Robert McLaughlin Bible Ministries
You may be in great adversity or a situation of slavery, but you can still be blessed of God.
Thursday, May 16, 2002
You may be in great adversity, a situation of slavery, but you can still be blessed of God.
1. He had the right to hold his slaves as his possessions, LEV 25:45. 2. He had the right to leave slaves as an inheritance to his children, LEV 25:46.
3. He had the right to hold as property the wife and children of all slaves who were unmarried at the time they became slaves, EXO 21:4.
4. He had the right to pursue and recover runaway slaves, 1KI 2:39-41. 5. He had the right to free slaves on the Sabbatical year or the Year of Jubilee, or at any time.
6. He was commanded to circumcise his slaves, GEN 17:12-13,23,27. 7. He had the right to sell, trade, or give away slaves, GEN 29:24.
8. He had the right to punish or discipline slaves, but not to kill them, EXO 21:20.
9. He had the right to marry a slave or give slaves in marriage, 1CH 2:35. 10. He had the right to marry a daughter to a slave, 1CH 2:34.
11. He had the right to purchase slaves in foreign markets, LEV 25:44.
12. He had the right to enslave or sell as a slave anyone caught stealing his property, GEN 44:8-33.
13. He had the right to demand service from his slaves, GEN 14:14, 24.
1. He had the right to freedom by the purchase of his redemption, the elapse of time, the Year of Jubilee, or he could work his way into freedom.
2. He had the right to good or fair treatment, LEV 25:43,46.
3. He had the right to justice,
4. They had the right to marry, have children, and live a normal life, EXO 21:5.
5. They had the right to voluntary slavery where having been freed could choose to remain a slave, EXO 21:5ff;DEU 15:16.
The piercing of the ears was a reference to the person willingly becoming a servant or a slave forever.
PRO 2:2 Make your ear attentive to wisdom, Incline your heart to understanding;
PRO 4:20 My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings.
PRO 22:17 Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise, And apply your mind to my knowledge;
6. The slave had the right to own property and possess money, LEV 25:29.
7. He had the right to promotion, GEN 15:2; GEN 39:4.
8. He had the right to worship God without interference from the master, EXO 12:44; DEU 12:12.
The Church was not issued any decree abolishing slavery, even though many early church believers were slaves in the Roman empire.
1CO 7:1-17 - sometimes marriage can become a form of bondage and slavery.
The responsibility of a slave to a master - EPH 6:5-9; COL 3:22-4:1.
“master and slave” -
“kurios and doulos.”
Even the epistle to Philemon, dealing with a runaway slave, does not advocate the abolishment of slavery, but emphasizes just treatment of slaves who are believers or otherwise.
It gives strong emphasis on the personal option to free slaves under principles of grace-righteousness.
A nation where the federal government provides a certain number of things, a “welfare state,” is a state of slavery.
What do you want in life, security or freedom?
Freedom never ruins anyone, but security and the slave mentality does.
If you want to take your freedom and wilfully become a slave or a servant, that is legitimate, but if you enter into a situation of slavery because you want security, that is evil.
As a born again believer God cannot provide the means to keep you alive if it is His will?
You are going to face situations or tests and you are going to jump towards security or you are going to jump towards freedom.
Legislation that interferes with personal freedom is evil.
Slavery means great responsibility to the slave owner in the execution of his authority.
Slavery provided the option between security and freedom.
The whole system of communism is to offer security, not freedom.
Today people select the pseudo-security of welfare rather than freedom; they are in slavery.
When you get away from doctrine, you get security conscious - a great evil.
They have an opportunity - positive volition at the point of God consciousness means gospel hearing.
LUK 7:34 The Son of Man has come eating and drinking; and you say, “Behold, a gluttonous man, and a drunkard, a friend of tax-collectors and prostitutes!”
PSA 104:15 The Lord made wine which makes mans heart glad,
ECC 9:7 Go then, eat your bread in happiness, and drink your wine with a cheerful heart; for God has already approved your works.
DEU 14:26 You may spend the money for whatever your heart desires, for oxen, or sheep, or wine, or strong drink, or whatever your heart desires; and there you shall eat in the presence of the Lord your God and rejoice, you and your household.
Isa 28 - drunkenness did affect the spiritual life of many believers.
EPH 5:18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit,
1TI 5:23 No longer drink water exclusively, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.
TIT 1:7 For the overseer must be above reproach as Gods steward, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine,
TIT 2:3 Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips, nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good,
1TI 3:8 Deacons likewise must be men of dignity, not double-tongued, or addicted to much wine or fond of sordid gain,
Robert R. McLaughlin All Rights Reserved 2002