“Boring the ear”
1. Treating slaves fairly is what we read about in the opening verses of Ex. 21.
2. Under the Law of Moses, there were slaves.
3. Slaves were allowed, but the Hebrews were not entitled to mistreat them.
4. In Ex. 21:2 we are told that if the Hebrews bought Hebrew slaves, there was a time limit.
5. The 21st chapter of Exodus only deals with Hebrews who owned Hebrews.
6. Hebrews who had non-Hebrew slaves were governed by other regulations.
7. A Hebrew could have ownership rights of a Hebrew slave for 6 years.
8. When the 7th year came, a Hebrew slave was to be freed.
9. Not only was freedom granted, the release was free.
10. Other times and cultures have required slaves (or someone else) pay money to free them.
11. Such was not the case under the Law of Moses. Release from slavery was automatic.
12. If a Hebrew slave was married before becoming a slave, his wife was also freed in the 7th year.
13. Other circumstances (Ex. 21:4) could mean a slave was freed but his wife and children were not.
14. If a man were offered freedom but his family was not allowed to go free, he had an option.
15. Let’s see what this option was – verses 5-6 of Ex. 21 – READ.
16. I have never had my ears pierced, but I have seen it done.
17. More than one has said that if the ears are pierced, it is best to get them done at the same time.
18. Back in the time of Moses there were no special “ear piercing guns”.
19. Here we find ears being pierced with an “awl.”
20. In the KJV the word “bore” is used; that translation really sounds pretty painful.
21. Even with one of the finest hammers and pointed chisels from SEARS, this procedure would hurt.
22. Having a whole punched in the ear had some special significance.
23. As we noted from the verses read, a slave was saying he loved and wanted to stay with his family.
24. Other symbolism is also suggested by this practice.
25. As stated in verse 6, this procedure meant a slave would stay with his owner for life.
26. There would be “no release” for the slave.
IN LOOKING AT THE PROCESS DESCRIBED IN EX. 21 THERE IS A WORD THAT DEMANDS THE UTMOST ATTENTION: “SERVE.”
a) Using the process we have discussed, slaves pledged to “serve” their masters till their last breath.
b) We can take a lesson from this passage, imagery, and especially the word “serve.”
2) If we have any interest in spiritual things, God tells us we need to “serve Him.”
3) Today all know we start a brand new year. It is again a good time to think about serving God.
4) If we have served Him in the past, great. That service needs to continue.
5) If we have been lacking in our service to Him, time is not going to get any longer.
6) In the Bible there is quite an emphasis on the word “serve.”
7) For today’s purposes we will limit our study to the New Testament.
a) In Mt. 4:10 we have Jesus quoting Scripture to the devil.
b) Jesus said (and this was during one of the recorded temptations), man is to “serve God.”
c) Not only is serving God right, we are to “only” serve God.
d) Some people serve Satan. Others serve themselves (we use the expression “self serving).
e) When it comes to whole hearted commitment, God says serve Him and no one else.
f) Who did we serve in 2005 and the years before that? Was it God or someone or something else?
8) Someone might think they can serve God and someone or something else.
9) After all, we live in a day and time when “multi-tasking” is the big thing.
10) If a job hunter submits a resume, he or she may say they are good at doing more than one thing at once.
11) Our world is raising a generation of children that is very good at juggling several things at once.
12) We have people who mix God in the pile with everything else; God is just one item among many.
a) This generation and all others need to bear in mind a clear fact from God’s word.
b) When it comes to “serving God,” there is no multi-tasking.
c) Jesus said in Mt. 6:24 that we cannot “serve” two masters.
d) We will love the one or hate the other.
e) When slaves had a hole punched through their ears, they were committing themselves to one owner.
f) A similar thing is true when we are joined to Christ.
g) When we are baptized into Christ, it is like a hole is being punched in our ear.
h) We have confessed the name of Christ, repented of sins, and been “united” to the Lord, Rom. 6:4.
i) When we are joined to the Lord as He described, He is our sole master.
13) If we think about Mt. 4 and Mt. 6, or even Ex. 21, all three texts sound like work.
a) Slaves in the ancient world had to work.
b) They were bought so they could help around the house or in the fields. As servants they served.
c) Then and now the world does not typically associate service with greatness.
d) Who do we regard as greater when we enter a restaurant?
e) A man who is watching to see that everything goes well or someone who brings food to a table?
f) A high percentage of “service” jobs are entry-level jobs that do not pay well.
g) If the spiritual realm is a place of service, and it is, what is the fate of those who serve?
14) Hear the words of Jesus in Lk. 22:26 – READ.
a) In verse 25 Jesus said people knew how the world works.
b) Great do not serve.
c) In the kingdom of Christ, great people do serve.
d) Those who do not serve or refuse to serve are the least or simply not fit for the kingdom of God.
15) To impress the point even more Jesus said this in verse 27 - READ.
16) Jesus was willing to serve and He expects His people to do the same.
17) If we serve the Lord, Jn. 12:26 has a promise for us: the Father will “honor us.”
18) The Father will do that because of what is said in the first part of the verse.
a) Jesus said serving Him means “following Him.”
b) Following Christ is not always easy, even in this country. It is work and it creates unpleasant circumstances.
c) Not long ago my co-worker at H2 was sitting beside me and a third man was also present.
d) The conversation turned to Christmas and my partner was boasting about his church work.
e) He was in charge of the Christmas light display for 2005.
f) His electronic feats were so astounding he was praised in the Christmas section of his church bulletin.
19) The third man turned to me and asked, “What will your Christmas program be like, Brad”?
20) I said it would be a regular service. The third man then asked why there would be nothing special.
21) Imagine the reaction I got when they heard me say there is no evidence for Jesus being born in December.
22) There was dead silence.
23) If we are going to serve the Lord, we will stand for the truth, speak the truth, and live out the truth.
24) It’s not always easy but this is the course we pursue each day of life.
25) Living out the truth means that our service might take many forms.
a) In Acts 6 we find that Christ’s apostles, for a time, were involved with food distribution.
b) A time came when these men turned this responsibility over to others.
c) They said they would no longer “serve tables.”
d) In the church our “service” can take a number of forms.
e) Service comes in many shapes and sizes.
f) Sometimes Christians can look at some of the tasks they do and think their service is very menial.
26) No matter what the task, the key point is are we trying to “serve Christ”?
a) For some time we have been using Wednesday nights to clean the building.
b) Here we have a lot of space to clean.
c) Our Wednesday cleaning procedure has had many good nights but there have also been some slow times.
d)
After
some discussion and checking pricing on commercial cleaning it was decided to
make a change.
e) We will post a cleaning sheet month by month.
f) If you sign up for a task (or more than one task), that will be your job for the entire month.
g) You may do the job whenever you want; it is just asked that the job(s) be done by Sunday.
h) I am pleased to announce the sheet is filled up for this month; to those who signed up, thank you.
i) We will be putting up sheets for additional months very soon.
27) Maybe its time for us to do a little reflecting about what it means to clean a church building.
28) Cleaning isn’t just about getting rid of dust, cleaning the songbook racks, or having swept floors.
29) It is about service, and service to God. It is about a commitment to the Christian way of life.
30) If Jesus was willing to wash feet, we are not above scrubbing or sweeping a floor.
31) If the apostles “served tables,” we are certainly not above “serving a building” in the sense of cleaning.
32) When we look at the Bible we find a qualification for deacons (1 Tim. 3:10); they are to be “proven.”
33) There is a sense in which all of us are being “proven.”
34) Our lives are like an on-going character test to determine who we are; are we really God’s people?
35) Do we serve when the call for help goes out?
36) We know members of the early church did.
37) When it was time to find men to replace the apostles for “serving tables,” men were found.
38) Do we still have Christians today who believe in serving?
39) Not only will God’s people serve, they will often serve “one another.”
40) Peter spoke of “serving” one another, 1 Pet. 5:5.
41) Service is an idea throughout the Bible.
42) One of the devotional songs are young people sing is based upon the idea from Ex. 21.
43) The words go like this:
a) “Pierce my ear, O Lord my God. Take me to your door this day. I will serve no other God.
b) Lord, I’m here to stay. For you have paid the price for me, with your blood you ransomed me.
c) I will serve you eternally, a free man I’ll never be.
44) Are these words true? Have we dedicated ourselves to serving Christ every day and every year?
45) Lots of people are into body piercing. The next time you see that, think back to Ex. 21.
46) There is a type of piercing that is much deeper, better, and has eternal significance.
47) People on the Day of Pentecost were “pricked in the heart.”
48) Then they were pierced; they were joined to the Lord Jesus Christ through repentance and baptism, Acts 2:38.
49) Have we “been pierced”? Have we been united to the Lord by death (repentance)?
50) Have we been pierced by confessing the name of Jesus, and by being buried with Him in baptism?
2 "If you buy a Hebrew slave, he is to serve for only six years. Set him free in the seventh year, and he will owe you nothing for his freedom. 3 If he was single when he became your slave and then married afterward, only he will go free in the seventh year. But if he was married before he became a slave, then his wife will be freed with him.
4 "If his master gave him a wife while he was a slave, and they had sons or daughters, then the man will be free in the seventh year, but his wife and children will still belong to his master. 5 But the slave may plainly declare, 'I love my master, my wife, and my children. I would rather not go free.' 6 If he does this, his master must present him before God. Then his master must take him to the door and publicly pierce his ear with an awl. After that, the slave will belong to his master forever.
7 "When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she will not be freed at the end of six years as the men are. 8 If she does not please the man who bought her, he may allow her to be bought back again. But he is not allowed to sell her to foreigners, since he is the one who broke the contract with her. 9 And if the slave girl's owner arranges for her to marry his son, he may no longer treat her as a slave girl, but he must treat her as his daughter. 10 If he himself marries her and then takes another wife, he may not reduce her food or clothing or fail to sleep with her as his wife. 11 If he fails in any of these three ways, she may leave as a free woman without making any payment.
Cases of Personal Injury
12 "Anyone who hits a person hard enough to cause death must be put to death. 13 But if it is an accident and God allows it to happen, I will appoint a place where the slayer can run for safety. 14 However, if someone deliberately attacks and kills another person, then the slayer must be dragged even from my altar and put to death.
15 "Anyone who strikes father or mother must be put to death.
16 "Kidnappers must
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