believe - some bible facts

Slavery

Hello there! You can probably guess what today's fact will be by looking at the obvious title.

Oh you mean the thing that the Bible supports and used it to justify slavery against innocent African people? Yeah I know about that

Wow, shady much?
Okay, the slavery I'm talking about isn't what you think it is. You're thinking of slavery on black folks when racism was more alive at the time. I want you to put that aside and let me explain a different side to slavery that you never heard of. In schools, when we hear the word slavery, we automatically hear it as a bad thing because of what we were taught about it.

Do you know that many of the church fathers were from Africa? If you read the Bible, there's the Queen of Sheba and the Ethiopian eunuch as examples. In fact, the demographic for the most christians in America is black people, while the demographic in the world with the most christians is people of color.

Also, what about Martin Luther King, Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, and George Washington Carver? If you read what they have done and gone through + what they believed in, then you would know that God was working through them in a powerful way. It's weird how schools would teach you about these people, but never on their faith, for example; Harriet Tubman was known as the black Moses because she would rescue and deliver slaves through a hidden underground railroad to freedom, and would disguise herself to hide her identity.

She even said this herself.

So what's going on if the Bible claims to support slavery? Wouldn't that be very offensive to many people of color across the globe as well as for Harriet Tubman? I think this is another good reason why you shouldn't trust everything that school have taught you about history.

*cough cough* like evolution *cough cough*

That's because they were brainwashed to thinking that way, so they won't get punished

I expected you'd say that!
I'll explain; in biblical times, slavery wasn't a bad thing. In order to become a slave, you must be exceedingly poor and have absolutely no option to survive, so you choose to become a slave (or sometimes sold due to poor conditions) so that you may be taken care of by your master as long as you do the work that they assigned you to do. You also have 7 years to serve your master, and when your 7 years are up, you get to choose whether you will stay a slave for life or leave as a free man, this law is for every slave. Usually when a slave chooses to remain being a servant to his master, it means they love them and would want to stay by their side until the day they die, becoming a faithful servant.

But just as there are bad people today, so there will be bad slave owners, and God will hold them accountable who do such actions against innocent slaves. Take the Isrealites in Egypt for example; it's illogical for God to support abuse if he literally delivered them out of slavery in Egypt. It also states in scripture that no abusers will inherent the kingdom of God. This is because Egypt's definition of slavery was to disregard the Israelites as human beings and abuse their power, which goes against God's law.

But you seem to care a lot about the rights of slaves, calling it a bad thing. Why? Where are you getting your morals standard on which you say slavery is wrong? You seem to care about human rights, so guess what? God does too. He even put restrictions on the practice of slavery for the Israelites, which none of them are race-based. I mean for crying out loud, if you read the bible, then you would know that it condemns oppression throughout the whole book!

Many people accuses God of slavery, but who are we to judge? Long ago, when slavery was still alive and in practice, people used the bible to justify slavery — but even that didn't work, so neither will it work on those who try to use the bible to accuse God of slavery. We must all understand that the Israelites lived differently, so slavery to them is different from how we understand modern day ones.

Well I used to be christian, and when I left I felt more free

If you were a christian, then you were once a slave to christ but decided to serve another master. Either that or you were pressured to be perfect by a bunch of religious legalists. Anyone who is not in christ is a slave to sin. An example is pornography; it never satisfies, and yet people returns to it for more. This includes alcohol, drugs, and even gaming addiction etc.

Why do you think a lot of addicts and criminals always says "I found Jesus"? Because they were a slave to sin without knowing it, and it's hard to break those bondages without the key. Jesus is that key and He sets free. He changes them to a new creature, and become a slave to christ. A slave with an all good, loving, and understanding master.

Romans6:6; For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin — because anyone who has died has been set free from sin (NIV)

If you really were a christian, then you would also know that Jesus isn't looking for actual slaves, he's looking for friends, brothers and sisters — a family that would love Him and each other. The new testament bible uses the word slave to get their point across about how much we should be submitted whole heartedly and obedient to God as much as a slave should be to his master, which can be metaphoric and symbolic to better understand God's word.

Ephesians 6:5; "Bondservants, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as to Christ; not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, with goodwill doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men, knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free."  ‬ ‭(NKJV‬‬)

A warning for christians — we can't serve two masters. When it comes to sin in the world, we are not to let it master us, but overcome it, and we can't do that without the help of Jesus. Going back to the topic, I know you care so much about the rights of human beings, and I do too, so where are you getting those rights? Where is your standard coming from? Don't you know God is for us and not against us? He is on your side against what's evil. Who will you serve and be a slave to?

If you made your choice to serve no one, then you will have no one to go for help, no one to count on, no one to comfort you. No one to save you nor no one to take care of you when you are down to nothing. You have no hope after death, nothing but temporary happiness to vainly satisfy you. Either way, you're still a slave to sin. This is what happens when you choose to be a slave to Christ..

Galatians 4:7; Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son (a child), and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ (NKJV)

One last fact I want to share in this chapter that a lot of people (and christians) don't know about — Did you know that the popular christian song amazing grace originally came from an ex-slave owner named John Newton? He was an english slave trader who became an Anglican minister, a hymn writer, and later noted an abolitionist, best known for his hymn "Amazing Grace." I recommend looking at what he did in his life and how God have opened his eyes to the evil of slavery, giving testimony that God is clearly against such cruelty and oppression—which is the side of slavery that he is against.

If you never heard of amazing grace, here's one that's sung by Chris Tomlin. Give a listen and have a wonderful day!