Embrace God’s Word with us as Dave Shumaker (Elder at Midland Free) preaches from Ephesians 6:5-9 in the message, Slaves and Masters?
FACTS ABOUT SLAVERY
- Slavery is endemic to fallen humanity
- Slavery has taken various forms:
- Kidnap Slavery
- War-capture Slavery
- Indentured Servitude
- Voluntary Slavery (Bond-Servant)
- Sexual Slavery (Ancient & Modern)
- Rather than being the source of slavery, the Judeo-Christian West was the first to abolish it.
- The pernicious thing about American slavery was that it made slavery a racial issue.
- Sadly, there are currently more slaves in the world than were ever brought to the United States in all its history.
Ways The Scriptures Undercut Slavery
- Men and women are all made in God’s Image—and are therefore intrinsically valuable.
- God’s primary picture of salvation was the delivery of Israel from slavery in Egypt.
- Being a kidnap slaver is a sign of being an unbeliever (1 Timothy 1:10).
- War-Capture slavery seems to be a disincentive for war.
- All Israeli “slavery” was, by definition, indentured servitude.
- God Gives all His children equal access to the Father through Jesus Christ.
- Paul even hints at releasing the slave, Onesimus, in Philemon.
Application
- To those tempted to reject the Scriptures due to misunderstanding its role in history, we would invite you to find true freedom in Christ.
- As Christians, we should be the hardest workers in our respective workplaces because we work for the LORD.
- As Christian “bosses” we should model Christlikeness in how we lead in the workplace.