Slaves, obey your earthly
masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would
obey Christ. Obey them
not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but as slaves of Christ,
doing the will of God from your heart. Serve
wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people, because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever
good they do, whether they are slave or free.
And masters, treat your
slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is
both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him.
Ephesians 6:5-9
As harsh and as
hateful as the mistreatment of slaves sometimes was, the commandment would
apply in the time of Paul to the time of the 1700s to today. Revenge is never a precedent God encourages
and He says to leave that to Him. In the
meantime, as He works in the background, He tells the people, no matter how
difficult the circumstances, to love and persevere and do what we’re told. This applies to our work environments too,
where so feel like abused slaves, underappreciated and bullied.
We thank God that
we have laws to protect us from abuses today, but back then, if a slave read
this verse—and he loved God—he would have to serve wholeheartedly as if serving
the Lord.
However, verse 9,
speaks to masters and if a master read the Bible he was commanded not to
threaten. Both slave and master would be
judged on how closely they followed these commands.