Transcription
In Deuteronomy 20, Moses is explaining laws for warfare, or conduct for warfare. He explains for the distant cities where Israel can offer them peace, and if they accept, they'll be slaves. Now, this, this style of slavery, is this the same as the one outlined in Exodus? So, for example, would it— No, yeah, I already did a session on that, but I'm gonna explain to you. If you read contextually, Israel is only allowed to conquer Canaan, right? Correct. Yeah. Okay. Now, Israel is, listen to what I'm about to say, they were not given orders to expand throughout the world. It's not Islam or Jihad. So if you listen and you pay attention contextually, read the context, they can only conquer Canaan, right? Yeah. The nearby, uh, pagans? Yes. Yeah. But not even nearby, they're only supposed to conquer Canaan. Okay. Yeah, got it. The Canaanites, Canaan, the land of Canaan, right? Okay. Now, this is assuming that if Israel gets attacked and they go to war, other nations, outside nations, come in, like the Assyrians or the Babylonians and Egyptians, right? Yes. So you go to war, you have no choice, you got to protect yourself. This is what it's talking about.
Now, if you enslave them, the rules are different. They can be your perpetual slaves. Whereas if you read Exodus 21 from verse one down, a Hebrew servant is supposed to be released in the seventh year, unless he wants to sell himself to perpetual servitude, right? Yes. Now, why the difference? Now, I did a session on this. The difference is, here's, I'm going to show you the wisdom of God. If someone is willing to let God be God and see the wisdom in it. When you conquer pagans and you enslave them perpetually, that becomes a moral deterrent. Meaning what? If you read Leviticus 18 and Leviticus 20, so guys, listen to this because this is the second time this question's brought up. I answered it, but we're creating repetition. We need to hear something repetitively. You got to learn this. So when you conquered the pagans, if you read Leviticus 18 and 20, God tells you what the pagans were doing, like the Canaanites, the Egyptians. They would commit infanticide, sacrifice children to gods and goddesses, okay, or Molech or Baal. They would commit bestiality, sleep with animals, incest, homosexuality, lesbianism, shedding innocent blood. When you enslave a people, then you prevent them from acting upon these immoral acts. In other words, it becomes a moral deterrent. You stop the evil from spreading because now they can't do it anymore. They're under your control. So in one way, this is punishment for the pagans. So far with me? I'm with you. I'm listening.
But here's where God's mercy comes in. This is why if you read scripture in its context, then you're going to see. So you conquer these pagans, you now prevent them from murder, from bloodshed, from bestiality, incest, all these vices. Now you have lessened sin and wickedness in the world. However, if they convert, and I'm going to show you this from the scripture, if they decide to recant the gods and goddesses and live in obedience to Yahweh and worship Yahweh, then they have to be treated as an Israelite and given the same rights as an Israelite. So you can't keep them in perpetual servitude. Now, where am I getting this from? Are you ready? I'm ready. Leviticus 19:33 or 34. So you see, it's a win-win situation, right? Leviticus 19:33-34: "When a foreigner sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. The foreigner who dwells with you shall be to you as one born among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God." Now, before you go on, Albert, you see how fair the God of the Old Testament is? If a foreigner who's not physically an Israelite lives among you, you are to treat him as if he's a native Israelite, as if he's born an Israelite, and you are to love him as yourself. This is where the command comes, "Love your neighbor as yourself." It comes from this command where God is telling the Israelites, love the foreigner, the Gentile, the one who's not ethnically a Jew, as you love yourself because he's one of you if he worships me.
Okay, clarification. So if, if that foreigner does convert to a Yahweh-worshipping Judaism, they would not be considered Israelite, or they'd still be considered a foreigner who's no— Meaning they're given the status of an Israelite, but he's not an Israelite, meaning as if he's an Israelite. Okay, clear. You see it. So that means the same law applies, right? Now, so reread it. Leviticus 19:33-34. 33: "When a foreigner sojourns with you in your land, you will not do him wrong. 34: The foreigner who dwells with you shall be to you as one born among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you are foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God." Okay, so you caught it. How are they to be treated? As equal? As, uh, that means the same law, right? Same law. So that means in Exodus 21, if you have a Hebrew servant, he has to be set free in the seventh year, right? Seventh year. Makes sense. So then what happens to them? So once they're, so if, if they don't convert, then they're perpetual slaves, but if they do convert, free, right? Because then they can't spread their evil anymore. So you're actually preventing moral anarchy and decay. That's if the Israelites were faithful. But sadly, they were corrupt too. That's why God did to them what he did to the nations. But in a hypothetical, theoretical situation, right? Yes. That means you'll have no more bestiality, no more incest, no more infanticide, sacrificing children, no more murder, if they were to live up to the commands of God, which they didn't. Because that's why God kept punishing them. So he shows how fair he is. He even says, I'll do to you what I did to the nations. But here it says, if they live among you in the context of, "I want to now worship Yahweh, I don't want to worship the gods and goddesses," now they are an Israelite in status. Same law applies. So if a Hebrew servant will not remain a perpetual slave, neither will they. You're going to see them and view them the same way.
Now, here's another one. Go to Deuteronomy 10:18-19. You guys seeing the logic here? Deuteronomy 10:18-19. So even in Deuteronomy 10, you have in Leviticus 19, the anticipation in the New Testament that Gentiles will be given the status of an Israelite and treated as an Israelite. You get it? It's there in the Old Testament, waiting for the fullness of that revelation in the New Testament. Now, Deuteronomy 10:18-19: "He executes the judgment of the orphan and the widow, and loves the foreigner." He loves who? The foreigner. "Giving him food and clothing. Therefore, love the foreigner, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt." So wait, God loves the foreigner, the non-Israelite? Yes. And he's telling you, better love him too. Yes. In other words, God is saying, I'm not a tribal God who loves you more than other nations. I love the nations just like I love you. So you better love them because I love them. There. Yeah.
Now, let me show you how just God is. Look how just he is, guys. Go to Ezekiel 47:22-23. "It shall come to pass that you shall divide it by lot for an inheritance among yourselves and among the aliens who sojourn among you." Who? The aliens? The non-Israelites? Non-Israelites, yes. Now watch. God is saying, in the ideal Israel, in the ideal Israel, the non-Israelites, aliens, will have a portion of the land allotted to them. Read it. "Who sojourn among you, who shall bear sons among you, and they shall be to you as born in the country among the sons of Israel." Again, they'll be treated as Israelites? Yes. So you better not look down upon him because he's a Babylonian. No, view him as an Israelite. Give him the same rights, and he's gonna have the same inheritance as you. Keep reading. "They shall have inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel." Wow. Can you get any more fair than this? Yeah. Yeah. So you see the wisdom, the logic, right? Yes. This is good.