Slavery

Exodus 1:1 – 1:14 (commentary)

From the book of Genesis, we know how Joseph had become a great ruler in Egypt. He brought his father and all of his family down from Canaan with all their flocks and herds (vv. 1-7). There were seventy  people when they moved down to Egypt with Jacob. In due season Joseph a …

Exodus 5:1 – 5:9 (commentary)

After Moses and Aaron (both in their eighties) had talked with the Jewish leaders, they went to Pharaoh and asked him to let  the people go (v. 1). In those days Pharaoh was the most powerful  king  on earth. He must have been very surprised that  anyone would …

Lamentations 5:7 – 5:18 (commentary)

Judah’s forefathers, now dead, grievously disobeyed God and passed on to their descendants the penalty of their transgressions (v. 7). Although the people now are not innocent they do recognize the previous generations’ sins and their effect. Babylon appointed cruel taskmasters w …

Slavery was common in the early Church - Colossians 3:22 – 3:25 (commentary)

In the early church slavery was an established institution and the Christian owed complete obedience to his master. In fact, servants were to strive to do a better job because they were Christians (v.22). At least half of the people were slaves. Many of them carried great respon …

Submission to Masters - I Peter 2:18 – 2:20 (commentary)

Peter writes about the Christian household slaves and his obligation to his master. At that time slavery was a way of life in the Roman empire and historical records say that there were over sixty million slaves. Some of the newly converted slaves thought that being a Christi …

Living under authority - Ephesians 6:5 – 6:9 (commentary)

Paul is this Ephesian passage is telling servants to be obedient because they are really serving Christ and because doing a good job is the will of God (vv. 5-7). Slaves played a significant part in this society. There were probably over 6 million slaves in the Roman Empire in th …