40 Acres and a Mule

Forty Acres and a Mule

In the final months of the Civil War, Union Army General William Tecumseh Sherman had a problem. He had marched 60,000 Union soldiers 285 miles from Atlanta to Savannah, Georgia, striking fear into the Confederacy and landing a decisive blow for the Union. But along the march thousands of newly freed people began following Sherman’s army. Finding housing, employment, food, clothes, and medicine for the refugees soon became impossible. Sherman and Secretary of War Edwin Stanton decided to hold a meeting with a delegation of Savannah’s Black leaders to get their advice on what to do with the 10,000 formerly enslaved people now marching with Sherman’s army. Garrison Frazier, a Baptist minister and the group’s spokesman, made clear the demands of the freedmen and women: “The way we can best take care of ourselves is to have land.” Four days later, Sherman issued Special Field Order No. 15. The order redistributed 400,000 abandoned acres of land, in 40-acre plots, to newly freed Black families. Later Sherman agreed to lend Black settlers army mules to work the land. This gave birth to the famous phrase “40 acres and a mule,” as a small reparation for years held in slavery.

40 Acres and a Mule remains the nation’s most famous attempt to provide some form of reparations for American slavery. Today, it is largely remembered as a broken promise and an abandoned step toward multiracial democracy. Less known is that the federal government actually did issue hundreds, perhaps thousands, of titles to specific plots of land between 4 and 40 acres. Freedmen and women built homes, established local governments, and farmed the land. But their utopia didn’t last long. After President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, his successor, Andrew Johnson, stripped property from formerly enslaved Black residents across the South and returned it to their past enslavers.

There were some who realized that after the horrors of slavery and the Civil War, it was important to care for the needs of the disadvantaged, the oppressed and the most vulnerable. As Christians we are called to look after those who are less fortunate than we are; those who are the most vulnerable in our society. James 1:27 gives us an example of this: “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” This means we are to make sacrifices for the sake of those who are more vulnerable, for those who need us the most. This is true today but has also been true since the beginning of the human race. God has always cared for the most vulnerable such as Adam & Eve after they sinned, Hagar, Rahab, and even Cain after he killed Abel. Jesus took care of the woman with the issue of blood and in Luke 14 said to invite the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind to a banquet. Psalm 82:3 says, “Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed.” God has always been about taking care of the vulnerable people in every age and he desires his followers to do the same.

This morning, we are going to start to look at what is called the Book of the Covenant. These laws, spelled out in the next three chapters, were intended to help the Israelite judges flesh out the principles of the Ten Commandments and to help make rulings and mete out punishment when the law was broken. These laws were not inclusive but were to be the pattern of proper morals and behavior that God wanted his covenant people to live out daily in community together. The Lord begins these laws or ordinances with a topic that hits close to home: slavery or servitude. He wanted to ensure that His people didn’t treat other people the way they were treated in Egypt. When the people cried out in their oppression in Egypt, the Lord heard them and was concerned for them. The Lord took notice of the less fortunate, the disadvantaged, the vulnerable and the oppressed and He showed love, care and concern for them. These ordinances on servitude showed His desire that the Israelites would do the same when they got to the Promised Land. And he wants His people today, us, to follow His example which brings us to our big idea this morning: God desires His people to show love, care and concern for the disadvantaged and vulnerable.

Let’s pray: Almighty God, your Word says that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. We want to cultivate a reverent “fear of the Lord” this morning, so God we humbly ask that as we receive Your word, you would illuminate our hearts and minds with Your wisdom. May Your Spirit be present in this moment, leading us in understanding and application. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Our first point this morning is Male Servants found in Exodus 21:1-6. This is what God’s Word says, “These are the laws you are to set before them: “If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he shall go free, without paying anything. If he comes alone, he is to go free alone; but if he has a wife when he comes, she is to go with him. If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the woman and her children shall belong to her master, and only the man shall go free. “But if the servant declares, ‘I love my master and my wife and children and do not want to go free,’ then his master must take him before the judges. He shall take him to the door or the doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he will be his servant for life.”

The Lord has spoken the Ten Commandments directly to His people. They chose Moses as their mediator between themselves and God, and Moses is now with God on Mt. Sinai. God gave Moses instructions about idols and altars and now he is going to set forth laws, the Book of the Covenant, that are to govern the day-to-day behavior in their community. These laws or judgments would guide decisions in settling disputes and become precedents for future rulings. This was unique in that no other nation had ever entered into a covenant with Almighty God. All other nations had made up their own code of laws, but Israel received them directly from the Lord. The Book of the Covenant was revealed to Moses and the Israelites just as the Ten Commandments were. These laws would become legally binding now that they were set authoritatively before the people by their Covenant God.

The Lord begins with laws about the buying of Hebrew servants. Even though some versions say “slaves,” the word the NIV uses, “servants,” is a closer Hebrew translation. The Lord wanted to remind His people where they had just come from and not to subject their fellow Israelites to that kind of treatment. God took steps to make sure that the servant/master relationships didn’t deteriorate into the exploitation of His chosen people in the Israelite community. By mandating proper treatment of a servant by their master, God was basically abolishing slavery in Israel. Also, the Lord will outlaw what we understand as “slavery” later in this chapter in verse 16: “Anyone who kidnaps someone is to be put to death, whether the victim has been sold or is still in the kidnapper’s possession.” The Hebrew “servants” of that time were more like “indentured servants.” They were “workers” or “employees” who would enter into a contract with a “master, boss, or owner” to work under certain terms and conditions.

A “Hebrew” servant would have been considered a lower class than other Israelites because they were either poor, disadvantaged for some reason or vulnerable because of an infirmity or social standing. They would not have had the full rights of regular citizens but would have had more rights than a mere slave, who was foreign-born. In Israel, being in servitude was voluntary, no one could be forced into it. It was common for Israelite males to “sell” themselves into the service of another because of poverty, debt or having to pay restitution. The master would provide guaranteed pay, housing, food, and clothing. They realized the best way to get out of poverty, debt, etc. was to get on the job training and become a productive member of the community. In this way, servitude had a redemptive purpose. A parallel in our society today is more like our sports figures or the military. Stuart says, “Players are not actually the property of the team that “owns” them except as regards the exclusive right to their employment as players of that sport.” “When the law was properly followed, persons who were servants held their positions by reason of a formal contract that related primarily to the job that they had “signed up” to perform, for a period of time, much as one enlists in the military today.”

Also, in Israel, servitude was temporary. The servant’s tenure was six years and in the seventh year, the master had to let him go without payment. This was the Sabbath principle at work. The servant was able to go free to start life over in a better position than when he started serving his master. This kept any Israelite from being in perpetual servitude. Also, the master was not to send the servant away empty-handed but was to give them all they needed to start a new life. Deuteronomy 15:13-14 says, “And when you set him free, you shall not send him away empty-handed. You shall give generously to him from your flock, your threshing floor, and from your wine vat; you shall give to him as the Lord your God has blessed you.” This was the equivalent of the “forty acres and a mule.” God was gracious to His people when they were oppressed, vulnerable and disadvantaged and he wanted His people to be gracious toward their fellow Israelites who found themselves in the same position in the Promised Land.

We notice that these laws were not inclusive but described certain situations that might arise. God weaved the principles found in the Ten Commandments into these laws he was now setting before the people. The first situation showed how much the Lord loved his people and the sanctity of marriage. When the servant was freed in the seventh year, he left with the people he came with. If he came alone, he left alone. If he came with a wife, he left with his wife. Slavery in America broke up families. Husbands and wives and children could be sold to whomever and lots of slave families never saw their father, mother, sons, daughters, brothers or sisters ever again. God’s regulations for masters/servants were designed to keep families together.

The second situation is about a servant who came into servitude unmarried but while in the service of his master, he was given a wife, and she bore him children. According to the law, the man would go free, but his wife and children would have to stay with the master. We might think this is unfair but in reality, it was a safeguard for the woman and her children. First, they were the master’s property. The woman was an indentured servant like the man and would have to work for six years before being freed. Second, we need to remember why the man was indentured in the first place. He was poor or in debt or making restitution. Hopefully, he would be able to take what he learned and earned to make a better life but that didn’t always happen. Sometimes the man would find himself in the same position as before. So, this was a safeguard for the entire family in case his new start didn’t work out. His wife and children would still have their room, board and wage. But if it did work out, then he would be able to buy his family’s freedom, and they would be reunited under their own roof.

We might ask ourselves, how are we to apply these laws and judgments today. Like the Israelites, we are not to use or exploit other human beings. This could take on many forms. For example, we exploit others by enabling them. If those in poverty, in debt or in need to pay restitution want to better themselves, we should be all for it. I think we understand that giving handouts can be more expensive than teaching someone to work. This is why I appreciate New Hope Ministries. They give food out to those who need it, but they also have services, such as job training and financial planning, to help people get back on their feet. These laws encompass a wide range of situations, so any and every way you can think of to use someone or exploit them, is wrong and against God’s commands. We must always be thinking about how we are treating our fellow human beings and not do anything to use or exploit them in any way. That brings us to our first next step which is to Not use or exploit my fellow human beings in any way.

Now the man had another alternative. Maybe he liked working for his master and was treated well. Maybe he realized that he could never make it on his own, especially with a wife and children. The man could “emphatically” declare before God and man his love for his master, wife and children and decide to stay working for his master. This was a legal transaction where the man was stating that he wanted to remain with his master for life. The idea was that he and his wife and children would become permanent members of the master’s family and have the benefits of that relationship. In a culture with so much poverty it had to seem like a better option than most. This arrangement had to go before the “judges” and be made legal so there was no suspicion of coercion. The word for “judge” can be translated “God” meaning that the master and the servant went to the sanctuary to confirm this agreement before the Lord. This kept the servant from making a rash decision and kept the master from being accused of not honoring the six-year contract. This decision was seen in a very physical and visible way. The master would take the servant to the doorpost of his house and pierce his ear with an awl. This very visible mark kept the servant from leaving and entering into a contract with someone else and reminded the master that he had an obligation to employ the servant and his family for life.

But it was also symbolic as the ear is the most important part of a servant’s body. To “listen and hear” was to obey. Ryken says, “By having his ear pierced, therefore, the servant was making a public commitment to do what his master said. The doorpost was also symbolic. Not only did it serve as a place for driving the awl, but it also showed that the servant was now attached to his master’s household. The doorpost was marked with the blood of a covenant between master and slave.” This form of servitude was totally voluntary and raises a few questions: Why would the servant do this? The answer is serving this master was not “slavery” but had become an act of love. What kind of master would provoke this type of love? A good, generous, loving and kind master who took care of his servant’s needs, treated him like a true family member and had his best interest at heart.

This decision teaches us about our special relationship with our heavenly father. In Psalms 40:6-8, David says, “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but my ears you have pierced; burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require. Then I said, “Here I am, I have come— it is written about me in the scroll. I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.” According to David, pleasing God meant more than simply offering a sacrifice for sin. It also meant doing what God says, obeying him the way a servant obeys the master he loves. To illustrate this, David referred to the ancient custom and compared himself to a servant who had his ear pierced. He had learned to hear and obey, offering himself in loving service to God. I also think it’s important to remember that we serve a Master who made himself our servant. Philippians 2:7 says, “rather, he (Christ) made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.” And we see these words in Mark 10:45, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” The words of David are the words of Jesus, and they should be our words too. Let us be people who learn to hear, obey and offer ourselves in loving service to God for life. Psalms 119:32 says, “I run in the path of your commands for you have set my heart free.” The only way we find true freedom is by becoming servants of the one true God. That brings us to our second next step which is to Hear, obey and offer my life in loving service to God for life.

That brings us our second point this morning, Female Servants, found in Exodus 21:7-11. This is what God’s Word says, “If a man sells his daughter as a servant, she is not to go free as male servants do. If she does not please the master who has selected her for himself, he must let her be redeemed. He has no right to sell her to foreigners, because he has broken faith with her. If he selects her for his son, he must grant her the rights of a daughter. If he marries another woman, he must not deprive the first one of her food, clothing and marital rights. If he does not provide her with these three things, she is to go free, without any payment of money.

The first half of our scripture regulated what happened to male servants, and the second half regulated what happened to female servants. Culturally, we know that women had fewer rights than men. Women were disadvantaged and vulnerable in that society, so God made sure to protect his daughters from abuse and oppression. In this patriarchal society, the father had the right to determine what happened to those in his household. It was normal for the father to “sell” his daughter as a servant because of economic reasons or for marriage. If the family was poor this was one way to improve her situation with the hope of becoming a permanent member of another’s household. If a female was not a member of a household, she could be vulnerable to all kinds of danger (Big Idea). God was not trying to restrict them but protect them. These laws God set before the people were meant to protect His covenant people if they obeyed and punish His covenant people if they didn’t.

Remember these laws were not all inclusive of every situation that could arise. There are three situations being addressed here all with marriage in mind. The first situation is about a female who was sold by her father as a servant for the bride-price with the expectation of being married to her master. In view of being married, the relationship was a permanent one, and so the female servant would not be freed after six years. But God put safeguards in place as well. During the engagement period, if the female servant displeased her master, he could decide to terminate the marriage contract. He may have decided that she was not a good fit for marriage, but it could have been for some other reason as well. If this happened, the master could not simply put her out of his house. She still had rights, and he had to respect them. Interestingly, he was considered the one to have broken the contract, so his options were limited. God’s law provided the female servant specific protections in this situation. One, he must let her be redeemed, meaning the female servant’s family could buy her back with the bride-price. Two, in no way, could the master sell her to a foreigner, she must stay within the covenant community.

The next situation is about a female servant who the father selects to be married to his son. A female servant could gain her freedom by being married to the master’s son, giving her full rights as a daughter in the master’s family. The third situation is about a master who takes another wife. There were many reasons why this would take place, but the main idea was that large families were thought to be a blessing from God so this was a way to ensure that in the Jewish community. All of the master’s wives would be cared for, protected and treated as full members of the family. The master could not deprive any of his wives of three basic necessities: food, clothing and marital rights. In fact, he had to provide these in luxurious amounts, not just at a minimal level. Marital rights would have included sexual intimacy and the bearing of children. The covenant law tolerated second wives as long as they were treated equally in the family. One wife could not be treated as a second-class wife. If the master did not treat them all equally, the one treated unfairly could be freed from her master. She would be freed because the man had reneged on the terms of the marriage contract. She could leave and would not have to pay back the bride-price. One last thing, according to Deuteronomy 15:12, if the female servant was bought strictly to work for her master, she was afforded the same conditions as a male servant, allowed to be freed after six years. Again, God had the women’s best interest at heart. (Big Idea)

How can we apply this section to us today? It really speaks to us men, especially husbands and fathers. Fathers, we have an obligation to our families. To care for, provide for and protect them the best we can. Husbands, we have an obligation to take care of our wives on every level, physically, emotionally and spiritually. We have an obligation before God to provide for her. If we fail to provide, protect or give the proper physical expression of love to our wives, we violate the law of God. That brings us to our third next step this morning which is to Take care of my wife and family by providing, protecting and loving them in all the ways God directs.

The story is told of a visit Abraham Lincoln once made to a slave auction, where he was appalled to see the buying and selling of human beings: His heart was especially drawn to a young woman on the block whose story seemed to be told in her eyes. She looked with hatred and contempt on everyone around her. She had been used and abused all her life, and this time was but one more cruel humiliation. The bidding began, and Lincoln offered a bid. As other amounts were bid, he counter-bid with larger amounts until he won. When he paid the auctioneer the money and took title to the young woman, she stared at him with vicious contempt. She asked him what he was going to do next with her, and he said, “I’m going to set you free.” “Free?” she asked. “Free for what?” “Just free,” Lincoln answered. “Completely free.” “Free to do whatever I want to do?” “Yes,” he said. “Free to do whatever you want to do.” “Free to say whatever I want to say?” “Yes, free to say whatever you want to say.” “Free to go wherever I want to go?” she added with skepticism. Lincoln answered, “You are free to go anywhere you want to go.” “Then I’m going with you!” she said with a smile. Whether this story is fact or fiction, it shows us what it means to follow Jesus Christ. Anyone who trusts in Christ for salvation has been delivered from sin and death. Now we are free. Free for what? Free to say, “Jesus, I’m going with you!” Let us be people who follow Jesus and his teachings especially in how we love, care and are concerned for the disadvantaged and vulnerable around us.

As the ushers prepare to collect the tithes and offerings and Gene & Roxey come to lead us in a final hymn, let’s pray: Lord God, give us your eyes to see and your heart of love, care and concern for the disadvantaged and vulnerable in the communities around us. We thank you for your Word which tells us what you desire and require of us. Lord, help us to not use or exploit others in any way, help us to hear, obey and offer our lives in loving service to you for life and help us men to take care of our wives and families by providing, protecting and loving them in all the ways you direct. Thank you for this time together in your house. Let everything, we say, do and think this week, bring your honor, glory and praise. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Opening: “40 Acres and a Mule” Adam Sanchez; rethinkingschools.org

“40 Acres and a Lie” motherjones.com

Conclusion: Ryken Commentary on Exodus