Lesson #25

EXODUS 21
Lesson #25
SLAVERY, FREEDOM, AND PERFECT JUSTICE

• Memory Verse: John 15:17
• Review:
• In Lesson #23 we discussed the Law and the ten commandments.
• We saw the differences between law and grace.
• In Lesson #24 we discussed the fear of the Lord.
• We saw that the Law produces fear.
• However in this New Testament age of grace, the believer needs to have a certain kind of fear (an awesome respect) of the Lord.
• In chapter 21 we see more aspects of the Law that bring into focus Christ’s character of love. This is the part of the Law that relates to the civil law in man’s relationship to man.
• These ordinances of the Law give us an insight into God’s values of life and justice.
• The Law concerning slavery:
• Background on slavery in the Middle East:
• Many countries in the world of that day had a system of slavery based on the economic needs of the people.
• In Israel slaves became part of the household as a result of war or by purchase.
• A person captured in war became the slave of the soldier who spared his life. (Num 31:26 Deu 20:10 Deu 21:10)
• Foreign slaves could be purchased. (Exo 12:44 Lev 22:11 Lev 25:44-45)
• If a parent fell into great poverty, he sometimes sold a child into slavery as a bond servant. (2Kin 4:1-7 Isa 1:1 Amo 2:6 Amo 8:6 Neh 5:5 Pro 22:7)
• A person under heavy debt could sell himself into slavery as a bond servant. (Lev 25:35,39)
• A judicial court could punish a thief by placing him in a house as a slave. (Exo 22:1)
• In Israel no Hebrew person became a slave permanently or against his will.
• The maximum length of service as a slave was 6 years.
• In the seventh year of his slavery, he was to be set free. (Deu 15:12)
• In the year of jubilee, all slaves were to be set free without regard to the number of years he had already served. (Lev 25:40)
• The treatment of slaves:.
• The treatment of slaves varied from one country to another. However, no country had the aspect of love built into its laws concerning slaves with the exception of Israel. We see that love placed by God here in this section of Exodus. Slavery in Israel was based on the high ethic of love.
• When a slave finished his term of slavery, the master was to provide for him an abundant gift of provisions to help him get started in his new life. (Deu 15:12-15)
• As a general rule, slavery was not a desirable aspect of life in Israel. God did not prohibit the institution of slavery but instead, He made laws to control it.
• The slave in Israel enjoyed a unique position compared to that of other countries.
• The slave was to be treated like a member of the family.
• He was to be circumcised as an equal in his relationship to God.
• He was to be part of the family celebration of the Passover.
• If the slave refused to be circumcised, he was to be treated like a hired worker.
• The slave was never to be considered a permanent slave. There was always a limited time period placed in his contract.
• The slave could own property.
• The slave was always compensated at the end of his time of service.
• The types of slaves in Israel: (Gen 15:3 Gen 17:12 Lev 22:11
• Purchased slaves
• Slaves born in slavery
• God’s attitude toward slavery:
• Neither the Old Testament nor the New Testament prohibits slavery.
• Instead God permits voluntary contracted servitude for limited periods of time.
• However, God places protective restrictions on the practice of slavery for the protection of the slave or bond servant.

• Read Exo 21:1-6 The Law concerning the Love Servant
• Slavery and marriage:
• If the bond slave is already married when he begins his service, then after six years, the slave and his wife are free to leave. (3)
• If the master gave the slave a wife sometime during his six-year service, then after six years, the slave must leave his wife and his children with the master, for they are not free to leave until their six years has finished. (4)
• The love-servant provision:
• If the bond slave says that he loves his master, his wife, and his children, he can choose by his own free will to stay with the master.
• However, he is now called a love servant. His is no longer a bond slave.
• What is the difference between a bond slave and a love servant?

The Slave	The Love Servant
He serves under obligation	He serves under love
He is not free	He is free
He is motivated to do the least possible amount of work	He is motivated to do the best he possibly can

• The mark of the love servant:
• When the bond slave decided he did not want his freedom because he loved his master and his family, the master put a legal mark on the slave.
• The piercing of the ear with a piece of wood:
• This mark placed in the ear marked the servant for the rest of his life.
• The New Testament parallel for the description of the Love servant:
• There is a symbolic aspect to the marking of the love servant:
• Jesus Christ fulfilled the law of the love servant.
• Read Phi 2:8
• By His choice, motivated by love, He chose to become an obedient servant of God, the Father.
• He chose to serve based on His love for us, His bride.
• He chose to remain on earth to do His Father’s will because of His love for God, His master.
• He was marked for all eternity by the piercing he received on the cross of wood.
• How do we know that this practice is a prefigure of Jesus Christ?
• Read Psa 40:6-8 (Heb 10:5-9)
• The believer is to become the love servant of Jesus Christ:
• Most of the New Testament writers understood the symbolic nature of the love-servant contract. They began their respective books with the phrase, “… a servant of Jesus Christ…” (Rom 1:1 Tit 1:1 Jam 1:1 2Pet 1:1 Jud 1:1)
• The significance of the love-servant provision in the context of Exodus:
• Through the provision of the love servant, we see that God shows us the contrast between law and grace right here in the midst of giving the law to the Israelites.

The Believer Serving Under the Law	The Believer Serving Under Grace
The believer serves God by means of obligation like a Bond Slave	The believer serves God voluntarily by means of love as a love servant
The believer was not free from the bondage of sin because animal blood only covered sin	The believer is free from the bondage of sin because the blood of Christ cleanses us from sin

• Read Exo 21:7-11 The Maid Servant
• Background:
• A father had total control over his children and his wife. Therefore, a father had the authority to sell a child as a bond slave to relieve the debt of his family.
• If the child was a girl, she had a right to her freedom after 6 years of servitude. (Deu 15:17)
• Sometimes a father would sell his daughter with the intention that the master would eventually marry her or that his son would eventually marry her. In that case she was to be treated as a member of the family.
• The protection of the maid servant under the Law:
• If the man who purchased the girl was deceitful in his promise of marriage either with himself or with his son, this law protects the girl.
• If a marriage did not occur, the master must not suddenly free her without provision. (10)
• However, she could RETURN to her father’s house without recrimination. She was to be considered chaste and free to marry another, and her father did not have to RETURN the money.
• What is God’s view of women?
• From this passage, we get a glimpse of God’s view of women in context with the culture of Israel and in contrast to other cultures around Israel.
• In the majority of Middle Eastern cultures, women were considered to be property.
• An Important Principle

: Whenever a human being of whatever gender or race is reduced to the level of “property”, it is easy for those in power or authority to rationalize any manner of treatment of cruelty, obscenity, or inhumanity.

• In Israel, men and women were to be considered equally human, made in the image of God. (Gen 1:27)
• However, because the female is considered to be the weaker vessel, (1Pet 3:7) the female is to be protected.
• We see that protection in this passage in Exodus, where the female is protected against evil.
• Why did God provide this type of protection specifically for females?
• It is because of Eve’s original sin that women are considered the weaker vessel; prone to spiritual deception, and in need of protection.
• God mercifully provided that protection in many places in the Law, of which this passage is only one.
• God’s New Testament view of women:
• In the Old Testament, Israel had a higher view of women than any other nation.
• In the New Testament, through Jesus Christ, the status of women is raised to an even higher standard than in Old Testament Israel. This status of women in the New Testament was the highest view of women than either the Greeks or the Romans.
• In Jesus Christ, the curse from the fall of Adam and Eve is removed from the body of Christ. (Gen 3:13)
• Therefore, in Jesus Christ, men and women are equal as believers in the kingdom of God. (Gal 3:28)

• Read Exo21:12-36 The Law and Personal Injury
• This passage tells us the Law in regards to various aspects of personal injury. We can divide it into various sections:
• Acts of homicide. (12-14)
• There are two kinds of murder covered in the Law:
• Pre-meditated murder
• Justifiable homicide or manslaughter
• God values life as the highest expression of His creation made in God’s own image. Man’s life is God’s property, and God gives man his life to use for a number of years.
• Therefore, through the Law of Moses, God required a life for the killing of another person. Pre-meditated murder is, therefore, a capital crime under the Law.
• This provision reinforces the covenant God previously made with Noah that required a life for a life. (Gen 9:6)
• For the death of a person by accidental manslaughter, God provided 6 cities of refuge in the promised land to which a person could seek refuge from punishment. (Jos 20)
• Violence to parents (15, 17)
• The mistreatment of parents either by striking them or cursing them was a capital crime punishable by death.
• This punishment indicates to us the supreme importance God placed on respect for parental authority.
• Kidnapping (16)
• It was a common practice to kidnap people, and especially children, and sell them into slavery in the same way as Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery in Egypt.
• Under the Mosaic Law, this was a crime punishable by death.
• However, it only referred to kidnapping another Jew. Therefore, God is protecting the unity of his people.
• God values and provides protection for children.
• Quarrels resulting in injury (18-19)
• Injuries that did not result in death were punished by restitution of money to pay for the person’s injury and time lost.
• In other law codes of other cultures in the Middle East, there was usually class distinctions in regards to punishment. In other words, those people of a higher class in society were worth more and the punishment was greater for his injury.
• The Law of Moses given by God does not display any class distinctions. All people were considered equally guilty or equally innocent under the Law no matter what his position in society.
• Injury to servants (20-21, 26-27)
• Slaves or servants were not considered “property” but were human beings with dignity.
• The Mosaic Law protected servants and slaves from cruel and violent beatings by overbearing masters in authority over them. In this way, a master’s control and power over a slave was limited to protect the slave or servant.
• Injuries to pregnant women (22-25)
• God’s provisions for the protection of pregnant women demonstrates to us God’s view of an unborn baby.
• Through the Bible God considers the unborn child a human being of equal value to a child already born. Therefore, the punishment for the death of an unborn child is the same as the death of a living child or an adult.
• The father of the child and the judges determined the amount of compensation for injury.
• Death was the penalty for pre-meditated murder.
• “Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, Burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.”

(24-25)

• This statement is called the law of reciprocity.
• This statement in the Mosaic Law is often considered barbaric by many in today’s society even though it is the basis of our original justice system. While it was often practiced literally and is still literally practiced today in some Muslim countries, the basic concept given by God is that of perfect justice.
• The Principle of Perfect Justice:

We can restate this verse and say that the punishment should fit the crime as perfectly as justice can determine it. This was God’s intent.

• Governments and societies have violated this principle in the extreme:
• European countries used to imprison a man for life for stealing so much as a loaf of bread.
• In the United States, we can think of many cases where people have escaped any punishment for the crime of murder.
• The purpose of government is to protect society by dispensing justice. (Rom 13:3-4)
• Injuries and death caused by domestic animals (28-32)
• There were two aspects of this law in regards to the death of a person:
• Accidental death of a person by another’s animal.
• The death of the animal was required.
• The death of a person caused by another’s animal as result of the owner’s negligence.
• The death of the animal and the death of the owner were required.
• However, because it was due to negligence, it was not pre-meditated murder, and the man could redeem his life by the payment of money. (30)
• Notice the payment of 30 shekels of silver (32). This was the redemption price for a slave.
• This amount reminds us of the amount Judas received for the betrayal of Jesus Christ. It was the redemption price of a slave.
• Injuries caused by negligence (33-36)
• These verses refer to cattle and oxen that belonged to the Jews because these were valued possessions in that economy.
• Wells and cisterns were common in Israel and the owner or frequent user was responsible to keep it covered.
• Laws governing injuries and accidents to another person’s possessions tell us that in the kingdom of God, individual rights to the possession of property were important.
• In other words, communism where the state owns everything is not compatible with God’s economy and right of personal possession.
• Summary and application:
• Through this chapter we see the following aspects of God’s perfect justice:
• God’s value on human life whether born or unborn, slave or free, male or female, old or young.
• There is no other legal code in the world that displays this exalted concept of human life equally through all levels of society.
• The Law provided protection for the innocent, for the weak, for the vulnerable, for the young, and for the old.
• God’s value on the ownership of personal property.
• The right of ownership carries with it man’s responsibility to restrict his rights in order to protect others in society.
• In the last half of this chapter we see God mention certain capital crimes that require the death of the guilty person.
• What was capital punishment supposed to accomplish?
• It was to impress upon man God’s value on human life and God’s value on the family as the building block of the nation.
• It was to protect the welfare of society in general.
• Capital crimes listed in this chapter were:
• Pre-meditated murder.
• Violence to parents.
• Kidnapping.
• The crimes listed in the last half of this chapter that were not punishable by death are these:
• Justifiable homicide or manslaughter.
• Personal injury.
• Personal injury caused by a person’s personal possessions.
• Application:
• Jesus Christ is perfect justice and in Him we are supposed to live our lives with respect for human life, protection of the weak, and personal responsibility toward other people in society.
• Read Mat 22:36-40

HOMEWORK
EXODUS 22
This is a self-study. Please do not send homework answers to the teacher forcorrection.

• Application for Exo 21
• In which areas has an understanding of this chapter changed your attitudes regarding:
• Slavery?
• Capital punishment?
• Perfect justice?
• Abortion?
• The position of parents in society?
• Personal responsibility in society?
• Love as a fulfillment of the Law?

• Preparation for Exo 22
• Before

reading Exo 22, write what you think should be the punishment for the following crimes:

• Theft by a person who has no money:
• Killing a thief in the midst of his burglary:
• Arson:
• Rape:
• Taking advantage of widows and orphans:
• Charging excess interest for a loan:
• Read Exo 22:1-31
• Now list God’s punishment for those same crimes:
• Theft by a person who has no money:
• Killing a thief in the midst of his burglary:
• Arson:
• Rape:
• Taking advantage of widows and orphans:
• Charging excess interest for a loan:
• Memory Verse: Proverbs 14:35