In Exodus 20, God first gave the Ten Commandments which constitute the moral law or standards by which the people ought to conduct their life. The next section, Exodus 21-24:3, collectively is known as the Book of the Covenant. Here the Ten Commandments would be expanded. We shall see a detailed explanation of how the Ten Commandments should be applied. It’s a section that most preachers would skip because unlike the first 20 chapters of Exodus, it is not as exciting. But this segment contains regulations needful for peaceful communal living. Like it or not, this Book of the Covenant was important and warranted the people’s attention because it was a part of God’s Word to them. In it, they would discover teaching on how they could live for God daily. This segment would help to apply the Ten Commandments in specific situations within the social context of their day to day living. Like the Ten Commandments, this Book of the Covenant was revealed by God to them. Hence, they must be held with respect and honour. The nations surrounding Israel already had a law of their own. Many also forbade murder, pilfering, much like what was given to Israel. Yet they were totally unlike because Israel’s law came directly from God. It was the LORD who gave it to them as a covenant. Undoubtedly, the Ten Commandments are universal absolutes. The Book of the Covenant, on the other hand, are principles that govern how the Ten Commandments could be applied in different situations, hence they are not as binding to us today. However, we need to know they deal with day to day relationships.
The Book of the Covenant started by dealing with slavery. It was the same subject that God began with in the giving of the Ten Commandments. He reminded the people that they were slaves in Egypt and He was the one who had brought them out of their slavery. We surmise that it must have been a subject that was close to God’s heart so He dealt with it first. It is logical for God to begin with this subject for them. Of all people, the Israelites should be well accustomed to what slavery meant. It would be unthinkable for them to treat another person the way they were treated by the Pharaoh of Egypt. God’s first step was to regulate the relationships between masters and slaves. Note that He did not abolish slavery straight away but He stipulate how servants should be treated. This was intended to provide safeguards to shield the self-esteem and well-being of servants. God knew the propensity of man and He wanted to eliminate the abusive tendency of men. In our context today, this applies to our employers and employees’ relationship. Taking from what God had stipulated in the Book of Covenant, we should deal with our employees with dignity.
What God had stipulated here helps to regulate how a master should treat his servant. Slavery in God’s economy was to train men and women to be useful for society. The reason many went into slavery was because of their debt. Two reasons for how people became slaves. The first was probably personal negligence and they created a debt that they couldn’t pay. Secondly, it could be because they had stolen someone’s goods and could not pay and had to make restitution for their sin. So, we can see that slavery was allowed by God to deal with and correct their irresponsible lifestyle. But God also knew the abusiveness of a man who would then take advantage of a slave. So, He made sure that they would be freed after six years of servitude. In this way, a person would never be condemned to a life of poverty. However, because of the deep gratitude a slave may have for his master and wanted to serve him for life, God also stipulated what should be done. Verse 6 says the “…master shall bring him to God, then he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost. And his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall serve him permanently.” When Paul talked about him being a bondservant of Christ, he probably had this in mind. The Lord Jesus became his master, having bought and redeemed him from the past life of sin. But after serving the Lord Jesus and had fallen in love with his master, he wanted to remain His servant for life. He became a bondservant to the Lord. Like the Apostle Paul, this is what we ought to be too.
The whole purpose of stipulating how slaves should be handled was to regulate master and servant relationship. It was also set to avoid the exploitation of a person's misfortune. The whole drift was to promote the wellbeing of a fellowman. It teaches us that people in debt should be given an opportunity to redeem themselves. They should seek gainful employment to discharge their debt. And when given this opportunity, they must responsibly serve their employers, using their work to correct their negligence or flaws. The objective was to enable them to be useful members of the society where they are a part of. What a gracious God!
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