Last week

  • Onesimus
    • Runaway slave
    • Converted by Paul
    • Sent back
  • Slavery in 1st Century Rome
    • How one came into slavery
    • Where slaves were employed
    • Laws protecting slave owners, not slaves
    • Treatment of slaves

Treatment of slaves under Rome

  • Fair treatment was economically sound
    • Hard work often came with an allowance (peculium)
    • Some allowed to marry
    • Some made wills
    • Some held property
    • Some became close to household members

Celebrity slaves – gladiators

  • Usually POWs or convicted criminals
  • Physically fit
  • Sent to special school
    • Trained by ex-gladiator trainers
    • Learned combat plus protocol
  • Did not always die in the fight
    • Fighting a good fight was prerequisite for living
  • Some became well-known celebrities
  • Could be granted freedom

Paths to freedom

  • Process called manumissions – several types
    • Most common – magistrate ceremony
    • Master’s will
    • Declared free by master – apply for citizenship
    • Slave women
      • Marrying their masters
      • Allowed children to be born free
    • Least common – buying one’s own freedom
  • Some who gained freedom also did very well.
    • Eurysaces: a freed slave who opened a baking operation that made him rich.
  • Although being a slave in Rome made life difficult, it was not always a hopeless situation.

Slavery and the Bible

  • Old Testament
    • Curse upon Canaan (Genesis 9:25-27)
      • Was the “curse of Canaan” upheld in perpetuity by God?
      • Who were/are the descendants of Canaan and how many generations bore the curse, if it was to be borne?
      • Does God condemn people because of the sins of their ancestors? Ezekiel 18
    • Joseph sold into slavery by his brothers
      • Did God approve or was this part of God’s plan?
      • Did God condone the act?
    • Slaves held by Israelites
    • Law of Moses – Exodus 21-23
      • Treatment of slaves
        • Protects the slaves
        • Not the owners
        • Slaves to be freed after seven years
      • Taking of slaves
        • Allowed
        • Not allowed
    • God stated His distaste for his people being slaves – they were His.
      • Hosea 2:23; I Peter 2:10; I Corinthians 7:21

Did God approve of slavery?

  • Did not approve of divorce – stated so
    • Malachi 2:16
    • Mark 10:2-12 (Matthew 5:31-32; 19:3-9) – “From the beginning”
  • Where it starts
    • Exodus 21:16 – To forcibly take a slave = death
    • Appears forced slavery not allowed
    • Not restriction as to nationality or religion
  • Fact of slavery
    • We know that God did not condone forcibly taking one into slavery at the time the law was given.
    • He did not want an Israelite to be a slave beyond Jubilee every. Why? Leviticus 25:55
    • God approved of slavery as punishment – Exodus 22:2-4

Caleb

  • The familiar account
    • From Numbers 13 and 14
      • Spies chosen – one from each tribe (Numbers 13:2)
      • Caleb chosen from Judah (Numbers 13:4)
      • Contention upon their return (Numbers 13:25-33)
      • Caleb quiets their murmuring (Numbers 13:30)
      • Israel’s rebellion (Numbers 14:1-10)
      • Caleb and Joshua tear their clothes (Numbers 14:6-9)
      • Threat of stoning
      • Glory of the Lord fills the tent of meeting (Numbers 14:10)
      • God condemns Israel (Numbers 14:11-12)
      • Moses contends for Israel (Numbers 14:13-19)
      • God relents, passes judgment (Numbers 14:15-38)
  • What follows
    • God’s promises
      • Joshua and Caleb survive (Numbers 32:10-12)
      • Caleb now arbiter of Judah’s inheritance (Numbers 34:16-19)
      • More on why this has come to pass (Deuteronomy 1:34-39)
        • Promise of land to Caleb
        • Note who will possess the land
        • Instructions concerning Joshua – encourage him
  • Taking the land
    • Conquests of southern and northern Canaan
    • Conquests east of Jordan
    • Dividing the land (Joshua 14:5)
    • Caleb’s request of Joshua fulfilled (Joshua 14:6-15)
    • He’s got it, now he has to take it
  • Taking possession
    • Starts in Joshua 15
      • Caleb takes Kiriath-arba
      • Drives out sons of Anak (remember Numbers 13:33?)
      • Offered his daughter to one who took Kiriath-sepher
      • Othniel wins the prize
  • Passing it on
    • Caleb gives Othniel his daughter
      • She convinces Othniel to ask for land from Caleb
      • He agrees, she makes the request
      • Obtains Negev and its upper and lower springs
      • Stays in the family
      • Othniel becomes the first judge over Israel
  • Takeaways
    • Caleb had faith in God and His promises
      • Expressed that faith
      • Stood for God when dangerous to do so
      • Continued in his faith
        • Patience for 40 years to enter promised land
        • Patience for 45 years to receive his inheritance
    • God rewarded Caleb’s faithfulness
      • Fulfilled His promise to Caleb
      • Added to that promise – became father-in-law to the first judge of Israel