Exodus 21 – 24
Ok, slavery is one of those subjects people who don’t ascribe to Christianity claims to be one of its flaws. Verse 21:2 is rarely quoted, but is the source of the problems:
When you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve for six years, and in the seventh he shall go out free, for nothing.
The rest of this section goes into the details of defining freedom and some conditions that may cause issue. This then gets twisted into a view that forced slavery is ok. We get to our nation in the mid-1800 and the “indentured servitude” slowly changed into a people trade. Think about this, the key is “Hebrew slave” and not just slave. Over time the definition of slave has changed, while the Biblical one has remained the same.
I am not condoning or suggesting what was done in the states was right, but to apply that definition to this verse is absurd. I would love to compare the Hebrew text and see if there is a difference between their status in Egypt and this “Law”. This law implies more of an intern who will gain freedom in the end if desired. The slaves in the 1800’s did not expect freedom and therefore was not “biblical” in any form, especially when applied to the New Covenant with Jesus.
Verses 23:6 -8 talks about judges and the Law:
6 “You shall not pervert the justice due to your poor in his lawsuit. 7 Keep far from a false charge, and do not kill the innocent and righteous, for I will not acquit the wicked. 8 And you shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and subverts the cause of those who are in the right.
This hits so many flaws in today’s society and legal system it’s not even funny. First point is basing judgments on one’s economic status. How many times has some outrageous judgment been won because the person could use the money and the company was rich? I think back to a case where a lady won $10mil from McDonalds because she spilled hot coffee on her lap. They said it was too hot and therefore was liable for damages. This is a prime example of justice being perverted for the poor in a suit.
Second and even bigger is the aspect of bribes. I tend to believe the court system is free of bribery, although it still is a “good-ole-boy” network. My point is a poor person cannot easily defend themselves without time and knowledge. The law is made so complex it eliminates anyone defending themselves and actually perverts justice towards the rich.
Now I will say one place where bribes are not only rampant but have been made legal is in the wild world of Washington DC. Justice has been perverted to the point where the rich make the laws to free them from future problems in court. The nice thing about Hebraic Law is its author and ultimate arbiter is God! The problem with most systems is the people inside making the laws need to justify their existence and make more laws. It gets to a point where the law is so complex and difficult to rule on a specialized lawyer is needed to understand each aspect of the law. Occam’s Razor should be applied to the law today, where the simplest law is usually the right one.