Yes, the Bible allowed Slavery. It also Brought About its End.
Why didn’t the Bible outlaw slavery?
Like war and famine, slavery was a human horror that afflicted cultures across all times and throughout all of history. God knew the sinfulness of the human heart, and allowed it, just as he allowed divorce (Matt. 19:8). Making a single law to outlaw slavery was about as reasonable as decreeing that humans sprout wings and fly. Instead, God dealt with it in a more comprehensive, long-term way.
If you look closely at the biblical story, you can see that slavery is on God’s mind from the very beginning, and it will come up again and again. One of the very first things God tells Abraham when he enacts the covenant in Genesis 15 is that his future family would be enslaved for 400 years, but that he would redeem them. Isn’t it remarkable that the nation of Israel, who God would use to redeem the world, had to begin its existence in slavery?
Later, in Exodus 12, when the story of Israel’s miraculous liberation from Egypt is told, the command is given to celebrate the nation’s joyous release every year. This would become a formational memory for them. If you’ve ever participated in a Passover, you’ve tasted the tears that slaves have shed in bondage as they’ve longed for freedom.
The Book I’m Working on with Dr. Milly Erema Maturu
If you’ve been reading my newsletters and articles in the past few years, you know that I’ve become friends with an Old Testament professor from Uganda, Rev. Dr. Milly Erema Maturu. We are now working on a book for Zondervan that is tentatively titled, Reading the Bible as an Insider.