Slavery, the Nations, and the Book of Joel

There are a lot of times when I am frustrated with God as he is presented in the Bible, particularly the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. As with a lot of people, the issue of slavery in Scripture has always gotten to me. I thought about this as I read Joel 3:1-8 for my daily quiet time. In that passage, God promises to punish Gentile nations because they sold the people of Israel into slavery. In retaliation, God will sell those Gentiles into the hands of the Judeans, who will in turn sell them to the Sabeans.

Selling people into slavery is wrong. I don't know how I would feel if it ever happened to me. Being taken away from my family and friends to a land that's totally unknown to me, to be made the absolute property of another human being? That's a scenario that gives me chills just thinking about it. But, reading Joel, my impression is that God didn't really oppose the slave trade for humanitarian reasons. He just didn't like that sort of thing happening to his own people. Not only does he have a special concern for his people that he does not have for other nations, but the nations' treatment of Israel is also a reflection of their attitude toward the God of Israel. If they are bad to Israel, then they must not be too afraid of the LORD who has chosen that nation for himself. And God is particularly concerned that the nations regard him with the utmost respect.

Sure, as I read Joel 3:1-8, I can somewhat detect that God is disgusted with the actual practice of slave trading itself. In v 3, God mentions that the Tyrians and Sidonians sold the Israelites in exchange for prostitutes. Overall, the Old Testament has a rather low view of prostitution, so God appears to look down with contempt on what those nations are doing. Also, I get a chill when I read v 6, in which God says that the nations sold the Israelites to the Grecians, that they might remove them far from their border. The Israelites are being removed far away from the comfort of their own homes. God does appear to display a sensitivity to plight in this passage.

But, as I bring other biblical passages into the discussion, I cannot really take for granted that God's main concern about slavery in Joel 3:1-8 is humanitarian. In Leviticus 25, God distinguishes between Israelite slaves and slaves taken from the Gentiles. Israelite slaves are to be released at the Jubilee, whereas Israelites can hold Gentile slaves in perpetuity. God gives a reason in v 42: the Israelites are not to be the perpetual slaves of another human being because they are God's servants, not anyone else's. God did redeem Israel from slavery in Egypt, after all. So God is not really opposed to slavery per se. He just doesn't want to see his people as slaves, at least not to humans.

And I can see this sort of preferential treatment of Israel in other passages. Throughout the prophets, God relents from destroying Israel for her sins, but he finds no problem in destroying other nations. Israel is special because God has a covenant with her. Plus, how would his reputation look if he destroyed his very own nation?

I know that my presentation here is rather one-sided. There are times when I can detect that God has a genuine concern for the Gentiles in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. In the Torah, God commands Israel to use its bad experience in Egypt as a motivation to treat the resident alien with dignity (Exodus 22:21). There are also prophetic passages in which God restores Gentile nations, for whatever reason (Jeremiah 48:47; 49:6, 39; Ezekiel 29:14).

And, when we get to the New Testament, there appears to be more disapproval of slavery as an institution, whether the slave is Jewish or Gentile. For example, I Timothy 1:10 lists slavetraders in its list of sinners. In addition, in a celebration of the fall of Babylon, Revelation 18:13 mentions that it traded slaves and the souls of men. For some reason, the feeling I get when I read the phrase "souls of men" is this: "These Babylonians were trading actual human beings! How low can you go?"

But there are times when I just get frustrated when I read the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. Eventually, I get tired of making excuses for God's preferential treatment of Israel. I said in prayer as I read Joel 3:1-8, "Lord, it's wrong to sell the Israelites and take them from their homes. And the reason is not that they are your special people, nor is it primarily that treating the Israelites in this manner shows disrespect to you. It is wrong because it hurts human beings. I just wish that you would focus more on the humanitarian dimensions of this injustice!"

But I cannot change the Bible, and I don't really want to do so. God has legitimate reasons for acting as he does. I just don't always see their legitimacy. But that is because of my human limitations.