Sabbath Law and Christian Freedom

 In the New Testament, many of the Christians were slaves. It is interesting that Paul does not completely abolish the Ten Commandments in his letters. 

Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, debauchery, 
idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, 

envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Gal 5:19–21 NRSVue

(See also 1 Corinthians 6:9–10.)

Paul forbids idolatry, adultery, theft, greed, etc., but in no letter does he forbid work on the Sabbath.

Why?

Many Christians were slaves. If a slave was ordered to work on the Sabbath, he could be killed on the spot for disobedience. 

Paul claimed that we must be faithful to the ethical principles in the Old Testament, but we are no longer like the Jews under the law. 

In the Roman Empire, slaves had no human rights. A slave was the property of his master, just like a tool or a donkey. Some slave owners valued their slaves as human beings, but they were not obliged to do so.

There was a woman from Canada in Saudi Arabia. Her husband was Arab. She wanted to leave him and return to her homeland, but she was not allowed to because in Arabia a wife is the property of her husband.

The situation is similar for young Arab women. If they emigrate and want to lead a free and independent life in the West, they can be abducted or murdered because they are considered the property of their father.

When I read in a Christian devotional that I belong completely and unreservedly to God. I felt intimidated. 

As a young Christian, I attended churches where the pastors ruled over the members in a very authoritarian manner. It was like the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages. If the priest or bishop condemned or excommunicated you, you thought you were lost and damned. 

I was excommunicated as a young Christian. I panicked and despaired. It took me years to learn that a pastor was not my master, that I was not an unemancipated child, that I did not have to tremble before God like a slave.

For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 
For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” Rom 8:14–15 NASB95

Abba means daddy or papa. 

What does it really mean to be God's property?

But Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me, And the Lord has forgotten me.” 
“Can a woman forget her nursing child And have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you. 

“Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; Your walls are continually before Me. Isa 49:14–16 NASB95

God Hates Cruelty

 Why does God allow such terrible suffering in this world? People blame God. Why does God allow cruel slavery? 

The Egyptian pyramids were built by slaves. In the so-called golden age of Ancient Greece, the citizens exercised democratic rights, but their wives lived at home under strict control. The beautiful buildings were built by slaves. The city government operated brothels. The prostitutes were slaves, and the money paid for their services was not given to the women.

Human trafficking and forced prostitution is still a huge international industry today.

Did God do this? Why blame God for the evil that men choose to practise? 

It is true that God permitted slavery in the bible, but the slavery that God authorised was very different from the brutal practices in Egypt, Greece and Rome and in the illegal brothels today.

The apostle Paul told Christian slaves to obey their masters. What was the alternative? A slave owner was legally entitled to kill a disobedient slave on the spot.

At the same time, Paul instructed Christian slave owners to treat their slaves kindly. This was a radical idea at the time.
But how did this world become so cruel in the first place? 

God created the first man and woman and gave them the authority to manage this world. They were supposed to be God’s junior partners in governing the natural world. 

Adam and Eve were created in the image of God. Since God has free will, Adam and Even must also have free will. Otherwise they could not be like God.

Some people doubt if this bible story is literally true, but even if you are not sure, it is obvious that we humans have turned away from God from the very beginning. God gave us humans the authority to manage the earth and without God we have messed it up very badly.

Jesus taught that we must love each other like brothers and sisters, to love our neighbour as ourselves.

So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. Mt 7:12 NIV

If everyone followed this teaching of Jesus, there would be no slavery, no prostitution, no domestic violence, no child abuse, no robbery or violence.

All these terrible things are what people choose to do, so why blame God?

Does God like slavery? 

Who led the political campaign against slavery in the British Empire. William Wilberforce, a committed Christian.

Who led the political battle to abolish cruel child labour in British factories? The Anthony Ashley Cooper, the Earl of Shaftsbury, another dedicated Christian.

God has not Forgotten You

 Are you at the end of yourself? Has God forgotten you?

In the Old Testament, the Jews were desperate. They had gone wrong. They still believed in God to some extent, but they had not taken God seriously.

God had commanded:

“You shall have no other gods before me. Ex 20:3 NIV

God had strictly forbidden the worship of idols.

But those who trust in idols, who say to images, ‘You are our gods,’ will be turned back in utter shame. Is 42:17 NIV

Apostate kings in Jerusalem had worshipped idols since Solomon's time, and the people copied the sins of their neighbours.

Many believed in the god Baal and the goddess Asherah, Baal's supposed wife. This religion was all about sex and fertility. The priestesses of Asherah were prostitutes. The men worshipped the goddess by visiting these prostitutes.

This also happened in God's temple. This was supposed to make the land fertile so that they would have a good harvest.

It's a bit different here today. Sex is worshipped, but not fertility.
Exactly the opposite. We want to have very few children, and there are no longer enough young people in Western Europe.

The Jews in the Old Testament cruelly slaughtered their children in order to gain the favour of the pagan god Moloch.

Abortion is sometimes needed to save the life of the mother but millions of unborn babies are killed for all kinds of reasons.

God's prophets had warned again and again, but most people did not want to take the warnings seriously.

The people had surrendered to the rule of the cruel false gods. Finally, they had to reap what they had sown.

At that time the officers of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon advanced on Jerusalem and laid siege to it … 2 Kings 24:10 NIV

Nebuchadnezzar's army conquered God's people and Jerusalem was occupied.

The Jews were deported en masse to Babylon, where many were enslaved.

But what does this ancient history have to do with us? Does slavery exist today?

You can find drug dealers everywhere. If you have an addiction, you are enslaved. Many young women end up in prostitution to buy drugs.

There are boys on the street who spend the night with gays to avoid freezing on the street.

When people are exposed to such terrible alternatives, we can speak of slavery without exaggeration.

How can God allow such suffering? God has given us free will as human beings. We can suffer because of our own flawed choices, or often because of the evil choices of others.

One of the young Jews who was taken away by Nebuchadnezzar was Daniel. He was very intelligent and of noble birth. Even as a teenager, he was enslaved and castrated.

But God loved Daniel and all the deported Jews. In the prophetic book of Isaiah, we see God's heart for the suffering Jews.

But Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me.”
“Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! Is 49:14–15 NIV

Daniel was determined to remain faithful to God in his miserable circumstances.

God sees your heart and His heart beats for you, as it did for Daniel. Daniel became the administrator of the government under Nebuchadnezzar and one of the greatest prophets in the Old Testament.

Are you in a mess where you can't see a way out?

God has not forgotten you. He loves his suffering daughters and sons, just as he loved Daniel.

God's love never gives up.

Victims Need Healing

 The Hebrews were slaves in Egypt for 400 years. Towards the end of this time, hardship became terrible agony. Finally their male babies were slaughtered by the Egyptians. Their life was unbearable and they cried out to God.

We could think of the refugees sacrificing everything to escape the agony of tyranny in North Korea, much worse than in the old East Germany.

When I was in Australia in 1972, I studied psychology at university. I read that quite a few immigrants from Eastern Europe after the war had psychiatric disorders, especially paranoia, that is, delusions of persecution.

When you feel threatened all the time, you can internalise fear in such a way that you see threats where there is no threat.

Panic can become a habit. With this extreme fear comes despair, depression, anger and hatred.

Persecuted slaves and captives are always afraid of betrayal because that is their life experience.

Trafficked prostitutes sometimes have the opportunity to report to the police, but they do not know whether a police officer is trustworthy or in league with the pimps.

We have read recently about children who were sexually abused in churches or religious schools. Who can these children trust? Who would they believe?

There are Christian women who are cruelly controlled by their narcissistic husbands. At home the abusers are arrogant and bossy, but at church they are radiant Christians.

When the wife leaves her husband, she is judged as the guilty one.

When people are broken, they not only need a deliverer to rescue them from captivity. They also need miraculous healing for their broken hearts.

In the story of Moses in Exodus, we see how God delivered the Hebrews through dramatic miracles. God punished the Egyptians with ten terrible plagues, but the Hebrews lived in another region, Goshen, and they were spared.

Then two million Hebrews were trapped in an ambush on the shore of the Red Sea. Pharaoh with his army had chased after them. Without a miracle, they were as good as dead.

There are Christians today who claim that God only ordained miracles for Bible times, but nor for us today, as if miracles were a special offer for a limited time only.

This religious idea is simply cruel, blasphemy. God is love. He does not change.

You don't need a miracle until you need a miracle.

There are so many broken and enslaved people today.

I know Christian women who visit brothels. In one year they discovered and freed four enslaved prostitutes.

Liberation from slavery is absolutely necessary, but it is not enough.

Where will you go after you die, heaven or hell? It makes no difference whether you lived in a brothel or a palace

But there are so many Christians who only know Jesus to some extent. They believe that their sins are forgiven and they hope to go to heaven after death.

But in the Bible we see Jesus as the healer and deliverer who completely transformed broken people. 

You may have been set free from abuse, but the aftermath of trauma is still a torment.

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. Psalm 147:3 ESV

It is not enough to save people from sin. They need care and healing for the aftermath of sin, from their own sins and from the sins of others who have tormented and broken them.

 

Are All God's Instructions for Ever?

The Bible does not explicitly say we should oppose slavery. In fact, several Bible texts command slaves to obey their owners.

The leader of the campaign to abolish slavery in the British Empire was William Wilberforce, an evangelical Christian. A prominent pioneer in the anti slavery movement in the USA was Charles Finney, the Billy Graham of his day. However, the slave owners righteously stood on the Word of God and accused the abolitionists of rebelling against Holy Scripture which they fervently quoted.

Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. Ephesians 6:5 (NIV)

If you study the spiritual principles of the Bible, it should become apparent that God intensely dislikes slavery.

“The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, Because the LORD has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound; Isaiah 61:1 (NKJV)

When the Hebrews were slaves in Egypt, God heard their cries and sent Moses to deliver them. 
In the New Testament, Paul said slave traders would not be accepted in heaven.

…fornicators, sodomites, slave traders, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to the sound teaching. 1 Timothy 1:10 (NRSV)

Why then, did Paul tell Christians to treat their slaves kindly but not necessarily to give them freedom?

The New Testament is God’s manifesto for the restoration of God’s glory but also human freedom, equality and dignity.

There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:28 (NRSV)

So does Paul not order all slaves to go free immediately? In the Old Testament and the New Testament God makes rules to make a bad society more equitable and humane but He does not step in personally and take over everything. That will happen in the future when Jesus returns to Jerusalem and rules the nations with a rod of iron.

In the Old Testament there are rules which are not nice at all.

No one whose testicles are crushed or whose penis is cut off shall be admitted to the assembly of the LORD. Deuteronomy 23:1 (NRSV)

Surely God Himself is authorising cruel discrimination against victims of abuse. However, God’s purpose was to prevent this abuse happening in the first place. In the pagan nations surrounding Israel, people would castrate boys, because eunuchs could be promoted to prominent positions as pagan priests or government officials.

God’s laws were made to regulate a bad world to make it less bad but they often do not reflect the ideal will of God.

When the Jews were invaded and taken into captivity in Babylon, the ablest noble born Jews were enlisted to become government officials in the Babylonian Empire, however this involved compulsory castration. It is probable that the great prophet Daniel was a eunuch but he was blessed and honoured by God.

Isaiah 39:5-7 (NRSV) 
5 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the LORD of hosts: 
6 Days are coming when all that is in your house, and that which your ancestors have stored up until this day, shall be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left, says the LORD. 
7 Some of your own sons who are born to you shall be taken away; they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”

When God says: “Love one another” he is giving instructions now and for ever.
When God says castrated males may not attend worship, he is giving a temporary injunction to prevent abuse.
When God says: “Slaves obey your masters,” he was not permanently endorsing slavery.

When Paul says,
“And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence.” 
1 Timothy 2:12 (NKJV)

…why should we assume this must be a command expressing God’s permanent judgement and eternal will?

Charles Finney was the first evangelical leader in America to campaign against slavery and also to promote women as full partners in preaching, ministry and Christian leadership. 
God’s agenda of restoring men and women it still a work in progress.