“My goodness, this world is beyond saving.”

“I could never have imagined things would get this bad. Jesus needs to come back already!”

“Things have never been this horrible.”

All the above statements are common sentiments shared among many Western-world Christians. Perhaps you have heard fellow brothers and sisters in Christ voice these concerns. Perhaps you have voiced them. Furthermore, you might think it’s ridiculous to entertain any viewpoint other than the one that maintains America is a little red wagon speeding out of control down a steep, steep hill.

After all, you may say, consider the reality of the situation! We live in a country that permits its citizens to terminate new life as God fearfully and wonderfully knits it together in the womb. We live in a country that, at least on a legal and widely cultural scale, has rejected God’s perfect plan for the marriage and family structure of one man and one woman together for life. We live in a country that seems to be on the slow but destructive path of centralizing government power to a select few elites who appear to be more interested in globalism than the people they are tasked with serving.

To top things off, the Pew Research Center conducted a study on the shifting Christian landscape in the United States as recently as 2019. The results? Not exactly encouraging. Sixty-five percent of US adults identified themselves as some form of Christian, a figure down twelve points from ten years ago.

However, despite the various problems currently running rampant through American society, I would strongly suggest that hope and optimism are the more appropriate (as well as necessary) outlooks for the American Christian than cynicism and pessimism. Let’s delve into why.

I will divide this exploration into two brief sections on why the American Christian should live with hope and optimism for the future: the legal perspective and the community perspective.

The Legal Perspective

Christians despair daily about the state of our politics; you need look no further than your Facebook timeline to know this is true. Now, make no mistake: government officials propose and legislate many unbiblical and sinful laws. There is no getting around that because it is the truth.

With that said, when you’re watching the national news (which is totally not designed to rile you up so you keep engaging with their content, by the way) and the totally unbiased reporter is telling you about the latest plan so-and-so has put forth in their state, or when they’re discussing the moral philosophy of the latest anti-Christian-values politician, understand that hope is far from lost.

A human with a bad political agenda is not going to defeat God’s will or take away His sovereignty. Does that mean God won’t give a nation over to its poor decisions? No, of course not—the Israelites would not have entered into Babylonian captivity if that were the case. But one must also remember that America is not one hundred percent morally bankrupt.

America is not a monolith. Every state in the United States of America enjoys a degree of sovereignty. Are they enjoying less and less sovereignty as time passes by? Yes, and that needs to be addressed. Still, in much of their policies and their government, they are independent, and they have not—as one cohesive unit—rejected Christian values. There is much reason for hope and optimism for what states may do with this freedom.

Take, for instance, the writing of Robert P George, an esteemed professor of law at Princeton University. In his article “Roe Will Go,” he discusses the latest case pending before the Supreme Court, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.

This is the first case in forty-nine years exploring the constitutional right to “elective abortions.” George knows the majority of the Supreme Court Justices and has good reason to believe six of the nine will vote in favor of reversing the federal enforcement of legal abortion, citing Roe v. Wade as “grossly unfaithful to the Constitution and unjust.”

This case is set to begin on December 1, 2021. Not horribly far away, is it?

All of this, by the way, will have been made possible by decades of Americans fighting for morality and truth. They did not give up. Their labor in our democratic system has culminated in a court that is poised to strike down the evil and baseless constitutional “right” to abortion.

To tie this in with the topic of state sovereignty, this means the legality of terminating one’s pregnancy will once again be up to the states to decide. A large portion of them will certainly use this freedom to strike abortion down, clearly demonstrating that, as previously mentioned, the United States is not a monolith in uniform agreement to spurn God’s commandments. There are still many people inside and outside of government who care deeply about Christian values.

Sitting back and declaring America a hopeless case is not only incorrect, then; it is dangerous. It breeds complacency, a contentment to complain about the state of society without doing anything and “wait for Jesus to come back to judge everyone.” This is not the attitude that brought Roe v. Wade back to the Supreme Court’s attention.

The Community Perspective

It is easy, after comparing how the world is currently to how it was in the past, to conclude that we as a country, down to a minute county by county level, are utterly hostile to the Gospel message (or anything at all God-related, for that matter).

Yes, it is true that there are some individuals who want nothing to do with Christ and refuse to hear anything about Him, and indeed, Christ tells us we are to “shake the dust off [our] feet” when we leave them, pressing ever onward on mission (Matthew 10:14).

Will most people we encounter be like this, though? Will the average person in your community be totally turned off by the Gospel? The answer is a resounding no. Most people whom you take time to build a relationship with, take time to pour into and invest in, are remarkably receptive to the Gospel message. The truth is, most people feel lost, confused, desperate, tired, guilty, lonely, and—deep, deep down—empty. And Jesus Christ satisfies their longing in a profound way that nothing else comes close to.

Look at what God has done through our own Crossroads Community Church, for example. Through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we’ve developed outposts in Algonac, Marine City, St. Clair, Richmond, and Fort Gratiot. What are outposts? They are serving partnerships with our community that develop churches where everyday life happens. Richmond has become its own independent church organization with its own bi-weekly services, and Marine City is heading in that direction as well.

These outposts were only made possible by faithful disciples of Jesus Christ who, instead of giving up because of their bleak perception of America’s spiritual health, obediently answered Jesus’ call by proclaiming His good news to new people—new people who were receptive to what the scriptures have to say.

I can personally attest to this. The Lord led me to join the Marine City outpost about a year ago. I have witnessed the change that the Gospel of Jesus Christ has brought into the lives of those in the community. He has given them hope, peace, perseverance, purpose, and unbridled joy. At the last weekly discipleship meeting we held, a young man showed the other outpost members the prayer map he had drawn consisting of people he hoped to disciple. A woman, upon having the discipleship tool known as the bridge illustration demonstrated to her, is eager to put it into practice and is going to demonstrate it to us at a future gathering to prepare. Later this month, they and others will attend the sixth monthly Marine City Church service.

These are just two stories from one outpost.

Now What?

I write all this to say that our awesome, life-giving, purpose-instilling Father in heaven is still very much at work in America and beyond. So take heart, and do not lose hope because there is evil in the world. There is a God who saves. There is a God who redeems. Do not become complacent. Rather, strive to pass on an obedient relationship with Christ to your community. You will marvel at the change that will take place and at the impact He will have on others’ lives.

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

Galatians 6:9

“We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end.”

Hebrews 3:14

God’s morality is objective and absolute except slavery–that depends on the century you happen to be living in.

atheist meme

In the previous blog and video, the case was made that there is NOT the promotion or even regulation of slavery for foreigners in the Old Testament (OT). Rather, the OT Law provided foreigners sanctuary and asylum for foreigners escaping from oppression. Those who came to Israel impoverished (as the majority would) became bond-servants who would hire themselves to an Israelite family until they could gain their economic freedom.

In making this case, some will raise serious objections to this picture of mercy and asylum from Leviticus 25:44-46.

How can you say it is not slavery when…

⁴⁴ “‘Your male and female slaves are to come from the nations around you; from them you may buy slaves. ⁴⁵ You may also buy some of the temporary residents living among you and members of their clans born in your country, and they will become your property. ⁴⁶ You can bequeath them to your children as inherited property and can make them slaves for life, but you must not rule over your fellow Israelites ruthlessly.

Leviticus 25:44-46

• Leviticus 25:44, 46 uses the word, “slave?”
• Leviticus 25:44 says you can buy them?
• Leviticus 25:45 says they will become your property?
• Leviticus 25:46 says they can be your property for life and they can be given to your children?
• Leviticus 25:46 implies you cannot treat an Israelite ruthlessly, but you can a foreigner?

Before we answer each of these questions, we need to keep in mind that God gave Israel an entire law code. Every law is connected to every other law. None of the laws or regulations are given in isolation, but are to be understood together. In the OT, there are around twenty-five verses giving clear instructions on providing rights, privileges and protections to the foreigner residing in Israel. Therefore, to properly evaluate the three verses of Leviticus 25:44-46, we have to connect them with the other regulations.

Slavery vs Debt-Service

Israelites clearly did NOT go into slavery but debt-service. I have seen no debate on this issue. Jews were never to be sold as slaves when they became indebted; they entered into a voluntary debt-service which offered a pathway to economic freedom. Here were essential conditions of this debt-service:

• It would be voluntary and never forced.
• It would only be for a person’s labor, not the person.
• It would have a six year limit.
• It was given resources and provisions at the end of the service.
• It was given rights and protections.

Foreigners were offered the same type of debt-service as an Israelite, except there was not a fixed six year limit. Everything else was the same. Because of this their service could be called a debt-service, as well. Look at the provision and rights which were provided to them:

Foreigners as debt-servants were given equal rights of protection:

“When a stranger resides with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.”

Leviticus 19:33–34

“Do not deprive the foreigner or the fatherless of justice, or take the cloak of the widow as a pledge. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you from there. That is why I command you to do this.”  

Deuteronomy 24:17-18

Foreigners could not become debt-servants by force, only voluntarily:

“Anyone who kidnaps someone is to be put to death, whether the victim has been sold or is still in the kidnapper’s possession.”

Exodus 21:16

“If a slave has taken refuge with you, do not hand them over to their master. Let them live among you wherever they like and in whatever town they choose. Do not oppress them.”

Deuteronomy 23:15-16

A foreign debt-servant was to be released from service if they were injured:

“An owner who hits a male or female slave [servant] in the eye and destroys it must let the slave go free to compensate for the eye. And an owner who knocks out the tooth of a male or female slave [servant] must let the slave go free to compensate for the tooth.”

Exodus 21:26-27

Even when there was accidental injury, the servant had to go free as compensation for his injury.

Why does Leviticus 25:44 & 46 use the word, “slave?”

The Hebrews did not have a term for slave because slavery did not exist as a practice in their culture. OT scholar, J.A Moyter writes, “Hebrew has no vocabulary of slavery, only of servanthood.” The Hebrew term translated “slave” in modern translations is ebed. This could mean slave, but it usually meant “servant,” “worker” or “employee” (using today’s terminology). The OT uses the word ebed because they had no term which meant slave. John Goldingay, a professor of OT at Fuller Seminary, states that “there is nothing inherently lowly or undignified about being an ‘ebed.’” In fact, earlier translations of the OT do not translate ebed as slave. The Latin Vulgate, which is the 4th century Latin translation of the Bible, most commonly translates ebed as “servus” (Latin for servant). At times the Vulgate uses “famulus.” (Latin for family.) This is quite distinct from the Latin term, “mancipum,” which means a “slave as property.” The King James Version (1611) regularly translates ebed as “servant,” while occasionally using the word, “bondman.” It never translates ebed as “slave,” and neither do the nineteenth-century revisions of the King James Version. The translation of ebed as slave did not become common until the Revised Standard Version (1952) onwards.

Why does Leviticus 25:44 & 45 say you can buy them?

from them you may buy slaves

The verb “buy” is qanah. The use of the word does not necessarily involve selling or purchasing, especially of people. In Hebrew, this word can mean to “buy,” or “acquire,” or even “create.” In modern lingo it has the idea of to “hire” or “employ.”

“I have also acquired [qanah] Ruth the Moabite, Mahlon’s widow, as my wife…”

Ruth 4:10

Obviously, this was not a financial transaction by Boaz. She was not inferior but a full partner in marriage. Exodus 21:16, as seen above, forbids owning and selling people. So who is receiving the money in Leviticus 25:44? There’s only one possibility: the worker themselves. In view of the other passages regarding the treatment of foreigners, it describes a hiring process where someone from a nation is being paid to work. Remember from what we said above regarding these foreign debt-servants:

• They would have the same rights as native-born Israelites.
• They could leave anytime they wanted.
• They could not be forced to stay in this position.

The best interpretation from understanding all of the relevant passages of the Law of Moses is that this was a hired servant.

Why does Leviticus 25:45 say they will become your property?

  “they will become your property”

So what is this describing? It seems the answer is fairly simple. The word “property” simply means they are working for you, instead of for someone else. In English, calling someone your “property” is awful, and understandably so. But, Leviticus wasn’t written in English to 21st century readers, and that’s not what the word means. Biblical scholar, Paul Copan writes:

“Even when the terms buy, sell, or acquire are used of servants/employees, they don’t mean the person in question is ‘just property.’ Think of a sports player today who gets ‘traded’ to another team, to which he ‘belongs.’ Yes, teams have ‘owners,’ but we’re hardly talking about slavery here! Rather, these are formal contractual agreements, which is what we find in Old Testament servanthood/employee arrangements.

Today, a boss can speak of “his employees,” and we never assume he means that they are slaves or his property. They’re free at any time to leave and find work elsewhere.

Why does Leviticus 25:46 say they can be your property for life and given to your children?

“You can bequeath them to your children…and can make them slaves for life”

So, why is this arrangement for life? There is a provision for those Israelites who were in debt-service that they could become life-long servants to their employer if the arrangement they had with him was better than being on their own.

“But if the servant declares, ‘I love my master and my wife and children and do not want to go free, then his master must take him before the judges. He shall take him to the door or the doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he will be his servant for life.”

Exodus 21:5-6

A similar provision was obviously given to these resident foreigners who had no land or homes they could go to, and most likely no family with whom they could stay. Because they were landless and homeless and without family, this arrangement could be extended into the next generation. This is really a provision of love and mercy.

Let’s bear in mind, also, that this setup wasn’t to be permanent, unless the debt-servant chose to stay with the owner. The owner cannot force the servant to stay. This was by mutual choice.

The text of Leviticus 25 makes clear that the alien/stranger could potentially work himself out of debt and become a person of means in Israel:

If a foreigner residing among you becomes rich and any of your fellow Israelites become poor and sell themselves to the foreigner or to a member of the foreigner’s clan…

Leviticus 25:47

This is another indication that he wasn’t stuck in lifelong servitude without a choice. These “acquired” servants could potentially better themselves to the point of hiring servants themselves. Keep in mind that:

• They would have the same rights as native-born Israelites.
• They could leave anytime they wanted.
• They could not be forced to stay in this position.

Ruling ruthlessly

“but you must not rule over your fellow Israelites ruthlessly”

What on earth does this mean? Does it imply that you can’t rule ruthlessly over an Israelite brother, but you could over a foreigner. Thankfully, the passage never says they can.

Kyle Davison Blair explains:

“…the passage highlights the difference between Israelites and foreigners. A foreigner whom you hire may work for you for a time but then return to their own land. But an Israelite brother will be with you in the land forever. Therefore, you treat them well. While an Israelite brother might serve you for a time as your worker, he may one day be a land-owner like you. Treat brothers as equals, even if they currently are in a low situation. Or to say it simply: treat a brother like a brother.”

Conclusion

Leviticus 25:44–46 only seems to support slavery if you rip it out of its context in the rest of the Law. But when you let the entire Law inform the situation, any hint of slavery disappears rather you end up with a perfectly moral code of employment for foreigners. Here is how the passage reads with some translational adjustments from the NIV:

⁴⁴ “‘Your male and female [workers] are to come from the nations around you; from them you may [acquire] [workers]. ⁴⁵ You may also [acquire] some of the temporary residents living among you and members of their clans born in your country, and they will become your [employees]. ⁴⁶ You can bequeath them to your children as inherited [employees] and can make them [employees] for life, but you must not rule over your fellow Israelites ruthlessly.

Leviticus 25:44-46

It is so important to understand that these laws were NOT permanent.  They were temporary.  They do not apply to us today.  They were for the nation of Israel until Christ would come.

For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another.  But God found fault with the people and said,

“The days are coming, declares the Lord,
    when I will make a new covenant
with the people of Israel
    and with the people of Judah.
It will not be like the covenant
    I made with their ancestors
when I took them by the hand
    to lead them out of Egypt…
By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear.

Hebrews 8:7-9, 13

Like a booster rocket that takes a space craft into space and then is discarded, this is what these laws of Israel did.  At the time and in the conditions of the ancient world, these are a vast upgrade of mercy and love to Jews and foreigners.  But once they served their purpose and there was no longer even debt-servitude in Israel by the time of the first century with the coming of Jesus Christ, these laws, like the booster rocket were discarded. When evaluated at the time and for the purpose they were given, they show God to be wise and gracious to restore a broken world.  

Related blogs:

How NOT To Misread the Bible (Part 8): Slavery for Foreigners or Refugee Protection?

How NOT to Misread the Bible (Part 6): The End of Slavery

How NOT to Misread the Bible (Part 5): Dignity from Slavery

Since the Bible is doom and gloom about the end-times, how can there be hope to make the world a better place?  The best we can do, some reason, is to be raptured away before the world collapses in on itself. Because people are often anticipating the worst, there is often seen what might be called the church of the Chicken Little who is always running around and proclaiming, “The sky is falling! The sky is falling!”

• China is taking over
• Globalism is swallowing democracies
• Families are falling apart
• Elections are not legitimate
• Plagues are spreading
• Climates are changing

So, if God’s Story is one of restoration from brokenness, why does it end with such devastation with the book of Revelation?  How can there be a mission to work for a better future when the message appears to be that the sky is falling?  The answer is that the Bible is not doom and gloom, nor is it simply rainbows, butterflies and rose gardens.  It is realistic about hope for the future, but also the dark and sin hardened realities that have to be overcome. As the Reverend Martin Luther King proclaimed:

We shall overcome because the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.

Rev. Martin Luther King

The arc of history is moving toward the restoration of all that is broken. Jesus Christ set in motion a plan to see it repaired and will return physically to earth to make sure the restoration is completely done: perfect justice, complete healing, established peace. God is restoring all that is broken but not all at once.  God’s kingdom is advancing against foolish and self-centered destructiveness. Those familiar with the biblical story should not be shocked by the hardened opposition to be overcome. Realizing this gives the best road map toward understanding how to act for a better future while protecting ourselves from becoming jaded due to unrealistic expectations.  There are three key truths about change and the future: 

1. We can engage in hopeful action.  Justice and peace are the arc of history because God is restoring what is broken. We are called to work with him in the restoring process. 
2. We can be realistic by first seeking to change hearts and minds.  Life is deeply problematic and overwhelmingly complex which makes wide scale change, in the short term, a fools errand.  We have to celebrate small changes taking place while they occur.
3. We can be faithful as change is pursued, but slow in coming.  The story of the world is ultimately being written by God whose plan moves forward with steady precision.  

With these three truths in mind, the church keeps its steady and sane voice rather than copying the world’s noise, antics, and paranoia. God is restoring all that is broken. So, how do we see the biblical story as one that is hopeful for change and not a Chicken Little hysteria?

From Brokenness to Freedom

Previously, we have seen that the story of the Bible can be understood in six acts.

Act 1: The World’s Beginnings  God created humanity in a world with flourishing beauty and life-giving abundance without anything to spoil it. 

Act 2: Humanity’s Rebellion  People rebelled from this original divine artistry and purpose. They traded life-giving abundance for a world governed by self-centered brokenness.  The world descended into a moral fall in which it was impossible for humanity to recover alone.

Act 3: Israel’s Quest  God stepped in to save his story and set in motion a plan to restore the world from this place of brokenness by taking one nation (from the descendants of Abraham) and setting them apart to be a light and guide to other nations. This was the dawn of this restoration from brokenness. 

“God’s future Kingdom, where healing and justice and love will reign supreme for eternity, was being brought into the present through the ministry of Jesus. In Jesus, humanity was experiencing the presence of God’s future.”

George Ladd

Act 4: The King’s Arrival At the height of this story, God sent Jesus to the earth: truly God and truly man who lived a perfect life, died a sacrificial death on the cross, and rose to vanquish sin and the darkness of evil. He was the very standard of understanding how God viewed humanity and how we should treat one another, what true justice looks like. Through Jesus’ life and ministry, God’s restoration was breaking into our human experience.

Act 5: The Kingdom Coming After Jesus had completed his work of demonstrating the power of love over all the brokenness caused by the world’s rebellion and evil, his followers are launched on a mission to expand this life-giving freedom and dignity to every corner of humanity, one conversation, one act of love, one wrong turned right at a time.

Act 6:  Homecoming  The final act tells us Jesus returns and restores what was not fixed and overthrows that which resists love and wholeness. This is the monumental ending to the story as well as the beginning of a new one which never ends. This is the restoration of a reality like the Garden of Eden, but much better because the potential for evil will be removed. And the declaration will be made:

“The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign for ever and ever.”

Revelation 11:15

Chad Bird

Right now we are in Act 5: The Kingdom Coming moving toward Act 6: Homecoming.  When I became engaged to my wife (Brenda), it was like we were already married but not yet. There were six months from engagement until the wedding ceremony. There is a sense in which God’s kingdom is advancing, but it will not be fully here until Jesus returns to bring full restoration and all wrongs will be made right. We are “living between the times.”  Biblical teachers often call this “between the times” the Already/Not Yet. This means the kingdom is already here but not yet completely here. We live in between the Already/Not Yet.

Below are some biblical expressions of this reality. With each passage I will add parenthetically where the kingdom is already and not yet.

“In putting everything under them, God left nothing that is not subject to them. (already) Yet at present we do not see everything subject to them.” (not yet)

Hebrews 2:8

^“Jesus replied, ‘The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed…because the kingdom of God is in your midst.’  (already) Then he said to his disciples, ‘The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it.  People will tell you, ‘There he is!’ or ‘Here he is!’ Do not go running off after them. For the Son of Man in his day will be like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other.'” (not yet)  

Luke 17:20-24

“Dear friends, now we are children of God, (already) and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” (not yet)

1 John 3:2 

What this means?

Because of this tension with the already/not yet, we do not need to have a Chicken Little mentality. We should not run around declaring that “the sky is falling” with every adverse event. Chad Bird writes:

There is no panic in heaven. Over the chaos of this world reigns the King of kings, Jesus the Resurrected, before whom every knee will eventually bow, whether they like it or not. Every governmental authority now — presidents, kings, prime ministers, you name it — are in lame-duck administrations. Their time is ending. Put not your trust in politicians or parties or ballot boxes. Christ and his kingdom are everlasting. And into that kingdom he calls us all to find forgiveness, life, and peace.

Against the oppressive and destructive powers, the followers of Jesus have advanced life-giving realities which are sneak previews of a perfect and restored world to come. First and foremost this is done through sharing the reality of forgiveness and a transformed life guided by love and purpose. From the ripple effects of this in the lives of individuals emerges new social realities:

“You and Your plan of redemption
It is arching against
The fall of the earth
And no one but You
Can pick up these pieces
And no one but You
Can put them together”

Ghost Ship (Band)

• Widespread democracy over tyranny (dignity of individuals)
• Widespread literacy over ignorance (education to read the Bible)
• Widespread technology over superstition (earth is created for our stewardship and not divine)
• Widespread medical access over disease (medical missions and hospitals)
• Widespread economic liberty over poverty (Protestant work ethic)
• Widespread compassion over neglect (charity among the poor and suffering unique to Christianity)

These are just to name a very few. Yet, all of these have advanced not toward a utopia or a heaven on earth but rather a civilization where the veneer between the rule of law and anarchy can be very thin. Where the gospel has spread there has been the reduction of poverty, oppression and evil, though not its elimination. This elimination will not happen until the end when Christ returns and overthrows the tyranny of evil that refuses to surrender to God’s advancing kingdom of love. This means that the days are numbered for the kingdoms of this world that set themselves up against God.

The PBS series Civilizations near the end of episode 1, viewers are taken to an ancient Mayan city in Mexico. Entombed beneath a canopy of trees are the remains of more than 6,500 buildings. The tallest is a massive ornately decorated temple whose steps climb to 180 feet (the height of a 15-story building). Standing at the foot of a massive stepped temple, which is now abandoned, an archeologist explains the cultural rationale for such ornate, expansive building:

Ultimately, all civilizations want exactly what they can’t have; the conquest of time. So they build bigger, and higher, and grander, as if they could build their way out of mortality. It never works. There always comes a moment when the most populous of cities with their markets and temples and palaces and funeral tombs are simply abandoned. And that most indefatigable leveler of all, mother nature, closes in, covering the place with desert sand or strangling it with vegetation. And then civilization dies the death of deaths, invisibility.

All nations come to an end. But there is a government which will stand the test of time which is emerging now: the reign of Christ’s kingdom:

Of the greatness of his government and peace
    there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
    and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
    with justice and righteousness
    from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the Lord Almighty
    will accomplish this.

Isaiah 9:7

In the meantime, we can be hopeful, realistic and faithful.

One way the Bible’s moral authority is seriously called into question today is critics pointing to its alleged support for slavery. Some question that if the Bible is a revered guide to morality, why didn’t it abolish slavery? Rather, it seems to give support to it with commands regulating “slavery” in the Old Testament and instructions guiding it in the New Testament:

Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ.

Ephesians 6:5

Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, 

Titus 2:9

“Except for murder, slavery has got to be one of the most immoral things a person can do.  Yet slavery is rampant throughout the Bible in both the Old and New Testaments.”

anti-Bible website

Why not just stop it, period? What if in the wisdom of God, the New Testament (NT) sowed the seeds for an entire counter-cultural movement that grew into the overturning of the practice on a widespread scale. In God’s story of restoration of the world from the brokenness of sin, recovery from slavery occurred from the bottom-up: one convert, one gospel appeal, one wrong righted at a time. In the previous blog, we saw how God set the foundation in the Old Testament. In this post, we will chart out how the NT made it a world-wide movement.

Slavery: From Brokenness to Freedom

Previously, we have seen that the story of the Bible can be understood in six acts. Let’s unfold this as it relates to the topic of slavery.

Act 1: The World’s Beginnings  God created humanity in a world with flourishing beauty and life-giving abundance without anything to spoil it. Slavery, as with any exploitation of one human or group of people by another, was NEVER part of God’s plan original plan.

Act 2: Humanity’s Rebellion  People rebelled from this original divine artistry and purpose. They traded life-giving abundance for a world governed by self-centered brokenness.  As the world descended into a moral fall, severe economic scarcity and the exploitation of the powerful over the weak became the norm.

Act 3: Israel’s Quest  God stepped in to save his story and set in motion a plan to restore the world from this place of brokenness by taking one nation (from the descendants of Abraham) and setting them apart to be a light and guide to other nations. This was the dawn of this restoration from brokenness. As Israel emerged as a nation under Moses, they came from slavery and saw it widely practiced around them. As they did, one option in response to the issue would have been for God to flat out command, “You shall not enslave another person.”  Had God spoken that, it would have meant that those who fell into loan default would have been sold as slaves to other nations where they would have been treated as human chattel with forced conditions of backbreaking labor and no laws defending the worth of the alien. (See previous blog for more detail.) So, what God does is take this broken system and opens up a pathway of restoring freedom to people who fall into economic bondage. The God of Israel will change slavery to a voluntary debt-service.¹ It would be different from slavery in at least five ways:

1. It would be voluntary and never forced.
2. It would only be for a person’s labor, not the person.
3. It would have a six year limit.
4. It would give provisions so that the condition would never become permanent.
5. It would give rights and protections.

By the time of the New Testament, there was no permanent economic underclass like that of the nations around them because of these laws.

Act 4: The King’s Arrival At the height of this story, God sent Jesus to the earth: truly God and truly man who lived a perfect life, died a sacrificial death, and rose to vanquish sin and the darkness of evil. He was the very standard of understanding how God viewed humanity and how we should treat one another. He completely upended the model of people using their power over others for personal gain by making clear that we are to be servants for the good of others. For instance, after washing his disciple’s feet, he made this astounding declaration:

“‘Do you understand what I have done for you?’ he asked them. ‘You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.  Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.‘”

John 13:13-17

In another place when two of his disciples wanted to be “top dogs” among their discipleship clan, Jesus responded:

“You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Matthew 20:24-28

This call to servanthood was unheard of and without parallels historically. It started a revolution in people’s thinking and conduct.

Act 5: The Kingdom Coming With the inheritance of Israel’s example of establishing guards against an economic underclass, and Jesus calling humanity to the standard of servanthood; the church is launched on a mission to expand this life-giving freedom and dignity to all of humanity.  So, why didn’t the NT writers speak more forcefully against slavery?

Why Doesn’t the New Testament Have a Message of Abolition?

Paul did call out those who worked on the slave trade where slaves were forcibly bought and sold as, “ungodly and sinful, the unholy.” (see 1 Timothy 1:8-10) As a whole, though, a call for total abolition would have been disastrous for many. Here are two decisive reasons:

1. Political Impossibility A wholesale abolition was not a possibility until later in history. The church is launched into the world as a small minority of several thousand in a population of around 70 million in the Roman Empire. Slavery was socially-embedded consisting of 30 to 40% of this 70 million. The practice was backed by a powerful authoritarian state. Were any of the NT writers to incite slaves to rise up against their masters, they would essentially have been compelling them to death, possibly crucifixion, as was the fate of the 6,000 who revolted with Spartacus in a previous century.
2. Social Harm While there were certainly dehumanizing forms of slavery in the Roman world, many served in more dignified positions as professors, property managers, tutors, bookkeepers, and doctors. This provided for some a better life than what they otherwise would have had. In fact, some people sought certain forms of slavery as a means of a better life. These slaves often became like family or what is known as “household slaves.” These were addressed in Ephesians 6 and Colossians 3 and would have fit in this category:

“Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right…. Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart.  

Ephesians 6:1-6

Colossians 3:18-25 is another example of this. It is evident by the placement of these passages among advice to household members that these were slaves who were a part of the family. According to historical texts, the lives of slaves in these households in ancient times were often better than that of peasants in the same era. For the NT writers to compel a revolt would have been deeply irresponsible and horribly destructive. Instead, the NT gives a much wiser approach.

Start of a Revolution

“…recovery from slavery occurred from the bottom-up: one convert, one gospel appeal, one wrong righted at a time.”

The NT’s guidance for slaves who had converted to Christ assumed that the world was fallen with oppression, and it was the church who would carve out an alternative space of dignified living as “strangers and pilgrims” in the world. (1 Peter 2:11, KJV) Following the example of Christ, they plowed a counter-culture revolution which changed society from within: the transformation of hearts and minds. As Christ taught, they erased social distinctions in the church and treated everyone as family, beloved brothers and sisters.

There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Galatians 3:28

One stunning example of how this transformation took place is seen the book of Philemon. Addressed to a Christian slave owner whose escaped slave, Onesimus, had come into contact with Paul while Paul was in prison. During the course of this encounter, Onesimus became a Christian and was discipled by Paul. Paul then sent Onesimus back to Philemon, carrying the letter, in which Paul tactfully calls upon Philemon to receive Onesimus back:

“…no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother.“

Philemon 1:16

Paul wants Philemon to accept him as a full member of the Christian community, and he even promises to pay from his own pocket for any of the damages Onesimus’ flight may have cost Philemon.

If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me.  I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand. I will pay it back—not to mention that you owe me your very self. 

Philemon 1:18-19

Due to the diplomatic way in which Paul makes his requests, Paul subtlety urges Philemon to free Onesimus by the fact that he states that he wishes Onesimus would remain available to him in order to help in his ministry. Here is where the story gets more interesting. A few decades later, a church leader Ignatius referred to an elderly bishop of Ephesus named Onesimus. He wrote:

“I received, therefore, your whole multitude in the name of God, through Onesimus, a man of inexpressible love, and your bishop in the flesh, whom I pray you by Jesus Christ to love, and that you would all seek to be like him.”

Ignatius

Who is this Onesimus Ignatius refers? Many scholars, based on the timing and the context of Ignatius’ reference, believe this to be the Onesimus of Philemon. Going from a slave to a bishop was astounding for the times. This was Christianity changing the world from the bottom up: one convert, one gospel appeal, one wrong righted at a time.

Slavery’s Abolition

As Christianity grew in numbers in the Roman Empire so did the decline of slavery. The very first writer that we have on record to ever bring a sweeping challenge to slavery as an institution was not a Greek or Roman, but a Christian church father, Gregory of Nyssa. Gregory, born around AD 330, raged against the sinful presumption of enslaving people created in the image of God:

“If God does not enslave what is free, who is he that sets his own power above God’s?”

Gregory of Nyssa

More and more, reforms began to be made where it was collectively understood that slavery was against God’s design. Bishop Agobard of Lyons reflected this growing realization when he spoke sharply:

“All men are brothers, all invoke one same Father, God: the slave and the master, the poor man and the rich man, the ignorant and the learned, the weak and the strong…. [N]one has been raised above the other… there is no… slave or free, but in all things and always there is only Christ.”

Bishop Agobard of Lyons

In Conclusion

Did Christianity support slavery? Even Friedrich Engels, one of the atheist writers of the Communist Manifesto (along with Karl Max) wrote:

“Christianity was originally a movement of oppressed people: it first appeared as the religion of slaves and emancipated slaves, of poor people deprived of all rights, of peoples subjugated or dispersed by Rome.”

Friedrich Engels

Friedrich Nietzsche, the most influential atheist thinker in history, hated Christianity because it was started by a “weak and crucified Galilean” and enabled the feeble of society to overthrow the powerful. It did this through the ministry of benevolence and promoting the dignity of all people. This lifted up the weak, reducing Rome’s greatness. To Nietzsche’s criticism of lifting up those who were on the low end of the social ladder, we can declare Christianity to be, GUILTY AS CHARGED.

1. The word translated “slave” has more of the meaning of a servant.

One of the red-hot issues in the area of where people misread and misunderstand the Bible is the Scriptures’ apparent condoning and support of slavery. People, sometimes furiously, question Bible verses like these:

Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ.

Ephesians 6:5

Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, 

Titus 2:9

 Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to curry their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. 

Colossians 3:22

These are New Testament verses. Before that the Old Testament clearly legislated the use of slavery in the nation of Israel, as we will see below. One atheist meme referencing the Old Testament’s ban on eating shellfish scoffs:

“God could have banned shellfish or slavery.

He chose shellfish.”

atheist meme

Why didn’t God simply say, “You shall not have another person as your slave,” and just put an end to the horrible practice? How does this fit into the idea, which storyofgrace blog has promoted, that the Bible is a story of delivering people from brokenness to restoration? Abraham Lincoln has been quoted as saying, “If anything is wrong, slavery is wrong.” If Lincoln knew this, why doesn’t God?

The answer is that the Bible set the foundation for abolishing slavery, and without this foundation, the widespread abolition of slavery would not have been possible. In “How NOT to Misread and Misunderstand the Bible (Part 5),” we will look at how God fundamentally broke the power of one human being owning another human being. In the follow-up blog: “How NOT to Misread and Misunderstand the Bible (Part 6),” we will see how the New Testament sowed the seeds for the worldwide abolishing of slavery.

The Story of the Bible

“The central task of the universe today is extending the kingdom of God into every corner of human life, one follower at a time, one conversation at a time.”

Michael Henderson

Previously, we have seen that the story of the Bible has been broken up into six acts. In Act 1: World’s Beginning, God created humanity in a world with flourishing beauty and life-giving abundance without anything to spoil it. In Act 2: Humanity’s Rebellion, we saw people have rebelled from this original divine artistry and purpose. They traded life-giving abundance for a world governed by self-centered brokenness. In Act 3: Israel’s Quest, God stepped in to save his story and set in motion a plan to restore the world from this place of brokenness by God taking one nation (from the descendants of Abraham) and setting them apart to be a light and guide to other nations. This was the dawn of this restoration from brokenness. At the height of this story, in Act 4: The King’s Arrival, God sent Jesus to the earth: truly God and truly man who lived a perfect life, died a sacrificial death, and rose to vanquish sin and the darkness of evil. His death, burial and resurrection is the central act of God offering hope and restoration from the brokenness in the world. In Christ swings the hope and destiny of humanity’s freedom. In Act 5: The Kingdom Coming, with the inheritance of Israel’s example (good and bad) and the Good News of Jesus, the church on mission expands life-giving freedom and dignity to all of humanity. As Michael Henderson expresses,

“The central task of the universe today is extending the kingdom of God into every corner of human life, one follower at a time, one conversation at a time”

In Act 6: God’s Homecoming, we will see how God will restore all that is broken. In this post we will see how God laid the foundations for the removal of slavery in the Old Testament with the nation of Israel.

Slavery: From Brokenness to Freedom

Act 1: The World’s Beginnings Slavery, as is the case with any exploitation of one human or group of people by another, was never part of God’s plan. Slavery, today, is impossible for us to comprehend in our post-Braveheart world, as it should be. We in the 21st century have inherited considerable economic comforts and legal rights afforded by free democracies. These qualities of life have been won through long and very hard-fought battles by men and woman who believed: “All men are created equal and are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights.” In fact, these rights are the fruit of Christianity’s long spread influence through much of the world.

Act 2: Humanity’s Rebellion As the world descended into brokenness, economic abundance and the protection of human dignity was not the world surrounding Israel when they escaped as slaves from Egypt. Slavery was widespread and far-reaching. It was a powerful and entrenched social and economic system. One-half the population of certain sectors of a society were slaves. During the days of Sparta, the slaves outnumbered free citizens 7 to 1. At the time of Jesus, it is estimated that 30 to 40% of the Roman Empire was part of a permanent economic underclass. Egypt, from which Israel came, was masterful at enslaving people who had been its captives of war.

There were many reasons for slavery, but the primary reason for its prominence is that it was an economic necessity. In the ancient context the majority of people scraped by on a subsistence level. Families, as a social unit, would spend all day laboring to keep a small flock of livestock, like sheep and goats, and maybe some crops just to provide the basics of survival. There were no other jobs available for the most part. Your property and your family labor were your only means of an “income.” If a family had a bad year, they were unable to feed their family. What then would they do? They would borrow from someone who had enough surplus grain or some other commodity. This had to be paid back. Imagine now, that there is another bad year with the necessity to continue borrowing, year after year, with debt accumulating and no way to pay it back. You would have to default on the loan, effectively stealing from the one who lent to you. The only means available to repay would be the labor of your household. This was the economic reality of survival for farming societies. Because of this, the lender would not just own a person’s labor but would own the person himself, often creating a permanent class of slaves from the slave’s descendants, who could never find a path to economic freedom from their economic destitution.

The God of Israel will change slavery to a voluntary debt-service which offers a pathway to economic freedom. Israel will offer something totally different among the other nations which was revolutionary.

Act 3: Israel’s Quest As Israel emerged as a nation under Moses, they came from slavery and saw it widely practiced around them. One option to the issue would have been for God to forbid his people to participate in it. He could have stated, “You shall not enslave another person.” (We will see that God effectively did.) Had that happened, that would have meant that those who fell into economic servitude (loan default) would have been sold as slaves to other nations where they would have been treated as human chattel with forced conditions of backbreaking labor, no rest, and no laws defending the worth of the sojourner and the alien.

So, what God does is take this broken system, and he begins a process of restoring dignity and freedom to people who fall into economic bondage. The God of Israel will change slavery to a voluntary debt-service which offers a pathway to economic freedom. Israel will offer something totally different among the other nations which was revolutionary. Israel did NOT have slavery, especially as we think of it. It had a debt-service.¹

1. It would be voluntary and never forced.
2. It would only be for a person’s labor, not the person.
3. It would have a six year limit.
4. It was given provisions so that the condition would never become permanent.
5. It was given rights and protections.

First: Slave trade was completely forbidden. There could be no forcing of a person into service against his or her will. Such activity was punished by death.

 “If someone is caught kidnapping a fellow Israelite and treating or selling them as a slave, the kidnapper must die. You must purge the evil from among you.“

Deuteronomy 24:7

This was a sweeping change in contrast to the nations surrounding them. Further, runaway slaves (servants) were not to be returned to those who they were in service. If they were seeking to leave their service, they were to be protected. This debt-service was entered into voluntarily and could be abandoned voluntarily:

“If a slave has taken refuge with you, do not hand them over to their master. Let them live among you wherever they like and in whatever town they choose. Do not oppress them.”

Deuteronomy 24:15-16

This verse was used commonly by abolitionists.

Second, “slavery” in Old Testament law is vastly different than anything that we commonly associate with chattel slavery where people are deprived of basic dignity and freedom. As already stated, they were more like debt-servants. They sold their labor and not themselves:

“If any of your fellow Israelites become poor and sell themselves to you, do not make them work as slaves.”

Leviticus 25:39

Many early colonists in America and Australia served terms of indentured servitude to escape debtors’ prison.

Third, slavery was voluntary and limited. When a man or woman sold themselves into debt-service, it could be for no more than six years. Smaller debts could presumably be paid in less time.

“If any of your people—Hebrew men or women—sell themselves to you and serve you six years, in the seventh year you must let them go free.

Deuteronomy 15:12

Fourth: provision was to be made at the end of the time of service for the servants to be sent away by the person they worked for, along with enough resources to restart their lives in freedom and not have to go back into slavery again:

“And when you release them, do not send them away empty-handed. Supply them liberally from your flock, your threshing floor and your winepress. Give to them as the Lord your God has blessed you. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you. That is why I give you this command today.“

Deuteronomy 15:13-15

The motivation according to this scripture is that God had redeemed them to freedom from Egypt and did not want any of his people to become a permanent underclass once again.

Fifth: the fourth commandment requires that servants enjoy the Sabbath along with their masters. This gave the assurance that they were included with all of the rights and protections of everyone else.

“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.  Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns.

Exodus 20:8-10

For those servants working in this new household who found a better life than the one they came from, they could choose to remain a permanent member of the family. Under the care of a wealthier family, they may have been better fed, better clothed, and able to engage in work that was more rewarding. One could continue as a member of that family:

“But if your servant says to you, ‘I do not want to leave you,’ because he loves you and your family and is well off with you, then take an awl and push it through his earlobe into the door, and he will become your servant for life. Do the same for your female servant.“

Deuteronomy 15:16-17

God extended this spirit of freedom and dignity to the foreigner residing in the Jewish land:

“When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.”

Leviticus 19:33-34

Israel was to be distinct and set apart from all of the other nations by never reducing anyone to a permanent economic underclass again. By the time of Jesus, slavery as an underclass of society was extinct in Israel. The Old Testament laws of debt-service had advanced a pathway to economic liberation in a way no other nation experienced. Israel was free of slavery, though the nations around them in the Roman Empire practiced it widely.

So, does a fair reading of the Old Testament lead one to conclude that it condones and supports slavery? Becky Little, in an article for the History Channel, talks about the Bibles which were given to slaves during the Transatlantic Slave Trade. She writes:

Most of the Old Testament is missing, and only about half of the New Testament remains. The reason? So that the enslaved Africans in the Caribbean islands of Jamaica, Barbados and Antigua couldn’t read or be read anything that might incite them to rebel.

If someone does NOT Misread and Misunderstand the Bible, he will clearly see that the Scripture promotes human freedom and dignity. There are other texts from the Old Testament that can be addressed regarding this topic. In How NOT to Misread and Misunderstand the Bible (Part 6), we will look at how the New Testament sowed the seeds for the worldwide eradication of slavery.

1. The word translated “slave” has more of the meaning of a servant.

Here are related blogs:

How the New Testament Ended Slavery

Why did God Command Israel to Enslave Foreigners

The Toughest Passage On the Bible and Slavery

As some people grew up in church, they became familiar with the well-known Bible stories. In the Old Testament they heard of Noah’s floating zoo on an ark hovering over choppy flood waters. There was the ultimate underdog story of David taking down a giant with his sling shot and a well-placed stone. A favorite is Daniel standing up to a pack of hungry lions.  In the New Testament people learn about a generous little boy who fed thousands with his modest lunch of loaves and fishes. And yes, there is Jesus, who went around helping people with miracles and teaching a higher way of love. But many of these same people are somehow left with the impression that the Bible is really just a collection of well-meaning morality tales and inspiring fables. After all, in the Bible don’t you find far off kingdoms, magical encounters, talking animals and of course the theme of good versus evil?

“It is full of interest. It has noble poetry in it; and some clever fables; and some blood-drenched history; and some good morals; and a wealth of obscenity; and upwards of a thousand lies.”

Mark Twain

So, is the Bible a collection of morality tales and inspiring fables? The answer is a loud and clear, NO. Those who view the Bible as a patchwork of moral lessons and inspiring fables are misunderstanding and misreading the Bible in significant ways.  Rather than a stitched together collection of imaginative stories, it is a single story with one epic purpose: the restoration of a broken world through Jesus Christ. To understand the stories of the Bible, we must first grasp the story of the Bible. And this story, from Genesis to Revelation, though for us, is not ultimately about us. This entire story centers on one person—Jesus Christ.

Old Testament

In the previous blogs in this series, the story of the Bible has been broken up into six acts. (see below) Now we are on the height of the story which is Act 4: The King’s Arrival. We will explore why this fourth act is central to opening up all of the meaning of the Bible and can in no way be understood on the level of fables.

“To understand the stories of the Bible, we must first grasp the story of the Bible.”

Act 1: World’s Beginning

Act 2: Humanity’s Rebellion

Act 3: Israel’s Quest

New Testament

Act 4: The King’s Arrival

Act 5: The Kingdom Coming

Act 6: God’s Homecoming

Act 4: The King’s Arrival

Shortly after his resurrection, Jesus appears unrecognized to two of his followers on a road to Emmaus. Bewildered, they relay all of the buzz surrounding the many unanswered questions of the empty tomb. This prompts Jesus, still unrecognized, to say: 

“’How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?’ And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.“

Luke 24:25-27

Astoundingly, Jesus could point to all of the Scriptures as pointing to himself. Soon thereafter, Jesus revealed himself to his eleven disciples, making a similar point: 

 “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.’ Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.“

Luke 24:44-45

Before his death, Jesus had explained to the Pharisees, the “Bible experts” of the day—his central place in the Scripture: 

“You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me,  yet you refuse to come to me to have life.“

John 5:39-40

All of the Bible testified about him, he claimed. In another place he claimed to be the fulfillment of the Old Testament:

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”

Matthew 5:17

“…in the Old Testament Jesus Christ is concealed, in the New Testament Jesus Christ is revealed.”

It was claims like this that were not well-received and got Jesus into significant trouble. If these claims were not true, this would make Jesus a deranged narcissist on a pathological level. If true, then Jesus is the key to unlocking the story of the Bible that is beautifully epic and world altering in nature.

It has been said that in the Old Testament Jesus Christ is concealed, in the New Testament Jesus Christ is revealed. A sweeping view of the Bible’s topography from 20,000 feet would look something like this: 

• Old Testament: anticipation of Jesus
• Gospels: manifestation of Jesus
• Acts: proclamation of Jesus
• Letters: explanation of Jesus
• Revelation: consummation of Jesus

And why is Jesus so ultimate and unequaled in the Bible? Because only he came to earth, truly God and truly man, lived a perfect life, died a sacrificial death; rose to vanquish sin and the darkness of evil. Jesus was everything humanity has failed to be. He succeeded where we have not. He created us with a life-giving purpose to flourish—and we have rebelled against that purpose—Jesus stepped into his own story to save it.  The Bible does not claim this story to be fable; it proclaims it to be fact.

Differences Between the Bible and Fables

1. Fables are stand-alone stories with a single author. The Bible is completely different.

• It is a library of 66 books of various styles. (poetry, history, prophecy, etc.)
• It has 40+ authors from a variety of backgrounds and occupations. 
• It is written over a period 1,500 years in 10 civilizations and 3 continents. 
• It has one unified story centering the restoration of a broken world through Jesus Christ .

2. Fables do not claim to be historical with actual dates, places, and people. The Bible speaks of many verifiable dates, locations, people, and events which coincides with the world’s historical framework of empires like the Egyptians, Persians, Babylonians, and Rome. It involves world historical figures like Nebuchadnezzar, Sennacherib, Cyrus, Herod, and Pilate. Its events take place in geographical areas like Canaan, Syria, and Mesopotamia. All of this has many confirmations archaeologically. It consists of actual recordings written and referenced within the Jewish nation and eyewitness accounts later shared among the first-century church. All of this took place in our own “time and space,” as Francis Schaeffer used to say.

The apostle John writes of his encounters with Jesus in our own time and space:

“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.“

1 John 1:1

The apostle Peter builds a sharp contrast to the idea that the apostles made their stories up in a fable-like manner:

 For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 

2 Peter 1:16

Peter says those who proclaimed the life of Jesus were “eyewitnesses.” Luke asserted his gospel was based on the highest levels of historical research:

“Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.“

Luke 1:1-4

Did Luke include miracles in his account? Yes. But they were miracles verified by eyewitnesses. Two thousand years later, one can claim that Luke’s account are “fables, ” but this runs contrary to Luke’s claim of history. This is nowhere on par of a rabbit and turtle running a race or a goose that laid golden eggs.

3. Fables are not prophetic and do not predict the future. Unlike fables, the Bible contains an astounding number of fulfilled prophecies. The Bible contains over 1,800 predictions concerning more than 700 separate subjects found in over 8,300 verses. The Old Testament contains more than 300 prophecies concerning Jesus Christ alone, many with amazing specificity. Numerous prophecies have already been fulfilled, and they have come to pass precisely as foretold. The sheer odds of someone making this number of predictions and having every one of them come to pass are light-years beyond the realm of possibility.

“Through trust in Jesus Christ, you will find that God’s story in the Bible connects and transform your own story today.”

4. Fables are intended for entertainment purposes. The Bible’s content was always written for practical purposes and never for entertainment value. Unlike fables, the Bible has transformed countless numbers of lives. As people follow Jesus’ teachings on forgiveness, they see how it can mend broken relationships. Apply its principles of financial stewardship and watch God provide for all of your needs in surprising and often miraculous ways. Place your faith in Jesus through troubled times and feel a calming presence guiding you as you navigate through a difficult hardship. Through trust in Jesus Christ, you will find that God’s story in the Bible connects and transforms your own story today.

How can the God of the Old Testament be the same God as the New Testament? The God in the Old Testament (OT) commanded people to acts of war, became angry when people disobeyed weird laws, and sent plagues and devastation. In the New Testament (NT) God appears to get nicer with Jesus showing love to his enemies and calling his followers to show mercy and even turn the other cheek.

“The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character…jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak…”

Richard Dawkins (The God Delusion)

In comparing the OT and NT, people ask how God can be “the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8), when he seems so different in character. How we answer this has everything to do with understanding how God works in covenants of the OT and NT.

By way of review, we have stated that the Bible is the story of God restoring a broken world to a place of flourishing. This story takes place in the OT and NT. The word “testament” simply means “covenant.,” As explained earlier in Part 1 of this series:

A covenant is an “agreement” between two parties.” The Old Testament (covenant) is the agreement God made with the people of Israel revealing in detail how they would relate to God and follow him. The New Testament (covenant) is the agreement God made with all people through Jesus through his death, burial and resurrection.

Old Testament	New Testament
39 books	27 books
Written in Hebrew and Aramaic	Written in Greek
Written approximately between 1400 to 400 BC	Written approximately between AD 40 to 100
Emphasizes the Law of Moses	Emphasizes the Gospel (Good News) of Jesus Christ
Shows humanity’s need for redemption	Shows God’s provision for redemption
The Savior is promised	The Savior is given
God reveals his purposes through the nation of Israel	God reveals his purposes in the church, composed of all nations

As stated in Part 2 of this series, the story of God restoring a broken world can be seen as a story line which takes place in six acts.  This is important because how you understand the content of the Bible is determined by how it fits in its story line.

Old Testament

Despite the continued spread of sin and the resulting fallout, God has an overwhelming love for his creation and is determined still to restore it.

Act 1: World’s Beginning

Act 2: Humanity’s Rebellion

Act 3: Israel’s Quest

New Testament

Act 4: The King’s Arrival

Act 5: The Kingdom Coming

Act 6: God’s Homecoming

In the last blog we looked at Act 1: World’s Beginnings and Act 2: Humanity’s Rebellion. Now, let’s look at Act 3: Israel’s Quest.

Act 3: Israel’s Quest

In the first 2000 years of recorded history (Genesis 3-11), humanity rules the world very badly. The prospect of bringing restoration to a broken world has proven completely hopeless. Despite the continued spread of sin and the resulting fallout, God has an overwhelming love for his creation and is determined still to restore it. He enacts a rescue plan through one man—this one man will have descendants who will become a great nation which will bless the other nations of the earth, leading to world-wide restoration. This man is Abraham who becomes the founding father of the nation of Israel.

Scene 1 (Genesis-Deuteronomy, 2000-1400 B.C.): God says he will bring Abraham into a land where his family will become a great nation that brings God’s blessing to the world.

The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.

“I will make you into a great nation,
    and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
    and you will be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you,
    and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
    will be blessed through you.”

Genesis 12:1-3

The family grows, but they become enslaved in Egypt. (Exodus 1) As a nation, Egypt embodies all that’s gone wrong with humanity: worshiping false gods, injustice, slavery, oppression. God raises up a descendant of Abraham named Moses and defeats Egypt’s evil. (Exodus 7-12) God rescues his people through the Red Sea and brings them to Mount Sinai where God gives the Law which starts with the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20) and will eventually include many more. This Law becomes the foundation of God’s covenant with the Israelites. They are to obey it and to remain distinct from their neighbors who worship false gods. Here is how Moses exhorted the Israelites:

“…for you are a people holy to the Lord your God. Out of all the peoples on the face of the earth, the Lord has chosen you to be his treasured possession. Do not eat any detestable thing.“

Deuteronomy 14:2-3

Scene 2 (Joshua to 2 Chronicles, 1400-580 BC): Israel enters the land God had promised to Abraham. They are to clear the land and drive out those who refuse to worship the one true God. But they blow it and begin worshiping the gods of the nations around them, leading to corruption and injustice. Israel is now committing acts of slavery, polygamy, and violence, and are putting themselves first instead of God. Even their best kings, David and Solomon, will have stunning failures. Eventually, the leaders of Israel run the nation into the ground. God warns them over and over to turn back to him, but they repeatedly refuse. As a result, God allows the tribes of Israel to be conquered by the reigning superpower of the day, the Babylonians. Most of the Israelites are dragged into exile and captivity in Babylon. The important irony is that God’s chosen people have shown they are no different than the surrounding nations. They need forgiveness and redemption as much as anyone else. As the story continues, God still shows overwhelming grace and love.

Despite Israel’s total failure, all was not lost. God’s love and grace will prove stronger than his people’s failure.

Scene 3: (Ezra to Malachi, 580 to 400 BC) Despite Israel’s total failure, all was not lost. God’s restoring love will prove stronger than his people’s failure and brokenness. Among the people of Israel was a vocal minority called the prophets. They had warned the people of Israel’s coming downfall, but they also made it clear that this wasn’t the end of the story. God had made a promise to them to restore divine blessing to the world through someone who was yet to be born, a descendant of Abraham and of King David. (Jeremiah 33:14-17) God’s promise was still in force, that through a future leader, he would rescue the world. Though exiled from their land, God brings them back.

Intermission: There is a 400-Year Period between the Old and New Testaments. During this period of time no new Scriptures are written. The Old Testament books have been concluded. God is still active, and things are happening, but the events aren’t considered inspired Scriptures. The stage is being set for the coming of the promised savior: Jesus.

Is the God of the Old Testament different than Jesus?

The answer to this is a strong, NO. Let’s look at five reasons why:

Reason # 1: Jesus claimed to be in complete unity with the God of the OT. Throughout the NT, Jesus and the apostles saw themselves worshiping and following the God of the OT:

“Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.“

John 14:9

“I and the Father are one.“

John 10:30

“…the very works that I am doing—testify that the Father has sent me.” 

John 5:36

Reason # 2: The foundation of love is respect. God needed to establish authority and respect before the fullness of love could be understood and received in Jesus Christ.

When I first became a father, I wanted my son and I to be best friends. I wanted to be his buddy and for us to do all kinds of fun activities together to build a friendship. As he moved into the toddler years, I was in for a rude awakening. He (as all children) was more concerned to get his own way rather than practicing relational harmony as best buds. Though my heart was to love my son in friendship, I quickly realized I needed to express that love as a parent who had authority to reinforce my will. He needed to first learn boundaries of behavior and respect. If respect was not established, then he would never have the maturity to love. As he matured, friendship developed. I was the same father with the same love. I just had to express it in different ways given the changes in the relationship. God is the same. In the OT, for a people that were unruly and rebellious, God establishes his authority first so they learn worship and respect. Then, at the time they are ready, God brings them into a greater friendship. Jesus stated it this way:

I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.

John 15:15

Paul expressed this as follows:

So also, when we were underage, we were in slavery under the elemental spiritual forces of the world. But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.

Galatians 4:3-5

Reason # 3: Israel was in a spiritual childhood. Because of their immaturity from a historical standpoint, Israel had to be trained through more basic rules, rituals and ceremonies which served as a bridge for understanding deeper spiritual realities.

So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.

Galatians 3:24-25

This is where we find many of the very crazy-sounding laws and practices that confuse people today: not eating shrimp or not having clothes made by two different materials. They seem odd to us today, but to Israel these laws made sense. Even, today, when we read sections that no longer apply to our daily practice, we can see in it the great concern God puts into caring for his people through whom he will provide renewal and restoration to the entire world.

Reason # 4: Israel was treated with greater strictness because of their important role. God’s plan completely hinged on them keeping their identity for the good of the other nations. For this reason God was more strict with them. If Israel lost its identity, all of humanity would lose its pathway to God’s plan of restoration. God is severe, at times, in order to protect this group of people tasked with being a bridge to God’s blessing for the whole earth. These hard judgements on people are like a doctor amputating a leg to save a life. It’s a terrible option, but better than the alternative. God still declared over and over that his grace and love would always prevail over his people’s rebellion:

“This is what the Lord says: ‘If I have not made my covenant with day and night and established the laws of heaven and earth, then I will reject the descendants of Jacob and David my servant and will not choose one of his sons to rule over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. For I will restore their fortunes and have compassion on them.’”

Jeremiah 33:25-26

This same focused strictness is no longer needed today since the church (under the New Covenant) is now diversified in many nations and spread through many nation of the world.

Reason # 5: God’s relation with Israel is one of overwhelming and undeserved grace. God had every right to abandon Israel over and over, but instead he persevered in his love and blessing to them. There was judgement and discipline to bring them back on course. But the overwhelming story of the OT is one of God displaying his overwhelming grace. This is the very same grace which is displayed with greater clarity in Jesus Christ. God declared to Moses, when he gave the Law in the OT:

“The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin.”

Exodus 34:6-7

When we see these concepts coming alive out of the pages of the OT, it’s easier to recognize the God we also encounter in the NT. This probably won’t make Numbers your new favorite book to read, but it can give you a greater appreciation of the story of the Bible and to appreciate the full expression of God’s character and wisdom as revealed in the story of the Bible.

We stated in the last blog that people are increasingly troubled about the Bible. In our highly sensitive age, sceptics allege that in its pages are an outdated and repressive morality. Charges of social sins like chauvinism or economic slavery are levelled. One way this dislike is expressed is people will say: “The Bible is not a book that should always be taken literally.” When I hear this, my response is often to say, “I agree.” The Psalmist declares: 

“Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
    he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.“

Psalm 62:2

This verse gives an accurate and true statement about God, but we don’t take it literally that God is a rock. If so, what kind is he?  Igneous, sedimentary, or metamorphic?  You get the point.  God is my fortress but not the kind made of stone or wood, obviously. “Rock” and “fortress” are not meant to be taken literally, but as figures of speech to stir our hearts and imagination as to how solid and reliable God is.

However, when someone says you cannot take all of the Bible literally, what they usually mean is that though there might be some good things in the Bible (e.g., Golden Rule); it also contains content which is morally regressive or outright wrong. As we stated in How NOT to Misread and Misunderstand the Bible (Part 1), this antagonism has developed because there is a basic misreading and misunderstanding.

The Bible has two overarching goals: to tell the story of God’s plan to bring restoration to a broken world and invite us into this restoring process. One cannot just pick up the Bible and read a section or a verse, as though it were a general “how to” manual.  Every verse and every section is written as part of a story and has to be understood in light of that story. Let’s review basic truths on how to understand the Bible.

The Bible has two overarching goals: to tell the story of God’s plan to bring restoration to a broken world and invite us into this restoring process.

Truth # 1: The Bible is more like a library than a single book. It has many books with several styles and kinds of writing: 

• History
• Law (to the Jewish Nation)
• Poetry
• Prophecy
• Gospels
• Letters
• Apocalpyse (Revelation)

Truth # 2: It was written over a period of nearly 1500 years (14450 BC to AD 100) with more than 40 authors, under many different empires, cultures and circumstances.  The book of Exodus (1440 BC) will read much differently than the Gospel of John (AD 70), 1400 years later.

Truth # 3: This time period is distinguished between the Old and New Testaments.  How you understand the Bible is significantly determined by which Testament you are reading. 

Let’s go a little deeper. The story of God restoring a broken world in the Old and New Testaments can be seen as a story line which takes place in six acts.  This is important because how you understand the content of the Bible is determined by how it fits in its story line.

Act 1: World’s Beginning

Act 2: Humanity’s Rebellion

Act 3: Israel’s Quest

Act 4: The King’s Arrival

Act 5: The Kingdom Coming

Act 6: God’s Homecoming

We will look at the first two acts (World’s Beginning and Humanity’s Rebellion) in this blog and the following acts in the forthcoming ones. As we do, we will look at the issue of polygamy in the Bible, for an example of how to understand the social sins which are described in it.

Act 1: World’s Beginning

The Bible’s story opens with God creating the heavens and the earth, taking the chaos of an unformed and unfilled mass and forming the world into a well-arranged structure. At each step of creation, God declares that his world is “good.” Then at the end, with his most important work of creation, he makes a pair of creatures in his own image: Adam & Eve. He then announces that all of creation is “very good.” (Genesis 1:31)

Human beings were made to represent God’s good, life-giving rule to the rest of the world. God built partnership and collaboration with us into the story from the very beginning.

²⁷“So God created mankind in his own image,
    in the image of God he created them;
    male and female he created them.

²⁸ God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

Genesis 1:27-28

God, the Creator, is the most powerful actor in the Bible’s story, but he decided to do things together with humans as the real life drama unfolds. Humanity is made to reign over the world but under God. What happens to the creation significantly depends on the role humanity plays in this drama. Basic to this plan is that God made marriage: a life-long and totally united relationship between one man and and one woman. This relationship is foundational to all human community.

²² “Then the Lord God made a woman…and he brought her to the man. ²³ The man said,

‘This is now bone of my bones
    and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called ‘woman,’
    for she was taken out of man.’

²⁴ That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh. ²⁵ Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.“

Genesis 2:22-24

Then on the final day of creation God rested. Genesis records:

“God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.”

Genesis 2:2

God resting is very meaningful because in the writings of the ancient world, when deities rested, it meant that they took up residence in their temple. This key moment at the world’s genesis tells us that God considered the creation to be his home, the place where he would live and his story would be carried out. We are usually able to rest most fully at the place we consider home. When Genesis says that God “rested” it is because he was at home in the world. The entire biblical story will happen in the place God is now working with his image-bearers. The Bible’s vision is based on the foundation of God’s good creation, which includes full, flourishing life in God’s world, with everyone in harmony with God and each other.

Act 2: Humanity’s Rebellion

The image of a well-watered and flourishing paradise is quickly broken and shattered. The original parents are misled and deceived by God’s enemy—the serpent (Satan)—turning away from God to become a law unto themselves. (Genesis 3) So Adam and Eve are thrust from God’s paradise into a life with new difficulties and hardships which had been completely unknown. This is the first of many exiles in the Bible’s big story—people forced from their homes and away from God’s presence.

From this point on, humanity’s wrongdoing is presented as a radical departure from God’s founding vision. The story goes quickly downhill with all the well-known failures of human history on full display. God’s heart is broken. Where abundant life in and with God was intended, sin and death now invade and infect everything. Humanity has fallen into disrepair; they still rule the world, but very badly. Creation is wounded. In the next chapter after Humanity’s Rebellion in Genesis 3, chapter 4 records the distorting development of God’s foundational expression of love in marriage: polygamy. (Genesis 4:19)

How Did Polygamy Begin in Genesis?

The first polygamist in Scripture is Lamech. He is portrayed in Genesis as the archetypal bad guy, a man of bloodlust and violence. Here he is described bragging to his wives about his acts of vengeance and murder in the form of song:

¹⁹ “Lamech married two women, one named Adah and the other Zillah… ²³ Lamech said to his wives,

‘Adah and Zillah, listen to me;
    wives of Lamech, hear my words.
I have killed a man for wounding me,
    a young man for injuring me.
²⁴ If Cain is avenged seven times,
    then Lamech seventy-seven times.’”

Genesis 4:19, 23-24

Lamech’s two wives establishes a stark contrast between God’s good design in the garden and life away from the presence of God. We then go on to read of the practice of polygamy in many places through the Old Testament (e.g., Abraham & Jacob). Modern cynics sometimes point to such examples as instances of the Bible endorsing polygamy or at the very least having an uncritical complicity in the practice. So, why did God allow polygamy in the Old Testament and not just put a complete stop to it?

As people moved away from God’s original plan, societies became more violent and male-dominated. It was nearly impossible for an unmarried woman to provide for or protect herself. Polygamy became commonly practiced as societies had to adapt to the brokenness in the world. It became socially necessary for at least three reasons:

1. There were probably more females than males. The rate of death among men could be very high.
2. It was important for every female to be attached to a household for protection.
3. A large number of children were needed to work the fields or with the herds. Polygamy allowed for many more children to be born to make family farming sustainable.

One writer explains the cultural conditions at that time:

Women relied on their fathers, brothers, and husbands for provision and protection. Unmarried women were often subjected to prostitution and slavery. So, it seems that God may have allowed polygamy to protect and provide for the women who could not find a husband otherwise. A man would take multiple wives and serve as the provider and protector of all of them. While definitely not ideal, living in a polygamist household was far better than the alternatives: prostitution, slavery, or starvation.

Polygamy was not God’s idea, yet because of the brokenness in the world, polygamy became a social necessity. In every case where polygamous relationships are described, you’ll quickly find relational disaster that creates heartbreak and family discord. It is in no way promoted in the Bible. In fact, as Moses gives the Law (1400 BC), God forbids kings to practice it:

“He [the king] must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray.” 

Deuteronomy 17:17

In regard to this moral departure from God’s intention for marriage, the story of the Bible is God bringing restoration out of this brokenness. He will progressively reset the clock back to the original plan of Genesis 1 and 2. By the time of the writing of Malachi (the last book of the Old Testament), God’s desire was clear: one man and one woman for life was to be the norm. When Jesus arrives, he fully affirms this:

⁴ “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’⁵ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? ⁶ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

Matthew 19:4-6

God is always pointing his broken creation back to the primacy and perfection of the original design.

As you read about the questionable practices in the Bible, understand that God is always pointing his broken creation back to the primacy and perfection of the original design. Restoration from brokenness is what God is striving for, and always with humanity as his intended partner. This is why all of the Bible points to Jesus Christ, the height and center of all restoration through his work on the cross. He is the absolute height of the biblical plot–the center of God’s restoration effort. To view the Bible from this lens helps you to NOT misunderstand and misread some of the problematic issues and passages more clearly.

¹⁹“For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, ²⁰and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.“

Colossians 1:19-20

When it comes to defending the Bible today, we are in a new and increasingly hostile world.  At one time the Bible might be viewed by its doubters to be little better than mythology, born out of a primitive and pre-scientific culture. Yet, its stories were considered to be, all-in-all, helpful with many good moral lessons. It was commonly called The Good Book. Perhaps, as the reasoning would go: “There was no David and Goliath, but it sure makes for an inspiring underdog story.” Over the last decade, there has been a sea change of thought which has made skepticism of the Bible take on an increasingly hostile tone.  More and more critics of Christianity see the Bible as a book which is good for no more than a few laughs: little more than a patch work of hypocritical contradictions and absurd claims. At worse, it is seen as a source of historic and unjust oppression over certain groups of people.

“Reading the Bible is the fast track to atheism.“

Penn Jillette

The hostile resistance to the Bible comes from thinking that it is full of ignorance and superstition, even immoral and evil ideas.  Many of its claims and promises are regarded as naïve and unrealistic. So, what has happened? The social influences causing this are numerous. What is very clear, though, is that much of this is caused by a fundamental misunderstanding and misreading of the Bible.  In this several part series of How NOT to Misread and Misunderstand the Bible, we will seek to correct this by exploring:

• The Uniqueness of the Bible
• The Big Story of the Bible
• How to Understand and Interpret the Bible
• Common Misuses and Misunderstandings of the Bible

Let’s begin by looking at one example of where the Bible was reviled in popular culture.

Full of Outdated Ignorance?

The West Wing, a Golden Globe award-winning television show, had an episode where Martin Sheen portraying the president of the United States, Josiah Bartlet, challenged a religious radio show host, by asking her a series of questions about what one should accept from the Bible. Quoting several Bible verses, with the ease comparable to a biblical scholar, his interrogation went as follows:

“When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she shall not go free as male slaves do.”

I’m interested in selling my youngest daughter into slavery as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. She’s a Georgetown sophomore, speaks fluent Italian, always cleaned the table when it was her turn. What would a good price for her be?

“On six days work may be done, but the seventh day shall be sacred to you as the sabbath of complete rest to the LORD. Anyone who does work on that day shall be put to death.”

My chief of staff, Leo McGarry, insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly says he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself or is it okay to call the police?

“…and the pig, which does indeed have hoofs and is cloven-footed, but does not chew the cud and is therefore unclean for you.8Their flesh you shall not eat, and their dead bodies you shall not touch; they are unclean for you.”

Here’s one that’s really important cause we’ve got a lot of sports fans in this town: touching the skin of a dead pig makes one unclean. Leviticus 11:7 If they promise to wear gloves can the Washington Redskins still play football? Can Notre Dame? Can West Point? Does the whole town really have to be together to stone my brother, John, for planting different crops side by side? Can I burn my mother in a small family gathering for wearing garments made from two different threads? “Think about those questions, would you?

Millions of people who watched this heard the Bible quoted and were confronted with some apparently ridiculous concepts:

• Selling your daughter into slavery?
• Capital punishment for working on Saturday?
• No playing football?
• No planting different crops in the same field?
• No weaving different threads in the same fabric?

Many probably came to the conclusion that it is crazy to believe in such an outdated and strange book like the Bible. Yet, those who arrived at this judgement are fundamentally misunderstanding the Bible because the script writers of The West Wing are misreading the Bible.

Understanding the Bible

The Bible is a Library

Let’s start with the basics. Why do we even call the Bible, “the Bible?” The very word “Bible” is not found in the Bible. The reason for this is because the Bible was not called the “Bible” until its sixty-six books began to be printed and bound in a book form (ca., AD 1450). The word bible comes from the Greek word, biblia, meaning book. As it began to be printed in large quantities, it began to be called, the Bible (The Book,)

For this reason, it is helpful to understand that the Bible is more like a library than a book. It was written over a period of 1500 years (1400 BC to 100 AD) with more than 40 writers, under many different empires, cultures and circumstances. As you move from book to book, you will detect differences in languages, style, emphases and content. Think of walking into a library and going to the poetry sections with books filled with creative words and flowing sentences meant to inspire or cause deeper reflection. The poetry section will read very differently than the legal section which is filled with dull statues and judicial terminology relating to the rules that govern the land. These will also be quite distinctive from the historical or the fiction sections. The Bible is like this, as well. When reading it, you need to understand that it is like a library containing various styles of writing:

• History
• Law (to the Jewish Nation)
• Poetry
• Prophecy
• Gospels
• Letters
• Apocalpyse (Revelation)

One Message, Many Styles

What this means is that not every book can be read in the same way. So, the poetry of David (1000 B.C.):

¹“I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
    where does my help come from?
²My help comes from the Lord,
    the Maker of heaven and earth.“

Psalm 121:1-2

is not going to read like a letter of Paul to the Philippians (AD 62):

¹⁴ “Do everything without grumbling or arguing, ¹⁵ so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.”

Philippians 2:14-15

or the law of Moses (1400 BC):

⁹ “‘When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. ¹⁰ Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the Lord your God.“

Leviticus 19:9-10

One cannot read all of these styles of writing the same. The letter of Paul has to be read in a straightforward way which gives practical instruction. The poetry of David has a different aim of inspiring a heartfelt faith by using the image of the majestic heights of a mountain to inspire our trust to ascend higher. The law of Moses was written for the nation of Israel, as they were establishing their civil order just after leaving slavery from Egypt. All of these point to the same God, but they cannot be read in the exact same way. Just as one would not read the fantasy novel Lord of the Rings the same as the Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address or the title deed to a car, so the Bible must be read as a library containing different styles of writing.

Old and New Testaments

This “library” of the Bible, though a single volume, contains two distinct parts: The Old and New Testaments. Which of the two parts you are reading makes a big difference in how you understand what you are reading. The word “testament” simply means “covenant.,” It was a very common term at the time the Bible was written. It means an “agreement” between two parties. The Old Testament (covenant) is the agreement God made with the people of Israel revealing in detail how they would relate to God and follow him. The New Testament (covenant) is the agreement God made with all people through Jesus through his death, burial and resurrection. In making this agreement, he brought several changes to the relationship to the the Old Testament. (More on that later.) The New Testament, now, reveals how all people today of every background (not just the Jewish people) can relate to God and follow him.

Old Testament	New Testament
39 books	27 books
Written in Hebrew and Aramaic	Written in Greek
Written approximately between 1400 to 400 BC	Written approximately between AD 40 to 100
Emphasizes the Law of Moses	Emphasizes the Gospel (Good News) of Jesus Christ
Shows humanity’s need for redemption	Shows God’s provision for redemption
The Savior is promised	The Savior is given
God reveals his purposes through the nation of Israel	God reveals his purposes in the church, composed of all nations

What about The West Wing making the claim that the Bible forbids the playing of football (touching the hide of pig skin) or weaving together two different fabrics? The script writers were either sadly ignorant at best or intentionally deceptive at worst. Every passage cited by the show was taken from the civil Law of Moses given to the Jewish nation shortly after they departed from Egypt (1446 BC). At the time, those prohibitions were sensible and given with good reason for that time, as we will see later. But because we are under the New Testament (covenant), those civil laws are no longer applicable. They have not been for over two thousand years.

¹⁴ “For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, ¹⁵ by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace…” 

Ephesians 2:14-15

The work of Jesus Christ on the cross has made the civil laws of Moses no longer relevant. In short, the script writers of The West Wing, as well as those claiming the Bible is full of outdated superstitions and ignorance, are guilty of misreading and misunderstanding the book they so confidently revile.

In our next section, we will further correct this problem by beginning to look at the story of the Bible.