Israel’s “Bill of Rights"
Notes
Transcript
If we compare Exodus 19:4, God’s declaration of “what I did,” we see God’s greatest act of redemption prior to the cross of Christ. Now we will see God’s greatest act of revelation before the Word was made flesh, unprecedented and unparalleled.
“Indeed, ask now concerning the former days which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and inquire from one end of the heavens to the other. Has anything been done like this great thing, or has anything been heard like it?
“Has any people heard the voice of God speaking from the midst of the fire, as you have heard it, and survived?
“Or has a god tried to go to take for himself a nation from within another nation by trials, by signs and wonders and by war and by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm and by great terrors, as the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?
“To you it was shown that you might know that the Lord, He is God; there is no other besides Him.
“Out of the heavens He let you hear His voice to discipline you; and on earth He let you see His great fire, and you heard His words from the midst of the fire.
“Because He loved your fathers, therefore He chose their descendants after them. And He personally brought you from Egypt by His great power,
driving out from before you nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in and to give you their land for an inheritance, as it is today.
“Know therefore today, and take it to your heart, that the Lord, He is God in heaven above and on the earth below; there is no other.
In this Book of the Covenant, verses 22-26 serve as an introduction to the 42 ordinances/judgments found in 21:1-23:12. This is followed by a similar section in 23:13-19. focusing on the same introductory issues regarding idolatry and proper worship of the LORD.
Preamble: The Priority of Worship, 20:22-26.
Preamble: The Priority of Worship, 20:22-26.
These verse focus on the vertical relationship between the LORD and His people...
A. Prohibition against idolatry, 20:22-23.
NO idols of so-called gods.
NO images representing the LORD to worship.
B. Proper forms of worship to the LORD, 20:24-26.
Altar made of earth is acceptable for sacrificing your burnt offerings and your peace offerings.
These altars are additional, some located where the LORD had granted special theophanies such as Bethel, Gilgal, etc.; they would/could be used for formal worship and special occasions before the LORD.
From these humble altars, the LORD promised to come to His people and bless them. God was to be worshipped with earthen altars, burnt offerings, and simple devotion, not elaborate rituals. There were two stipulations given:
A. Stone altars were permitted if built of uncut, natural stone — ct. Canaanite altars were made of dressed stone.
B. There were to be no steps to the altar — in a time without underwear garments, this was important; ct. Canaanite altars with many steps; other nations ritual ceremonies were performed in a state of nakedness or near nakedness. The worship of the LORD was to be holy, respectful.
Fundamental Rights of the Israelites, 21:1-23:19.
Fundamental Rights of the Israelites, 21:1-23:19.
Cf. to our Bill of Rights.
These ordinances/judgments deal with the horizontal relationships with others who bear the image of God, other human beings. These following ordinances and their obedience must reflect the Lord‘s own character and do for others what He has done for them.
The prioritizing of this law about Hebrew servants seems to be intentional; the exodus is referred to twice in the following sections as a primary motivation for exercising justice for the vulnerable, and providing them a means to “go out.”
“You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.
“You shall not oppress a stranger, since you yourselves know the feelings of a stranger, for you also were strangers in the land of Egypt.
1. Options of a Male Hebrew “slave,” 21:2-6.
1. Options of a Male Hebrew “slave,” 21:2-6.
Understanding terms;
“slave,” NASB - from Hebrew ‘ebed. This Hebrew word has a very wide meaning in the OT. It can mean worker (its verb form means, “to work”). It usually has the sense of working as a servant of somebody else, but not implying what we visualize as ‘slavery;’ i.e., Moses as “the
servant of the LORD. It can also mean somebody, usually a foreigner, who is a purchased slave without legal freedom or acquired as such as a prisoner of war.
It can refer to an Israelite who sells himself to his creditor to work off an otherwise unpayable debt. What is the meaning of this word here?
When we see the English terms “servant” and “slave,” we immediately get a visual picture of what we think it means. But the English “servant” doesn’t say quite enough; the term “slave” says too much. Rather this here refers most likely to a category of people who, either because they were somehow detached from the Israelite tribal system and had no land of their own OR because they were indebted and had no other option, sold themselves and their labor to an Israelite land-holding household. A possible translation in this context would be a “bonded laborer,” but one with significant rights and options.
“Hebrew, NASB — this term evolved to become a synonymous term with “Israelite,” but early on, it had a derogatory ring. It was used as such by Mrs. Potiphar:
Then she spoke to him with these words, “The Hebrew slave, whom you brought to us, came in to me to make sport of me;
The largest concentration of the word is in Exodus during the oppression of the Israelites by Pharaoh and then later in history under the contemptuous heel of the Philistines. When Israelites get called “Hebrews,” it usually implied a lowly status, in a state of despised oppression.
Some scholars have linked the Hebrews with the group in ancient NE texts called “habiru,” describing landless and somewhat migratory groups who lived by selling their labor into various “markets.” They appear in these ancient texts sometimes as mercenary soldiers, sometimes as troublemakers in the realm, and sometimes as slaves.
Whatever the case, people who found themselves in this position were to be treated with carefully defined rights and options.
Verse 2 states the major principle:
Verse 2 states the major principle:
Male servants have the right to release after six years.
Male servants have the right to release after six years.
The sabbath principle applied here to work contracts. The worker has six years to work off his debt, or to serve that particular employer. The seventh year brought his right to release from service.
There are four subclauses in these rights:
In regards to marital status, how he came into the contract is how he will leave.
1) If he was single coming in, he would leave as single.
1) If he was single coming in, he would leave as single.
2) If he was married, his wife would leave with him.
2) If he was married, his wife would leave with him.
3) If a wife is provided to him, she and her children (if any) would remain with the employer.
3) If a wife is provided to him, she and her children (if any) would remain with the employer.
Why? There was a considerable financial investment (dowry?); also, the man could wait until his release to then marry the woman.
4) The male servant may choose to remain a servant permanently.
4) The male servant may choose to remain a servant permanently.
If the male servant choses to stay with his wife, family and employer because of his love for them, he can remain as a permanent servant within the household by following a prescribed ritual. He would be making a consideration for himself that it would be in his best interests to stay as he is. Here is the point: the choice belongs to the servant, not the master/employer.
These last two subpoints were given while the people were in the wilderness, just starting the journey. Later before Israel entered the land, both male and female servants were given the identical right of release or option to remain with the master/employer.
“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.
then you shall take an awl and pierce it through his ear into the door, and he shall be your servant forever. Also you shall do likewise to your maidservant.
2. The ‘servant-wife’ rights, 21:7-11.
2. The ‘servant-wife’ rights, 21:7-11.
This situation is undoubtedly related to debt, where a man sells some of his dependents as “collateral” for debt.
The term for “female slave” (NASB) is ‘amah’. The status is between a mere female slave and a normal wife. She would have a servant status, yet acquired, or assigned, as a sexual partner within the purchaser’s household, probably for the purpose of bearing children. She could be called a “servant-wife.”
Verse 7 states the major principle:
Verse 7 states the major principle:
The woman, delivered into what is a quasi-marital relationship, cannot be freed after six years like a bonded contract for a male servant.
The woman, delivered into what is a quasi-marital relationship, cannot be freed after six years like a bonded contract for a male servant.
“She is not to go free...” To be released that way would virtually put the women in the same position as a widow or a divorced person with few, if any, attractive options for the future (Example: Hagar).
There are also four subclauses that function significantly for her protecton:
1) Master not pleased? May not be sold to another.
1) Master not pleased? May not be sold to another.
If her master is not pleased with her (for no stated reason), he may not just sell her to someone else, especially to a foreigner. That kind of sex trafficking is outlawed. She can be redeemed; presumably by her own kinsmen.
2) If given to the son? Master to treat her as a daughter.
2) If given to the son? Master to treat her as a daughter.
If she is assigned to a son as a “servant-wife,” the master shall treat her as he would a daughter— with no sexual contact. She is not to become the sexual plaything of any men in the household.
3) If joined by another “servant-wife” in the household? Her level of care may not diminish.
3) If joined by another “servant-wife” in the household? Her level of care may not diminish.
If the master takes another “servant-wife,” he must give the first one the same level of care as he did before.
4) If terms not honored? She may seek release and it shall be granted without recompense to the master.
4) If terms not honored? She may seek release and it shall be granted without recompense to the master.
The failure of the master to honor the terms of the deal gives the “servant-wife” the right of appeal to her family or the community elders to intervene on her behalf and enforce her freedom. In this situation, the one who bought her would get nothing for her, losing his investment.
These subpoints emphasized that even in this role of a”servant-wife,” she was to be respected and cared for.
This all sounds so unusual to us, but this was unique to Israel in a time when the rights of slaves were almost null. Israel’s obedience in the covenant would demonstrate the distinctiveness of the LORD they worshipped and served as well as demonstrate the superiority of His covenant with them, compared to other nations of the day.
Proper worship of the LORD as He commanded would be blessing to them; their proper response to the LORD would demonstrate itself throughout their days in how they would treat others, especially those who were in burdensome situations.
For us today
1. We must know our faith: to do that we must know who our God is and the acknowledge the story He has given us a part in.
2. We must live our faith: we are to be both hearers and doers of God’s word.
3. Wherever God’s name is honored by those who worshipped Him—God is there, and there to bless.
4. The contrast between the slavery in this time of Israel’s history and our time is stunning, in light of God’s ordinances regarding male “bonded laborers” and female “servant-wives.”
a. This ordinance for male servants prioritizes the requirement of release after a strictly limited — and a relatively short — period. Later in Deueronomy 15:13-14, the LORD commanded a generous redundancy package to help the released person to make a viable new start.
“When you set him free, you shall not send him away empty-handed.
“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.
The man could chose to stay as a permanent slave, but the choice was his alone to chose between freedom without security or security without freedom. Ct. most slaves in our modern world have no hope of either.
b. Even though the “servant-wife” was excluded from the six-year release like the men (since she was in a virtual marriage), it concludes with a ringing declaration that the woman could and must go free if she is the victim of exploitive, abusive, or neglectful behavior. How many slaves in today’s world would that free?
How many slaves in today’s world—bonded laborers, victims of sex trafficking, migrants who enter new countries saddled with debts to agents at home or enroute, debts that effectively enslave them in the pit of illegal labor in rich countries—might find freedom if more Christians found the conscience and energy to advocate on their behalf because they, like we, are made in the image of God?
As an example, young girls from impoverished families are among the most vulnerable members of any community. This ordinance required that they be treated with dignity and given the support and protection of husbands and families.
Thinking about and applying these principles behind laws like these is our responsibility, given for our instruction, for then we will truly be not just hearers of the Word, but doers as well. How will God have you apply His truth today and in the days to come?