Redeemed From Shackles | Exodus 21:1-11

We’re all familiar with those horrific and barbaric images of slavery from the not so distant past. Of men, women and children captured against their will and herded onto ships in shackles, like animals, where many will die and those who survive will be forced into a life of hard labour, while suffering under inhumane conditions, with no prospect for freedom. Tragically, slavery still persists today in many parts of the world. Young children and women are being kidnapped and sold into slavery – they’re human trafficked. They’re ripped away from their homes and families to be abused for the rest of their lives. Pure evil.

This text is all about slavery. Critics of Christianity often point to texts just like the one we’re going to look at today, as evidence of how the Bible justifies the barbaric practice of slavery. Some even blame the Trans-Atlantic slave trade on Christianity itself. Is this really a fair critique? What we’re going to see as we look at this text, is that the slavery that the Bible describes is vastly different from the slavery that we typically think of. Further, we’ll also see that while the Bible assumes the existence of slavery as a part of society, it never defends the practice. In reality God’s law goes out of its way to protect the poorest and vulnerable of societies. But ultimately, what we’ll see from this text is that it points us to Christ and his gospel. Because Christ redeemed us from slavery to sin, we can serve him with joy and gladness.

Preacher: Rev. Antonio Coppola.

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