Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - What the Bible Says About Slavery | New Testament | Philemon

Episode Date: August 22, 2023

Does the Bible speak directly about slavery? How were slaves talked about in the Bible? In today's episode, Patrick discusses Philemon and how it reveals God's heart for justice and gentleness. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Join the TMBT community in reading the entire New Testament in one year. Get your FREE reading plan here. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it with others, so others can find it too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter@TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: Philemon

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. In the time it takes to get to work. I'm Patrick Miller. Philemon is one of the shortest books in the Bible, and it's not really a book. It's a letter, and it's a rather strange letter. If you read it, you really will start wondering, how is this letter kept? How was this letter passed on and why? But I'm getting ahead of myself. A little bit of context here. Fileiman, he was a leader in the church in Colossay. That's the very church that the book of Colossians was written to. But like many Romans in his day, Philemen owned slaves.

One of those slaves grew disillusioned with Philemon. Perhaps Philemon treated him poorly. We really don't know. But that slave, a man named Onesimus, he fled from Philemon. And then, by unknown circumstances, he eventually ended up all the way in Cessaria Meritima, that's on the west coast of Judea. And there, he connected with the Apostle Paul who was in prison. Now, just a note here, some people think this might have been when Paul was imprisoned in Rome,

and that's where Onesimus met him. but either way, Paul was in prison and Onesimus found him. Now, when Onesimus found him, he and Paul, they became very close, and Enesimus served Paul's needs and cared for him. But eventually, Paul felt compelled to send Anesimus back to Philemon. Now, maybe when you hear that, you're a lot like me, and it makes you feel somewhat icky. You know, it's disturbing. Why would Paul send a runaway slave back to his owner? We'll return to that later. But what we need to know for now is Onesimus listened to Paul, and he likely carried both Paul's letter to the Colossian Church and Paul's letter to Philemon in the same journey. Can you imagine what that journey was like for

Anesimus? Anesimus could be thrown in jail for what he did. He could be executed, and now he's on a journey. He's heading straight back into danger. So anyways, Anesimus arrives at the church in Colossi, and he probably read and taught Paul's letter to the Colossian Church. And then he had to meet face to face with Philemon, a member of that church. Maybe the guy in whose house that church was meeting. And Anesimus gives him this letter, which I'll read to you in full. Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus and Timothy, our brother. To Philemon, our dear friend and fellow worker. Also, to Afia, our sister, and our Kippus, our fellow soldier, and to the church that meets in your home. Grace and peace to you from God, our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. I always thank my God, as I

remember you in my prayers because I hear about your love for all his holy people and your faith in the Lord Jesus. I pray that your partnership with us in the faith may be effective in deepening your understanding of every good thing we share for the sake of Christ. Your love has given me great joy and encouragement because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the Lord's people. Therefore, although in Christ I could be bold and order you to do what you ought to do, yet I prefer to appeal to you on the basis of love. It is none other than Paul, an old man and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus, that I appeal to you for my son, Onesimus, who became my son while I was in chains. Formerly, he was useless to you, but now he's become useful both to you and to me. I am sending

him, who is my very heart back to you. I would have liked to have kept him with me so that he could take your place and helping me while I was in chains for the gospel, but I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that any favor you do would not seem forced, but would be voluntary. Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back forever, no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother. He is also very dear to me, but even dearer to you, both as a fellow man and as a brother and the Lord. So, if you consider me a partner, welcome him, as you would welcome me. If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me. I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand. I will pay it back, not to mention

that you owe me your very self. I do wish, brother, that I may have some benefit from you and the Lord. Refresh my heart in Christ. Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I ask. And one more thing, prepare a guest room for me, because I hope to be restored to you to answer your prayers. Hephaferus, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends you greetings, and so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demus, and Luke, my fellow workers, the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. We don't know what happened after Onesimus gave this letter to Philemon, but it's not that hard to guess.

Philemon probably set Onesimus free at great personal cost, and we can guess that for one simple reason. We still have this letter. Who would have kept it if Philemon refused and threw O'Nesimus into prison? No, it's far more likely that he not only freed Onesimus, but that he did as Paul asked and welcomed Onesimus as a man, as a human, not a piece of property, and as a beloved brother. You see, this letter is both more and less than what we would hope for in the modern West. If you're like me, we'd hope for a more clear condemnation of slavery.

We'd hope that Paul would just tell Philemon what to do without sending Onesimus. And yet, I hope you see that this letter is more, because in this letter are the seeds that ended slavery in the West. Most people don't know that slavery ended in Christian Europe in the medieval era because of this text, the practice only returned later before it was eradicated by Christians once more. But it's also more in this. Paul's letter shows us the power of God's spirit to transform. It shows us that he prefers not to coerce, but to awaken us to injustice and to move us to do what's right. Paul knew Philemon's heart. He was confident that the spirit would work in him to lead him toward justice. So often we struggled to do likewise. We try to coerce. We try to command.

but Paul trusts the spirit to be at work in his people. I'm grateful for this book. It's a great seed of justice, which, when it was planted, blossomed into emancipation. But I'm also grateful for this letter because it shows the gentleness of God's heart to us all, even at our worst.