Thursday, January 5th, 2006
A Study on Love – Edition #4
The three things:
- Is there a fact to believe here?
- Is there a promise to trust?
- Is there a command to obey?
Exodus 21:2-11
2 “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. 3 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. 4 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.”
5 “But if the servant declares, 'I love my master and my wife and children and do not want to go free,' 6 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.”
7 “If a man sells his daughter as a servant, she is not to go free as menservants do. 8 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. 9 If he selects her for his son, he must grant her the rights of a daughter. 10 If he marries another woman, he must not deprive the first one of her food, clothing and marital rights. 11 If he does not provide her with these three things, she is to go free, without any payment of money.”
I guess this is how ear piercing came about. Husbands would have their wives ears pierced to show them as being property of them. I am not sure, haven’t done any research on it… but it makes sense. But as I read this scripture, I discovered that if I am a slave to God… and God sets me free, would I say that I don’t want to be free? Would I continue on in my chores and continue a life of servitude? I think at first glance, I would have skipped this scripture, but when I read it all in context, I thought I needed to study it out more. As a kid, I jumped at the chance to leave home. I rejoiced, in a sense, to “be free.”
Free (adj.):
- Not bound or confined by force.
- Able to act at will; not hampered; not under compulsion or restraint.
- Costing nothing.
- Not held in servitude.
- Exemption from the stress of authority in a beggarly half dozen of restraint's infinite multitude of methods. A political condition that every nation supposes itself to enjoy in virtual monopoly. Liberty. The distinction between freedom and liberty is not accurately known; naturalists have never been able to find a living specimen of either. (Devil’s D)
- The capacity to exercise choice; free will. (dictionary.com)
I don’t have a piercing to show that I am God’s property, outside of my heart being pricked every now and again. And that’s probably the best kind of piercing you can have, anyway. But I liked how free in this verse really means free. Not only does the guy get away with no longer having servitude, but he also doesn’t have to pay anything for his freedom. However, we are set free from God, there may not be any “up front” money, but in the end, there will be some serious cooking.
Slave (noun):
- One bound in servitude as the property of a person or household.
- One who is abjectly subservient to a specified person or influence.
- One who works extremely hard.
So this is a question I must ask myself: Do I look at myself as the property of God? Am I subservient to him? Do I work “extremely hard” for God? I don’t think I work extremely hard for him, seriously. And most of the time, I don’t think of myself as anyone’s property. Now, I can say that I look at God as being greater than me… He is most high, and I am most low. But I definitely need to work on the other two. Anyway, I guess I will be chatting more tomorrow. Johnny Out.
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