Amos 1:9 (ESV) —
9 Thus says the Lord:
“For three transgressions of Tyre,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
because they delivered up a whole people to Edom,
and did not remember the covenant of brotherhood.
NOTE: In Israel, a
slave was a choice of an individual to pay off debt. It was not without a
timeframe unless the individual made that choice. There was the capture of
enemies that were utilized as slaves but that was also not indefinite. In this
verse both, Phoenicia (Tyre) and the Philistines (Gaza) had engaged in forced
slavery and selling people to Edom. That in God's eyes was sin. It was
different from other forms of slavery that Israel practiced and it was wrong. I
think our problem in understanding slavering is a misunderstanding of the types
and conditions of slavery. When a person sold himself for a fixed period of
time to pay off a debt (today we might call that a contract), that was not
evil. Even the temporary capture of a conquered people was not evil, especially
if the warring countries had initiated the conflict and caused damage to the
country. I do believe that in the case of conquest, forced slavery, would be
considered evil if it continued indefinitely. Of course, humans are sinners,
and all institutions are abused by those in power. These abuses have led to
labor unions to prevent the slavery by companies. Today, labor unions have
probably also exceeded their usefulness by those in power of the labor union.
As a people, we just continue to sin against each other in the long run.
PRAYER: Father, I
pray I would not take advantage of people or abuse my authority. I want to be
humble, caring, circumspect, and positive to everyone who works for me. Give me
grace to do that and to be an example of a good Christian leader .
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