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Slavery in Ancient Times

Slavery in Ancient Times. Why Christians should be slaves for Christ. Old Testament References.

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Slavery in Ancient Times

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  1. Slavery in Ancient Times Why Christians should be slaves for Christ

  2. Old Testament References • “And you may take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them as a possession; they shall be your permanent slaves. But regarding your brethren, the children of Israel, you shall not rule over one another with rigor.” [Leviticus 25:46]

  3. More references • “For we have been sold, my people and I, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. Had we been sold as male and female slaves, I would have held my tongue, although the enemy could never compensate for the king’s loss.” Esther 7:4

  4. “When you buy a Hebrew slave, six years shall he serve; and in the seventh shall he go out free, for nothing. If he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself: if he were married, then his wife shall go out with him. If his master has given him a wife, and she has borne him sons or daughters, the wife and the children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out by himself. And if the slave shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free: then his master shall bring him unto God, and he shall bring him to the door or unto the door-post, and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall be his slave forever.” —Exodus 21:2-6.

  5. Other references • “This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people who were at Jerusalem to proclaim liberty to them: 9 that every man should set free his male and female slave—a Hebrew man or woman—that no one should keep a Jewish brother in bondage.” Jeremiah 34:8

  6. Old Testament • The Bible uses the Hebrew term ebed to refer to slavery; however, ebed has a much wider meaning than the English term slavery, and in several circumstances it is more accurately translated into English as servant or hired worker.

  7. Old Testament references • In the book of Genesis, Noah condemns Ham and his descendents to perpetual servitude: "Cursed be Canaan! The lowest of slaves will he be to his brothers" (Gn 9:25)

  8. In the Torah • Slavery was customary in ancient times, and some forms are condoned by the Torah. In the Bible, Hebrews are forbidden to kill slaves, force a slave to work on the Sabbath, return an escaped slave, or to slander a slave. It is common for a person to voluntarily sell oneself into slavery for a fixed period of time either to pay off debts or to get food and shelter. It was seen as legitimate to enslave captives obtained through warfare but not through kidnappingfor the purpose of enslaving them. Children could also be sold into debt bondage, which was sometimes ordered by a court of law.

  9. The Bible does set minimum rules for the conditions under which slaves were to be kept. Slaves were to be treated as part of an extended family; they were allowed to celebrate the Sukkotfestival, and expected to honor Shabbat[21]. Israelite slaves could not to be compelled to work with rigor, and debtors who sold themselves as slaves to their creditors had to be treated the same as a hired servant. If a master harmed a slave in one of the ways covered by the lextalionis, the slave was to be compensated by manumission; if the slave died within 24 to 48 hours, it was to be avenged.

  10. Israelite slaves were automatically manumitted after six years of work, and/or at the next Jubileealthough the latter would not apply if the slave was owned by an Israelite and wasn't in debt bondage. Slaves released automatically in their 7th year of service, which did not include female slaves, were to be given livestock, grain, and wine, as a parting gift. This 7th-year manumission could be voluntarily renounced, which would be signified, as in other Ancient Near Eastern nations, by the slave gaining a ritual ear-piercing; after such renunciation, the individual was enslaved forever. Non-Israelite slaves could be enslaved indefinitely and were to be treated as inheritable property.

  11. New Testament • “Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart.” —Ephesians 6:5-6.

  12. New Testament • “Masters, provide your slaves with what is right and fair, because you know that you also have a Master in heaven.” [Colossians 4:1]

  13. Redemption • We were slaves to sin, but by Christ’s resurrection we are free… • “You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.” [Romans 6:18]

  14. References • “Christianity and Slavery.” [available online: September 16, 2010] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_and_slavery • “Roman Slavery.” [available online: September 15, 2010]. http://www.unrv.com/culture/roman-slavery.php

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