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Observations from today’s readings and today’s S-WOD, Tuesday, 21 January 2025:
Exodus 21:1-11 – When you buy a Hebrew slave.
Bible verses related to slavery generate much emotion in our generation for good reason. However, the world view and concept of servitude and slavery were much different in ancient times. In that day and age, God’s word was revolutionary and controversial, not because of its cruelty but rather because of its uncommon concern for the rights of all people. Within ancient Israel, as in the entire ancient world, there were people who worked for others on the principle of servitude (servants), and there were slaves (usually foreign captives from battle). Servants are often viewed as slaves, but this wasn’t the brutal form of slavery we think of today, nor was it racial slavery. “Moses did not institute slavery in any shape; the laws concerning it were made on purpose to repress it, to confine it within very narrow bounds, and ultimately to put an end to it.” (Spurgeon)
God brought the Israelites out of slavery, and it is fitting that His first laws dealt with respecting the rights and dignity of servants. There were four basic ways a Hebrew might become a slave to another Hebrew: In extreme poverty, they might sell their liberty (Leviticus 25:39); a father might sell a daughter as a servant into a home with the intention that she would eventually marry into that family (Exodus 21:7); in the case of bankruptcy, a man might become servant to his creditors (2 Kings 4:1); and if a thief had nothing with which to pay proper restitution (Exodus 22:3-4).
Slavery, on the other hand, was often a choice given to foreign enemies as a substitute for death in a time where “total war” was the norm (when everyone was killed to totally eliminate enemies and the possibility of continued conflict with that enemy). The ideas of man-stealing into life-long servitude – the concepts many have of slavery – generally do not apply to the practice of slavery in the Old Testament, though it did happen, such as when Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery. Normally, servitude was chosen or mutually arranged contractually, of limited duration, and highly regulated.
In most cases, servitude was never obligated to be life-long. The Hebrew servant worked for six years and then was set free. A careful consideration of the laws concerning slavery show that they abolished slavery among God’s people, and substituted for it, contractual labor for a period of years. “Henceforward the condition of slaves among the Hebrew people would be in marked distinction to slavery as existing among other peoples. It was the beginning of a great moral movement.” If, after the six years of servitude, a servant wished to make a life-long commitment to his master – in light of the master’s goodness and his blessings for the servant – he could. However, this commitment was not motivated by debt or obligation, only by love for the master, and the good things that the master had provided for the servant.
Still, it might be hard for us, being so far removed from society at that time, to imagine why God simply did not eliminate any form of servitude (slavery) altogether. Our complaints might be comparable to the trouble the Pharisees had in understanding how to navigate God’s laws on divorce considering that the Bible states that God opposes divorce (Malachi 2:16). Jesus explained it this way: “He answered them, ‘What did Moses command you?’ They said, ‘Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and to send her away.’ And Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ‘Therefore, a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together let not man separate.’” (Mark 10:3-9) God’s laws account for the hardness of the heart of man, while protecting the welfare and dignity of humanity through His redemptive plan.
“The Torah accepts slavery as an inevitable part of ancient society, much as Paul did, but the new humanitarian approach will ultimately be the death-knell of slavery… In any case, slavery in Israel was rural, domestic and small scale.” (Cole)
Exodus 21:16 – “Whoever steals a man and sells him, and anyone found in possession of him, shall be put to death.”
Again, the Bible does not allow forced slavery outside of war and condemns the abuse of anyone. How seriously does God deal with forced slavery? The consequence for such a crime was death.
Exodus 21:19 – …then if the man rises again and walks outdoors with his staff, he who struck him shall be clear; only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall have him thoroughly healed.
God values a person’s time.
Exodus 21:22-25 – When men strive together and hit a pregnant woman, so that her children come out, but there is no harm, the one who hit her shall surely be fined, as the woman’s husband shall impose on him, and he shall pay as the judges determine. But if there is harm, then you shall pay life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.
In the Bible, killing an unborn baby is a crime punishable by death, just like any other murder. God’s view of abortion should be more than clear.
Exodus 21:16-36 – [He] shall make restitution.
In Biblical justice, restitution is made to the victim, not to the government. Why is that not the case today?
Exodus 21:28-32 — When an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox shall be stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten, but the owner of the ox shall not be liable. But if the ox has been accustomed to gore in the past, and its owner has been warned but has not kept it in, and it kills a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned, and its owner also shall be put to death. If a ransom is imposed on him, then he shall give for the redemption of his life whatever is imposed on him. If it gores a man’s son or daughter, he shall be dealt with according to this same rule. If the ox gores a slave, male or female, the owner shall give to their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.
“Joseph Fletcher ranks among the most influential intellectuals of the twentieth century. Fletcher, an Episcopalian priest who became an atheist in his later life, is best known for his book Situation Ethics: The New Morality. First published in 1966, the book cemented Fletcher’s standing as one of the founders of the system known as situational ethics.
Fletcher rejected the traditional law-based approach to Christian ethics in favor of making the circumstances of each particular situation the norm by which right and wrong are decided. It was not that he explicitly rejected every moral absolute, for he said that the principle that has to be followed in every ethical decision is that we must do what love demands in the particular situation that we face. But Fletcher did not define what love demands according to any fixed, transcendent norm; rather, the situation itself determines the most loving response. So, for example, adultery could be the most loving thing in one situation while love could demand chastity in another.
The problem with situational ethics is not that it calls us to take into account the circumstances of the ethical situation. Biblical case law, in fact, shows us that applying God’s law properly in any context requires that we know as much as possible about the specifics of the context in which the decision is being made (see, for instance, Deut. 22:23–27; 1 Cor. 7:12–16). The problem is not even that doing what love requires is a bad principle, though it is reductionistic since the Lord has given us many transcendent principles and commandments. After all, the Apostle Paul tells us that ‘love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law’ (Rom. 13:10). Thus, if we love God and others rightly, we will have followed the other ethical principles the Lord has revealed.
At the end of the day, Fletcher’s ethic is wrongheaded because it separates God’s law from love. We are morally obligated in every situation to do what love demands; however, the real royal law of Christian ethics is that we ought always to do what the God of love demands—not what we think love requires. We are not allowed to define love on our own. As fallen creatures, we routinely mistake our own opinions for what our Creator defines as love. But we dare not do that, for John says, ‘God is love,’ and therefore God alone determines what love is (1 John 4:8). If we would fulfill the Lord’s command to love, we must look to His law to identify true love.
Sinners justify all manner of ungodly decisions by appealing to what they think love compels them to do. That is a grave error. We are not autonomous creatures who can be laws unto ourselves with respect to figuring out what love means. Instead, we must trust the only sure source for defining love—the Word of God. If we would love God and neighbor, we must define love according to the standard the Lord has given us.” (Ligonier Ministries)
The Bible says, “God is love,” not “love is God” on purpose. As stated above, God defines true love; our concepts of love (which are quite often really lusts) do not define God, yet, we are so very tempted to do so to validate our sinful desires. This is most commonly observed today as people seek to justify sexual relationships outside the bounds of marriage between one man and one women for life. People, many of whom will claim to be Christians, will justify promiscuity, divorce, adultery, homosexuality, pornography, and other sexual sins with shameful justifications like, “God made me this way…. A person should be fee to love who they love…. God would want me to be happy…. If God didn’t want me to be with this person, He wouldn’t have made me love him (or her)….. I found my soul-mate…. God’s laws on marriage and the roles of men and women in marriage are antiquated, designed for a less enlightened time…. Love supersedes all other commands, and this is clearly love….” As mentioned in the article above, if you separate the One True God and His clear word from laws and ethics, you can find a way to ‘legalize’ and validate anything your heart desires, which is basically why society is eager to eliminate God from the equation or at least make Him out to be limitlessly accommodating.
– 2 Timothy 4:1-5 — I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
“Cross” Fit S-WOD (Spiritual Workout of the Day) – 21 January 2025: Today, focus on obeying God’s commands solely because God commended them, and God is God, not merely because you agree with them, as if your agreement validated them. Also, proclaim God’s commands to others when warranted with the justification that God commanded it, not because society, pseudo-science, or anyone else agrees. So, when social issues arise, speak God’s word into the conversation, and don’t try to back it up with anything other than God is God, and we aren’t. “God said it, and that settles it.”
– Joshua 24:15 — And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve…. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
Defenders Bible Reading Plan 