Chapter 6: Releasing Slaves

Earlier, Moses showed how all debtors were to be released during the Sabbatic year. Moses then addresses the issue of slavery during the Sabbatic year. He specifically addresses the issue of Hebrew slaves whose slavery was brought about by poverty and debt. He says in Deut. 15:12-15,

¹² If your kinsman, a Hebrew man or woman, is sold to you, then he shall serve you six years, but in the seventh year you shall set him free. ¹³ And when you set him free, you shall not send him away empty-handed. ¹⁴ You shall furnish him liberally from your flock and from your threshing floor, and from your wine vat; you shall give to him as the Lord your God has blessed you. ¹⁵ And you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you; therefore I command you this today.

Our interpretation of this passage must be consistent with the rest of the law, which Moses presumes that we already understand. He specifies Hebrew servants in this case, not to contrast them with foreigners who have joined themselves to the covenant of God, but foreigners who were conquered and enslaved against their will.

In either case, of course, the slave master ought to manifest the love of God and the mind of Christ to all men, slave or free. If they did so, it may not be long until life-long slaves became believers as well and might wish to remain in the Kingdom, rather than to return to their original homeland. Moses himself does not tell us what to do in such a case, but the answer is not hard to find in the spirit of the New Covenant.

Moses leaves it to the discretion of the slave master to deal with foreign slaves. Obviously, the slave master has the right to retain the slave or to set him free. His discretion also applies to the Sabbath year release. In a more perfect world, a slave master would teach him the ways of God, both by word and by example, and if he responded by faith in God, the slave master may well be led of the Spirit to set him free.

In other words, there is no law demanding that a foreign slave be kept in perpetual slavery. The law protects the property rights of Kingdom citizens, and also protects their right to set their slaves free. Beyond this, the law protects God’s rights as the ultimate Landlord (Lev. 25:23), including His ultimate ownership of all men who are made of the dust of the ground. For this reason, God had the right to legislate proper treatment of slaves, and any slave that was abused was to be set free (Exodus 21:26, 27).

Yet the law remains unclear on the distinctions between foreign and domestic slaves. In all such cases, it is the job of later prophets, Jesus, and the apostles to clarify the law. Even Moses himself had to seek clarification when such issues arose in his day—such as the Passover issue that needed clarification in Num. 9:1-14.

In mandating that a Hebrew slave must be set free in the Sabbatic year, Moses also leaves another point of law unclear. He does not distinguish between those who sold themselves on account of poverty and those who had incurred debt on account of sin. It is clear by the context, however, that Moses had the poor in mind and not those who had been sold into slavery on account of their inability to pay restitution (Ex. 22:3). After all, in the flow of Moses’ fourth speech, he had just talked about the poor of the land. Hence, this was his next point of law regarding their treatment of the poor.

Slaves are Joint-Heirs

Moses had told the people that they were to be generous with the poor, even if the Sabbatic year was drawing near. This is the way of life for the sons of God. In that context, he speaks of the Sabbatic year itself in relation to the poor of the land.

The clear implication is that an impoverished Hebrew man or woman in the Kingdom may find it necessary or preferable to sell his own land inheritance and join himself to a more prosperous family. Such an arrangement was to be limited to six years at a time, followed by a rest year, and afterward the same person is free to contract again if he wishes.

During those six years, the slave would have access to the resources of the master—food, housing, clothing, and whatever else was needed to live normally. The slave received no separate income, unless the master granted him an allowance for discretionary spending.

How to Release the Slaves

Moses’ concern in this passage was how the master treated the slave at the end of the six years, when it came time to release the slaves. Such a release meant that the slave was free to go, but it also meant that the slave had to support himself during the following year. Being released from the master’s authority also meant being released from responsibility to care for the slave. If slaves were released with no provisions and no money, their condition could be very serious indeed. Hence, Moses says in Deut. 15:13,

¹³ And when you set him free, you shall not send him away empty-handed.

While there is no penalty attached to this law, nor is there a specified amount of provision that must be given, the mind of Christ is set forth in this law very clearly. If the freed slave believes that the master has not sufficiently fulfilled the will of God, but has been too stingy, it is doubtful that he could find relief in the earthly court at the gate of the city. Perhaps the judges might talk to the stingy slave owner, but their authority was limited, because of the lack of penalties associated with the violation of this law.

The freed slave, however, could always appeal to the divine court and allow God to judge his case. The divine court is always available as a final Appeals Court when any man believes that he has been denied justice.

Even so, we are given one particular example of how God expected the slave masters to be generous in releasing their slaves. It is found in Ex. 12:35, 36, when the Israelites left their Egyptian slave masters:

³⁵ Now the sons of Israel had done according to the word of Moses, for they had requested from the Egyptians articles of silver and articles of gold, and clothing; ³⁶ and the Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have their request. Thus they plundered the Egyptians.

As many have pointed out, this was their back pay for many decades in which they labored without even being given Sabbatic years. This was God’s example of how to release slaves when the slave masters were reluctant. By the time the tenth plague had struck Egypt, the Egyptians were very generous, and, in fact, many Egyptians came out with the Israelites (Ex. 12:38).

And so, Moses had reason to remind Israel of the manner in which God had released them earlier. The slave masters in Israel were to follow His example that was evident at the time of their exodus from Egypt. Hence, Moses says in Deut. 15:15,

¹⁵ And you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you; therefore I command you this today.

Judah’s Refusal Brings Judgment

The sons of God minister the release of oppressed ones. Jeremiah and those who believed the word of the Lord that he spoke followed this law and desired that their nation would do the same. However, the people of Judah rejected this law of release, and because of this, God put them into slavery.

Just before the Babylonian army arrived, the prophet Jeremiah appealed to Judah to comply with this law. They had never truly kept a Sabbath year by releasing slaves. But God said that if they would release their slaves in that final Sabbatic year before the divine judgment was due, God would do the same for them and release them from the impending time of enslavement to Babylon.

It was the year 589-588 B.C., the 35^th year of their 17^th Jubilee cycle since Israel crossed the Jordan River under Joshua. The three-year siege of Jerusalem was about to begin. At this last minute, God told Jeremiah to go to King Zedekiah and tell him that God would spare the city if the people would just set their slaves free (Jeremiah 34). For all of their violations of the law, if they would just keep this one law as a good faith measure, then God would cancel their entire debt incurred by their sin. In Jer. 34:9 the prophet reminded them of the law,

⁹ that each man should set free his male servant and each man his female servant, a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, so that no one should keep them, a Jew [Judahite] his brother, in bondage.

Verse 10 says that they agreed to set the slaves free, but verse 11 says that afterward they changed their minds and refused once again to release their slaves.

¹¹ But afterward they turned around and took back the male servants and the female servants, whom they had set free, and brought them into subjection for male servants and for female servants.

Thus, they foolishly despised their golden opportunity to divert judgment. Slaves were so important to them that they were willing to disobey God and to violate His law in order to keep them. Because they refused to keep even this single law, God allowed the judgment to proceed as scheduled. Verse 17 gives the divine verdict:

¹⁷ Therefore thus says the Lord, “You have not obeyed Me in proclaiming release each man to his brother, and each man to his neighbor. Behold, I am proclaiming a release to you,” declares the Lord, “to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you a terror to all the kingdoms of the earth.”

The nation received God’s release. It was not a release from bondage, but a release of judgment. Further, because each year of release was designed to give the land itself a rest from its labor, God treated the land like an oppressed slave. Therefore, He released the land from its slavery at the hands of the taskmasters of Judah. We read in 2 Chron. 36:20, 21,

²⁰ And those who had escaped from the sword he carried away to Babylon; and they were servants to him and to his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia, ²¹ to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths. All the days of its desolation it kept Sabbath until seventy years were complete.

In my book, Secrets of Time, I showed how they owed God seventy years which they had refused to observe, and thus God sent them away, giving the land itself the 70-year rest that it had been denied.

Keep in mind that these slave owners were the same people who continued to worship God at the temple in Jerusalem. They worshipped God, but refused to obey any laws of God which interfered with their presumed right to oppress others. By contrast, the sons of God come (as Jesus did) “to proclaim release to the captives” (Luke 3:18). They practice this as a way of life, thus fulfilling the law of Moses. The law outlines the way of life which will be seen in the life of his sons, as the New Covenant promises.

Voluntary Slaves are Sons

After addressing the release of Hebrew slaves in the seventh year, Moses then makes an astounding statement in Deut. 15:16 and 17,

¹⁶ And it shall come about if he says to you, “I will not go out from you,” because he loves you and your household, since he fares well with you; ¹⁷ then you shall take an awl and pierce it through his ear into the door, and he shall be your servant forever. And also you shall do likewise to your maidservant.

It was the obligation of the master to set his slaves free in the seventh year. Yet it was also the right of the slave to refuse to leave. Consider the circumstances under which a slave might want to remain in the house of his master. Moses says that his motive is love, and this, in turn, is due to the fact that the master treats the slaves well and does not abuse them.

Does this not reveal the way of the sons of God? If slave masters live the life of Christ, their slaves will be the envy of all other slaves. In these few verses is revealed the heart of God in the law of slavery. Slavery was never meant to give masters the right to abuse their slaves or even to be served by slaves. Jesus said that true authority under God is the right and ability to serve others (Matt. 20:25-28). Whereas most slave masters demand that their slaves be willing to die for them, Jesus showed by example that slave masters ought to be willing to die for their slaves.

If a master has faith in God and has adopted the mind of Christ, he will love his neighbor as himself. He will treat slaves much like he treats his own children. If they need discipline to learn obedience, he will administer discipline without abuse, but all godly discipline is subordinate to the love in his heart. He does not lose sight of the purpose of discipline, which, by God’s example, is to bring spiritual maturity to those being disciplined.

No abused slave would want to extend his time of slavery, unless forced to do so by threat of a worse condition if he should leave. This law of perpetual slavery, then, is only relevant in the Kingdom of God or among those who truly live by Kingdom principles.

The astounding truth is that slavery in the Kingdom of God is not an evil thing, but is actually desirable. This is why Paul considered himself to be a perpetual bond slave of Jesus Christ (Rom. 1:1). He had found true freedom in being such a bond slave, because Jesus takes His bond slaves and turns them into His sons.

A master has the right to keep bond slaves, but he also has the right to treat them as sons and even to make them His heirs. A master has the full right to love his slaves. The only limitation on a master is that he has no right to command a slave to violate the law of God, nor does he have the right to abuse the slave.

Hence, when biblical slavery is practiced in a lawful manner by the mind of Christ, it results in godly discipline and training, resulting in full spiritual maturity as the sons of God. In other words, Kingdom slavery is beneficial to the slave, because it is administered by the second great law: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

A selfish master uses slaves to benefit himself. A loving master uses slaves to increase the scope of the Kingdom of God and to spread its love worldwide.

Discrimination Between Slaves

In later years the Pharisees and priests over-emphasized the fact that Moses had specified Hebrew slaves in this passage, as if this was meant to limit the application of this law. Yet first of all, it should be noted that a master had every right to treat non-Hebrew slaves with love and compassion. He was under no compulsion to love Hebrew slaves more than others. As the master of all the slaves, he had the lawful right to do as he pleased, as long as he did not abuse the slaves.

Hence, when we come to the New Testament, we see how Jesus interpreted the law to show compassion for Romans and Samaritans as well as his own countrymen. In fact, when a lawyer came to test Jesus on some of these points of law, he asked Jesus specifically what the law meant when it said to love your neighbor as yourself.

“And who is my neighbor?” he asked in Luke 10:29.

Jesus answered with the parable of the Good Samaritan and concluded with a question of His own in verse 36,

³⁶ Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers’ hands? ³⁷ And he said, “The one who showed mercy toward him.” And Jesus said to him, “Go and do the same.”

In other words, when we are commanded to love our neighbor as ourselves, we are commanded to be neighborly to everyone—including Samaritans, who were the people everyone loved to hate in those days. A neighbor was not merely a fellow Jew, or a fellow Israelite, or a fellow countryman of any kind. Jesus broadened the definition of neighbor to include all ethnic groups.

Opening the Ear

What about the practice of using an awl to nail a slave’s ear to the door in order to make him a perpetual slave?

This practice was to signify that one’s ear had been opened, and that the slave could fully hear and obey the voice of his master. We see this in the example of Jesus in His willingness to follow the plan of the Father, even if it meant dying on the cross for the sin of the world. For this reason we read the prophecy in Psalm 40:6-8,

⁶ Sacrifice and meal offering Thou hast not desired; my ears Thou hast opened; burnt offering and sin offering Thou hast not required. ⁷ Then I said, “Behold, I come; in the scroll of the book it is written of me; ⁸ I delight to do Thy will, O my God; Thy law is within my heart.”

This passage is a prophetic commentary on the law of perpetual slaves. When the slave’s ear is “opened” by the awl, he is joined to the Door, which is Christ (John 10:9). In fact, those who are truly in Christ are those who hear and obey His voice, for “the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name, and leads them out” (John 10:3).

Slaves who return after being released are saying prophetically, “Behold, I come… I delight to do Thy will… Thy law is within my heart.” In other words, the master no longer finds it necessary to inform the slave of his will, nor to tell him what to do, because he knows the master’s will and obeys, not by compulsion, but by nature. The law is within his heart, and no longer on external tables of stone.

Such a condition is characteristic of the New Covenant, which says, “I will put My laws upon their minds, and I will write them upon their hearts” (Heb. 8:7). In other words, a perpetual slave is one who has entered into a New Covenant relationship with God. This is only possible through Jesus Christ, who is the “Door” to which the slave has been attached spiritually by the ear.

The Old Covenant commanded men to be obedient against human nature. The New Covenant needs no commands—not because the law has been set aside, but because it has been transferred to his heart by the power of the Spirit. He now desires to do His will.

Furthermore, a perpetual slave is the equivalent of a son, as Jesus said in John 8:35, 36,

³⁵ And the slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. ³⁶ If therefore the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.

In other words, a slave by compulsion of law was to be set free in the seventh year. He was not to remain as a slave in the house forever (i.e., indefinitely). Only sons “remain forever.” Therefore, if a slave is set free by law, but returns to have his ear bored to the door, then he becomes part of the master’s house forever, even as a son. He then enjoys true freedom in his Master’s house.

Women are Included

Moses also adds in Deut. 15:17, “And also you shall do likewise with your maidservant.”

This reveals an idea that was quite radical in Jesus’ day and even today in many circles—that women can also become the sons of God in the same manner as men. This great truth, revealed by Moses, was nearly lost in the years preceding the ministry of Jesus, but He restored this truth to its proper place.  Jesus was almost unique in the fact that he had women disciples. Kenneth Bailey, who lectures at universities on New Testament culture, writes,

“A self-respecting rabbi did not even talk to his wife in a public place.” [Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes, page 212]

Moses’ inclusion of women in the law of perpetual slavery is not so striking until we understand it through the eyes of the New Covenant. When we see this as a revelation of God, it shows how far many religious cultures have turned aside from the mind of God. This also explains Jesus’ radical departure from the religious and cultural norms of His day in talking to the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4) and the Canaanite woman in Phoenicia (Matthew 15:22). If a rabbi would scarcely talk to his own wife in public, how much less likely would it be for him to talk to a stranger—and especially a foreign woman!

Christ’s Slaves are Bound by Love

After speaking about perpetual slaves, Moses then concludes his section on setting slaves free by saying in Deut. 15:18,

¹⁸ It shall not seem hard to you when you set him free, for he has given you six years with double the service of a hired man; so the Lord your God will bless you in whatever you do.

A hired man would work during the day but always returned to his own home at night. The slave, however, was always ready to do the master’s bidding, day or night. A hired man only worked one shift; the slave worked a double shift, if necessary. And, of course, if the slave was treated right, he did his work with enthusiasm, as he responded to the master’s love.

One final observation ought to be made in regard to this law. There are many who think that Jesus put away the law of Moses in favor of a new law of love—as if the two were incompatible or opposites. Such people do not understand the law of Moses, which hangs totally upon loving God and one’s neighbor.

The law of perpetual slaves is a good illustration of how a master’s commands (laws) are supposed to be administered by love. Just because the master and slave had a legal relationship did not mean that this was devoid of love. In fact, this law shows that a master was supposed to reflect the mind of Christ, and, if successful, the slaves might even desire to return to serve him in perpetual slavery.

This would scarcely happen apart from love. The law in no way restricted the master from loving his slaves, nor did it restrict the slaves from loving their master. In fact, the entire law, if used properly, was built upon love. Unfortunately, men often interpreted the law in a self-serving manner, perverting the law and hiding the love inherent in the law. Jesus showed us how to interpret and to apply the law properly through love.

His law of love, then, was not really new at all, but it was indeed new to many of the people in his day. He taught them a new way, which was really the old way, for God is love and always has been. The character of God is often misunderstood, however, and so the traditions of men must be exposed so that we may change and conform to the image of Christ.