The Most Vulnerable - Exodus 21:1 - 11
May 29, 2022, Morning Service
Faith Bible Church - Sacramento, CA
Message "The Most Vulnerable" Exodus 21:1-11
Transcript
Good morning to each of you. Welcome to Faith Bible Church. Glad that you are here.
I Thought today is we celebrate Memorial Day or Memorial Day weekend and You've heard it many times before we are a country that are is free but freedom doesn't come cheap and If you think back even among our own
Country where we had war between the north and the south many many lives lost that there might be freedom in this day and age and I think of when
I was a kid, I lived in a small town in Kansas and The whole town would go out to the cemetery on Memorial Day, especially and grandma would say now here is buried so -and -so and And here's buried so -and -so and give us a story on all that and when you have a family that's close
That's and I had one uncle that was killed in World War two Uncle H a and you think about those sort of things and I think
I was five years old when he came home and they had the funeral for him left a lifetime impression and he was killed like in Italy as they went through that married to My mom's sister at that time and so as we think about Memorial Day we need to stop and think a minute a minute about The people who did give their lives that we continue to have freedom
We as believers though to Have Liberty in Christ, but that came at a price and not to us
Because it came at Christ's death and his payment for our sin and I thank the
Lord for that and I need to remind myself of that and I jokingly say to you many times my brother used to say it constantly
I said to myself self and I need to say to myself self now and then and remind myself of The payment of Christ gave for my sins also the payment that many men gave for my freedom and we have a much to thank the
Lord for in your bulletins if you Look, I think most of the things in there are
What you're familiar with but we do have a new summer Bible study on Friday evening 530 to 630 going through Galatians and I Told pastor jokingly and I won't say the denomination, but the
Lord has put a particular group of people into our life that we dealt with quite often
I would consider them very close friends and They would say that you're saved by grace through faith
But you must maintain your salvation by works Well, I said pastor is going to straighten us out on that in Galatians Because Galatians is an excellent book and going through talking about where our salvation is and the fact that our salvation comes from the
Lord and It's not dependent on our works or we'd be in big trouble.
And so we thank the Lord for that So that's take note of that they especially did it for the summer because some of the young people are out of school and They hope to get a few of the young people to coming to the
Bible study So if you know of young people that would enjoy that you make sure the direct them in that direction also, we have the men's breakfast fellowship this coming
Saturday at the Probably that's the fourth. Am I right?
is that yeah, June the 4th and So at 9 o 'clock we have our men's fellowship breakfast and so it's been an enjoyable time to Come out and join us at that point
Then let's open in a word of prayer this morning thank you
Heavenly Father for the day that you have given us to come together and to set apart and to worship you we pray
Lord that today our Fellowship and our worship with you might be a pleasant thing
We might go home saying it's been great to be in the house of the Lord today We thank you
Heavenly Father for the freedoms that you have allowed here in America we do think of The individuals that have given their life that we might have this
Freedom and this Liberty Lord, we would pray that you would help even as we think about that As we celebrate that tomorrow
But we also thank you Lord for the Liberty that you give to us as believers in Christ That the righteousness that we have when we are placed in you because of the price that you paid
Lord And we thank you for that today we pray that you would be with Pastor Elgin as he brings your word again.
We would ask Lord to Liberty as He gives the things that you have laid on his heart and we would pray for the music time together
Help us Lord to praise you and all that you have done for us, even as we sing from our hearts
And we'll thank you for that and we'll pray in Jesus name Amen, and let's stand and sing
Scripture reading this morning is from the book of Galatians Galatians chapter 3 verses 26 through 29
Galatians 3 26 through 29
For you all for you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ There is neither
Jew nor Greek There is neither slave nor free there is neither male nor female for you are all one in Christ Jesus And if you are
Christ Then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise
May the Lord has blessing to the reading and hearing of his holy word Sing for joy to the
Lord Shout loudly to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before him With Thanksgiving extol him with music and song for the
Lord is great He is our God and the great King above all and let's stand and sing
Thank you for singing please be seated children are now dismissed at Children's Church as our pastor Iljin comes here
Please turn with me to Exodus chapter 21 verses 1 through 11
Exodus chapter 21 verses 1 through 11 Now these are the judgments which you shall set before them if you buy a
Hebrew servant He shall serve six years and in the seventh He shall go out free and pay nothing if he comes in by himself
He shall go out by himself if he comes in married Then his wife shall go out with him if his master has given him a wife and she has born him sons or daughters the wife and her children shall be her masters and He shall go out by himself
But if the servant plainly says I love my master my wife and my children
I will know not go out free then his master shall bring him to the judges he shall also bring him to the door or to the doorpost and his master shall pierce his ear with an awl and He shall serve him forever and if a man sells his daughter to be a female slave
She shall not go out as the male slaves do if she does not Please her master who has betrothed her to himself.
Then he shall let her be redeemed He shall have no right to sell her to a foreign people
Since he has dealt deceitfully with her and if he has betrothed her to his son
He shall deal with her according to the custom of daughters if he takes another wife
He shall not diminish her food her clothing and her marriage rights And if he does not do these three for her, then she shall go out free without paying money
This is the word of the Lord Let us pray Father we are thankful that we do live in a free country
We're thankful that by your grace You have freed the slaves of America and we're thankful for the sacrifice that brave young men have poured out
For this country so that we may live free and we remember them the ancestors here who have
Sacrificed their lives so that this country may be free Father we pray for Today that we as we learn of this text that we may see how compassionate you are and How much you care about even the lowly?
Those who can't defend themselves We pray that in Jesus name Amen Now This text is a difficult text for many reasons and one of them being the fact that we live under the new covenant and Under that covenant which
Christ has established for us through his blood We do not follow the law exactly the same way as the
Israelites did However, this does not mean the law is useless to us
After all Paul tells us in 2nd Timothy 3 16 through 17 all scripture is inspired by God and Beneficial for teaching for rebuke for correction for training in righteousness
So that the man or woman of God may be fully capable equipped for every good work
Paul meant that all scripture not some
All scripture includes the law and For Christians the law does not save us
But equips us for every good work It prepares us to live
In a godly way and it shows us God's character and It shows us who we are as God's people
Now as I mentioned above Today's text text is one of the more difficult texts to unpack
Because it deals with the topic of slavery Something all of us do not have direct experience with Second it is difficult because American slavery is part of our history and we have a tendency to import our history and our concepts back into the
Bible Which was written by ancient Jews who had no concept of American history
Hence I will first start by showing the differences between Israel slavery and American slavery and why it would be inappropriate to read this text as justifying
American slavery first Unlike American slavery
Kidnapping and enslaving was due capital punishment found in Exodus 21 16 the very same chapter in fact verse 16 of this chapter right prohibits anyone kidnapping a man and enslaving them
He who kidnaps a man and sells him or if he is found in his hand shall surely be put to death
Anyone who is a slave trader who kidnaps a person against his will
Will be killed So a person even if he was a poor and a weak man
Was not to be stolen and enslaved like some sort of object the
Lord viewed that as worthy of a capital offense and This is important to us because slavery in the ancient
Israel Was not objectifying the slaves
But rather the people who entered into slavery They made a willful commitment to do so because of their financial situation whether they're in debt or they were facing starvation and And secondly, it also meant that the
Lord did not view the slaves of Israel any less
Because of their social status Their worth was not based upon their wealth
They were still just as worthy because they're made in the image of God Another difference is that slavery in Israel was the result of poverty
Living in a fallen world. There is such thing as scarcity of goods Unlike now
Poverty back then was a death sentence There was no bankruptcy court.
There was no government entitlement program So the only thing a poor person who has no way of feeding himself
Was that he would sell his service To another individual who could provide for him so that he may not die of starvation and this was also true for anyone who got into so much that that he could not pay off from the wealth he has already owned and I say that he sells his services because their masters
Were not allowed to just do anything they would like They were the slaves were protected by the law and if the law was broken they were free to go
They were no longer in any obligation if their legal contract was broken
They were treated as individuals not as objects third unlike American slavery
Israel slaves were voluntarily Choosing to serve
No one was forced to be a slave and that goes back to the prior
Point where you could not kidnap and force someone into slavery or you would face death fourth
Israelite enslavement was not based upon skin color or ethnic backgrounds
Israelites were often enslaved to pay off their debt and Israelites often enslaved each other and even this text is precisely about Israelite enslaving
Hebrew slaves their own people this also meant that after their enslavement was over there was no distinction afterward because It wasn't based upon ethnic background or skin color
So there was no stigma associated with skin color or their physical attributes their primary identity still was based upon their relationship with the
Lord and Fifth as this text will show us an
Israelite slave served for a limited time and the masters were obligated to provide for every one of their need and Treat them humanely
Any lasting physical harm would free them automatically even a broken tooth
Would free them from their enslavement The slaves had to be fed they had to be clothed and they were a allowed to participate in religious festivals and Ceremonies they were treated just like family and They were freed after their contracted time was over in one sense a more appropriate comparison of Israelite slavery would be the military enlistment of our days a
Man sells his services for a certain number of years to the government as the government takes care of their food housing and medical needs and If they are injured in any way from their services, they are honorably discharged
Just as an Israelite slave would have been however the church
Does not have a direct application of this text Especially in America because we do not own slaves
The question is then how does this law Apply to us
What does this law? Tell us about the Lord and about his people
So the main point of this text is that the Lord compassionately cares for the most vulnerable the
Lord compassionately cares for the most vulnerable First The first six verses will tell us through the law the
Lord Protects the life of the most vulnerable Through the law the
Lord protects the life of the most vulnerable After publicly announcing the
Ten Commandments to all of Israel the Lord shares the judgments or the ordinances
Now these are the judgments which you shall set before them So what the
Lord is about to share are more specific Applications of the law the law of the
Lord Will set apart Israel from the nations and these specific
Applications these specific laws would be called the case laws. The case laws were dependent on the situation
Unlike the Ten Commandments where it was more general and broad The case laws really depended on what the circumstance was and with this law
The Lord will show what kind of God he is to the surrounding nations
It will show what kind of God Israel worships Now who is responsible for knowing
God's ordinances the legal experts the lawyers No God's law must be known and explained to all of God's people
Moses Was tasked to set the law before all of Israelites not just some it was supposed to be heard and Ingested fed so that they may live according to the
Lord's will Now What does God's ordinance cover first?
There is something important about what gets covered first in any collection of the law
Because it shows what's really important God's ordinance does not cover the ruling class first God's ordinance does not cover the wealthy first First and foremost
God's ordinances care for the slaves of Israel God's law first and foremost protects the most vulnerable of society
In fact, the law of the Lord is the only ancient law collection that begins with slavery
All the ancient law collection deal with slavery at some point why because they all had slaves but only the
Israel's law starts with slavery The famous Hammurabi's code right eye for an eye tooth for a tooth
Deals with slavery in fact last It's the last on their mind and This would distinguish the
Lord from any other surrounding deities because Israel serves God who protects the rights of the slaves first Israel's God cares for those who cannot care for them selves that's what kind of God they served and And verse 2 tells us that God places a temporal restriction on Enslavement if you buy a
Hebrew servant He shall serve six years and in the seventh. He shall go out free and pay nothing
No matter how desperately in debt this slave was God ordains a maximum of six years for his service and This was a merciful act of God He placed a gracious limit lest his people be enslaved for generations as they were in Egypt Even if the remaining debt was not paid off after six years
He would still be free to go No extra compensation necessary in fact
Deuteronomy 15 13 through 14 tell us that the master was commanded to supply the newly freed man with the starting fund and When you send him away free from you, you shall not let him go away empty -handed
You shall supply him liberally from your flock from your threshing floor and from your winepress
From what the Lord your God has blessed you with you shall give to him in The end the master the former master would be giving to the slave what?
ultimately belonged to the Lord And that's a lot.
That's a snapshot of the Lord's loving -kindness to his people Not only does he restrict the time of enslavement?
But he provides a starting fund so that they may have a good footing
So that they may not go back into enslavement again God graciously cares for the well -being of the vulnerable
Verses three to four explains the case for familial situations again.
These are case laws very situational First if he comes in by himself, he shall go out by himself
If he comes in married, then his wife shall go out with him Now if a married man became so poor that he sold himself into slavery
The master was expected to provide not just for the slave
But his whole family Not only that after the time of the service was over The master could not keep the rest of the family saying well,
I fed your family now I could keep them now, right? No It was not just a slave who was fed but his whole family as well got to go free verse 4
Introduces a more complicated situation in which a man enters into the contract single
But ends up marrying one of his master's female slaves during his time of service
If his master has given him a wife and she has born him sons or daughters the wife and her children shall be her masters and he shall go out by himself and This verse was specifically to protect his master from losing his workers now a freed man
Could not just take away his master's other servants However, this did not mean that the freed man had to leave his wife behind by ending the marriage covenant
First he could wait until his rest of his family were free after all the maximum is six years for the servants
Second he could even accumulate enough wealth to redeem them himself to buy them
And third is Explained in the following two verses verses five and six in which how a freed man would stay with his family
Verse five, but if the servant plainly says I love my master my wife and my children
I will not go out free Then his master shall bring him to the judges he shall also bring him to the door to the doorpost and his master shall pierce his ear with an owl and He shall serve him forever
Now if a slave truly wanted to stay with his master He had a choice to stay with him.
It was up to the slave not the master God's law even gave an option for a freed person to stay in slave if he so desired and This would allow him to stay with his family not only that This would have been sometimes an economical decision if the master was really generous and kind and The outside world was harsh and deadly
Imagine during a famine year and you got freed You have no land
You have no family members outside of the master's household How are you going to support yourself?
When there's a famine You would starve to death or you would risk being enslaved to a harsher master
Well in this case this slave had a choice to go back to the kind master who provided him with his family and he
Could live with his family under that master's generous care It would be better to go back to the master who fed him and clothed him consistently and generously rather than to die on the street out of starvation of Course these are not favorable choices, but there were the only choices there in the ancient times there weren't
Exorbitant amount of wealth there weren't government programs to take care of these people
Starvation was a reality There was no other choice
Now what is striking here is that the former slave and his master? Must go to the others the other translation actually say they must go to God in order to declare this
And it is not a transaction between two men, but God as the witness
In the end God is between them God takes interest in his people's well -being in Another sense if the master mistreats his slave he will have to deal with God himself and The piercing of the slaves ear would forever remind them of this decision
Because God is the witness you'd better be careful. How you treat this man
You're dealing with God now although this law cannot be applied directly in our days we can learn about God's character and How we interact with the most vulnerable of society?
First the Lord is utterly compassionate toward the most vulnerable of his people
He watches them intently he protects them with his law He hears their cry and answers
These Case laws show us God's heart behind the weak and the meek
When the most vulnerable are too weak to speak up for their rights
God will and Indeed he has in the
Mosaic Law When the powerful are oppressing the defenseless
They are ultimately breaking God's law They're opposing
God and Best of luck to them Because God will deal with them second
This means the people who worship the Lord must reflect his compassion for the defenseless
In Israel slaves were not treated as tools But people with dignity in Israel their law did not protect the slaves as an afterthought
But the law prioritized them first Just as the pagan nations would have witnessed
God's compassion when they saw how Israel's slaves were treated The world today can witness
God's compassion when they see how the church treats the most vulnerable among us and This is why the
New Testament Commands us over and over again to take care of the orphans and the widows the most vulnerable in society
Take care of those who cannot take care of themselves Because that's what
God does and as God's people we do what our Heavenly Father does
That's what it means to be God's children We speak up for the meek
We protect and fight for the defenseless We provide for those who are in need
We are always mindful of the most vulnerable among us
And I'm I'm always grateful to see How Faith, Bible, Church takes care of each other if Something is broken
Victor will fix it if someone needs help you will find different people providing that help whether physically with prayer or even financially and we don't look down upon anyone because of their
Circumstances they're still our brothers and sisters Does not matter their age
Does not matter their physical abilities does not matter their financial stability their brothers and sisters equal before Christ and That's what it means for the church for God's people to be compassionate
Toward the most vulnerable as God is Second How are the slaves to be treated during their service through the law the
Lord honors the most vulnerable Through the law the
Lord honors the most vulnerable From the protection of freedom for slaves
Verses 7 to 11 move on to protection of their honor their well -being
During the enslavement Verse 7 sets the background for a specific case and if a man sells his daughter to be a female slave
She shall not go out as the male slaves do This part is a specific case in which a daughter would be sold as a slave
Now, of course, this was not a favorable Thing no father wants to sell his daughter to be a slave
However This was done in order for the daughter to have a secure future in a poverty stricken family
The choices were either your daughter starves or marries a wealthy man who will provide for her right in the
Ancient times where there was dowry a Feast so for the bridal family to pay for the bridegroom, which was expensive
Unless you had that dowry your daughter would not get married Now if you can't afford a dowry your daughter would not get married period
Now what happens when the father in his old age passes away Back in those days it was very very difficult for a single woman to support herself and the rest of the family and this although Unfavorable was one way in which
The daughter would not starve to death and the following verses
Will show that this is not legalized prostitution but one way in which
To guarantee the honor and rights of the female slave that is equivalent to a wife or a daughter
The Lord did not allow the master to treat the female slaves as disposable
The Lord did not allow the master to use her as a tool Verse 8 shares a specific case in which the master does not find favor in her
Let's just say that she is sold into enslavement to be married To be taken care of but what happens if the master doesn't like her anymore?
If she does not please her master who has betrothed her to himself, then he shall let her be redeemed
He shall have no right to sell her to a foreign people since he has dealt deceitfully with her.
I prefer the NASB rendering of this case if she is displeasing in the eyes of her master
This is not due to something she has done But suddenly the master does not find her pleasing anymore
That's the fickleness of men When this happens the master does not have the right to do anything he wants with her
He cannot sell her to a foreign people where the girl would be far away from her own people learning a new language a traumatic experience and he also cannot
And he also cannot be financially profiting from this Right.
He has to take responsibility for his own agreement And since he is the one who broke faith with her
She must go free. She can be redeemed The master does not own her.
The master broke the agreement to take care of her. So she is free to go and This would protect
From many women of Israel being abused this way being sold as some goods to make profit
But rather if she's not going to be taken care of as promised the
Lord says you do not deserve her that's how powerful this is and This is very counter cultural in the ancient days
Where women often had no rights of their own and were often treated as objects of pleasure tools disposable
Not so for women of Israel That will not be the case under the
Lord verses 9 to 11 Command positive ways to protect her rights
Verse 9 and if he designates her for his son, he shall deal with her according to the custom of daughters
It is not enough that the master cannot treat her as a disposable tool He needs to treat her as a daughter if she is designated to marry his son
Her impoverished background does not define who she is
How she entered the family does not mean a thing she is legally his new daughter and She better be treated like it
Verse 10 tells us the implication of this if he takes to himself another woman
He may not reduce her food or clothing or her conjugal rights now in the
Old Testament God did not directly prohibit polygamy a practice of marrying more than one wife
So some men had multiple wives Some of the Old Testament heroes had multiple wives however, the
Old Testament narratives constantly show What kind of problems came about through having multiple wives?
for example The kingdom of Israel was split into two after Solomon took on hundreds of wives and concubines when
Jacob Favored one son of his favorite wife over the other sons that one son got sold into slavery when
David had multiple wives and multiple kids one son rate one of his stepsis half -sisters and the other son
Murdered him and that's on overthrew his dad temporarily That shows how the
Bible views polygamy disastrous Yet God allowed this
And We'll talk about this more but in the
New Testament Jesus brings marriage back to its original design
One man and one woman becoming one flesh and that's according to the design of Genesis 2
The Old Testament shows the design and Also shows what it happens when that design when people fail to obey that design
Now the case law here in verse 10 does not approve polygamy
But explains how a case must be handled since there is polygamy
After all if there are multiple wives It would be extremely Disadvantageous for the wife that is less liked by the husband
Especially if she comes from an impoverished background she doesn't have her family to fall back to Therefore the
Lord graciously commands the husband to provide for her every need food clothing and conjugal rights
Everything that a favored wife would receive Generously from her husband the less favored wife must receive as well
This is not just the physical sustenance like food and clothing
She must not be treated as a slave here, but a wife But sexual as well
The least favored wife must be allowed to experience sexual intimacy
With her husband to enjoy the marriage covenant In this case, she's not just a servant but a wife she's not just a slave but a covenant partner and the
Lord wants to Protect that right for her the
Lord protects that honor And what if the husband fails to provide those things for her?
Verse 11 says but if he will not do these three things for her Then she shall go free for nothing without payment or money
If the husband fails to treat her as he promised to He cannot keep her at all he has to obey the covenant agreement to treat her as his wife and This is because before God's eyes the female slaves identity is not based upon her social status but her identity before God as a daughter of God she belongs first and foremost to God and God will make sure that her child his child is provided for God will make sure that his daughter is honored and That is an important reminder for marriage covenant under the new covenant even more so as one husband and one wife
When we mistreat as men our wives We're gonna have to deal with Christ For mistreating
God's own daughters For men, we're stewarded our wives to take care of and We're gonna have to answer.
How well did you take care of my daughter? now unlike other surrounding nations
The law of God here treats slaves not as disposable tools
But as humans who sold their services due to their poor circumstances and Here God has always viewed the lowest and the most vulnerable as valuable
Because they're made in the image of God their identity was not based upon their circumstances, but based upon their relationship with God and And this is why the
Mosaic law treats them with honor and protects their honor
No other nations did so American slavery did not do so Any other future?
Enslavement outside of Israel did not treat their slaves like people
But not so in Israel They were regarded with honor and if you
Decided to dishonor them you had just broken God's law you went against God himself now for Christians when
Christ came and instituted the new covenant by dying for our sin on the cross he took this concept of our identity in God to a new level as David read for us this morning
Galatians 3 Verses 25 through 28 show the better identity that we all have in Christ Sure, the law was great.
Yes, the law protected the rights of the slaves But here
Paul says the law was just a guardian who protected the people from destroying themselves and Paul argues that the law was the guardian who ultimately pointed to Christ the ultimate identity and reality found in Jesus The law was ultimately the signpost
Pointing to Christ verse 25 But now the faith has come we're no longer under a guardian
That's the law for you are all sons and daughters of God through faith in Christ Jesus That's the new identity for all of you who are baptized into Christ have clothed yourself with Christ That's your new clothing.
What how you wear what you wear is Who you are? There is neither
Jew nor Greek there is no neither slave nor free There is neither female male nor female for you are all one in Christ Jesus in Christ our primary identity is a child of God through faith in Christ Jesus The world tries to categorize us into different groups all the time whether gender whether ethnic backgrounds religions
Socio -economic backgrounds and they pit each category against each other as if they're competing for some limited good but in Christ Our new identity as children of God Overwhelmingly covers
Any old identity or labels we've held before Any old identities or labels that the world tries to put on us?
This is why Paul can say there is neither Jew nor Greek. That is a distinction that is found in the
Old Covenant The Jews had special access to God that the
Gentiles the Greeks did not No longer anymore in Christ. Both Jews and Greeks have special access to the
Lord because of Christ and that also goes
For slave nor free in Paul's days there were slaves in the
Roman Empire But in according to Paul it did not matter
The primary identity of being brothers in Christ sisters in Christ Made that distinction like nothing it didn't matter
Because you were all children of God, how could you have more privilege than being children of God together
That's Paul's point here and that is the echo of what we see from Exodus today
Even in the Old Testament God did not find worth and honor and identity in people's
Circumstances and we see that fulfillment in Christ when? socioeconomic backgrounds gender race none of those differences make a dent in our identity in Christ and That's from that We treat each other with the utmost respect and love that is due to our brothers and sisters in Christ You're treating other fellow children of God.
Oh You better be treating them with love and respect and in Christ The lowest and the most vulnerable are just as honored as the highest and the strongest
That's because the Lord Compassionately cares for the most vulnerable
Among us let us pray father.
We're thankful that Even through this difficult text we get to see and behold your mercy and grace even through this difficult text we get to see how compassionate and Loving you are and how you see us not based upon our backgrounds
But based upon who we are in Christ Father we pray that we would live according to this way
That we would love one another because they are Creatures made in the image of God because they are
Children who are redeemed in Christ in Jesus name. Amen Now let's stand for our closing song song take time to be holy
It's Been a blessing to be together today. Remember whom we serve God and let's be a light to the world.