Deuteronomy 15:12-18 -

The rights of the slaves.

By some who are but slightly acquainted with the subject, and who have too strong an animus against the Old Book to deal fairly with it, it has been made a matter of complaint against our Lord and his apostles that they did not put down slavery with a strong hand. The same may be said of Moses. If, however, without prejudging the case, we reverently ask, Why was it that he, as a divinely commissioned legislator, tolerated the institution of slavery? we are but proposing a question which opens up a field for thoughtful study, and we shall not be left without a satisfactory answer. And in the answer which the facts will supply there will be contained a world of instructive teaching to the devout and thoughtful mind. (The student would do well to examine the articles of Michaelis on this subject.) Putting the case generally, so as to prepare the reader for the details which follow, we would say—Moses found slavery existing; he permitted its continuance, but he placed the slave-holder under such restrictions that the slaves would become conscious of their rights as men and as brethren; he so limited slavery itself, that no Hebrew could be a slave for life, except of his own voluntary will; and in his elevated ethical code, he repeatedly insisted on the equality of men before God; thus dropping in men's minds such seeds of truth that, when they germinated and brought fruit, the institution of slavery would cease, because the peoples would come to be educated out of it!

If now we briefly enumerate the several provisions connected with slaves and slave-holding, we shall see, in detail, the proof of the above general remark.

1. The Hebrew slave might be held for six years only; in the seventh he was to be permitted his freedom: excepting as provided in the eleventh detail.

2. There were other provisions, e . g . those connected with the year of jubilee, for ensuring the freedom of the slave, given in Leviticus 25:1-55 .

3. Rigorous exaction and harshness were distinctly and sternly forbidden (Le Leviticus 25:39-43 ). If these injunctions and the reasons for them are considered, it will be seen that Hebrew slavery was unlike any other that the world has known.

4. If a master by revengeful treatment inflicted serious bodily injury on the slave, such slave was to have his freedom ( Exodus 21:26 ).

5. Undue punishment was avenged by the judges ( Exodus 21:20 , Exodus 21:21 ).

6. The slave might acquire property of his own, and might even amass enough to buy his own freedom ( Leviticus 25:1-55 .).

7. There were special decrees for the benefit of the slave. They were to be free from all manner of work on the Sabbath day. They had a right to fruit which grew spontaneously during the sabbatical year. They were to have their share of the feasts at the great national festivals.

8. If they accepted freedom at the end of the sixth year, they were not to be sent away empty, but were to be furnished by their master, liberally and gladly, with a sufficiency wherewith to "start on their own account."

9. The idea of freedom was ever kept before them. They might not sell themselves for life to any one. They were the Lord's freemen, and they were not to pervert the Divine thought by becoming life-long bondmen (Le Leviticus 25:42 ).

10. As the nation rose in intelligence, their laws became more and more liberal. Provisions which were intended at first only for the menservants, were extended, even in the lifetime of Moses, to the maidservants likewise (cf. Exodus 21:7 and Deuteronomy 15:17 ).

11. If a slave did not accept his freedom when he might have it, he was to have his ears bored, that so he might bear about with him the brand that he had chosen servitude for life ( Leviticus 25:16 , Leviticus 25:17 ). Surely the object of this apparently strange enactment was to create among the people a disrespect for self-chosen servitude, and so, silently yet powerfully, to lift them above it. And yet one more feature should be noted, viz.:

12. When a foreign slave escaped from his master, the moment he touched the Hebrews' soil he was a free man! ( Deuteronomy 23:16 ). Surely no one can study all these details without seeing that the entire tendency of the Mosaic Law was to lift up the people, to advance their happiness, their freedom, their intelligence, and their mutual regard!

If now for a little we pass to the New Testament, to see how the apostles of Jesus Christ regarded and dealt with slaves and slavery, and what their teachings were on this subject, we find that very little is said. There is no denunciation of the institution, notwithstanding the very wide difference between slavery under the Hebrews and under the Greeks and Romans. But we find:

1. Rules for masters, demanding that they render unto their slaves, that which is just and equal, since even they, with all their power, are not irresponsible, but have themselves a Master in heaven, to whom the slave is as precious as his owner.

2. They taught at the same time loyalty and obedience on the part of the slave, and urged on him the duty of so serving an earthly master that, in the very act thereof, he should serve a heavenly one.

3. That both master and slave would receive from their common Lord a reward according to their measure of fidelity; "knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free ."

4. They laid down afresh, in the name of the Lord Jesus, the old Mosaic law, that "there is no respect of persons with God;" thus teaching the equality of all men in the eye of him "who judgeth according to every man's work."

Now, comparing the Old and New Testament treatment of slavery, what do we see? In the Old Testament a number of details which would work in the direction of freedom, and thoughts dropped which would bring slavery to an end. In the New Testament the details are not repeated.

1. Because, having been given once, repetition would have been of little service.

2. Because the apostles were not laying down laws for a commonwealth in the same sense that Moses was. But, though we have no repetition of details, we have

Thus we see that the Divine Being in his infinite wisdom has seen fit to adopt a similar process under both the Jewish and Christian dispensations, viz. that of educating men by the power of truth and goodness up to such a level, that they voluntarily put down this or that social wrong, instead of thrusting it out at once by a violent hand. Had e . g . this wrong of slavery been forcibly put down, the spirit of enslaving would have still existed on one side, and an opening for unbridled lawlessness might have been created on the other. But by the Divine process, slower though it be, the master is lifted up above the level of the tyrant, the slave comes to be regarded as a man and a brother, and ultimately the last letter shall be snapped, and men brought unto the glorious liberty of the children of God!

Nor can we do justice to our theme unless we point out, for practical use and fervent exhortation, the spiritual significance of the whole.

I. THE EQUALITY OF MEN BEFORE GOD . The Divine love and regard embrace all, The overshadowing wing of mercy covers all, and the free offers of mercy are made to all ( Isaiah 55:1-7 ).

II. BECAUSE OF THE VALUE GOD SETS ON EVERY MAN , HE FORBIDS ANY MAN TO TAKE ANOTHER CAPTIVE , AND FORBIDS MAN SELLING HIMSELF INTO CAPTIVITY OF ANY KIND . "Ye are bought with a price; be ye not the slaves of men."

III. WE ARE FREE FROM HUMAN FETTERS THAT WE MAY BE ABSOLUTELY FREE TO SERVE GOD . "As free, but not using your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness; but as the servants of God."

IV. ABSOLUTE LOYALTY TO GOD IS THE SUREST AND BEST GUARANTEE OF FIDELITY TOWARDS MEN . Nothing would be wanting between master and servant now, if both were purely loyal to the Great Supreme. He who is bound by the vow of a holy consecration to serve a holy God, may be trusted with any department of human service.

V. TO THIS OUR GOD WOULD WIN AND LEAD US , BY PATIENT TEACHING AND GRACIOUS TRAINING . It takes long to perfect a world or even a class.