Slave Property

Scripture passage that caught my attention today: Leviticus 25:44-46 As for the male and female slaves whom you may have, it is from the nations around you that you may acquire male and female slaves. 45 You may also acquire them from among the aliens residing with you, and from their families that are with you, who have been born in your land; and they may be your property. 46 You may keep them as a possession for your children after you, for them to inherit as property. These you may treat as slaves, but as for your fellow Israelites, no one shall rule over the other with harshness.

Observation: I’ll bet it was interesting to consider inheriting a slave.

Application: Kids, especially those of grown ages, often joke about what they might like (and not like) to inherit. Various keepsakes naturally catch their attention, often for sentimental reasons. Property too comes into consideration, whether for sentimentality or for value or both. We talk about genes too. My brother once astutely pointed out that if we inherited the genes from our mother’s side our life expectancy will likely be 20-30 years less than if we inherited the genes from our paternal grandmother’s side. (Our dad and his two brothers each lived to the age of 92 and their mother lived to the age of 97.) So yes, if I could choose my inheritance in that regard, I’d opt for the longevity genes.

I wonder if ancient peoples discussed slaves the same way. Did they fight over the good ones and also over who would get “stuck” with the not-so-good ones? Naturally I cringe to consider the fact that our faith ancestors actually had slaves and believed that the Lord approved of such a thing. That said, they probably still discussed which slaves were easy-keepers and which ones were rather high-maintenance…as if they were horses.

These days we don’t usually use the S-word. It seems beneath us. But most companies have ‘human’ resource departments and just about any manager or small business owner will quickly list personnel issues as one of the greatest joys and frustrations of his or her work.

I’m not sure what more, if anything, should be said on this topic other than the realization that, as dehumanizing as it sounds, in society all of us are a form of property at one level or another. But it’s not all bad…God through Jesus most surely endeavors to claim us as his own.

Prayer: Lord, thanks for seeing the value in each of us. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

(Readings today included: Leviticus 25, Psalm 25-56, Acts 22)