If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he shall go free, without paying anything. – Exodus 21:2

Today’s Scripture Reading (August 31, 2018): Exodus 21

Abraham Lincoln said that “Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves.” If we cannot allow others to be free, then how do we ever think that we will be free. Slavery still exists in even the most advanced corners of the world; it just sometimes looks very different from the way it looked in antiquity. Advanced nations who do not take care of the most vulnerable among them, or who exhibit a wide gap between the rich and poor, are still involved in slavery. When we refuse to take care of the health needs of the people because of the cost, then slavery abounds. Whenever one group of people is put down at the expense of another, we have slavery.

And sometimes the groups are not noticeable. While race struggles still exist, the truth is that in the cultural west, often our slaves are of the same race as the slave owners. Derogatory labels often highlight the slaves within our own people groups. Money is the overriding factor, and from money, we will not be moved.

Often, we blame the Bible for its stand on slavery, and yet that blame is misplaced. No, the Bible does not prohibit owning a slave. But slavery existed long before Moses, and what the Bible does do is set limitations on slavery. The Bible is clear; slaves are to be treated like people, and not property. And for Hebrew slaves, lifelong slavery was not permitted.

In Hebrew culture, there was essentially four ways to become a slave. The first was extreme poverty; you could sell yourself into slavery and direct the money you received for whatever purpose you required. Second, a father might sell his daughter into slavery with the hope that she would eventually marry into the family. Third, in the case of a bankruptcy, a person may become a slave of the ones to whom he owed money to pay off the debt. And lastly, a criminal (mainly a thief) might be placed in slavery if he had no other way to make restitution to the ones from whom he had stolen.

But no matter how you got into slavery, if you were a Hebrew inside of Hebrew society, then your slavery had an expiry date. You could re-up if you wanted, but your slavery could only last six years.

Every once in a while we hear great stories about those who have made it inside of our society. But the truth is that very few get to live the “American Dream” of going from rags to riches; few get to move from their slavery to being a member of the ownership class. For most people in our culture, slavery is a lifelong occupation and not one with a six-year limit. People are born into poverty and live in poverty for the rest of their lives. And ultimately, the only way we can end slavery is by finding a way to close the gap between the rich and the poor. And if we can’t, then ultimately we may find that we don’t deserve the freedom (and money) that we crave, and our society will fail.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Exodus 22