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Why did God allow slavery?

Clare73

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Was slavery in the Bible indentured servitude?
Yes, in some cases when an Israelite voluntarily sold himself to a master for a specific period. ESV, Exodus 21:
War captives could be made permanent slaves.
The Israelites could also purchase foreign slaves. Israelite slavery was different from the modern kind of slavery, Exodus 21:
These were serious offenses: capital punishment. According to this Moses law,
the Americans who stole black human beings from Africa should be executed and those who bought them and worked them on the US soil should be executed. The Bible does not condone this kind of slavery.
Paul condemns this kind of slave trader
Yes, theft is sin.
Even when an Israelite acquired a slave legally, there was a way out for the slave, Deuteronomy 23:15

If a slave didn't like his master, he could try to run away
.
"Let him live among you." (Dt 23:16)

Actually, that refers to a foreign slave taking refuge in Israel, it does not apply to slaves owned by Israelites.
Moses' law was on his side.
Why didn't they all run away?
Working for their masters wasn't so bad. The masters provided food, clothing, lodging, and, in some cases, wives. There were reasonable masters. Also, if they ran away, they risked being caught by their master and punished. ESV, Ex 21:
When you have a bad master, some will try to run away even if they have to die for it. But not everyone did. The system was tolerable for some slaves.
Was slavery in the Bible indentured servitude?
The Hebrew slaves were, but the non-Hebrew slaves were not. Neither of them were of the type of colonial slaves in the 18th century. The Bible did not condone colonial slavery.
Why did the Bible allow any form of slavery at all?
That man may understand the true nature of mastered by sin (Ro 6:6) and mastered by righteousness (Ro 6:18)?
 
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Hawkins

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Slavery is an human establishment endorsed by the most moral humans back to the point. It's not God's priority to fight any establishment endorsed or approved by those considered as the "most moral" humans.

Whenever a Jew is poor enough, he, as affected by the human slavery concept established, will sell himself as a slave in order to survive. If the Israelite slavery system didn't exist, this Jew would have to sell himself to the gentiles. This however, is not permitted.

Leviticus 25:42
Because the Israelites are my servants, whom I brought out of Egypt, they must not be sold as slaves.

The Israelite slavery system is intended to be a Labor system instead of truly a slavery system. It is to provide a shelter for those poor Jews who otherwise would have to sell themselves as true slaves.

Leviticus 25:39-40
If any of your fellow Israelites become poor and sell themselves to you, do not make them work as slaves.
They are to be treated as hired workers or temporary residents among you; they are to work for you until the Year of Jubilee.
 
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