Kingdom Come

The titles Master, slurred in English to Mister, and Lord are equivalent titles. They derive from the authority required to fulfill responsibilities for providing for and protecting the clan, especially in times of crisis like war or famine.

since the 1500s Mr. was used as a shortening of master, a title used for men of high authority. By the mid-18th century, both Mr. and its longer form Mister had become distinct words from master and became common English honorifics to generally address men of higher social rank.

In Western culture this is more commonly recognized in medieval rulers as a sphere of influence where subjects don’t need to be related to the ruling dynasty. It is found even in today’s egalitarian societies in brotherhoods like the Freemasons headed by a Grand Master.

Just like soldiers in an army, leader must be willingly served and obeyed in order to belong to that lord’s dominion.

Otherwise chaos reigns.

No-one can serve two masters, but fealty can be transferred from one lord to another. This applies particularly to a female’s transfer of both protection and therefore submission from her father to her husband upon marriage.

“Even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord.” (I Peter 3:6)

It was not uncommon for a loyal and diligent servant / slave to be elevated to the position of heir in the absence of a biological son.

As was Abram’s intention towards his steward, Eliezar of Damascus 

This alone refutes the claim that the Bible is hateful because it endorses slavery.

There is no question that the 19th century African slave trade was a wicked abuse of power by Christian nations. But this doesn’t justify condemning the biblical ethics, nor take into account the historical context or the conditions of slavery in that time and culture.

Until the Industrial Revolution, there were no steady wage-based jobs. If you didn’t inherit land, or have family money to invest in trade, you struggled to survive in an urban environment, or a hunter-gatherer in the wilderness.

“A householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard…agreed with the labourers for a penny a day… And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace…Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise. And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle? They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us.” (Matthew 20:1-7)

The Bible provides the current exchange rate for that day’s wage: “A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny”. In other words, the bare basic bread and water diet, with inferior nutrition of barley bread instead of wheat bread for a family of just 3. And that’s not guaranteed every day.

Until factories came into being, manual labor required mobility in the most readily available jobs of soldier, sailor, caravan laborer, farm worker or ranch hand. None of these were amenable to family life.

Cowboys were mostly young men who needed cash for day to day living expenses. They didn’t earn enough to support a family or save up for the future. Everyday work was difficult and laborious for cowboys. Workdays lasted about 15 hours, and much of that time was spent on a horse or doing other physical labor.

Between 1 and 3 million migrant farm workers leave their homes every year to plant, cultivate, harvest, and pack fruits, vegetables and nuts in the U.S. Migrant farm workers are predominantly Mexican-born sons, husbands, and fathers averaging about 31 years of age.

“And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields… And when he came to himself, he said…I perish with hunger! (Luke 15)

Migrant workers are torn between meeting physical needs and equally urgent needs for emotional and social connection. The hunger for emotional connection with family drives people to take desperate measures.

The number of undocumented immigrant crossings at the southwest border for fiscal year 2022 topped 2.76 million, breaking the previous annual record by more than 1 million, according to Customs and Border Protection data.

“I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.”

He is begging, a standard practice in homelessness, and acknowledging the justice of being demoted from son with expectations to a non-family member with no prerogatives.

An older man about to lose his privileged servant position describes this disastrous situation.

“What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig / perform manual labor; to beg I am ashamed.” I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship [in this house], they may receive me into their houses.

The villas of Ancient Rome were typically country Roman houses…established as retreats from the hectic pressures of everyday city life…. But they also acted as symbols of villa owners’ power and status…luxurious and extravagant, vast sprawling affairs of richly decorated rooms and gardens…

villa rustica, a functioning farmhouse estate permanently occupied and worked on by servants and a supervisor.

villa suburbana, on the edge of cities 

So he called every one of his lord’s debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my lord? And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty. Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, An hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and write fourscore.

Clever man. Investing in his year-round time share resorts pass by relieving the debt of an entire porfolio of clients. Not to mention the subtle hint of blackmail reporting them back to his old boss which would force them to pay their tab, with interest. But it also sounds like a poisoning hazard to me with this group of backstabbers. 

Also, he doesn’t mention family. Doesn’t he have any, or is he so focused on getting what he wants out of life that he would also betray his family?

 According to a recent article, men actually become richer after getting divorced…they actually seem to benefit from no longer having a spouse.. Separated women are three times more likely to fall into poverty compared to separated men… Some studies have even suggested that a child’s ability to earn is significantly reduced after experiencing a divorce, with an average wealth decrease of 46%. Some believe that this may be due to the fact that divorce can cause a disruption in education.

It should be evident that belonging to a household where you could be provided with all of life’s necessities for the duration of your life in exchange for what might be much less return from what you have to bring to the relationship is a huge benefit to the worker. 

Becoming a slave was a blessing not to be distained, or taken for granted. The householder put money up front without guarantee of a positive return on his investment, and these servant members of a godly household were provided with a way of escape from the slow strangulation death by exploitation in a vicious society where the strong exploit and discard the weak. 

In our multinational system, working for wages benefits the owner far more than the worker and does not guaranteed any security against the uncertain future.

Modern society is split into two classes—the working class and the capitalist class.The working class…produces a surplus of wealth over and above what it gets back in wages. It is this unpaid surplus which creates the vast differences in the ownership of wealth between those who produce but do not own and those who own but do not produce. This simple fact provides the answer as to why seven per cent of the population owns eighty-four per cent of the personal wealth; why some people can spend more on race horses, sex, alcohol in an hour, a day, a week, than some (the vast majority) can earn in a year or a lifetime. It also explains why constant upheavals in industry take place, as men and women struggle over the fruits of production.

This is acknowledge to be a massive short-coming in America’s capitalist society, and so some provision was made through the Social Security program which was designed to provide “old age” or retirement benefits, aid to dependent children, and unemployment insurance. Still, this was by no means a concession to the massive gap in wealth distribution between the workers and the owners as it is paid for by the workers, many of whom never collect anything back before dying first.

The rival system to capitalism is socialism.

In socialist economies, the government owns and manages the economic resources…The citizens of the country work to generate wealth, which is then distributed to everyone…

A socialist economy ensures that the basic needs of [all] the people are met…like shelter, education, healthcare, economic security, etc. The government manages the use of resources and the production of products or services that the people need, which is referred to as central planning…

it does come with some shortcomings. For example, the workers see few incentives to work hard to generate more income and wealth.

A biblical society is a form of socialism. This should lead us to question the authenticity of the Religious Right’s support of capitalism.

As far as lack of incentive, the biblical moral imperative is to “Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.” (Philippians 2:4)

The Old Testament patriarchs like Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were leaders of clans who worked together – leaders and followers – to meet the needs of everyone in the clan, even facing death to safeguard the weaker members of the household.

And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan…And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people.” (Genesis 14)