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Good morning my friends, today is Saturday July 20 and we’re reading together Exodus chapter 21.
This is one of those chapters in the Bible which may seem a bit out of sync with the world that you and I live in today, until we understand what God is doing here. Exodus 21 is a continuation of Exodus 20, and it’s God’s explanation to these runaway slaves, that He envisions a living relationship, between God and these people, unlike anything, that has ever been experienced, anywhere on earth, by any other people, at anytime, since the days of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden! Now ponder the magnitude of that!
Let’s remember who these 2 million people are, assembled at Mount Sinai, 90 days after running out of Egypt. They are slaves. Many of them, but not all, are Hebrew slaves. Some are slaves from other peoples, who have been conquered by the Pharaoh, but all were likely slaves.
A mob of people, no matter how civilized or even sophisticated, without good leadership and some controlling guidelines, will soon resort to mindless behavior…it’s called a ‘mob mentality’. There is no reason, no logic, no common sense…just unbridled, out of control, mob behavior, which often turns violent. We’ve seen it many times in riots on TV news, haven’t we? And that’s what this group of people were in danger of doing, unless they discerned who they were and what their purpose was.
The remaining chapters of this Bible book of Exodus, will all take place here at Mount Sinai. This huge group of people, will not move from this mountain, for several months. Why? Because God has much to teach them, about who HE is, who HE wants them to BE, and how HE wants them to live as His people. We have much we can learn.
All these people have known for many generations, centuries in fact, is abusive slavery. They’ve been treated like animals, and without some instruction and leadership, they may soon start behaving, like out of control animals. But they are not animals…they are human beings made in God’s image.
These Hebrew slaves, are a miracle people, all descendants of one couple, Abraham and Sarah, who had a miraculous, God promised son, Isaac, in their very old age. Remember Gen. 21? And then Isaac and Rebekah had a miraculous son named Jacob, and he and his wives had 12 sons…and thus these Hebrew’s are called the ‘children of Israel’, since Jacob’s name was changed, by God, to Israel. They are a people of God’s promise. . .but they don’t feel like that, or see themselves as God’s people. All they know is the humiliation and extreme suffering of slavery existence!
So upon their arrival at Mount Sinai in Exodus 19, God began re-defining their identity and their future, as a special people, God’s people. It started with their powerful worship encounter with God at the mountain. God declared to them, that He had delivered them from Egyptian bondage, by His unlimited power, unleashed in the plagues, which had devastated Egypt. Also, God had led them through the Red Sea, and destroyed Pharaoh’s pursuing chariots. God had led them with a pillar of cloud & fire, to this mountain. God made it clear, that He was sustaining their lives every day, with miracle food and water. That He loved them, and had selected them, from all the peoples of the world, to BE His people! It had been an overwhelming experience thus far. No people group, in the history of humanity, had ever experienced anything like this before.
Never again did God want any of these Hebrew slaves, when asked the question, ‘who are you’, to answer, “I am a slave of the Pharaoh”. God wanted these people to own a different IDENTITY. “I am precious to God. I am selected by God, from among all the peoples of the world, to BE His treasured possession. I was rescued from my slavery bondage by Almighty God.”
So may I ask you, each of us reading this today, . . .what words describe your identity and mine? How do we view ourselves? Remember what we saw in 2 Corinthians 5:17-20 “Therefore if anyone is in Christ they are a new creation, the old has gone, and the new has come. All this is from God who reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ…We are, therefore, Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal [to the world] through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.”
In chapter 20, you’ll recall, after this mass of humanity arrived at the mountain, God actually, audibly, spoke to the people, and gave them His 10 Commandments, which He wanted to be the defining pillars, of this new society of God’s people on earth! It wasn’t a vision, not a figment of their imagination, not a dream. God actually SPOKE Exodus chapter 20 to these people!
No human beings had ever heard God speak like this. None had ever been invited into this type of relationship with Almighty, Creator, Eternal, Holy God. No society, anywhere in the world, lived like God had described, in His 10 Commandments.
You’ll recall it was so overwhelming that at the end of chapter 20, the people backpedaled, and asked Moses to go meet with God and come back to them, and teach them about God, and tell them what God said to him. . . because they simply could not imagine living in a relationship with Almighty God, that either required or permitted, such direct communication with God. God was too awesome, too holy, these barbarian slaves simply could not imagine such an unrestrained, direct relationship with this Holy God.
So look at 20:21… “Moses approached the thick darkness where God was”. This is now Moses’ fifth (5th) time hiking up the mountain to meet with God. How long Moses was in that cloud with God on this occasion, we don’t exactly know, but it was long enough for Moses to hear God speak, what Moses then recorded for the people, in Exodus chapter 21 & 22 & 23. Exactly 100 verses, by my calculation, of non-stop, God speaking directly to Moses, about re-defining life, for these refugees at the base of the mountain, who were waiting for Moses to come and tell them what God said!! 100 verses my friends!
21:1 “These are the laws you are to set before them…” Now remember, these 2 million people only knew ONE law… whatever Pharaoh said, was the law of life for them. Always. Never had they given much thought to any laws of God. They were too busy working hard to escape the whiplash of their slave-masters. But it was a new day. . .
God spoke to Moses in that cloud, explaining new rules of life, for this new nation of freed slaves. Notice please that what God said in Exodus 21, 22, 23 is ALL built on His 10 Commandments of chapter 20. Put it all together and it was a handbook for living, in a new society of God freed and led people!
A people living normal daily life, under the watchful eye of God, would be guided by God given principles of mutual respect, justice, equality, fair punishment, restitution in crisis, and so much more. Friends, please understand nothing like this existed on planet earth at this time!
Leadership in every place on earth was based on power. Whoever was the strongest, was the leader of that group of people, until someone stronger came along and displaced him, probably by killing him. And whoever the strong leader was, had the right to define the rules of life in that place, during his reign as leader. Thus our world was a vicious, violent, immoral place to live, in every society. Do you now see why it was with POWER that God defeated Pharaoh, the most powerful man in the world at that time! And therefore do you see, the people understood they had a new power leader, and expected to hear new rules of life, from the new leader, God Himself.
In Exodus 21, God was neither condoning or commanding slave ownership. God was re-defining how this world-wide reality, slavery, could work in mutually beneficial ways, in societies. Please understand, in ancient times, survival from death for many people was voluntary bondage, slavery. Because, while the slave had no personal freedoms, the owner of the slave was responsible to feed, clothe, house, and care for their slave, in sickness and in health. The slave was expected to serve their owner with their life. This was an essential aspect of the economy of most societies in ancient times, and the only means of survival for many, many people. But God called for a different slave-master relationship. One with dignity, respect and mutual benefit, which included the potential for slaves to earn their freedom! Remember how the Apostle Paul writes about that in his letters to the Christians?
I’m not today, going to lead you through most of the verses of Exodus 21. In truth, some of them really are quite irrelevant to the society in which you and I live in 2019… but as you read, look for the heart of God, and the God honoring character that God is calling for, in how these people will learn to live life, in that time in ancient societies.
Please notice something very special in Exodus 21:2-6. It’s the description of the ‘bond servant’. Remember the Apostle Paul uses this term in reference to himself and the relationship he DESIRED with Jesus? In the society of God’s people, God wanted Hebrew slaves to have a chance for freedom, from life long bondage. But God also knew there might be such a wonderful relationship between master & servant, that the servant, after earning their freedom, might actually want to continue, for the rest of their life, serving the master they respected and loved.
Look at vs. 5,6. “But if the servant declares, I love my master…and does not want to go free, then his master must take him before the judges. He shall then take him to the doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he will be his servant for life.“ We understand, don’t we? The “bond-servant”. The master-slave relationship here is so wonderful, mutually beneficial, BOTH the master & slave would like to continue it for their entire lifetimes, and the awl piercing, is an outward, unchanging symbol, of their unwavering commitment to each other.
Now ponder that as it relates to your relationship with Jesus. Your love for Jesus, His ownership of you, and His desire to involve you in His global purposes during your lifetime, as His follower. Would you describe yourself as a ‘bond-servant’ of Jesus? May I suggest, it is the greatest human privilege available to us.
While I don’t have the hole of an awl in my ear, I am proudly, delightfully , a ‘bond servant’ of Jesus. His will is my command…always! His delight is my passion. Service to Him is the greatest purpose of my life. . .how about you my friends? Have you discovered we all serve someone or something… who or what has captivated your heart, your passion, and is the pursuit of your life?
Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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