Remember That You Were Slaves
Justified to Do Justice: Learning to Love As We’ve Been Loved • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 20 viewsThe word “Deuteronomy” literally means, “Second Law.” The second generation after the Exodus from Egypt was about to enter into the Promised Land, but they needed to be reminded of the Law. They needed to be reminded who they were supposed to be and how they were supposed to live. They were reminded several times, “Remember that you were slaves in Egypt.” It had been 40 years since slavery. Some of the young adults were not even born when their parents left Egypt. However, every generation of Israel was supposed to think of themselves as former slaves, for whom justice had been done. This justice that was done for them was supposed to shape their sense of justice, how they treated others. Similarly, we must remember that we were slaves, and this should shape our sense of justice.
Notes
Transcript
Sometimes I get frustrated with statements like this:
- “Drive safe”
- “Do what’s right”
- “Make good choices”
Sometimes we want to know …
- EXACTLY what am I supposed to do
- TO WHOM
- HOW MUCH
- HOW FAR
We like very specific RULES, especially when it comes to JUSTICE
Justice is when everything is as it should be.
Justice is when everything is as it should be.
Am I doing justice?
what I should be doing?
treating people as they should be treated?
loving people as they should be loved?
giving people what they should be given?
Sometimes we just want some specific rules
many of us think that’s what the Old Testament is
a set of rules for justice
BUT it’s not that…it’s actually something so much better.
The book of Deuteronomy
The book of Deuteronomy
The people were Israel were rescued from slavery
They wandered in the wilderness for 40 years
Second generation was ready to go in and receive their inheritance
Most of the adults couldn’t even remember Egypt
Moses gave them the Law to tell them, “This is what it looks like to live faithfully and righteously in the land.”
The Old Testament Law is NOT a universal “blueprint” for a just society.
The Old Testament Law is NOT a universal “blueprint” for a just society.
The Law is incapable of creating a just society
People’s hearts are too hard for that
Righteous and justice only come from hearts that have been changed by God’s love
So, what was the purpose of the Old Testament Law?
So, what was the purpose of the Old Testament Law?
Picture it like a garden.
The Law PROTECTED Israel by putting a fence around the nation
PULLED out some of the weeds of injustice
PREPARED the soil for justice and righteousness to grow
But the righteous seed that was planted was Jesus
I want to give you examples of righteousness and justice in the Old Testament Law. You’ll know it when you see it, because it looks like Jesus.
12 “If your brother, a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, is sold to you, he shall serve you six years, and in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you.
Indentured Servitude
Became incredibly poor
Sell your labor until your debt was paid
Or six years had passed
Whichever came first
Again, the Old Testament Law is NOT a blueprint for a just society
It isn’t recommending slavery
It is preparing the people for Jesus
It is preparing people for true righteousness and justice
By giving a glimpse of what righteousness and justice look like
Every seven years this was SUPPOSED to happen…
every Hebrew servant
was emancipated
was liberated
but that’s not all…
13 And when you let him go free from you, you shall not let him go empty-handed. 14 You shall furnish him liberally out of your flock, out of your threshing floor, and out of your winepress. As the Lord your God has blessed you, you shall give to him.
If you free him but he’s still poor
he will have to borrow
and he will just become a slave again
This is what righteousness and justice look like
Set your brother free
But not empty-handed
Furnish him liberally with LIVESTOCK, GRAIN, and WINE
Do for him what God has done for you
this is what righteousness and justice looks like
this isn’t “charity” (optional), it was obligated generosity
because you’re family and this is how God teaches you to treat each other
what would motivate people to keep this law?
15 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.
Remember that “you” were “a slave”
this isn’t plural
it’s singular
each and every one of you Israelites must remember this
even though it wasn’t them personally, but their ancestors
You must do
for enslaved people
what God did for you
the text goes on…
16 But if he says to you, ‘I will not go out from you,’ because he loves you and your household, since he is well-off with you, 17 then you shall take an awl, and put it through his ear into the door, and he shall be your slave forever. And to your female slave you shall do the same.
It’s hard for us to imagine, isn’t it?
someone would be offered
freedom and ample supplies to start a new life
but would choose to serve the master forever
Why would he do this?
NOT because he was threatened
“because he love you”
“since he is well-off with you”
Do you know why it RARELY, IF EVER, worked like this in the real world?
GREED
Greed is the chief enemy of justice
We don’t do what’s right because it cost too much!
which is why Moses warned…
18 It shall not seem hard to you when you let him go free from you, for at half the cost of a hired worker he has served you six years. So the Lord your God will bless you in all that you do.
But people still resented it and didn’t do it
In Jeremiah 34
The people of Jerusalem were under siege by Babylon
The king declared that all the Jewish slaves should be released as the Law said
Everyone agreed and proclaimed liberty
But then, maybe when they thought the danger passed, they enslaved them again
So, God said
I freed you from slavery
You were too greedy to free each other from slavery
So…you will go back into slavery
We might say, “Well, but this law only applied to Jews/Israelites, it was ok for them to take advantage of foreigners, right?” WRONG
17 “You shall not pervert the justice due to the sojourner or to the fatherless, or take a widow’s garment in pledge, 18 but you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you from there; therefore I command you to do this.
Pervert the justice due
if you stand in the way of them having what they need
you are perverting justice
Remember that you were a slave in Egypt
This phrase is found 5 times in Deuteronomy
Teaches them empathy
Think of YOUR ENSLAVEMENT when you see them…
sojourner (foreigner, immigrant, temporary dweller, a non-native person)
fatherless (orphan)
widow
put yourself in their shoes
Remember what the Lord did for you
DO THAT FOR THEM!!!
They are YOU!
super practical…
19 “When you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.
This was the LAW
it wasn’t optional charity
generosity was an obligation
of every doer of righteousness and justice
Because this is what God did for you!
20 When you beat your olive trees, you shall not go over them again. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow. 21 When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not strip it afterward. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow.
I’m not a farmer, I guess this doesn’t apply to me
I don’t have a field
I don’t have olive trees
I don’t have a grape vines
You are for the helpless and vulnerable what God was for you
you were helpless
…without rights
…without a protector
…without a redeemer
22 You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore I command you to do this.
Do for others what God has done for you
that’s righteousness
that’s justice
You were a slave
God liberated you
God fed you
God protected you
God provided for you
So, give a portion of your
grain
olives
grapes
because God gave them to YOU when you were just like THEM
the Law points forward to the ULTIMATE righteousness and justice of Jesus…
Pursue justice by doing for others what Jesus did for you.
Pursue justice by doing for others what Jesus did for you.
Remember, justice is when things are as they should be.
What did Jesus do for you? You were…
deceived and he told you the truth
a slave and he set you free
poor and he gave you God’s riches
fatherless and he adopted you
stranger and foreigner and he made you part of God’s kingdom)
We like to compartmentalize this as “spiritual” and forget the material obligations of salvation
16 By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. 17 But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? 18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.
so I say again…
Pursue justice by doing for others what Jesus did for you.
Pursue justice by doing for others what Jesus did for you.
Imagine if every Christian had this mentality
help make the world as it should be
not through demanding the life of our enemies
but by offering up our own life
making the world as it should be through personal sacrifice, love, mercy, grace, and forgiveness
Jesus LOVES you
he wants to liberate you
he wants to give you a home and a family
and he wants to teach you to love others like he loves you!
