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I trust you had a wonderful Passover.
It struck me that, although I had not planned it, this serves into a perfect stepping off point for where we need to start. You see, as I stated before, each time I observe Passover – or any of God’s appointed times for that matter – I receive new insights into the scriptures… and that friends, brings me to the very first aspect of understanding the scriptures that I’d like to focus on:
If you don’t understand the front of the book, you cannot fully understand the back of it
No – really.
Much like the issues I addressed in the prior articles in this series, there are a number of questions that will arise as one peruses the “New Testament”… questions whose real answers lie in the “Old Testament”. Once again, if you don’t understand the front of the book, you cannot fully understand the back of it.
This takes us back to the “I don’t understand it” issue discussed in our first article, but let’s straighten up that winding path. The first thing we need to do is lay aside, not only our preconceived notions of what’s being taught – but our cultural misgivings as well. If we insist on foisting our modern notions of morality, reason and so forth upon the text, we’re not going to do very well. I mean, in some cases we’re upwards of four-thousand years removed from the events being relayed.
What’s more is that our language has changed over time. No matter your native tongue, or what particular translation you use, you are undoubtedly going to encounter situations where the word on the page simply does not mean the same thing, or at least, not in the same way as we’d use it today. That’s just a fact. Consider the bible’s use of the term “slave“. We tend to read such a word and believe that we understand its meaning… but do we really? I mean contextually, that single term can be used to convey three rather distinct ideas.
First, there’s the idea of slavery we tend to think of; the forced-labor, man-stealing kind of slavery. Did you know that the Torah expressly condemns this? Did you know that it even goes so far as to prescribe death as the punishment for those who engage in such man-stealing? Barrack Obama sure didn’t:
Which passages of scripture should guide our public policy? Should we go with Leviticus, which suggests slavery is OK and that eating shellfish is an abomination? Or we could go with Deuteronomy, which suggests stoning your child if he strays from the faith?
Barry Soetoro – a.k.a. Barrack Obama
That’s a face-palm moment right up there with Biden’s “the palmist“.
Here’s what the Torah actually says on the matter:
“Whoever kidnaps someone and sells him, or is caught still holding him, must surely be put to death.”
Exodus 21:16
So, if the Torah decries forced slavery, what then is meant throughout the texts that seem tolerate, if not advocate the practice?
I’m so glad you asked…
The second concept associated with the term slave is that of the servant, though it’s a less common meaning of the term. A servant is generally referring to paid help. It’s an employee – you get it, right?
The third concept commonly relegated to the singular term “slave” in scripture is the bond-servant. In modernity, we’d better recognize this as a debtor. The crux is, that if you incurred a debt that you could not pay off, you were indebted to your creditor and the most direct manner of putting the situation to rights was to simply work off your debt.
“If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years, but in the seventh year he will go out free without paying anything. If he came in by himself he will go out by himself; if he had a wife when he came in, then his wife will go out with him… “
Exodus 21:2 – 3
Just awful right? I mean, if you think the principle behind this ordinance isn’t alive and well today, feel free to stop paying your mortgage and see how well that goes…
But wait! It gets “worse”
“If his master gave him a wife, and she bore sons or daughters, the wife and the children will belong to her master, and he will go out by himself.”
Exodus 21:4
All sarcasm aside, I want you to stop and actually think this through… A man got himself into a debt he could not pay. He becomes an indentured servant, during which time he winds up marrying his creditors’ daughter – that would be the “master” referenced in that situation. Now, you might be a good lad, and I may really like you enough to make you my son-in-law – but if you are so lacking in judgement, should I really let you take off with my daughter and grand-kids? That may seem alien to us today, but I see a beauty in it. Do you?
BUT WAIT! There’s STILL more…
“But if the servant should declare, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,’ then his master must bring him to the judges, and he will bring him to the door or the doorpost, and his master will pierce his ear with an awl, and he shall serve him forever.”
Exodus 21:5 – 6
Again – stop… think it through. In this circumstance the servant is marked, in front of the whole community, as a member of the master’s household. He’s not being branded a “slave” for life the way we’ve come to think of it – he’s being adopted – he’s a son.
Folks, as blood-bought believers in the Messiah, this is us. Yeshua paid a price for you that you can never repay and, what’s more, he made it permanent by putting His indelible mark upon you, designating you as HIS. Now you know what Paul meant when he talks about being a slave of Christ. And yeah, Paul knew this stuff and yes, he was absolutely pointing to this very law and principle.
How do I know this is what Paul meant? Because Paul knew the “front of the book”. Paul, or actually Saul, was a student of Gamaliel and we know from historic accounts that in order to even have been considered for such an honor, one to have had the entire Torah memorized.
Is it any wonder that Paul can be difficult to grapple with? I mean this guy rolls fluidly through concepts you and I have scarcely considered – particularly if our theological background comes from Western Christianity. Why? Because Western Theology does not focus on the “Old Testament” in-depth. Sure we get stories about David and Goliath, or Elijah etc., not so much figures like Jephthah, Jehu… Hopefully you get where I’m going with this.
This points to a principle I’ve shamelessly stolen form Greg Hershberg of Beth Yeshua International:
If it’s TRUE, it ain’t NEW and if it’s NEW, it ain’t TRUE.
– Greg Hershberg
You might be tempted to balk at this initially, but I advise caution before dismissing this simple, yet profound principle;
What exists now is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; there is nothing truly new on earth. Is there anything about which someone can say, “Look at this! It is new”? It was already done long ago, before our time.
Ecclesiates 1:9 – 10
And with that, I’d like to leave you with some food for thought – a few questions you’ll only find answers to in the “front” of the book. Given that we’ve all just celebrated, in one form or another, the death and resurrection…
- Why was Yeshua crucified on Passover and not the Day of Atonement?
- What event marked the first recorded foreshadowing of the crucifixion?
- Where do we find the first recorded prophecy of a coming Messiah at all?
- Why were the three days and three nights prior to the resurrection significant?
- Why can’t modern Christianity consistently count to three?
Until next time,
שלום עליכם – Shalom Aleichem – Peace Be Upon You