African Slaves in History and Prophecy (3 January, 2013, Tevet 21, 5773)
Contents:
1. Introduction
2. Slavery and Scripture
3. Slavery in the World
4. The African Slave Trade
5. The Abolition of Slavery
6. Slavery Prophesied
7. Backlash?
Slavery is almost as old as the Human Race. Slavery is mentioned often in the Bible. The Israelites were warned that if they disbehaved other peoples would make slaves out of them. It was also prophesied that Israelites would make slaves out of Africans. In the End Times it seems that descendants of these Africans will acknowledge the God of Israel. The present article serves as an introduction to these issues.
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Canaan was cursed to become a slave (Genesis 9:25).
2. Slavery and Scripture
The Israelites had been in Egyptian Slavery for many years.
This message is repeated throughout the Torah i.e. the Chumash or First Five Books of the Bible written by Moses (cf. Exodus 13:3, 14, 20:2, Leviticus 25:55, 26:13, Deuteronomy 5:6, 6:12, 21, 7:8, 8:14, 13:6, 11 ). This is repeated in other books of the Bible.
It may be, as some claim, that taking into consideration the social conditions of the peoples around them, the Bible mitigates against slavery. Whatever the case at the simple literal level the Bible allowed two types of slaves:
(a) Eved Ivri i.e. a Hebrew Slave. This was in effect indentured labor that could not continue after six years in most cases (Exodus 21:6).
Hebrew Slaves had to be treated well and with respect:
Leviticus 25:
39 And if one of your brethren who dwells by you becomes poor, and sells himself to you, you shall not compel him to serve as a slave. 40 As a hired servant and a sojourner he shall be with you, and shall serve you until the Year of Jubilee. 41 And then he shall depart from you, he and his children with him, and shall return to his own family. He shall return to the possession of his fathers. 42 For they are My servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold as slaves. 43 You shall not rule over him with rigor, but you shall fear your God.
(b) Eved Canaani i.e. a Canaanite Slave. By "Canaaanite" is meant bought from the Land of Canaan and not necessarily of Canaanite origin. These were non-Israelite slaves who were bought from foreign peoples.
Leviticus 25:
44 And as for your male and female slaves whom you may have, from the nations that are around you, from them you may buy male and female slaves. 45 Moreover you may buy the children of the strangers who dwell among you, and their families who are with you, which they beget in your land; and they shall become your property. 46 And you may take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them as a possession; they shall be your permanent slaves. But regarding your brethren, the children of Israel, you shall not rule over one another with rigor.
Hebrew slaves had to keep all the commandments like any other Israelites. Canaanite Slaves had to keep all the negative prohibitions. They could not work on Sabbath.
Certain basic considerations applied as to how they could be treated.
Exodus 21:
26 If a man strikes the eye of his male or female servant, and destroys it, he shall let him go free for the sake of his eye. 27 And if he knocks out the tooth of his male or female servant, he shall let him go free for the sake of his tooth.
In principle it was forbidden to free non-Israelite slaves unless physical damage had been done them. Nevertheless once a slave was freed (whether in accordance with a priori requirements of the Law or not) he (or she) automatically had the rights and obligations of a full-fledged Israelite.
It was prophesied [Deuteronomy 28:68] that if the Israelites sinned they would be punished by being sold into captivity.
The Israelites from the Ten Tribes were taken into captivity by the Assyrians. Some of those were used as slaves by Assyria as illustrated
on Assyrian engravings.
The Jews of Judah after rebelling were taken into slavery by the Romans. They were sold into Egypt, Italy, and elsewhere.
They fulfilled the Prophecy.
See:
Scriptural Reality. Fulfillment of Prophecy in Early Jewish History
3. Slavery in the World
In 1086 ca. 10% of the English population were slaves. in 1102 trade in slaves was made illegal in England.
In other European countries the percentage of slaves was generally higher. At all events statistically there is a good chance that each and every one of us had ancestors who were slaves.
In ca. 1800 Slaves and serfs made up around 75% of the world's population.
In the past millions of Christian Europeans had been enslaved by the Turkish Muslims and the Barbary Pirates of North Africa who would raid the coasts of Mediterranean Lands reaching also up to Ireland. The Germans in WW2 enslaved about 12 million Europeans as slaves to work for them.
Between 12 to 27 million slaves exist in the world today. This includes cases of virtual slavery and forced labor or coerced prostitution which is worse than slavery. African and Islamic nations all practise slavery.
Afro-Americans seem to be attracted to Islam and perhaps for some it is more suitable. Nevertheless it was the Muslims who enslaved blacks more and treated their black slaves in a worse way than the whites ever did.
4. The African Slave Trade
In 1492 Christopher Columbus discovered the Americas. Maize (corn) and the potato were natives of the New World. They had not been known of previously. [Maize may have once been harvested in India but it had disappeared]. Subsequently, the potato was introduced to Europe and maize to Africa. This resulted in a population explosion in Africa and in parts of Northern Europe. The Africans lived in different states of their own. Between a third to two thirds of the Africans were slaves to other Africans. African slave traders sold other Africans as slaves to Arabs and to Europeans. The slaves were mainly taken from central west and southwest Africa.
Up to five out of every six slaves taken by Arabs died before reaching the places they were being taken to. It also appears that there not that many children of Slaves in Arab countries who survived.
About one out of every six slaves taken by Europeans died on the journey. In other words the death rate of African Slaves taken by Arabs was FIVE TIMES AS BAD as that of slaves taken by Europeans!
The present President of the USA, Baruch Hussein Obama, claims to be descended from an Arab slave trader who settled in Kenya.
The number of slaves taken by Europeans who died in journey was not much higher than that of poor whites from Scotland and Ireland who sailed across the Atlantic.
Statistically as much as we can tell if the slaves had not been taken out of Africa most of them would have died in internecine wars, or from famine and disease. From a demographic point of view slavery saved them. This does not justify slavery. Nor does it mitigate the very real suffering of the slaves. Quite a few of them died of a broken heart. It does however place matters in an historical perspective.
Most slaves were taken across the Atlantic by the Portuguese, French, and English with the English playing the main role.
# It is estimated that more than half of the slave trade took place during the 18th century, with the British, Portuguese and French being the main carriers of nine out of ten slaves abducted from Africa. The British were the biggest transporters of slaves across the Atlantic during the 18th century. #
About 12 million slaves were shipped across the Atlantic. About 750,000 were taken to North America.
5. The Abolition of Slavery
France abolished slavery, in 1794, but it was revived by Napoleon in 1802, and banned for good in 1848.
Denmark-Norway was the first European country to ban the slave trade, in 1792, to become fully effective by 1803. Slavery itself was not banned until 1848.
# In 1807 the British Parliament passed the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act, under which captains of slave ships could be stiffly fined for each slave transported. This was later superseded by the 1833 Slavery Abolition Act, which freed all slaves in the British Empire. Abolition was then extended to the rest of Europe. The 1820 U.S. Law on Slave Trade made slave trading piracy, punishable by death.[89] In 1827, Britain declared the slave trade to be piracy, punishable by death. The power of the Royal Navy was subsequently used to suppress the slave trade.. The West Africa Squadron was credited with capturing 1,600 slave ships between 1808 and 1860 and freeing 150,000 Africans who were aboard these ships.[91] Action was also taken against African leaders who refused to agree to British treaties to outlaw the trade, for example against 'the usurping King of Lagos, deposed in 1851. Anti-slavery treaties were signed with over 50 African rulers.
"Brit-Am Now"-901
#4. Melvin Rhodes: How One of Today's 'Bad Guys' Ended the Scourge of Slavery
# Britain's enthusiasm for ending the slave trade "led it to much greater
involvement in African affairs. Additional colonies were acquired (Sierra
Leone, 1808; Gambia, 1816; Gold Coast, 1821) to serve as bases for
suppressing the slave trade and for stimulating substitute commerce." This
"contributed to the expansion of both its commercial and colonial empire"
(The Encyclopaedia Britannica, 15th edition, Macropedia, "Colonialism," p.
892).
# Certainly, many British people profited from the slave trade before its
abolition, but the British Empire became much wealthier after the trade was
ended.
# A quarter-century later, America would also overturn its history of slavery.
Some 365,000 mostly white males of British descent died fighting for the
Union side in the American Civil War, enabling peoples of African descent to
be free. No other nation sacrificed so many people for such a noble cause.
#The trade in human beings, which includes the sex trade, is now estimated to
be the biggest business in the world, accounting for a full 10 percent of
the world's total commerce.
At all events, it was the British and Americans who ended slavery. They received the help of other nations that encompass Israelite Elements such as Denmark, the Netherlands, and France. They were the ones who did it. Even today they are the ones who still do it. American and British pressure helped end slavery in Saudi Arabia in the 1960s and other places.
6. Slavery Prophesied
Isaiah speaks of freeingn the slaves in chapters 42 and 49. One time he appears to speak of freeing Israelite Salves and on the other of freeing non-Israelites.
Isaiah 49:9 speaks of freeing the prisoners but according to the context he appears to be referring mainly to Israelites. The foundation of British colonies in North America (from which emerged the USA) and Australia was based on the use of prisoners and indentured servants who were eventually freed.
Isaiah 49:
8 Thus says the LORD:
In an acceptable time I have heard You,
And in the day of salvation I have helped You;
I will preserve You and give You
As a covenant to the people [Hebrew: "Brit-Am"],
To restore the earth,
To cause them to inherit the desolate heritages;
9 That You may say to the prisoners, Go forth,
To those who are in darkness, Show yourselves.
They shall feed along the roads,
And their pastures shall be on all desolate heights.
We saw above that the freeing of the prisoners was primarily associated with Israelites.
Isaiah 42 repeats this message but here the emphasis is on the non-Israelite nations.
Isaiah 42:
1 Behold! My Servant whom I uphold,
My Elect One in whom My soul delights!
I have put My Spirit upon Him;
He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles.
2 He will not cry out, nor raise His voice,
Nor cause His voice to be heard in the street.
3 A bruised reed He will not break,
And smoking flax He will not quench;
He will bring forth justice for truth.
4 He will not fail nor be discouraged,
Till He has established justice in the earth;
And the coastlands shall wait for His law.
5 Thus says God the LORD,
Who created the heavens and stretched them out,
Who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it,
Who gives breath to the people on it,
And spirit to those who walk on it:
6 I, the LORD have called You in righteousness,
And will hold Your hand;
I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people,
As a light to the Gentiles,
7 To open blind eyes,
To bring out prisoners from the prison,
Those who sit in darkness from the prison house.
8 I am the LORD, that is My name;
And My glory I will not give to another,
Nor My praise to carved images.
9 Behold, the former things have come to pass,
And new things I declare;
Before they spring forth I tell you of them.
The doing of justice and the teaching of humane behavior to the Gentiles was one of the tasks of the Ten Tribes especially of Joseph. One of the ways this was fulfilled was through the freeing of the slaves.
Genesis 12:
2 I will make you a great nation;
I will bless you
And make your name great;
And you shall be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you,
And I will curse him who curses you;
And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.
Genesis 18:
18 since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? 19 For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the LORD, to do righteousness and justice, that the LORD may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him.
Genesis 22:
18 In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.
Amos 5:
14 Seek good and not evil,
That you may live;
So the LORD God of hosts will be with you,
As you have spoken.
15 Hate evil, love good;
Establish justice in the gate.
It may be that the LORD God of hosts
Will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.
We were told to give refuge (Deuteronomy 23:15) to escaped slaves.
Deuteronomy 23:
15 You shall not give back to his master the slave who has escaped from his master to you. 16 He may dwell with you in your midst, in the place which he chooses within one of your gates, where it seems best to him; you shall not oppress him.
7. Backlash?
Deuteronomy 28:33 warns us that if we do not go in a straight path the alien who dwells amongst us will take control of us.
Leviticus 25:46 allows us to acquire slaves, to give them rights, but never to free them. If however they were freed they were to receive equal rights.
Immediately afterwards the following verses (Leviticus 25:47-49) speak of an Israelite or stranger (i.e. a freed slave) buying another Israelite as an indentured slave (for the maximum term of six years). There could be a case of cause and effect here. It could be warning that if they transgress the injunction not to free the slaves then the freed alien slaves will take control of them.
At present, the USA is ruled by Barak Hussein Obama who appears to be anti-American and anti-Israel.
About 97% of Afro-Americans voted for Obama in his first term and ca. 95% in his second term. Hispanics who are mostly descended from Spanish males and female Amerindians also voted overwhelmingly for Obama (2008 -57%; 2012 - 60%). Hispanic support for Obama actually increased!
See:
How Obama Won Re-election
Whites Were Outvoted. Women. Hispanics. Youth
Jeremiah and Obama. Have the Tribulations of Jacob Began?
Obama and the Travail of Jacob
This is a sign of the aliens taking control of Israel (Deuteronomy 28:33).
Originally the English were dominant in bringing African slaves across the Ocean to North America and the Caribbean for their own usages and also sold them to the Spanish and Portuguese in Latin America.
Our work, "Joseph. The Israelite Destiny of America", shows how Isaiah in chapters 43 and 45 speaks of the Ten Tribes in Exile. Isaiah mentions African Sabaeans being brought over from Africa in chains. They will eventually acknowledge Israel as the Chosen People and the God of Israel as the only God. Perhaps this means that the Afro-Americans will repent? [Israelite control of India and Africa and especially Egypt is also indicated in these same passages of Isaiah. Such was the situation with the British Empire.]
The slaves who were brought over to North America included not only Sabaeans but also descendants of Canaanites. It had been prophesied that Canaan would be a slave.
We will return to this subject in a ANOTHER TALK.