First let's get something clear about erroneous notions of Paul and his founding a new religion, which he didn't. True, the halakhah of his Judaism switched from the Pharisaic oral law to the Ruach Hakodesh, but his religion was still one of the Judaisms of the time, not a new non-Judaism Gentile religion.

MOSHIACH'S LETTER THROUGH THE SHLIACH SHA'UL TO PHILEMON

This letter was probably written fairly early in Rav Sha'ul's

first Roman imprisonment) probably C.E. 60-6l, from the little

Roman house Brit Chadasha kehillah whose members he names in

23-24, some of whom shared his incarceration for a time. It was

delivered by Paul's co-worker Tychicus and Onesimus to Philemon

in Colossae in what is today modern Turkey. It concerns a slave

boy Onesimus, whose name means "useful" or "beneficial." See the

play on words in 10-11 below between onesimos (Onesimus,

"useful") and axrestos ("useless" here with the idea of

unreliable or unfaithful) and euxrestos ("useful") and in v. 20

onaimen ("benefit"). It is no accident that Shliach Sha'ul

commends the slave master Philemon for the love and faithfulness

(pistis) he has for the L-rd and for all his saints, since the

thieving, run-away slave Onesimus is now born-again and has

therefore just become one of the saints. This new turn of events

means that Philemon is now going to have to be put to the test to

see if he will be loving and faithful to this apprehended slave

who has wronged him but has now become his brother in the L-rd.

Every believer is undergoing a similar test of faithfulness to

the brethren. Heb. 10:25 says, "not neglecting to meet together,

as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the

more as you see the Day approaching." The question is, will you

and I be useful and beneficial and loving and faithful to one

another in our local assembly? Or will we neglect meeting

together? Or, worst of all, will we desert one another in time of

need (II Tim. 4:10) as, on the night of his betrayal, the

Shluchim all "neglected to meet together" and deserted our L-rd,

all of them committing the sin of Demus in II Tim. 4:10? It is

ironic that, although the slave Onesimus once deserted the

slavemaster Philemon, Philemon is now in danger of deserting his

duty to Onesimus as a brother in the L-rd, for the L-rd is

requiring something of Philemon--love and faithfulness to a

brother. Shliach Sha'ul models this for Philemon in v. 10-11. And

Philemon must pass the test. There is also irony in the list

given in vs. 23-24 of Rav Sha'ul's fellow-workers: Epaphras,

Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, since Demas will not pass the

test of faithfulness, but prove to be a devil as far as Rav

Sha'ul's tiny Roman house Brit Chadasha kehillah is concerned

(see II Tim. 4:10).

What the L-rd is requiring is that Philemon have the attitude of

Shliach Sha'ul toward Onesimus and not the attitude of an angry,

vengence-seeking slave master. Philemon must understand that as

brothers in the L-rd we are bound to one another? and there is a

chain of love and commitment more unbreakable between us than the

bands of the institution of slavery. In this letter Shliach

Sha'ul points to the chains of love in Moshiach that hold

Onesimus, Philemon, and himself bound to one another (see v.

12). Onesimus may be a slave in the flesh but he is a brother in

the L-rd, and Shliach Sha'ul is appealing that Philemon not

punish the boy. Indeed, v. 21 ("knowing that you will do even

more than I ask") seems to be a veiled plea for Onesimus' release

from slavery and, by implication, even for the abolition of

slavery as a sub-Biblical institution. See also v.16, "receive

him back no longer as a slave but more than a slave, a beloved

brother."

Shliach Sha'ul has, of course, already finished dealing with

Onesimus by the time Shliach Sha'ul pens this letter. Shliach

Sha'ul has led the boy to the L-rd (v.10)and has persuaded him to

stop living the life of a run-away slave and return to his master

Philemon. Now Shliach Sha'ul must deal with Philemon, from whose

household and house Brit Chadasha kehillah in Colossae (a city in

modern Turkey 110 miles east of Ephesus) Onesimus has run away.

The penalty for this (Onesimus also stole from Philemon) was

severe. The slave's forehead could be branded with a hot iron. If

he is returned, Philemon will have the power of life or death

over the boy. Therefore, Shliach Sha'ul has to remind Philemon

that Philemon owes Shliach Sha'ul his very life, since Shliach

Sha'ul was also responsible as the Shliach to the Gentiles for

not only bringing the Besuras Hageulah to the slave Onesimus (v.

10), but also for the reaching out to that general part of the

world, where the slave master Philemon himself lived and was

saved (see v.19).

When the path of the run-away slave crossed Rav Sha'ul's in Rome,

Rav Sha'ul not only led the boy to the L-rd, but also wrote this

letter to Philemon and sent back to Philemon both the boy and

Tychicus. Tychicus was an Ephesian who joined Shliach Sha'ul on

his final trip to Jerusalem (Acts 20:4-5) and was an associate

like Timothy and Titus. Tychicus was also the one who carried Rav

Sha'ul's letters to the Ephesians (Eph. 6:21-22), Colossians

(Col. 4:7-9), Philemon and possibly II Timothy (II Tim. 4:12) to

their destinations.

Rav Sha'ul's letter to Philemon is a perfect example of how G-d

rewards faith and unselfishness. How often in the ministry we

need to read it! How often a messianic minister is tempted to

operate without faith and according "to the natural" and keep a

staff person, who really belongs in the ministry of someone else.

Shliach Sha'ul could have done this. He could have said, "I won

this boy Onesimus to the L-rd; Philemon didn't win him to the

L-rd. Therefore, he belongs to my ministry, not Philemon's. And I

need him here in Rome more than Philemon needs him in his house

Brit Chadasha kehillah. I'll just insist on having things my way.

But Shliach Sha'ul knew that this was not the will of G-d. So he

did the right thing, though it was against his own best

interests. And look how G-d rewarded Shliach Sha'ul: the letter

has become part of the Holy Scriptures!

Notice how Shliach Sha'ul uses his authority with Philemon, not

like a religious overlord or slave master commanding obedience to

G-d, but gently, appealing for freely decided, totally voluntary

commitment to Moshiach Yehoshua, recognizing the equality of

brothers in the L-rd, even though Shliach Sha'ul does have

authority in his office which he could use (v.8). Shliach Sha'ul

is making his appeal with Philemon's wife (Apphia?) and Archippus

(exhorted as an emissary of Moshiach's shlichut) soldier" in Col

4:17 to fulfill the ministry calling G-d has given him and the

work unfinished he must complete) as witnesses. Rav Sha'ul's

appeal is to Philemon's noble duty as a believer and as a "slave"

of Moshiach Yehoshua Moshiach (see v. 13 where Rav Sha'ul says of

Onesimus, "I wanted to keep him with me so that he might be of

service to me in your place during my imprisonment for the

Besuras Hageulah").

Onesimus learned a valuable lesson too: once one becomes a

believer, and begins the walk of faith, there is no turning back.

One must make restitution and do the right thing, even if it is

risky. Apparently Onesimus was rewarded by G-d, too, because

reliable tradition seems to place him in the ministry and over

the Brit Chadasha kehillot in Ephesus at a later date.

Philemon had to learn a lesson, too. It is a hard lesson for many

believers to learn--how to be graciously charitable to others who

have sinned against you. Because this slave owner and his slave

learned through Moshiach Yehoshua how to be brothers, slavery was

doomed and could not carry on with its former strength. On this

matter of slavery and true brotherhood, there is no other

religious book in the world to compare with the Brit Chadasha.