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In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
“These are the laws you are to set before them: If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he shall go free, without paying anything. If he comes alone, he is to go free alone; but if he has a wife when he comes, she is to go with him. If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the woman and her children shall belong to her master, and only the man shall go free.”
"But if the servant declares, 'I love my master and my wife and children and do not want to go free,' then his master must take him before the judges. He shall take him to the door or the doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he will be his servant for life.”
"If a man sells his daughter as a servant, she is not to go free as menservants do. If she does not please the master who has selected her for himself, he must let her be redeemed. He has no right to sell her to foreigners, because he has broken faith with her. If he selects her for his son, he must grant her the rights of a daughter. If he marries another woman, he must not deprive the first one of her food, clothing and marital rights. If he does not provide her with these three things, she is to go free, without any payment of money."
Exodus 21:1-11
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
If you’re a faithful reader of this blog, you’ll know that I haven’t shied away from writing from the while Bible, even difficult passages as the one we find from the opening eleven verses of Exodus, chapter 21. For it’s here that we find God turning from the standards of the Ten Commandments and His reinforcing words on proper worshipping to deliver a series of other commandments that would specifically address others matters of Israelite living, beginning with the matter of slavery. While this is a harrowing subject to touch on, doing research on these verses help us to see an awesome truth that God is conveying here, despite the thorny subject.
Before I get started, it’s important to keep something in mind as we study God’s word day in and day out. For I’m sure that you have seen that a passage can be read once, conveying a certain understanding, and then render new revelations of knowledge when it is read again. Sometimes these two (or even more) understandings are interrelated but in other instances, they could be distinct truths. Either way, the important take away is that God is always revealing new things through His word via the power and moving of the Holy Spirit who brings us discernment as we study the Word.
So with this, we go back to our verses for today and we need to begin by understanding the cultural norms of the Israelites as they traveled from Egypt toward Canaan.
You’ll recall that over 600,000 people were on the exodus led by Moses and they departed an oppressive enslavement in Egypt. The people of God knew all about what slavery looked like and how it could operate within a culture and so it wouldn’t be of much surprise if it would be incorporated into their own culture at some point. It was into that space that we find God giving firm guidance, specifically in regard to an Israelite purchasing a fellow Hebrew. This typically would happen when someone owed a debt to someone that they couldn’t pay off and sadly, we read where daughters even had to be sold into slavery in some cases.
No matter the person, God’s commands are clear. Slavery wasn’t a license to mistreat another Israelite. If someone had to become a slave, they were to be treated well and not have to live in an enslaved environment forever unless they chose to do so. In fact, the scriptures tell us that slaves were to be set free after six years of service, not sent away with nothing but given enough by their master to make sure they could survive on their own afterwards.
So is there anything in this passage that we can use as a life application point?
I believe there is if we think about it, a revealed truth that connects to our Savior Jesus.
For going back to our verses for today, we read that a slave could decide to not go free and stay connected to their master. If they made this choice, we read where their ear would be pierced with an awl, a small pointed tool often used to poke holes in leather. The awl would be driven through the ear and into the door post of the master’s residence as a symbolic mark of the slave’s connection to the master and his house. Of interest, this act ended up in a more recent term you might have heard before, “earmarking”. By definition, it means "designating something for a specific use or owner."
Now, although this hurts to even think about it, possibly a very crude introduction to later ear piercing, this wound, once healed, would serve as a sign of perpetual dedication, devotion and commitment, a sign that a servant made the choice to give up their freedom to remain in service to their master.
Fast forward over 1,500 years later when God’s one and only Son, a man named Jesus, lived his entire life as a servant to others, always willing to put them before Himself. Throughout His time on earth, He never failed to heal, teach, guide, correct, and, of course, love others. This last point is of critical importance because the Word of God makes it clear that we love only because He first loved us and spared us from our sins, dying in our place at Calvary.
So how does this connect to the earmarking that the slaves of Israel would have to encounter if they chose servitude over freedom?
Because Jesus willfully gave Himself up to His Master, His Father in Heaven who sent Him to be the Lamb who would take away the sin of the world (John 1:29). His obligation took Him all the way to the cross and rather than choose to leave His Master and go free, He willfully took on the agony of crucifixion, allowing Himself to be nailed to a wooden cross, therefore "earmarking" Himself as mankind’s Savior.
Indeed, it is by His wounds that we are healed (Isaiah 53:5)
Friends, we can’t comprehend the depth of this kind of love, a love that would cause one to lay his life down for his friends (John 15:13). It’s a love also known as “agape love”, a sacrificial love that we can’t fathom because none of us were deserving of the Father’s favor and yet, He willingly sacrificed His Son Jesus in our place so that we could live, not just now but forever.
So how should we respond to this?
As disciples of Jesus, we should choose to follow His lead and trade freedom for the opportunity to be enslaved to the Lord, our Master and Maker, serving Him faithfully and obediently until the day that He calls us home. We should show by the way we live that we have been "earmarked" for Jesus, willfully carrying out His will, word and way every day. I’m convinced that if we do this, we will not only be living in full submission to God and His Son but also in an ever present state of gratitude and thanksgiving for what they have done for us.
All this brings us to a couple questions:
Does our life show that we are enslaved to sin and the devil who convinces us that we are free to do whatever we want through a world that offers so much to choose from?
Or are we earmarked for Christ, living in a way that shows we are enslaved to the Lord, our holy divine Master?
You can only be one or the other. The first has you on the road to Hell with its everlasting torment and suffering but you can choose a different path, the path of salvation through belief in Jesus. It may cost you your worldly freedom but the promise of eternal life in Heaven with its glory and joy is going to be worth it. I pray you’ll be there one day with me.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.
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