Deu 15:13-14 | KingComments | STEP | A person who is unable to pay his debt can sell himself as a slave to the creditor. If the amount of his debt makes it necessary for him to work as a slave for at least six years, he must be released in the seventh year. That year of release is not the same as the year of remission, but the year of his slave ministry. The provision to release slaves in the seventh year makes it clear that God wants to see His people as a free people. He wants to guarantee them that freedom, even if they have lost it through their own fault. The starting point for that freedom is obedience of the master to this provision of God. Through the act of setting free he can show that his heart is attuned to God’s heart and he can interpret God’s heart. This section is similar to the section in Exodus that is also about a Hebrew slave ( ). However, the relationship between the two parts shows that, from a spiritual point of view, there are two different applications. In Exodus 21 the Hebrew slave is a type of the Lord Jesus. The wife and children of the slave are a picture of the church and the individual believers. Here it is about a male slave and a female slave. There is no mention of a woman and children of the slave. Here it is written in that the slave who is set free gets all kinds of gifts from his master, although he can also stay voluntarily out of love for his master. The emphasis here, however, is not on the attitude of the slave, but on the mind of the master. This is about doing good to the brother, whether he is a debtor ( ), a poor person ( ), or a slave ( ). The slave is released in the seventh year and must be set free with full hands. What he receives depends on the appreciation the master has of the blessing with which the LORD has blessed him. Through the slave, the master has earned much. If he had had to hire a man for all the work the slave did, it would have cost him twice as much. It can already be difficult for us to forgive a brother who is morally committed to us. We do it, but sometimes with a grumbling heart. To set him free with full hands requires even more spiritual mindedness. Such an attitude can only be there if we realize ourselves that we have received everything we have from the Lord. That will make us grateful, and that thankfulness will bring us to this action in imitation of how the Lord has acted with us. We used to be slaves in Egypt ourselves. When the people leave Egypt, they are also overloaded with gifts. That’s how God does it. There is gratitude not only to God, but also to the slave who has served faithfully. The benefit the master has derived from this, he may reflect in what he gives to the slave. What or how much it should be, is left to the master. Paul tells Philemon not only to forgive Onesimus, but to set him free and overload him with all the Christian love of his heart ( ). In so doing, he will fill the hands of Onesimus and win him and bind him forever to himself.

‏ Deuteronomy 15:13-14

Setting Free of Slaves

A person who is unable to pay his debt can sell himself as a slave to the creditor. If the amount of his debt makes it necessary for him to work as a slave for at least six years, he must be released in the seventh year. That year of release is not the same as the year of remission, but the year of his slave ministry.

The provision to release slaves in the seventh year makes it clear that God wants to see His people as a free people. He wants to guarantee them that freedom, even if they have lost it through their own fault. The starting point for that freedom is obedience of the master to this provision of God. Through the act of setting free he can show that his heart is attuned to God’s heart and he can interpret God’s heart.

This section is similar to the section in Exodus that is also about a Hebrew slave (Exo 21:1-11). However, the relationship between the two parts shows that, from a spiritual point of view, there are two different applications. In Exodus 21 the Hebrew slave is a type of the Lord Jesus. The wife and children of the slave are a picture of the church and the individual believers.

Here it is about a male slave and a female slave. There is no mention of a woman and children of the slave. Here it is written in Deu 15:13-14 that the slave who is set free gets all kinds of gifts from his master, although he can also stay voluntarily out of love for his master. The emphasis here, however, is not on the attitude of the slave, but on the mind of the master. This is about doing good to the brother, whether he is a debtor (Deu 15:1-6), a poor person (Deu 15:7-11), or a slave (Deu 15:12-18).

The slave is released in the seventh year and must be set free with full hands. What he receives depends on the appreciation the master has of the blessing with which the LORD has blessed him. Through the slave, the master has earned much. If he had had to hire a man for all the work the slave did, it would have cost him twice as much.

It can already be difficult for us to forgive a brother who is morally committed to us. We do it, but sometimes with a grumbling heart. To set him free with full hands requires even more spiritual mindedness. Such an attitude can only be there if we realize ourselves that we have received everything we have from the Lord. That will make us grateful, and that thankfulness will bring us to this action in imitation of how the Lord has acted with us. We used to be slaves in Egypt ourselves. When the people leave Egypt, they are also overloaded with gifts. That’s how God does it.

There is gratitude not only to God, but also to the slave who has served faithfully. The benefit the master has derived from this, he may reflect in what he gives to the slave. What or how much it should be, is left to the master.

Paul tells Philemon not only to forgive Onesimus, but to set him free and overload him with all the Christian love of his heart (Phlm 1:15-17). In so doing, he will fill the hands of Onesimus and win him and bind him forever to himself.