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The filet mignon of the world, part 18, The law of slavery

The law of God makes every man liable for his own sin, whether this results in the demand for restitution or the death penalty. Even so, a man’s sin may certainly affect others. For example, if a man lacks the resources to pay the required restitution, his entire family and estate may be sold in order to pay his debt. So we read in Matthew 18:24, 25,

²⁴ When he had begun to settle them, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. ²⁵ But since he did not have the means to repay, his lord commanded him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment to be made.

In those days, one’s property was his main asset and was valued according to its ability to produce barley. We see this in Leviticus 27:16,

¹⁶ Again, if a man consecrates to the Lord part of the fields of his own property, then your valuation shall be proportionate to the seed needed for it; a homer of barley seed at fifty shekels of silver.

Yet if, after the sale of his property, there is still more debt to be paid for his sin, he is to be sold into bondage. If he is between the age of 20 and 60, he is valued at fifty shekels of silver (Leviticus 27:3). A woman of this age is valued at 30 shekels (Leviticus 27:4). A boy from 5-20 is valued at 20 shekels; a girl is valued at 10 shekels (Leviticus 27:5).

God’s Ownership and Man’s Stewardship

These commercial valuations have nothing to do with anyone’s intrinsic worth as a person but are based on the value of their labor in an agrarian society. In fact, no one had the authority to sell anyone’s humanity itself, because humanity itself was owned by the Creator alone. Their value was priceless.

The distinction between human worth and commercial value is seen in the fact that slavery in God’s Kingdom was limited. A slaveowner did not have the right to mistreat a slave (Exodus 21:26, 27). Furthermore, slaves were to be released during the Sabbath years without forcing them to pay for their own release (Exodus 21:2). It was presumed, of course, that the people actually observed their Sabbath land rests. In a Sabbath year, slaves were not to be required to sow and reap crops. Leviticus 25:11 says,

¹¹ You shall have the fiftieth year as a Jubilee; you shall not sow, nor reap its aftergrowth, nor gather in from its untrimmed vines.

The point is that God regulates slavery according to His right as their Creator. Slaveowners did not enjoy absolute rights over their slaves, and this is the primary difference between God’s slavery laws and man’s slavery laws. Men’s laws make no distinction and invariably ignore God’s rights as the Creator of all men and women.

In fact, even in so-called Christian nations throughout the past, church law has also ignored God’s rights, giving slaveowners sexual rights as well as the right of life and death over his slaves. This great transgression was caused by the church’s ignorance of God’s law, even though they usually justified slavery by pointing to God’s law.

But in the end, God’s laws on slavery are rooted in God’s sovereign rights as the Creator. God retains full sovereignty over that which He created, and man, being subservient to God, is only a steward whose authority is limited. So Leviticus 25:23, 24 tells us,

²³ The land, moreover, shall not be sold permanently, for the land is Mine; for you are but aliens and sojourners with Me. ²⁴ Thus for every piece of your property, you are to provide for the redemption of the land.

In other words, the laws of redemption limit the right of men to sell their property. One cannot sell what someone else owns, for such sales are fraudulent. As a steward, man has the right to sell property on a temporary basis. Man is made of the dust of the ground, so he is part of God’s “land” or property. Hence, even if a man were to sell himself to the devil, his land would ultimately revert back to the Creator who has the right of ownership.

The Jubilee

This is one of the basic laws of the restoration of all things. Adam’s sin incurred a debt he could not pay, and so his wife and children and his entire estate (earth) were sold. But this sale was limited by the law of Jubilee, the law of grace that ends all debt and liens on property, even if more debt is still due.

In anticipation of this great Jubilee at the end of time, all of creation has been pictured eagerly awaiting the manifestation of the sons of God, knowing that they—the body of Christ—are God’s stewards and agents to bring about the redemption of all creation. Romans 8:19-21 says,

¹⁹ For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing [or manifestation] of the sons of God. ²⁰ For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope ²¹ that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

Creation was part of man’s estate that was sold into bondage to corruption. It was not sold “willingly” but was under man’s authority and was therefore subject to his commercial debt. Yet in the end, God will not lose His inheritance, because men lack the authority to sell what is not theirs. And when God’s inheritance is restored to Him, men’s inheritances too will be restored to them.

In the year of Jubilee, “each of you shall return to his family” (Leviticus 25:10). There are family units within larger families, such as tribes and nations. Paul comments in his famous prayer in Ephesians 3:14, 15,

¹⁴ for this reason I bow my knees before the Father, ¹⁵ from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name.

Father-God has named every family in heaven and on earth. This establishes His sovereignty in the same way that Adam was given authority to name the animals in Genesis 2:19,

¹⁹ Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name.

Naming rights are given to the one in authority. So when Paul speaks of every family deriving its name from Father-God, it establishes God’s right to name them. A name describes nature or characteristic or calling. Therefore, every family in heaven and earth has a God-given calling, which will be fulfilled at some point in history. Since most of these families fail to fulfill their callings during their life on earth, they will have to do so after they are raised from the dead.

This is one of purposes of resurrection preceding the Age of Judgment, during which time, all will be subjected to the reign of Christ and His body. Those who reign with Christ will have the authority to direct them and instruct them in how to fulfill their callings. At the end of that time of judgment, when all things have been put under the rule of Christ, and when all have come fully into agreement with His nature, then Christ will turn over the entire creation to His Father, so that God may be “all in all” (1 Corinthians 15:28).