Why Did God Allow Slavery in the Old Testament and Barely Says Anything About It in the New Testament?
1) Direct answer
God never endorsed cruel, man-stealing slavery. In the Old Testament He stepped into a fallen world and put strict limits, mercy, and release into a system already present, pointing Israel toward redemption and brotherly love. In the New Testament He went to the root—changing the heart by the new birth—so the gospel dissolves slavery from the inside by making master and slave brothers in Christ. The Scriptures address it, but the aim is salvation and holy conduct, not political revolt.
2) Scriptural explanation
- God forbids man‑stealing and trafficking:
- “He that stealeth a man…shall surely be put to death” (Exodus 21:16; cf. 1 Timothy 1:10).
- Israel’s servitude was tightly regulated and tempered with mercy:
- Release for Hebrew servants in the seventh year with generosity (Exodus 21:2; Deuteronomy 15:12-15).
- “You shall not rule over him with rigor; but shall fear your God” (Leviticus 25:43).
- Protection for the vulnerable and the stranger; do not oppress, love him as yourself (Leviticus 19:33-34; Deuteronomy 10:19).
- An escaped slave was not to be returned or oppressed (Deuteronomy 23:15-16).
- When Israel refused to release servants, God rebuked and judged them (Jeremiah 34:13-17).
- God’s purpose was redemption, not bondage:
- Israel was redeemed from Egypt’s slavery (Exodus 20:2), and God says, “They are my servants…you shall not rule over him with rigor” (Leviticus 25:42-43).
- The New Testament plants the freedom principle in Christ:
- “There is neither bond nor free…all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28).
- If you can be made free, rather use it (1 Corinthians 7:21-22).
- Masters must give what is just and equal, knowing they have a Master in heaven (Colossians 4:1; Ephesians 6:9).
- A slave is received “no longer as a servant, but above a servant, a brother beloved” (Philemon 15-16).
- The Lord’s program is liberty: “He hath sent me to preach deliverance to the captives” (Luke 4:18). “If the Son…make you free, ye shall be free indeed” (John 8:36).
3) Simple clarifying logic
- Now notice: God met people where they were, in a hard world, and fenced in the existing system with justice, time limits, generosity, and protection. That is not approval of oppression; it is restraint and guidance toward mercy.
- You see, the law was a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ (Galatians 3:24). As with divorce, certain concessions existed “because of the hardness of your hearts,” but from the beginning it was not so. God’s heart is redemption and brotherhood.
- In the New Testament, the Church does not wield the sword of the state; it wields the Word and the Spirit. So the Lord dealt with the root—sin in the heart. When a master and a servant are both born again, fear and force give way to love and equality in Christ. You cannot rightly enslave the one you now recognize as your brother for whom Christ died.
- If God approved of cruel slavery, why is man‑stealing a capital crime (Exodus 21:16)? Why command love to the stranger (Leviticus 19:34)? Why require release and generosity (Deuteronomy 15:13-15)? The answer is clear: God was moving His people from bondage to freedom, both naturally and spiritually.
4) Reinforcing statement
The Old Testament restrained a fallen practice; the New Testament removes its roots. The gospel sets men free—first in the soul, then in their relations—until love fulfills the law.
Ask a Follow-up Question
What did the Laodicean Church Age (our age) Angel (- messenger) Say about this?
Ranked passages from the local William Branham sermon and Church Age Book database. Relevance is relative, not a statement of doctrinal certainty.
The Angel of the Lord
51-0718 §4
If the good Lord willing, we hope to be in Jerusalem around Christmas. And those Jews has said to come up, many of them, as you've seen the Look Magazine. They said, "If this Jesus be the Christ..." They never knowed nothing about it, see. They were down in that--there for two thousand years. They still plow with old wooden plows, like they did two thousand years ago. Many of you read the article. And the Norwegian church, and the Swedish church sent out a million Bibles, New Testaments, and those Jews reading the...
I will restore
55-0626E §29
Now, let's go into the New Testament. Now, we're in the New Testament. There was a Pharisee, very religious, great teachers. And God sent His Son. He was a teacher and He preached the Gospel. But they hated Him, just like Cain hated Abel. But what was the difference? They were both teaching, but this group said, "The days of miracles is past." This group of Jesus had God with them. They had healing. They had miracles. They had visions. They had joy. Why, when He come into the temple, they screamed so loud, the Phar...
Presuming
62-0408 §7
Now, this is a Sunday school, so you've got a great teacher here, Brother ... our precious Brother Littlefield---and I'm ... kind of feel a little reluctant about approaching a Sunday school class. But I'd like to get a little background on this. We all know, now, that these... All that happened in the Old Testament was examples of what is going on now. As I said last night, God throws a shadow of a negative before a positive comes. And the Old Testament was a shadow of the New Testament, just like the moon reflect...
Demonology, religious realm, part 2
53-0609A §43
Now you said, "Well, the prophets are the Old Testament." Oh, no! The New Testament had prophets. Agabus was a New Testament prophet. Look at the spirit of prophecy falling down there and telling Paul about them. Here come Agabus down from Jerusalem, and found Paul and tied his girdle around him, and turned over and said, "Thus saith the Lord, the man that wore this will be bound in chains when he gets to Jerusalem." Agabus, who stood up and told ... foretold what would take place, he was a prophet, not a man with...
An Ensign
53-0606 §2
[Break in tape.] ... many of you seen the Look Magazine, Life, and them carrying articles of how down in Yemen, and so forth. And they'd been bringing up thousands of Jews---going into the New Jerusalem, there, across Trans-Jordan. The Arabs have the Old Jerusalem, so in the New Jerusalem, they have brought in, literally, tens of thousands, millions, of Jews. See how the fig tree's putting forth its buds? Now, the Stockholm church sent a million Bibles down there---New Testaments---to give to those Jews. They never...