Seder 153: Deuteronomy 23:15-16---Slavery and the Bible

 In Deuteronomy 23:15-16, Moses instructs, "You shall not give up to his master a slave who has escaped from his master to you.  He shall dwell with you, in your midst, in the place that he shall choose within one of your towns, wherever it suits him.  You shall not wrong him."

This is one of those places where the Torah stands out from law codes of the Ancient Near East.  For example, item 16 in the Code of Hammurabi states:  "If a man harbor in his house a male or female slave who has fled from the palace or from a freeman, and do not bring him (the slave) forth at the call of the commandment, the owner of that house shall be put to death."

Generally speaking, ANE law codes had a bias toward the upper class and their property.  The Torah protects private property but has a greater emphasis on taking care of the vulnerable and promoting life.  

In a society where people suffering through famine and drought would need to have ways to work off debt, the Torah does not abolish servitude altogether.  Instead, it sets ground rules to curb abuses of indentured servitude and mistreatment of the poor (see Ex 21; Dt 15). 

Later, the early church was in no position to abolish slavery in the powerful Roman Empire.  Paul did not advocate the sudden overturning the social order (see Eph 6:5-9, e.g.), but he did work to set up an ideal community of mutual love within that society in which all held equal status as servants of Christ.  As he famously wrote to the Galatians 3:28, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus."

In Paul's epistle to Philemon, he does not insist that Philemon free his runaway slave Onesimus, who has become a Christian.  But he does encourage Philemon strongly to do so, reminding Philemon that he owes his salvation to Paul (see Phm 19-21)

The Bible set human society on a trajectory toward the eventual abolition of slavery.  Today slavery is illegal almost everywhere, and Christians (e;g., William Wilberforce) were instrumental in making that happen.

Sadly, though, there is still much slavery in the world, and the church continues in its mission to change human hearts.

Seder 146: Deuteronomy 14-16---Sabbath Principles

 Deuteronomy 14:22-16:17 deals with topics related to the Sabbath commandment, things like worship at the annual festivals and observance of sabbatical years.  In discussing these topics, Moses speaks not in terms of making regulations, but in terms of opportunities for the whole community together to rejoice before God, with no one left out.  He places quite a bit of emphasis on helping poor members of the community.  

In Deuteronomy 14:22-27, Moses describes an annual festival tithe that would enable the people to experience regular events analogous to the covenant meal at Horeb 40 years before (Exodus 24:9-11).  Another tithe collected in years 3 and 6 of every 7-year cycle would be used to help the poor (vv 28-29).

Year seven was the sabbatical year, a time of release of debts.  In the seventh year, "every creditor shall release what he has lent to his neighbor" (15:2).  Daniel Block proposes that this may have meant releasing what the debtor had given the lender as collateral rather than cancelling a loan altogether.  That way creditors would be willing to make loans, and debtors would be able to gain economic benefit from the collateral and get on a better financial footing.  

Deuteronomy 15:3 says that this debt release did not apply to loans to foreigners.  It's assumed that such loans would be business loans to people who were not permanent residents, not personal loans for someone who has fallen into debt.  This was not a matter of prejudice against foreigners, which is spoken against elsewhere in the Torah (e.g., Lev 19:33-34).  

Moses holds up an ideal in which the Israelites are obedient to God and poverty is eliminated (vv 4-6).  In the meantime, though, there would be poverty, and people should come to the aid of those who needed it (vv 7-11).  (Certainly Jesus' reference to Deuteronomy 15:11 in Matthew 26:11 was not intended to imply that the poor should be neglected.)

Hebrew slaves should be released with generous gifts, Moses adds (vv 12-15).  It has been observed that this is a principle which God made sure the Egyptians carried out when the Israelites departed from them (Ex 12:36).   

In Deuteronomy 16 Moses describes the three annual pilgrimage festivals---Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles---that Israelites would have the opportunity to celebrate.  Daniel Block identifies some key principles in the theology of worship expressed in Deuteronomy 16:1-17:

1. True worship involves an engagement with God and is focused on him. 
2. True worship occurs at God's initiative and must be conducted on his terms.
3. True worship is communal.
4. True worship is driven by gratitude to God for his redemption and daily provision.
5. True worship involves the offering of our resources and ourselves.

Seder 52: Exod 11-12---Departing with Treasure

 After nine plagues Egypt was reeling, but Pharaoh still pretended to himself that he was in control.  He threatened Moses when Moses would not agree to his demands, as if somehow Moses were his real problem (Exod 10:28-29).  

Moses announced that there would be one more plague.  At midnight God would kill all of the firstborn of people and livestock in Egypt, and then Egypt would beg the Israelites to leave (Exod 11;4-8).  

In preparation for leaving, the Israelites were to ask the Egyptians for their silver and gold jewelry, and for clothing.  Israel would then leave Egypt with great wealth.  This is a detail that the Bible mentions several times.  It was even prophesied to Abraham generations earlier.  (Gen 15:14; Exod 3:21-22; 11:2-3; 12:35-36)

Scholars refer to this event as the "despoliation of Egypt".  Why was it important?  There are several lessons that we can learn from it. 

1.   God is in control of history and keeps his promises (Gen 15:14; Exod 12:35-36).
2.   God is a God of justice.  The Egyptians had exploited the Israelites as slaves and were required to pay wages or reparations at the end.
3.   God was also requiring Eygpt to keep the Torah, which specifies that masters should provide servants with some financial help when they set them free (Deut 15:2-4).  
4.   God is consistent.  There is a pattern here.  Abram left Egypt with wealth (Gen 12-13).  Jacob left Laban with wealth (Gen 31:17-19).  The Philistines returned the ark of the covenant with golden treasure (1 Sam 6:8,11).  When Jews return from exile in Babylon, King Cyrus gives them gold and silver vessels that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the Temple in Jerusalem (Ezra 1:7-11).  Finally, the prophets envision a future exodus from exile when those who afflict Israel "shall become plunder for those who served them " (Zech 2:9: 14:4).  

In a sermon on Seder 52 at Church of the Messiah on April 17, 2021, Kyle Kettering observed that the real treasure leaving Egypt were the people from Israel and the nations (Exod 12:37-38).  God's purpose is to use Israel to bring blessing to all nations, and the Exodus is one step in that program.  

A further step occurred at the Cross.  Kyle made a connection between Exod 11:1 and Jesus' statement on the Cross:  "It is finished" (John 19:30)  Since the time of Jesus, God has been claiming treasures from the nations for himself.  They leave slavery behind.  

As Paul envisioned it, the time had come for the nations to come to God.  They were not to convert to Judaism, but to walk alongside the Jews in following God.  This has been happening ever since.