In Reference to Slavery

I will be honest, this is not a subject I desire to debate. It is very difficult for me to wrap my mind around the institution of slavery. I have prayed for God's leading and sought counsel this week concerning this most sensitive subject. One person, who I know digs deep into the Word said something to me I feel bears repeating. I will paraphrase:

We need to read everything in the Bible with one main thought mind: everything God did was for the good of His children. He would never do anything that was not in their best interest. Therefore, when we read, if something seems harsh or mean-spirited to our 21st century thinking, we should dig deeper and read it again with more intent to see the benefit in the scripture.

I followed my friend's great counsel and reread the scripture with fresh eyes, I dug deeper, and come to new understanding of what God was doing when He made stipulations in the law for slavery.

Through my digging, I understand that slavery was happening without God's consultation on the subject. Therefore, God through His sovereignty, protected those who were enslaved or would become enslaved by assigning laws. These laws and all the laws outlined in the Pentateuch (Genesis-Deuteronomy) are referred to as the Mosaic Law. (Moses) Like all law God gave, the law concerning slavery was meant to protect and provide for a better life.

After rereading the scripture passages I can see this truth. The scripture that was hardest for me to understand was verse 44 concerning foreign slaves. There were foreigners living and traveling among the Israelites. John MacArthur said this concerning verse 38-44, "Israel was to either drive out or destroy (i.e., slavery was a humane option) and those who came to Israel in the Exodus from Egypt.” Slavery gave these individuals certain rights and protection through law. Not to mention the exposure to a real God, with real power, and real authority when compared to the pagan, powerless gods they worshiped.

The bottom line here is that we must trust and have faith in the sovereignty of our Lord, not leaning on our own limited and finite understanding of things as we see them.

I found an article concerning this subject that was easy to read and very informative. I will tell you the first paragraph says something that made me want to stop reading but I felt prompted to continue. I am glad I did. If you have time, hop over to read it, only skimming the first paragraph. Is God into Slavery?