Remember That You Were a Slave (Deuteronomy 24:22)

Children's Lesson (click here)

I. “I'm Never Looking Back”

Sometimes, when people are poised to move up and out of a painful season or a difficult relation-ship or a trying circumstance, they say, “I'm never looking back”. But sometimes... that sentiment ends up hindering us instead of helping us. We get it, right? Who wants to look back when looking back is often so hard? When it stirs up such hurtful and confusing feelings? If that's the case, then it makes sense to leave the past in the past. But what if... what if it was God who was telling you to look back? He does exactly that in our main verse this morning.

II. The Passage: “You Shall Remember” (24:19-22)

Look with me at the first half of Deuteronomy 24:22. This is how Moses instructs his hearers...

“You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt...”

Now some might accuse Moses of being too negative here; of encouraging the Israelites to look backward instead of moving forward; of weighing them down with past traumas, when they should be focused on future dreams. But if Moses really is being unwise in some way, he does it more than once. In fact, in five different verses in Deuteronomy, he calls them to look back using the exact same language: “remember that you were a slave” (5:15; 15:15; 16:12; 24:18, 22).

So why? Why do this? Why call them to remember their former bondage? Well, look at the rest of verse 22. Moses says, “You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore I command you to do this.” Do “this”? Do what? Okay. To answer that question we need to start back in verse 19. Listen to the broader context here. Moses tells them...

“When you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. [20] When you beat your olive trees, you shall not go over them again. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow. [21] When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not strip it afterward. It shall be for [you guessed it] the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow. [This then leads to v. 22] You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore I command you to do this.”

So the “this” at the end of verse 22 is his earlier instruction (that is, God's law related to the vineyard in verse 21, which is just like the law concerning olive trees in verse 20, which is really the same command first given in verse 19 concerning a harvested field). Whether in the field, the grove, or the vineyard, anything that was left after harvesting should 'stay where it lay'. Why? So that those in need of food could come through and find something to eat.

But wait. How is that related to our main verse in verse 22, a verse about remembering their earlier enslavement? Well even though the repeated recipients of blessing here are “the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow” (a phrase used eleven times in this book), in verse 22, Moses has just that first descriptor in mind: “the sojourner”. Think about it: what Moses is pointing them to in verse 22 is the fact that they were once sojourners, that is, they once lived in a foreign country; they were strangers in a strange land. In fact, they weren't simply pilgrims passing through in that strange land (the land of Egypt). They were slaves!

Therefore... if they would stop and simply remember what it was like to be treated badly in a foreign country, to be in a position of desperate need... if they simply kept that in mind, they would understand why God wanted them to leave that overlooked sheaf, or olive branch, or cluster of grapes. They would understand the heart behind the command.

That same concern (yes for the foreigner, but more broadly for the powerless... that same concern) is actually first introduced in verses 17 and 18. Look back. Moses instructs them...

“You shall not pervert the justice due to the sojourner or to the fatherless, or take a widow’s garment in pledge, [18] but you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt and the LORD your God redeemed you from there; therefore I command you to do this.

So the opening words of verse 18 sound exactly like verse 22, but notice the phrase added after that familiar statement: “... you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt and [that] LORD your God redeemed you from there...”. Or as 5:15 follows up that slavery statement, “and the LORD your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm.” God was calling them not only to remember their former bondage, but also, why they were now free.

So if we could sum up the repeated phrase, “remember that you were a slave”, I think we'd say that God (through Moses) was emphasizing for them these key ideas: Don't forget where you came from. Don't forget what you experienced. Don't forget who you were. (2x) Once they entered the Promised Land and took over homes they did not build and fields they did not plow and vineyards they did not plant and wells they did not dig, once they felt established, once they felt secure, once they began to prosper... it would be incredibly easy to forget where they came from... to forget what happened to them... to forget who they were.

Moreover, in forgetting those things, they would forget what it was like to be so needy; to be powerless; to be so dependent on the goodness, the kindness, of others. And worst of all, in forgetting those things, they would forget their Deliverer; the One who was even now rewriting their story. Do you see why it was so incredibly important that God command them... that he command them, through Moses, to “remember that you were a slave”? The principle behind 24:22 and behind every similar passage is this: My remembering should rightly shape my responding.

III. “And Such Were Some of You”

But if we are listening to these words this morning (thousands of years after the Exodus), and not as Hebrews, but as Gentile Christians, is God calling us to remember as well? And if so, what are we called to remember? Amazingly, we are called to remember that exact same thing: “remember that you were a slave”. What kind of slave was I? What kind of slave were you?

[Paul writes in Romans 6:17–18] But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, [18] and, having been set free from sin, [you] have become slaves of righteousness.

The explicit call to remember our former bondage is found in Ephesians 2:11-12, “...remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands—[12] remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.”

Do you remember that time? Do you remember your former bondage? Or as Paul describes it in Ephesians 2, that time of separation; that time of alienation; that time of godlessness and hope-lessness. Do you remember it? You should. In fact, you must. And not just the specifics of your story, but the specifics of God's diagnosis of your bondage, as revealed in his word.

God is saying to you, believer, Don't forget where you came from. Don't forget what you exper-ienced to you. Don't forget who you were. He gets why you might want to forget. I get it. We get it. But if we forget those things, we forget what it was like to be so needy; to be powerless; to be so dependent on the goodness, the kindness, of another. And worst of all, if we forget those things, we might, in practice, forget our Deliverer; the One who is even now rewriting our story.

So very practically, the command in Deut. 24:22, that call for the Israelites to remember... so that it might rightly shape their response to God and to those in need, that command should, today, point every follower of Jesus back to the very same truth about you and me: we were once slaves... specifically, slaves to sin. And when we go back to the reality of who we were before Christ, we are able to respond rightly to God and others. Probably the clearest passage in the New Testament that makes this same point is found in Titus 3:1–7. Turn there. Paul writes...

Remind them [Titus] to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, [2] to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. [3] For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. [4] But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, [5] he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, [6] whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, [7] so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Do you see what Paul is saying here? In case they forgot, Titus was supposed to remind them of where they came from. Of what they experienced. Of who they were. Why? That they might not speak evil of those who now walk the path they once walked. That they might not quarrel, but be gentle with such people. That they might show “perfect courtesy [to] all people”. Sadly, it's so easy for us to judge people who remain enslaved. Instead of seeing with the loving gaze of Jesus, we often roll our eyes. We judge the addict, even though all of us were once “slaves to various passions and pleasures”. We are often suspicious of the poor, even though once, we were spiritually destitute and could do nothing to help ourselves. On far too many occasions, we draw lines instead of drawing others in; or we lock people into that 'unbeliever' category, instead of pursuing them as future believers... just as God sent someone to pursue and pray for you.

Brothers and sisters, remember that you were a slave. As hard as it can be at times to look back, don't forget where you came from, what you experienced, and who you were. Let that humble you before God and soften your heart toward others. To adapt a classic expression, when you see the unbelievers God has placed in your life, think, “Right there, that's me... were it not for the grace of God.” But don't simply remember that you were once a slave. Also remember

that God redeemed you from your slavery. As you look on those still tainted by sin's corruption, remember 1 Corinthians 6:11... “And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” Praise be to God that the One who took “the form of a servant”, Jesus Christ, died on the cross and rose from the dead in order to change us; in order to give us a future and hope; not that we would forget our past, but that we wouldn't be imprisoned by it. May God use both where were under sin and now where we are under grace to shape our responses and make us a blessing.