EXTRACTS FROM SLAVERY, CAPTIVITY, ADOPTION, REDEMPTION

1865

Slavery exists in the East as it has existed from time immemorial; but we must not confound it with slavery as it existed among the Romans, or until a very short period (1865) in America; for in the East we rarely hear of a master oppressing his slave, or compelling him to labour in the way that was formerly done in America. Still less do we hear of a master making his own children slaves, as it has been, alas, often the case on the other side of the Atlantic. The slaves of the East were very much attached to their masters and were generally well fed and well dressed. If they conducted themselves well they were frequently married by their masters to persons of respectability and the ceremony was often conducted with extreme magnificence. Generally they had no idea of the blessings of freedom, and were content and happy, just as we were when we were the slaves of sin.

Some men are born slaves. Being the children of slaves, they are so by birth; others are sold into slavery, as Joseph was; and others among the Israelites sold themselves into slavery. And yet in one sense man is born free—free as the air he breathes, but free only according to his nature. And what is that nature? To go astray like a wild ass’s colt; wild in the extreme, and he remains so until he is caught and held in with bit and bridle.

It rarely occurs that a man dies without an heir; for if he is not likely to have a son of his own, he takes a favourite slave and adopts him, as Eliezer was adopted by Abram. The slave is made to pass through his master’s shirt, and he is immediately not only free, but becomes a son, a member of the family, often to take the management of his master’s affairs, and is heir to his master’s property. The law of the land will not suffer that man to be made a slave again. Moses in common with the other Israelites, was really a slave in Egypt, but he was. adopted by Pharoah’s daughter, hence for a time, he appeared before the king, and also enjoyed many other privileges. But then, in this case he rejected the relationship, and refused to be called the son of Pharoah’s daughter. This we are told was “by faith” Heb. 11.24, “when he was come to years.”

An adopted slave was always considered as a real member of the family and his name was registered as such, not only in the family register, but with other members of the family in the archives of the city; and the book in which it was so registered was called in Jerusalem the “Book of Life,” or the “Book of the Living.”

So the names of all the Lord’s adopted ones are recorded in the Book of Life of the Heavenly Jerusalem.

Before a man could be thus registered it was necessary that he should be able to show that he had descended from, or been adopted by, a true citizen. It was a privilege which could not be purchased or obtained by merit. And in the case of the priesthood, a man must be able to show that he was a true Levite, on both his father’s and his mother’s side: see Ezra 2.62.

It is also the case in the East that when a man adopts a slave he gives him a new name. This custom is referred to in Isaiah 62.2. “Thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name.” It is to be “an everlasting name which shall not be cut off” Isaiah 56.5, implying that the Lord will retain for ever those who have it. No man shall take them from him to change their name again. Again “and this is the name wherewith she shall be called, “The LORD our Righteousness” Jer. 33.16 Not only does his master give him a new name but he also changes his clothes, and often decorates him with ornaments so that all who see him are acquainted with the fact that he is no longer a slave. The apostle alludes to this when he exhorts the Ephesians to put off the old man and put on the new man. No slave is allowed to call his master “Father,” but as soon as he has been adopted he is free to do so. Here again is a beautiful Scripture illustration: “Ye have received the Spirit of adoption ,whereby we cry, ‘Abba Father.’ “ As if the Apostle had said “You could not venture to say Father before you experienced the Spiirt of adoption, for you felt it would really be presumption: but now ,having that witness, you can use that endearing term.” The Lord by Jeremiah (3.19) asks the question “How shall I put thee among the children?” How shall I adopt thee? And then he adds, “Thou shalt call me My Father”; and shalt not turn away from me.” It was the custom of the Romans, that when a master adopted a slave, it had to be done in the Forum, or Court House, in the presence of a magistrate; and that magistrate was the witness. Paul refers to this when he says, “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God” Rom. 8.16. What higher witness can we have? A single word dropped into our heart by the Holy Spirit is worth more than the witness of all the magistrates of the world. A Roman master sometimes told a slave that on some future day, but without naming a day, he would take him to the Forum, and publicly declare that he had adopted him. And how anxiously did the slave wait for that day! To this the Apostle refers in Rom. 8.23, “Waiting for the adoption.” Paul was writing to the Romans, and they would well understand his meaning in a literal sense. And the word says “It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord” Lam. 3.26. Have you never had a hope that you were adopted, and yet not the full assurance? Well, but God has promised it to all who hope in his mercy. A man will not trouble about that for which he has no hope; but, if he be in earnest, he will wait with all perseverance and watching unto prayer. This is the “patience of hope” mentioned in I Thess. 1.3, “The vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie, though it tarry wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry. Hab. 2.3. It is the Lord’s to promise, ours to believe and wait. Neither does the Lord say how the blessing shall come. It may come while we are in prosperity, but most likely when we are in sackcloth; but the blessing is the same.

Mr. and Mrs. Leonard Vander Toorn of 1502 Tamarack St., Grand Rapids, celebrated their 25th Wedding Anniversary on May 11. Children are Mr. and Mrs. John VanderToorn and grandson John Jr., Steve, Linda, Tom, David, Michael, and Kevin.

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