Slavery
Deuteronomy 15 deals
with two concepts: poverty and slavery.
Let’s deal with slavery first, since it is the most controversial but
also the most easily dealt with. And I’m
going to make a horribly controversial comment.
You cannot read this chapter and make the argument that God despises all
forms of slavery. Within this chapter we
absolutely have a means for legitimate slavery to occur.
However, we should
also take steps to understand that the kind of slavery spoken of here is
substantially different than how the world has typically defined slavery. The kind of slavery spoken of here begins
with the person being enslaved voluntarily committing his life underneath another
person who seems capable of caring for them.
In many respects, the kind of slavery spoken of here is not too
different than a person who signs a contract to work for an employer for their
whole life. They agree to work loyally
in exchange for the “employer” providing the means for their family to survive.
That concept of
slavery is substantially different than most forms of slavery in this
world. I do think it is fair to say that
God absolutely has an issue when we treat other human beings like
property. God does have a problem with
beating people just because they aren’t of the same social status as
another. God certainly has a problem
with any economic system in which the employer/owner or the employee/slave do
not have a fair exchange of services and goods.
God does not approve of any system that takes advantage of those who
should be our brothers and sisters.
So please take this
last paragraph to heart when you read this chapter. God approves of the specific kind of slavery
where the slave volunteers to be a lifelong slave and where the slave receives from
the master a legitimate promise of protection and livelihood for the slave’s
family. God does not approve of a system
of slavery that abuses and takes advantage of fellow human beings. After all, it was that kind of slavery
against which the Hebrew people cried out in Egypt!
This is why I can say
that the world’s concept of slavery is an abomination to God. But there is nothing wrong with a person
taking an oath to be loyal to another in exchange for the other providing the
means to live. Against that kind of
“equal-exchange slavery” God has no problems.
This type of volunteer slavery is acceptable to the Lord.
The Poor
The second topic
within this chapter is that of the poor.
Within this chapter we hear two statements. “There will be no poor among you” (v. 4) and
“There will never cease to be poor in the land” (v. 11). What are we to make of these seemingly
contradicting statements?
First, understand one
as the ideal and the other as reality.
The land is so plentiful that if we actually obeyed God’s ways as He
decrees them (v. 5) then we could provide everyone with what they truly need to
live. If we never had human greed
entering the picture then we could provide for everyone. That is the ideal.
However, we do have
people who succumb to greed. We have
people that stockpile everything: food, money, clothing, etc. Because we choose to stockpile, we
necessarily create a system where there are “haves” and “have nots.” Furthermore, our society is full of people
who would rather steal than honestly work.
That only makes it more the case of “haves” and “have nots” – especially
when it is the “haves” who steal from the “have nots.” {Yes,
I’m talking about the government officers who feel the ability to raise their
own salaries while cutting jobs and services across their districts of election
among others.}
If everyone focused
on taking only what they needed to accomplish God’s will for them in their
life, we would have no poor. But as long
as we have people who are neither concerned with doing God’s will nor only
taking what they need to accomplish God’s will then we will have social strata
in which the poor exist. It is a
reality.
So, where do we go
from there? We live in a broken world in
which the poor exist. Those poor who are
in legitimate need should be helped.
Those “poor” who are more interested in stealing and scamming the world
than being a legitimate contributor to the world are a more difficult
case.
We should give
knowing that God desires us to give and that God will judge all – whether they
were in legitimate need or just scamming the system. I think that is the spirit of the advice
where we are told that we should give without considering how long it is until
the “Sabbath Year.” We give without
considering if we will get it back. We
give and let God sort out the details.
Yet, we should also
not be taken advantage of because when we are scammed we have less to hand out
to the poor who legitimately need it. It
is a conflict I find myself continually struggling against in my life. When it comes to the poor, I often find
myself in a catch-22 many times.
I suppose I will end
on some sort of attempt for good advice.
Give when God tells you to give.
Give when the Holy Spirit leads you to give. If it is a legitimate gift, God will remember
the way you demonstrated His love through your actions. If in your generosity you happen to be
scammed, God will still remember the generosity of your heart and deal with
those who took in His own way. We are
called to give, however. So we
should. Remember the poor, the widow,
the orphan, and those in need.
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