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Busted!!! http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_27616870/minnesota-brides-christ-cult-leader-arrested-brazil?source=rss Courtesy of Jeff Sjolander

One last thing before jumping into the specific verses you brought up, Raf. And that would be just a bit of background behind the ebedm, servants.. While Mark posted a portion from the Nelson Bible Dictionary, I think a few things need to be highlighted or even given a bit more background to from it. From the perspective of the torah, there were only 2 ways that someone actually became an ebed (besides coming from another land with other laws), but in regards to what Yahweh himself allowed, there were only 2. The first is found in Exodus 22:1-3 "if a man steals an ox or a sheep and slaughters it or sells it, he shall pay five oxen for the ox and four sheep for the sheep. If the thief is caught while breaking in and is struck so that he dies, there will be no bloodguiltiness on his account. But if the sun has risen on him, there will be bloodguiltiness on his account. He shall surely make restitution; if he owns nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft. " So rather than rot away in a prison learning with other prisoners a "better"(cough) trade, they were made to work off their debt. The second way is found in Leviticus 25:35ff "‘If any of your fellow Israelites become poor and are unable to support themselves among you, help them as you would a foreigner and stranger, so they can continue to live among you. Do not take interest or any profit from them, but fear your God, so that they may continue to live among you. You must not lend them money at interest or sell them food at a profit. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God. If any of your fellow Israelites become poor and sell themselves to you, do not make them work as slaves. They are to be treated as hired workers or temporary residents among you; they are to work for you until the Year of Jubilee. Then they and their children are to be released, and they will go back to their own clans and to the property of their ancestors" So if they were poor, first and foremost, love, and take care of them was the rule, in fact that was the rule for anyone. But if the poor themselves realize they can not take care of themselves, their family, and they do sell themselves as a servant,ebed, they were not to be treated as an ebed. Though technically they still were one. While these were the only 2 ways the torah allowed, there was one other class of servants, ebeds, handled in the torah. And those were ones coming from other nations with their own laws and contracts. Thus, how they became a servant,ebed, was out of the hands of other nations. But God allowed them to be purchased by the Israelites, and enjoy the freedoms other nations did not allow. So what are some of these freedoms? First, if the servant, ebed, decided to run away, no one was allowed to stop them. If they thought they could do better on their own, they had the right. Deuteronomy 23:13ff "You shall not hand over to his master a slave who has escaped from his master to you. He shall live with you in your midst, in the place which he shall choose in one of your towns where it pleases him; you shall not mistreat him." They are required to have a day off each week, the sabbath as well as enjoy the holy days and festival weeks. Exodus 20:10 "But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns." Deut 16:10 "Then celebrate the Festival of Weeks to the Lord your God by giving a freewill offering in proportion to the blessings the Lord your God has given you. And rejoice before the Lord your God at the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name—you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, the Levites in your towns, and the foreigners, the fatherless and the widows living among you." Make no mistake, being a servant was work. But there was a reason they were one. They were not allowed to be mistreated, else they could go free. (Ex 21:26ff) Course, if they were mistreated, they could run away also. The main reason one has to remember that they were a servant, were either because they were to poor to take care of themselves and couldn't find anyone able to do so, or they were a thief and needed to pay back their debt.