Thou shalt not hand over to his master a bondman that hath escaped from his master unto thee
Israel's law gave a runaway slave's protector one clear order: do not hand him back. Why does God make the shelter of a fugitive a matter of national obedience?
The law of Moses did not abolish slavery. It set limits around it, and this command is one of the sharpest examples. One writer sets it beside other legal systems:
The law given by Moses had done much to soften slavery in Israel... The old and still common British boast is only an echo of this command: they were not to hand a runaway slave back to his master. He was free to live among them without oppression, wherever he pleased (Deut. 23:15-16)... In this the law of Moses stands in contrast with other codes — yes, and with the selfish and proud Christian world. Still, we fully admit that the law made nothing perfect, here as everywhere else.
Sheltering another nation's runaway property could make enemies. Israel had to do it anyway. The reason lay in the God they had come to for shelter:
If one of these people, owned as property, broke his bonds and fled, Israel was to be a secure refuge for him. This might stir up the hostility of the nations against them. Yet this little people were to open their arms to the distressed, whatever the consequences... They had come to rest under the shelter of His wings, and He could not destroy that trust. Let it be a poor slave — he must still be sheltered from the kings of the earth. There was one sanctuary of refuge for the oppressed, and it was in the heart of the God of Israel.
Why does this law stand where it does? One writer sees an order that matters:
The sanctuary — and that is what all Israel was, compared with the world outside — must first of all be the place of freedom, so that it may be the place of holiness. And we must find this freedom with God for it to be real and sanctifying: the heart is brought to Him. So the freeing of the slave comes in its right place here. We can see its connection with what follows, which for us has much fuller meaning: there is to be no prostitution among the people of God.
The refuge described is not a holding cell. The man who arrives gets to settle where he wants:
While the law did not forbid slavery, and even in Christianity slaves are told to obey their masters (Eph. 6:5), it was not God's plan that people should be in bondage to one another.
One writer asks us to picture the runaway's relief, and marks what had to come first:
Think of an ill-treated slave fleeing from a place of bondage, now at liberty in the house of his newly found protector! The slave, however, had to escape before he could enjoy his deliverance and freedom.
The same writer then turns to a harder bondage. A man can outrun a human owner. No one outruns sin:
In Romans 6 sin is seen as a "master." The whole of Adam's race is in bondage to him, and his rule reaches to the end of the earth. Prisoners have slipped out of dungeons quietly and suddenly. Others have climbed prison walls and got away. But where is the person who ever escaped the captivity of sin by his own efforts? The slave we have spoken of gained his freedom by running away. The captive of sin, though, needs to be taken out of his lost and hopeless condition and placed in a new one. Through the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, two things have been done for those who know they are joined with Him: He died to take them out of the service of sin, so that they might live in union with Him and bear fruit for God.
Paul once sent a runaway home — a move this law did not require of him. One writer treats that as grace going further than the statute:
Under the law of Moses one was not permitted to "give up to his master a slave who has escaped from his master." The runaway was to live with them, and further, they were not to oppress him (Deut. 23:15-16). Paul no doubt knew this law. But under grace we shall see righteousness and peace kissing each other (Ps. 85:10)... The grace of God that can reconcile a fugitive with his master has in a deeper way reconciled the lost sinner with God.
- Bondage — the law did not abolish slavery, but it was never God's plan for people to be owned by one another.
- Escape — the fugitive had to get out before he could enjoy freedom. Shelter was for the one who came.
- Refuge — Israel was to shelter him even if it made enemies. The God they rested under would not destroy that trust.
- Freedom first — the place had to be free before it could be holy. That is why this law stands just before the call to purity.
- Grace further — no one escapes sin by running. The captive must be taken out and set in a new place, and the death and resurrection of Christ do that.
he shall dwell with thee, even in thy midst, in the place that he shall choose in one of thy gates, where it seemeth good to him; thou shalt not oppress him.
A servant runs from his owner and crosses into Israel. The law does not send him back. It gives him a home, his own choice of town, and protection from ill-treatment. Why would God's law shelter the runaway instead of backing his master's claim?
The verse does two things. It settles where the escaped servant may live. It also forbids anyone from taking advantage of him there. One writer sets out the plain sense of the rule:
The law did not forbid slavery, and even in Christianity slaves are told to obey their masters (Eph. 6:5). Yet it was not God's plan that people should be in bondage to one another. If a slave escaped from his master and came to an Israelite town, the Israelites were not to send him back to his master. They were to let him stay in the shelter of that town, and to give him liberty to choose the place he wanted to live within their gates.
The command cost Israel something. Sheltering a runaway could turn the nations around them into enemies:
If one of these human possessions broke its chains and fled, Israel was to be a secure refuge for him. This might stir up the hatred of the nations against them. Yet this little people were to open their arms to the distressed, whatever the consequences. Let it be a poor slave — he must still be sheltered from the kings of the earth. There was one sanctuary of refuge for the oppressed, and it was in the heart of the God of Israel.
To "dwell with you" meant more than being tolerated. William Kelly points to the runaway's religious standing, and to the limits of the law itself:
The command was that a slave who escaped among them should not be handed over to his master. He was free to live where he pleased among them, unoppressed and free. This was not only about his social position, but still more about his religious standing. Jewish slaves had a right to circumcision, to the Sabbath rest, to their place at the yearly assemblies and feasts, and to the joy and liberty of the jubilee. In this the law of Moses stands in contrast with other codes — yes, and with selfish and proud Christendom. Still, we fully admit that the law made nothing perfect, here as everywhere else. Because of Jewish or human hardness of heart, the law tolerated a good deal that was far from God's mind, until He came who is the truth in grace.
The place of this rule in the chapter is not accidental:
Israel, compared with the world outside, was a sanctuary. And a sanctuary must first of all be the place of freedom, so that it may be the place of holiness. This freedom must be found with God for it to be real and to make holy: the heart is brought to Him. So the setting free of the slave comes in its right place here, and its connection with what follows is clear — there is to be no prostitution among the people of God.
The runaway won his freedom by running. One writer asks whether a deeper bondage can be escaped that way:
Romans 6 views sin as a "master." The whole of Adam's race are in bondage to him, and his rule reaches to the end of the earth. Prisoners have slipped out of dungeons, climbed prison walls, and escaped. But where is the person who ever escaped the captivity of sin by his own efforts? The slave we have spoken of was made free by running away. The captive of sin, though, needs to be taken out of his lost and forlorn condition and placed in a new one.
Paul's letter to Philemon sends a runaway servant back to his master. One writer sees this law behind that letter, and grace reaching beyond it:
The law of Moses did not allow anyone to hand back a servant who had escaped from his master. "He shall dwell with you," it says, and "You shall not wrong him." Paul surely knew this law, but under grace we shall see righteousness and peace kissing each other (Ps. 85:10). The grace of God that can reconcile a runaway with his master has in a deeper way reconciled the lost sinner with God through the work of redemption in Christ.
- Flight. The command starts with a man who has already broken his chains and fled.
- Shelter. Israel was to be his secure refuge, whatever hatred this stirred up among the nations. The one sanctuary for the oppressed was in the heart of the God of Israel.
- Choice. He was not just tolerated. He chose his own town, lived there unoppressed, and shared Israel's worship as well as its streets.
- Order. Freedom comes first, holiness second: a sanctuary must be a place of liberty before it can be a place of holiness.
- Reach. This law still made nothing perfect. No one runs away from sin, the one master everyone serves. The grace that reconciles a runaway with his owner goes further and reconciles the sinner with God.