was an actual slave, at least he could still be free in his mind, as the Lord's freeman. Howbeit, if physical freedom should happen to avail itself to him, then he should take advantage of that opportunity and thus gain his liberty. Paul's reasoning was that even though the slave might become freed from his earthly master, he was still expected to enslave himself to Christ.
We might remember that Paul and his readers were then living on the brink of a civilizational collapse, as he wrote, "now more than ever". The very end of that age was fast approaching (see the Study, Whatever Happened to Timothy?). Christ was fully expected to soon return and gather all of the believers together into heaven, for eternity.
In that case, what could it really matter if in this present life they were held as a slave or in bondage for a comparatively short time. The critical decision which was required of them, was how were they going to steward their time and their thoughts within the framework in which they were placed. Regardless if they were slaves or masters, Jews or Gentiles, male or female, each and every one of them could fully apply themselves to learning to become righteous (GALATIANS 3:28). As such, Paul's admonition here did not necessarily apply for all times and to all situations, but was rather especially for that particular age.
We find in the Christian communities of the first century an entirely unique order emerging in the slave-master relationship. At long last the slave could wholeheartedly do the will of GOD by learning to obey his earthly master as a faithful and loyal servant, knowing that his real Master was in heaven. And those free-men could also know and be assured that they too were to be justly rewarded for how they chose to live their lives.
- EPHESIANS 6:5-8 Jerusalem Bible Slaves, be obedient to the men who are called your masters in this world, with deep respect and sincere loyalty, as you are obedient to Christ: not only when you are under their eye, as if you had only to please men, but because you are slaves of Christ and wholeheartedly do the will of God . . . . You can be sure that everyone, whether a slave or a free man, will be properly rewarded by the Lord for whatever work he has done well. [see also TITUS 2:9 COLOSSIANS 3:22 & 1 TIMOTHY 6:1]
As Paul endeavored to explain, in whatever degree a slave was faithful or unfaithful to his earthly master, so will he probably be to his heavenly Master (LUKE 16:10). He was in essence saying, don't be hypocrites and act like your'e working hard only when your master is watching, but rather always be faithful and diligent to carry out your duty. Thus, in this way, even a slave in bonds could practice and learn righteousness. As such, not only during this earthly life but also when he got to heaven, at the gathering together, the slave was to be aptly rewarded for how he lived his life on earth.
We today can also apply this same principle in our own lives. How faithful and trustworthy are we to our employers and customers? Do we treat them truthfully and honestly? Do we recognize that our Master in heaven is cognizant of all of our thoughts and actions? This is how we also can learn to become righteous (see the Study, Nurturing and Harvesting the Fruit of the Spirit).
In addition to this, the masters of the slaves were instructed to likewise be cognizant that they too have a Master in heaven who kept exact and precise account of how they treated those under them. If they were cruel and uncaring, that was no doubt how they could expect to be treated at the great day of judgment (LUKE 12:45-46).
- EPHESIANS 6:9 KJV And, ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing threatening: knowing that your Master also is in heaven; neither is there respect of persons with him. [see also COLOSSIANS 4:1]
Paul's short letter to his fellow believer Philemon was also written with these very thoughts in mind. Philemon's slave Onesimus had escaped, probably to some foreign land; but he was then apparently arrested and imprisoned. During his confinement he found himself a fellow inmate with the apostle Paul, who evidently then converted him to the faith. Later, when he was released, Paul sent him back to his former master with a brief note, suggesting to Philemon that he should now receive Onesimus back as a brother, and not seek to punish him as a runaway.
- PHILEMON 15-16 Jerusalem Bible I know you have been deprived of Onesimus for a time, but it was only so that you could have him back for ever, not as a slave any more, but something much better than a slave, a dear brother; especially dear to me, but how much more to you, as a blood-brother as well as a brother in the Lord.
Paul had convinced Onesimus to return and place himself once again under the thumb of his master. Philemon might then decide to treat him very badly; or he might grant Paul's request and welcome the slave back with open arms, as a brother. This was a huge risk which Onesimus was taking, and he was thus demonstrating to the fullest extent his trust in GOD, believing that GOD could and would work in the heart of Philemon to soften it towards his slave.
But rarely was this Christian element a feature of the slave-master relationship. Too often masters were cruel and uncaring when it came to their slaves. Understandably then, the institution of slavery has generally had a very distasteful connotation, because under its dominion countless people have been horribly and brutally treated. Even the mention of slavery arouses hostile sentiment and the idea of slavery having any merits at all is usually instinctively rejected. As such, we might be wise to take some time to briefly examine slavery and its predominance throughout the ages.
W. E. B. DuBois well stated the pitiless situation of a slave in his book, Black Reconstruction in America.
- Slaves were not considered men. They had no right of petition. They were "devisable like any other chattel." They could own nothing; they could make no contracts; they could hold no property, nor traffic in property; they could not hire out; they could not legally marry nor constitute families; they could not control their children; they could not appeal from their master; they could be punished at will. They could not testify in court; they could be imprisoned by their owners, and the criminal offense of assault and battery could not be committed on the person of a slave. The "willful, malicious and deliberate murder" of a slave was punishable by death, but such a crime was practically impossible of proof. The slave owed to his master and all his family a respect "without bounds, and an absolute obedience." This authority could be transmitted to others. A slave could not sue his master; had no right of redemption; no right to education or religion; a promise made to a slave by his master had no force nor validity. Children followed the condition of the slave mother. The slave could have no access to the judiciary. A slave might be condemned to death for striking any white person.
- Looking at these accounts, "it is safe to say that the law regards a Negro slave, so far as his civil status is concerned, purely and absolutely property, to be bought and sold and pass and descend as a tract of land, a horse, or an ox."
- The whole legal status of slavery was enunciated in the extraordinary statement of a Chief Justice of the United States that Negroes had always been regarded in America "as having no rights which a white man was bound to respect."
- It may be said with truth that the law was often harsher than the practice. Nevertheless, these laws and decisions represent the legally permissible possibilities, and the only curb upon the power of the master was his sense of humanity and decency, on the one hand, and the conserving of his investment on the other. Of the humanity of large numbers of Southern masters there can be no doubt. In some cases, they gave their slaves a fatherly care. And yet even in such cases the strain upon their ability to care for large numbers of people and the necessity of entrusting the care of the slaves to other hands than their own, led to much suffering and cruelty. [from page 7]
As such, one of the great deficiencies with the institution of slavery was the problem of what could be done with an individual who wouldn't obey his master's commands? One couldn't fire him or dock his pay. The master could only beat him, or perhaps sell the defiant slave off to a more cruel master. And what was often most concerning to the overseers was what effect a disobedient slave might have upon the other slaves. As such, he might be beaten almost to the point of death as a warning to others who might have similar rebellious tendencies.
And often these overseers and drivers were themselves slaves, who were ruled over by other masters. If the slave on the bottom of the pile would not perform as was commanded, the overseer's usual course of action was to violently punish him, for if he could not get a satisfactory outcome for the owner's investment, then he himself was probably going to suffer the same consequence.
But in the Christian dispensation a slave could find himself well treated if his master was also a faithful believer. If both slave and master put themselves under the dictates of the gospel, if they both were pursuing righteousness in their lives, then slavery could have its least offensive outcome. Those persons who were not able to find employment could subject themselves to a caring master and those masters could then provide and shelter those entrusted to their care.
Nevertheless, when we today consider slavery, most of us think of that slavery just prior to the American Civil War, to which Mr. Du Bois referred to above. Howbeit, this evil institution permeated many societies, being prevalent in nations across the globe and throughout the ages. Indeed, it had been thriving in Europe and Africa just prior to the New World being landed upon by Columbus.
As such, one does not have to go all the way back to the Romans, Greeks and Babylonians to see the evils and abuses of this institution, for in pre-American days a lively slave trade was carried out in the Mediterranean, and that was mostly done by Muslims. They would either capture foreign vessels or raid costal villages in the middle of the night, rounding up and then enslaving all of the terrified men, women and children which they could catch. Roman Catholics were mostly prized, because their peculiar religious belief that if they died in slavery without the Last Rites of a priest being performed, then they would be doomed to a fiery hell. Thus, enslaved Roman Catholics did all they could to persevere, even under the most brutal tortures.
The following is an account taken from Holy War and Human Bondage, by Robert C. Davis, concerning life as a slave during the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries.
- Judging by Mouette's [a French noblemen himself enslaved for 11 years] account, one Black African driver was placed in charge of 10 or 15 Christian slaves at each work site. For the Europeans these overseers seemed the very incarnation of malevolence. Mouette wrote of his at Meknes, that "the very sight of that Devil made us quake;" and when it came to beatings, "he always took care to bestow [them] on those parts where he thought they would do the most hurt." Yet the overseers were just slaves themselves, the lowest in a chain of enforcers and inflictors of pain. Above them in this hierarchy of terror were those administrators known to the slaves with the Spanish term arcaides, or governors. These were Moors or sometimes renegade Christians, the men responsible for the progress of the works. As free with their beatings to the overseers as to the slaves, these "little Tyrants," as Busnot called them, still answered in their turn to Moulay Ismail and a favored few of his many sons. Like the overseers, the alcaides drove the slaves in good part because they were well aware of the price of failure, or even the slightest delay in carrying out their orders. As a result of this "extravagant Government," even those in power had no assurance that their turn would not be coming, for they, as much as any slave, might be suddenly and abruptly executed on orders of the sultan, who followed rules and whims that only he could know. [pages 211-212]
In this same book, Mr. Davis reported that around the Mediterranean Sea, just between the years 1500 and 1800, there were approximately 1 million enslaved Muslims and 2 million enslaved Christians. And then between 1500 and 1850 there were around 800,000 Black African slaves taken to Spanish America; 400,00 to what would later become the United States; 4 million to the Caribbean; and nearly 4.5 million to Brazil and Guiana. (pages 64-65)
Capturing defenseless citizens for slavery was commonly practiced by the Muslims all the way down from the coasts of Ireland and throughout the Mediterranean Sea. As such, it was not something which originated with the southern plantation owners of Colonial America; howbeit many of them did later adopt and use it to their fullest evil advantage.
Nevertheless, all true Christians realized the evils of modern slavery and worked towards its demise. Howbeit, they usually faced very stiff opposition, for the aristocracy of their day, including many of the religious and political leaders, fiercely defended and justified this cruel and unjust institution, even quoting, or we should say, mis-quoting scripture to excuse their despicable behavior.
From Reforging the White Republic, Edward Blum wrote of a certain Episcopalian bishop, John H. Hopkins, who had put out Biblical arguments for defending slavery.
- In his subsequent "cheap tract," Bible View of Slavery, Hopkins asserted that southerners not only had every religious and moral right to hold African Americans in bondage, but also had the political right to secede from the Union. If America's system of chattel slavery was ordained biblically, it followed that neither statesmen nor Christians should question it. [from page 35]
Mr Blum further noted that not only the Episcopalians but also the Southern Baptist and Southern Methodists pushed this despicable propaganda that the institution of modern slavery could be defended and justified by the Scriptures.
We should also consider and ponder the situation of those Southerners who were opposed to slavery. What could be done when someone who detested slavery inherited the slaves of his father, or took possession of the slaves of his new wife? He didn't purchase them at the slave market, but now found himself being responsible for this uneducated and generally dependent people. What was the process or method at his disposal if he desired to free his slaves, or even give them a better life?
Unfortunately, in many areas of the South it was illegal to just set your slaves free (see Claude Bowers, The Young Jefferson, page 58), for the neighbors didn't want a hapless multitude rummaging around the community. And because of the Southerner's anxiety that many of their slaves had a keen desire to escape to freedom, it was usually unlawful to teach your slaves on how to read and write (see The Cotton Kingdom, by Frederick Law Olmsted, page 473). And so with little or no education, where would they go and what could they do if they were set free.
As such, many of those Southern oligarchs who held the reigns of power did their upmost to maintain an iron grip on perpetrating this evil institution. It required nothing less than a bloody and prolonged Civil War, and then subsequent decades of struggle to finally bring an end to it.
As Abraham Lincoln so solumly stated in his second inaugural address;
- Fondly do we hope- fervently do we pray- that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said, 'The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.'
The impossible situation with which those post-civil war patriots wrestled, was well stated by a United States Representative of that age, Thaddeus Stephens, himself an ardent abolitionist.
- "We have turned, or are about to turn, loose four million slaves without a hut to shelter them or a cent in their pockets. The infernal laws of slavery have prevented them from acquiring an education, understanding the commonest laws of contract, or of managing the ordinary business life. This Congress is bound to provide for them until they can take care of themselves. If we do not furnish them with homesteads, and hedge them about with protective laws; if we leave them to the legislation of their late masters, we had better have left them in bondage. (Quoted from Mr. DuBois' Black Reconstruction in America, page 218)
Unfortunately, that particular Congress did not provide for them, and failed to rise to the occasion with which they were confronted. Instead, greedy and selfish men, known as Carpet Baggers, descended upon the South after the Civil War had ended and capitalized off of this miserable condition. Nothing went right and everything went wrong for both the former slaves and the defeated white communities (see Claude Bowers' The Tragic Era).
Nevertheless, for the Biblical writer his idea of slavery often dated back to the earliest days of their nation. For them, slavery wasn't as it was known to us, when it became a most wretched and despicable institution. The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament gives the following note on slavery as was instituted by Moses (page 639).
- While the most basic idea of 'ebed is that of a slave, in Israel slavery was not so irksome, since this status involved rights and often positions of trust. A fellow Israelite could not be held indefinitely against his will, but his period of bondage was limited to six years (Ex. 21:2). Even the much protested description of a slave as his master's money (Ex 21:20-21) was not an "unsentimental thought," but served to control physical abuse by the master. Whenever evil intent could be proved (Ex 21:14), or the slave died (21:20), the master was liable to punishment. If the master's intent was debatable, an injured slave at least won his freedom (Ex 21:26-27), and the master lost his loaned money (21:21). Note also the servant's position of honor in Gen 24:ff; 41:12 (cf. 15:2).
Sometimes, in destitute times or when facing a mountain of debt, a distraught person might have offered himself (LUKE 15:14-15) or even his son and daughter to be a slave. It was recognized that it was better to serve and thus eat and be sheltered, rather than be free and starving. One only hoped that the master would turn out to be a decent and just person. Unfortunately that was not always the case.
Howbeit, for us the decision comes down to either slaving for our earthly desires, or slaving for our heavenly desires. We can offer ourselves to be bound to this world's promises for shelter or security, or we can respond to what is often only a still small voice, and bind ourselves to the gospel.
- MATTHEW 20:27 NRSV And whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave.