Deuteronomy 23:15-16 (ESV)
Miscellaneous Laws
“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.
Deuteronomy 24:7 (ESV)
“If a man is found stealing one of his brothers of the people of Israel, and if he treats him as a slave or sells him, then that thief shall die. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.
Deuteronomy 24:14 (ESV)
“You shall not oppress a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether he is one of your brothers or one of the sojourners who are in your land within your towns.
Slavery, as we know it in the culture of the U.S. is not the same as was discussed and practiced in the Old Testament. In the above text we see that the “slave” (or foreign worker) was to be treated with respect and dignity. There were times where God instructed to put the enemies of Israel into slavery, but those enemies were first allowed to submit to God’s rule. Those who rejected were condemned to death and/or to slavery:
Deuteronomy 20:10-15 (ESV)
“When you draw near to a city to fight against it, offer terms of peace to it. And if it responds to you peaceably and it opens to you, then all the people who are found in it shall do forced labor for you and shall serve you. But if it makes no peace with you, but makes war against you, then you shall besiege it. And when the LORD your God gives it into your hand, you shall put all its males to the sword, but the women and the little ones, the livestock, and everything else in the city, all its spoil, you shall take as plunder for yourselves. And you shall enjoy the spoil of your enemies, which the LORD your God has given you. Thus you shall do to all the cities that are very far from you, which are not cities of the nations here.
The story of the Bible is not a sociological study. It is a redemptive and theological study. It is a story of a spiritual battle about sin and Satan and salvation. But, the theme of God’s Word is to treat others with respect and dignity when they are in your midst. If they reject God than God used Israel as the tool for discipline and for correction. God wanted Israel to be the example to the surrounding nations so that they would follow the True God. But, when they rejected God, God rejected them. The same will be true in the end times. We are to treat others with respect and dignity. But, when the ultimately reject God, it is God who will bring the discipline and the vengeance. God promoted and taught the care of others, even those we employee and who do labor. But, make no mistake, the Bible is a redemptive story and God’s first concern is the redemption of mankind, not rehabilitation of mankind. Rehabilitation can only happen if their is genuine redemption of the heart.
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