Let me give you my subject this
morning, kind of lay out our outline. I want to speak this
morning on the subject, the Bible and slavery. The Bible and slavery,
or bondage slash freedom, how one thing is a type of something
else, how slavery became a type of our bondage in sin. So we'll
tie those together, God willing, along the way. But here's our
text. First of all, in Exodus chapter
21, let's read the first six verses. This is just one of several
passages in the Old Testament that have to do with our subject. Then going to John chapter 8,
beginning in verse 30 at that place. All right, here is Exodus
chapter 21 and verse 1 through 6. Now these are the judgments
which thou shalt set before them, and the first one is this. If
thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve, and in
the seventh he shall go out free for nothing. If he came in by
himself, he shall go out by himself. If he were married, then his
wife shall go out with him. If his master hath given him
a wife, and she hath borne him sons or daughters, the wife and
her children shall be her masters, and he shall go out by himself. And if the servant shall plainly
say, I love my master, my wife, and my children, I will not go
out free. Then his master shall bring him
unto the judget. He shall also bring him to the
door or unto the doorpost. And his master shall bore his
ear through with an awl, and he shall serve him forever. Now, in John chapter 8, verse
30 through verse 36, And he spake these words, many believed on
him. Then said Jesus to those Jews
that believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples
indeed. And ye shall know the truth,
and the truth shall make you free. They answered him, We are
Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man. How sayest
thou ye shall be made free? Jesus answered them. Watch this. Verily, verily, I
say unto you, whosoever commit a sin is the servant of sin. We'll study that word later.
And the servant abideth not in the house forever, but the son
abideth ever. If the Son, therefore, shall
make you free, you shall be free indeed. Now watch verse 34 again. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. Now, let me in
the beginning do perhaps an unusual thing, and that is I would like
to establish in the beginning a premise. I would like for us
to establish this premise, and then we will work off of the
premise during the course of our study. And that will be prominent,
especially in the last part of our study. And the premise is
this, that there are many things and many persons and many events
in the Old Testament that are typical of better things that
were to come in the New Dispensation and in the appearance of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Now, in Colossians chapter 2
and verse 16 and 17, you read, these things were shadows or
were types. You see it again in Hebrews chapter
10 and verse 1. And you'll find it again in Hebrews
chapter 8 and verse 5. that those things under the Mosaic
dispensation were typical. Such things as animal sacrifices
and the shedding of their blood was a type of the sacrifice and
the shedding of the blood of our blessed Lord. The priesthood
in the Old Testament, both the Melchizedekian and the Aaronic,
was a type of the great priesthood of our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ. Such things as day and night,
darkness and light, were typical of spiritual thing under the
Christian dispensation. You were sometimes darkness,
wrote Paul in Ephesians 5 and verse 8, but now are you light
in the Lord, so that even day and night, darkness and light
are typical of things under the Christian economy. Now there
were inanimate things also that were typical of something or
of someone spiritual under the New Dispensation. The ark, for
example, of Noah, and the tabernacle in the wilderness. Then there
were human types of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, such
as Adam, who was a federal head, David, who was a king, Moses,
a deliverer, Boaz, a kinsman redeemer, Melchizedek, a type
of the priesthood of our Lord, and Joseph. And we could add
Joshua and Jonah and Isaac and others. But then I want to come
to the final point, and that is to press nearer. There were
human conditions that were typical, not only inanimate things and
not only people, but there were human conditions that were clearly
typical of something to come in another time. Two of the most
prominent conditions that were typical, I shall name. Number
one, leprosy. We find in the scripture leprosy
to be a great type. And secondly, what we have read
this morning And that would be slavery. That both leprosy and
slavery are typical of something that has to do with a spiritual
matter. First of all, consider just for
a moment the disease or the condition of leprosy. Now we know from
the Bible history, medicine and such like, that it was a most
dreadful condition indeed. It involved much pain and much
misery and much suffering and brought one to a putrid outward
appearance and separation from the rest of the people, for the
leper was separated from and put out in a leper's colony outside
of the congregation. And so often it worked even under
death in that it was fatal. It was a horrible, horrible condition. And so often led to a horrible
suffering and death of the individual unfortunate enough to have it.
And the law of leprosy you have in Leviticus chapters 13 and
chapter 14. It goes in great depth into leprosy. And A. A. Bonar, who wrote a
little commentary on the book of Leviticus, wrote this, and
I'm quoting. Jehovah opens up sin under the
type of leprosy, unquote. Later he would add these words,
quote, the Lord sent forth such a disease on earth after the
fall to form a type of sin. And the workings of leprosy seem
appointed by him to show forth sin in all of its features, unquote. The words again, A. A. Bonar. It made a person unclean. The leper, when one had contracted
leprosy, he was declared to be unclean. And when he was cured,
the person was declared to be clean. Not sick and well, but
unclean Now, that's a good study in itself, but it is not our
present subject of the morning. The subject of the morning is
the second human condition that is prominently typical in the
Old Testament, is that condition of slavery. that as leprosy pictures
the corrupting foulness of sin, slavery is a picture of the enslaving
bondage of sin. That as sin corrupts, so does
it enslave. It corrupts as portrayed in leprosy. It enslaves as portrayed by slavery. And that, as sin, needs a divine
cure, so it requires a divine liberation. Not only a cure,
put it away, but a liberation and a freeing from the bondage
of sin. So I think we could probably
paraphrase the words of Bonner and apply to slavery what he
applied unto leprosy. That leprosy opens up the bondage
of sin under slavery, or rather that Jehovah opens up the bondage
of sin under slavery. That it is a perfect type of
the bondage of sin. It is pictured well. And until
one comes and delivers or redeems, one is under bondage. Then let us come at it also this
way, under two heads, if we might. First, by considering the institution
of slavery, both in human history and from the scripture. And then
secondly, by considering the enslaving power of sin. Now, concerning civil slavery,
there are some facts to consider that will help us get over the
initial shock of the idea of slavery, such as, if we might
remember, number one, All kinds of people in past history have
been slaves. Over the time of history, there
have been all kinds of people in all countries and places and
nationalities that have been called slaves, if you will. Not just black people have been
slaves over time, but many of the Hebrews under the Mosaic
dispensation fell under or into a condition of slavery. They were sold into slavery by
one cause or another. In the Roman Empire, at the time
of the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, in that time in
history, there were many, many slaves, many people that were
slaves in that day. Some historians and writers have
said there were more slaves in some places than there were free
men. Secondly, as we shall see, the
existence of slavery was sanctioned under the Mosaic Law. There was a provision for it
under the Mosaic Law and regulations governing it during that period
of time or history, as seen here in the Exodus 21 passage of Scripture. Thirdly, I want us to notice,
you have not forgotten this surely, Abraham, the fleshly father of
the Jew, and the spiritual father of them that believe, had slaves
under his authority. Abraham was a slaveholder, and
you can see that in one place in Genesis chapter 14, and that
was before the Mosaic institution was ever established. Some bought,
some were raised up in his very own house, Genesis 17, 13, and
then a couple of facts regarding Abraham as a slaveholder. You will find in Genesis chapter
17, when God gave to Abraham the covenant of circumcision,
as it is called in Acts chapter 7 and verse 8, it included the
command to Abraham that he also circumcise the slaves that were
in his house. Genesis 17, 13, but again down
in verse 26 and verse 27. But then, B, the next thing we
want to note is, in Genesis chapter 24, when Elisha, who was the
chief servant in the house of Abraham, the chief steward, I
believe, we might call him. That's in Genesis 15, verse 2
and verse 3. whom Abraham was willing to make
his heir. He said to God, why cannot this
one in my house, my chief steward, be mine heir? For he was born
in the house of Abraham, Genesis 15, 2, and again in verse 5. But when Abraham sent forth his
servant, on the errand to retrieve or fetch a bride for his son
Isaac, wherein the providence of God shines so brightly in
guiding every part of that matter. And when the servant Elisha talks
to the family of the wife to be brought unto Isaac. When the servant Elisha sums
up the blessings of God upon his master Abraham, he names
something very interesting, and you'll see it in Genesis 24 and
verse 35. He said, the man who becomes,
or rather the woman who becomes the bride of my master's son,
such things God hath blessed him with as flocks, herds, silver,
gold, and watch this, and manservants and maidservants. a blessing
of Almighty God. Male and female servants were
under the direction of Abraham and therefore would become instrumental
and a blessing in Isaac's life. They were also some given unto
him by Abimelech, if you'll study in Genesis 20 and verse 14. And some were given unto him
by Pharaoh in Genesis chapter 12 and verse 16. So Abraham was blessed by God
with manservant and maidservant. And then later, In Genesis 26,
13, and 14, the same thing is said of Isaac. He had possession
of herds and of flocks, quote, and a great store of servants,
unquote, to work his holding, some given unto him by Abraham
his father, Genesis 25 and verse 5. So the conclusion is this.
Both Abraham and Isaac were slaveholders, the first two prominent people
of the Jewish nation. By the way, you might remember
the young Jewish maid that ministered unto Naaman the leper sent him
to the prophet of God in Samaria. She was a captive maid. She was taken as the spoils of
war, and she was a house servant unto the wife of Nahum. And you'll
find that in 2 Kings chapter 5. Now next, in the fourth place,
let's consider a passage found in Genesis chapter 9, which is
important unto the account, especially verse 24 through verse 27 in
that place. It is important because it is
the first mention in the scripture of the origin of slavery. For though Noah had lain drunk
and naked in his tent, yet these being the words of Noah are not,
however, drunken babblings, but they are to be put in the category
of prophetical utterances as seen in the way that they're
played out in history. And Noah's words are strong against
Canaan, his grandson. And when the sin of his father
was visited upon him, Noah said this, a servant of servants shall
he be unto his brethren. A servant of servants shall he
be unto his brethren. Gil said on the words that they
mean, the most mean abject servant as the phrase implies, unquote. Now, let's not forget something
else. The slave woman, Hagar, you remember her, whom Paul calls
in the New Testament, the bond woman in the Galatian epistle,
chapter four, verse 22 through verse 31. And he builds an entire
allegory upon her and upon Sarah. In that great allegory, explaining
bondage and liberty. And the fact that Hagar was a
house slave gave Paul a very powerful way to argue against
justification by law. But we've no time to pursue that
now. at the present. Then let's go
to a fifth point that we want to emphasize. We saw how slavery
was sanctioned under the law of Moses or the old economy. But many have missed, perhaps,
and even overlooked the fact it is mentioned and is dealt
with also in the Decalogue or the Ten Commandments or the Moral
Law. The slaves are mentioned twice
in the giving of the Decalogue or the Ten Commandments. Maybe
we read over it without ever noticing it. But in the fourth
commandment, That's the one dealing with the Sabbath day. Exodus
20 and verse 10, regarding the Sabbath day, God commanded, all
labor was to be ceased upon that day, including, quote, the manservant
and the maidservant, unquote. Even the manservant, the slave
man and the slave woman was to not do any labor on that day. Now, the second mention is in
Exodus 20 and verse 17, and it has to do with the 10th commandment,
thou shalt not covet. Now, it forbid certain desires. Thou shalt not covet. Covet what? Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's
wife, thy neighbor's goods, and then it also adds thy neighbor's
manservant and maidservant. You are not to covet or desire
to have them. Now, what else we might draw
from these laws? One thing is clear. Well, make
that two things. A, the moral law recognized that
there were those that were in bondage or in servitude or that
were slain. And then B, such was not condemned. It was not forbidden by the moral
law. There was no command to emancipate
them, though there were provisions for an Israelite to get his freedom
out of slavery once he was there. as another redeeming them, for
example. Another could redeem them out
of their slavery and out of their bondage, like Boaz did Ruth in
that wonderful little book of Ruth as the Goel or the kinsman
redeemer, or after seven years went free or went free in the
year of Jubilee, which occurred every 50 years. Now we also read
that a slave might have wife and children, that is, a family. And in the text from Exodus chapter
21, if such a Hebrew be bought, he was to serve six years, then
go out free. the second verse if he had a
wife when he was bought then she went out with him when he
went out verse 3 however if his master had provided him a wife
and they bring four children when the man goes out free, the
master retained the wife, the woman, and the children. And
that was in verse 4 that we read in that passage. Then in verse
5 and verse 6, another provision is opened for the slave and the
master. And that is, if the Hebrew slave
had come to love and reverence his master, his wife, his children,
his family, he might decline his freedom, then the master
could request a public hearing, a gathering together of the magistrate,
and in their company as a witness bore the ear of the slave with
an awl, and he become a perpetual servant unto that man. Some see
in this last act a type of the Lord Jesus Christ who submitted
willfully unto the will of God and performed it and did all
of his pleasure. Now there were provisions in
the Mosaic Law for one to be freed from being a servant who
upon some account had become a slave. And what is this called? It is called redemption. When
a slave was freed, when he was taken out of that bondage and
became a free man, it was by an act of redemption. See it in Leviticus 25 and verse
47 through 55. There's a rather lengthy passage
there dealing with that matter. And as a side thought, you'll
see it again in Nehemiah chapter 5 and verse 1 through 5, if you
care to put that down and study it later. Now, by the way, the
deliverance from Egyptian bondage was also referred to as a redemption. It is called a redemption. It is called that in Exodus chapter
6 and verse 6, I redeemed you. It is called that again in Deuteronomy
chapter 7 and verse 8 and other places, quote, the Lord redeemed
you out of the house of bondman from the hand of Pharaoh, king
of Egypt. Now, all of that having been
said, surely someone will say, well, these are Old Testament
scriptures that you have used, and this happened under the old
economy. Let us hear what the New Testament
has to say upon the matter, for surely there are many that will
reason like this. Surely the Lord Jesus Christ
repealed the law of slavery in Moses' law. If not, the apostles
did, or the New Testament scriptures certainly do that. Now, here's
what we find, therefore, in studying the subject from the New Testament. That is that slavery is frequently
mentioned in the New Testament. But the practice is not condemned. It is mentioned frequently, the
practice is not condemned. I'll go on to say, there were
many in the New Testament churches who worshipped that were slaves. And there were slave holders
in that same assembly or congregation. And they worshipped there, and
they worshipped together. as their Christian relation gave
them both a new perspective on their master and slave relationship. Both are instructed in the New
Testament epistle. Both the masters and the slaves
are addressed the New Testament epistle listen if you will this
time it is Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 5 Servants be obedient
to them that are your masters according to the flesh with fear
and trembling in singleness of your heart as unto Christ then
in the same epistle a little further down in Ephesians 6 and
verse 9, it addresses the master. And you master, do the same thing
unto them, forbearing threatening, knowing that your master also
is in heaven, with whom there is no respect of person. You'll see that again in Colossians
chapter 3 22 through 25 and chapter 4 and verse 1. There is a very
touching scene unfolded in the little book of Philemon, if you
prefer, in the New Testament. It was written by the Apostle
Paul while he were a prisoner in Caesar in the city of Rome,
and it was written to a fellow brother, a fellow Christian Philemon,
to entreat the latter in behalf of his runaway slave Onesimus. Philemon owned a slave, Onesimus. And Onesimus not only had run
away, but he had evidently stolen some of the goods of Philemon,
his master, who though a slaveholder, was a Christian man. And again,
we have to notice the providence of God, how it carried the day. It led to Onesimus coming to
Rome, came hearing the gospel that was preached there by Paul,
and he was converted under the ministry of Paul. And now Paul
is sending him back home to his master and with this letter in
his hand. But you notice in that little
epistle, he does not condemn slavery as an institution, And
he does not desire or require or demand that Onesimus set him
free. But he says, I'm sending him
back, not just as a servant, but also as a Christian brother,
and now more profitable unto thee than ever. But now let's
move to the second half, the antitype of this. Let's look
at the spiritual slavery of which civil slavery is in many things
typical. Beginning with a passage in John
chapter eight that we read, when the Lord spoke to them of slavery
and of freedom, and especially in verse 34, Whoso commits sin
is the servant of sin. Emphasis upon the word servant. pardon if you would, a short
digression for a word study. But I read that there are five
different words in the New Testament out of the Greek that are translated
into our English, particularly King James, by the word serva. There are five different words
that are translated in the New Testament as serva, doulos, diakonos,
oketes, theropion, probably mispronounced some of those. Now the most common
New Testament word translated serva out of the Greek is doulos. It is from that root word meaning
to bind or I bind. is the meaning of that word,
and it carries the thought of a bong, one in subjection, one
in subserviency, literally, if you will, a slave. That word
could have easily, in many places, been translated slave in the
New Testament. It's used over a hundred times
in the New Testament. We keep meeting with this word,
usually translated as servant. And it's the same word in John
8 and verse 34. Who commits sin is the servant,
the doulos, the slave of sin. It's the same word used by Paul,
Romans 1, 1, by Titus in 1 and 11, and by Peter in 2 Peter 1
and verse 1, and by Jude in verse 1 of his epistle to describe
themselves as the servants, the doulos of the Lord Jesus Christ. slave of Christ. Peter a slave,
a doulos of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now a person under the old economy
could fall into slavery in several different ways. We'll look at
them quickly. He could fall into slavery, could
become a slave by being captured as the spoils of war taken by
his captor and and made a slave. An Israelite could become a slave
through poverty if he became impoverished and could not support
himself or his family or his possession, or he defaulted upon
a debt He could also become one by being kidnapped, by being
born of a slave mother or father or parents, and even on occasions
volunteering to become a slave. In John chapter 8, the Jews took
great offense at the Lord, implying that they were in bondage and
not free, just like people do and would today. If you were
to tell people today that are not saved, that are not believers,
that they are the bond servants and they are slaves unto sin
and unto the devil, they would be offended. like Nicodemus. They thought he spoke of something
physical. They took it that he spoke of
a political bondage. And doing so, they denied their
very own history and the history of their country. And they were
even at that time under the Roman government and a yoke of bondage. They were not free. They were
under the dominion of the Roman government, the Jews were. And
the Lord spoke, however, of spiritual slavery under them, of the enslaving
nature and power of sin. He that commits sin is the slave
of sin. Would you say Who then is free,
for who does not commit sin? Everyone commits sin. But the
Lord, so says Robertson in his word pictures of the New Testament,
does not use the word that would refer to a single act of sin,
but he uses the tense, and Robertson calls it present active participle
is the tense of the Greek, referring to the continuous habit and principle
and commission of sin. Now as a point of comparison
or contrast, you have the opposite in John chapter 3 and verse 21. He that He that does truth. He that does truth. It's a like
expression, but of a contrary direction. Not one act of truth. Not truth one time. And not truth
now and then. But he that doeth truth continuously
as a habit or as a practice, he that walks in truth and lives
in accordance with truth, is the kind that is man. But he,
back to John 8, he that practices sin as a way of life is a doulos
of sin. He is a slave of sin. He is in
and under its power. He serves sin, as in Romans 6
and verse 8. With the flesh, he serves the
law of sin. Romans 7 25 said Paul. Paul describes the past life
of the Ephesians and of himself, if we were to turn to Ephesians
and the second chapter and read verses one through three of the
Ephesian epistle. You who were dead in trespasses
and in sin, wherein in time past ye walked according to the course
of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air,
the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience,
among whom also we all had our conversation in time past in
the lusts of the flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and
the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as
others. From this we learn we were dead,
in trespasses, and in sin. We formally lived according to
the sins of the age. Our manner of life was in the
desires of the mind. We were the children of wrath,
even as others would have remained so, but God in his mercy quickened
us. Now, it is amazing that many
who oppose slavery think little of the worst form of slavery
that one can imagine. And that's the kind expressed
by the Lord unto those Jews in John chapter 8, that he that
lives in sin is the servant of sin. Now, this is said not to
raw pagans, and not to Gentiles even, not to raw pagan, but to
a people who considered themselves and were covenant children, sons
of Abraham, those having in their flesh his circumcision, practicing
Judaist they were in their day and time, yet telling them If
you do not imitate Abraham, you are not his true children. Abraham
saw my day and rejoiced and was glad. Now while all do not sin
equally, We want to make that clear. When we talk about sin
and its bondage, while all are sinners and all unregenerate
are slaves and bondages of sin, all do not sin to the same degree,
all do not commit the same sin, depending on the strength of
conscience and other restraints that might be brought to bear.
yet all are born in sin and shapen in iniquity according to Psalm
51 verse 4 and 5 and all give themselves over to the practice
of sin and shall do so until or unless The grace of God in
Jesus Christ emancipates them from their sin. Or hear the Lord,
the Son shall make you free, then are you free indeed. John 8, 36. Truly free. Really free. And then they are
slaves of Christ. When made free from sin, they're
not sent on their way to go out as they would. They become the
servants. They become the slave. They become
the bondmen and women of Christ. Paul tells or deals at some length
on these two forms of slavery. In the sixth chapter of Romans,
if you want to turn there, I'm going to read a few verses. found
in verse 14 through verse 22, and I must hurry. Romans 6 and
14. For sin shall not have dominion
over you, for you're not under the law, but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because
we're not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. Know ye not that to whom ye yield
yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye
obey, whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? But God be thanked. that you
were the servants, the doulos of sin, but you have obeyed from
the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered unto you.
Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. I speak after the manner of men
because of the infirmity of your flesh. For as you have yielded
your members servants, do-lost, slave, to uncleanliness and to
iniquity, even so now yield yourselves servants to righteousness and
to holiness. For when ye were the servants
of sin, ye were free from righteousness, What fruit had you then in those
things whereof now you are ashamed? For the end of those things is
dead. But now, being made free from
sin and become servants unto God, you have your fruit unto
holiness and the end everlasting life. Now there it is, bondage
and sin and slavery. These are instructions unto Christians
that Paul is giving to believers who have experienced the saving
grace of God. Now, what is the remedy for slavery? How shall we be delivered out
of bondage and become free? The answer is from three aspects
in the scripture. Number one, redemption. The delivery
from the Egyptian bondage is called redemption. Exodus 6. I will rid you out of their bondage. I will redeem you with a stretched
out arm. It's repeated in Deuteronomy
7 and verse 8. Israelite could be bought out
of servitude by another you'll find that Leviticus 25 48 Nehemiah
chapter 5 and verse 8 one who had the means could redeem a
slave out of his bondage paying what he owed or what was against
him now thirdly the elect are redeemed from the bondage of
sin by the redemption which is in Jesus Christ. We must remember
that redeem, redeemed, and redemption are words that have to do with
the paying of a price. Redemption is paying of a price
with a view to freeing the one out of bondage for whom the price
is paid, especially a slave or one in bondage who has no means
of his own to gain his own freedom. So the picture of redeeming or
ransoming is vivid. The Redeemer pays the price.
The Redeemer is Christ. The price is his life and his
blood. He gave his life and shed his
blood, a ransom for many. Matthew 20 and verse 28. In him
we have redemption. The ransom one is delivered. He is let go. He is set free
from the bondage of sin. and then adopted by the one who
ransomed him so that he becomes the servant of that redeeming
one. Now, here is a fact. Will this
shock you? Christ is a slave holder. Christ has many slaves. They are his. He bought them. He paid for them. He owns them. We see Paul, Peter, Jude, as
I reminded you, calling themselves slave. And all of the redeemed,
the same word, doulos, is you. Everyone is a slave. Everyone
is a slave of some sort, either to sin and the devil or to Christ
and righteousness. Christ is our master. He redeemed
us. He bought us out of bondage.
He freed us from our slavery, and we have become the servants
and the willing slaves of our Lord Jesus. I must quit, but
this redemption really brings into focus particular redemption. We don't have time to get into
that, but particular redemption is the only thing that answereth
to this matter of the redemption of Christ's people out of their
bondage and out of their slavery. Yes, he that commits sin, he
that lives in it is the slave of sin. But if the Son make you
free by buying you with his blood and redeeming you and regenerating
you and calling you by his effectual grace, then are you free indeed. We can see a great change has
come in the lives of the children of God.