Hebrew Slave

“If you buy a Hebrew servant, he shall serve six years; and in the seventh he shall go out free and pay nothing. If he comes in by himself, he shall go out by himself; if he comes in married, then his wife shall go out with him. If his master has given him a wife, and she has borne him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out by himself. But if the servant plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,’ then his master shall bring him to the judges. He shall also bring him to the door, or to the doorpost, and his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall serve him forever” (Exodus 21:2-6)

God, through Moses, spoke these words to Israel. Where and when? This took place under Mount Sinai and it was the beginning of Israel's forty-year stay in the desert. First, " God spoke all these words, saying: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage" (Exodus 20:1-2) and personally gave the people the content of the ten commandments. And when “all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off. Then they said to Moses, ‘You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die’". From then on, God spoke only through Moses, giving his people various laws and principles, the observance of which was to direct Israel to the right way of life. Let us pay attention to what matters God discussed at the beginning, because usually the most important matters are discussed at the beginning. What did God begin with? First, referring to the first and second commandments, he spoke about the altar and sacrifices, and then passed on the laws concerning Hebrew slaves. Was it just a special way of treating Hebrew slaves, or was God willing to give something more to His people?

Let's look at this scene from a broader perspective. Three months earlier, Israel left Egypt. The Israelites ceased being slaves and became free people. When they lived in Egypt, they were not only slaves, but they didn't really believe in God. True faith is not only recognition of God's existence, but above all, trust in God and obedience to God. True faith is love of God, and most Jews did not have that love. This is demonstrated by the way they received Moses. Admittedly, "the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord had visited the children of Israel and that He had looked on their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshiped", but when problems arose, the same Jews who believed and worshiped God told Moses: "Let the Lord look on you and judge, because you have made [b]us abhorrent in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us". True faith is not revealed in keeping certain ceremonies or theological truths, but in trusting in God when faith is tested. It is the difficulties, that we go through, that reveal the truth about our faith. When Moses came to Egypt, the Jews did not have such faith. The first three plagues affected both Egyptians and Jews, which means that, despite their declaration of faith in the One God, in God's eyes there was no difference between Israelites and Egyptians. The departure from Egypt was the end of the period of captivity, but it was also the entry onto the road leading to true freedom. The Israelites stopped being slaves, but they didn't feel like free people at all. It suited them that they did not have to work as slaves, but they did not feel the joy of living according to God's principles. Jesus said: "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light" (Matthew 11: 29-30). They did not have love for God, which makes "that we keep His commandments, and His commandments are not burdensome" (1 John 5: 3). And therefore for many of them the yoke of Egyptian slavery was lighter and nicer than the one they received through Moses.

When God gave Israel the laws related to Hebrew slaves, He showed them the path each of them had to follow. After leaving Egypt, they were like slaves in a spiritual sense. They regained physical freedom but did not do what they wanted. Their desires did not comply with God's law. Obeying God's law was for them the same as for a slave to follow the master's instructions. Changing their attitude required going a long way, the beginning of which was leaving Egypt, crossing the Red Sea and Mount Sinai. There was freedom at the end of this road. "If you buy a Hebrew servant, he shall serve six years; and in the seventh he shall go out free and pay nothing". These six years are a symbol of this period of believer’s life in which he wants to live according to God's law, but at the same time he feels it as a heavy and unpleasant yoke. It is a time that God gives to everyone who has accepted Him as God and Creator, that such a man would know God, trust Him and desire to be free from the slavery of sin. This time is a time of self-struggle, a time of struggle between sinful nature and love for God. And this time at some point ends, the struggle with yourself ends. And there are only two ending options, both are related to freedom.

„If you buy a Hebrew servant, he shall serve six years; and in the seventh he shall go out free and pay nothing”. For some time, God helps believers know the truth, but we often reject these truths. But God still does. He knows that because of our sinful nature, we need a long time to accept these truths. However, rejecting one truth makes the next revelation more difficult to accept. And thus, one day we come to a place from which there is no return. We consciously reject obedience to God, which we feel as slavery, and choose freedom based on our own rules, preferences and desires. God allows us to choose this kind of freedom, although He would like us to choose another one.

„But if the servant plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,’ then his master shall bring him to the judges. He shall also bring him to the door, or to the doorpost, and his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall serve him forever”. True freedom is a state in which a person wants to live according to God's principles, and such a life is not only associated with slave obedience, but is a source of constant joy and happiness. The Hebrew slave who gave up his freedom, stayed in his master's house and did exactly the same as before, but he no longer felt like a slave. He met his master and loved him so much that he could not imagine another life. A very important element of this voluntary slavery, or true freedom, is the bond between him and his wife and children. Once upon a time, Jesus said: "Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother" (Matthew 12:49-50). He who loves God cannot hate people or despise them. Love for God is inseparable from love for people. The Hebrew slave who feels associated with his wife and children is a symbol of a believer who feels associated with his brothers and sisters in Christ. The Hebrew slave also loves others, but love for someone who does not want to be a Hebrew slave will not make him leave his Lord's house. "He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me" (Matthew 10:37). Unfortunately, life in this world is sometimes associated with painful choices, when someone we love does not want to go with us to God. One who truly loves God will never get out of this way, even when those whom he loves in various ways influence him to do so.

Our biggest problem is sin and our addiction to sin. When Jesus told the Jews that they would know the truth and this truth makes them free, he spoke of deliverance from the slavery of sin. When God gave Israel His law, He said in the first sentence that he released them from the house of slavery. At the time, these words were literal, but also symbolic, because God also spoke about the slavery of sin. And God's next words related to slavery are those in which he gave the Israelites rights related to Hebrew slaves. These words also had and still have both literal and symbolic meanings. We are Hebrew slaves. I think each of us remembers such moments when as a believer he felt some of his Christian duties as a kind of slavery. This feeling is associated with attachment to sin and disappears when every form of sin becomes something disgusting to us. Then and only then do we become voluntary Hebrew slaves, people loyal to God in every aspect of life. As perfectly obedient slaves of God, we only do what He pleases. We are like people who do not have their own will but surrender to God's will in everything, but the beauty of this kind of bondage is that we do not lose our free will. We can and are able to make decisions independently, but our will, our desires and aspirations are exactly the same as God has. No one must force himself to do what he desires, and the desires of every man who believes in God are God's desires. The basis for such voluntary slavery is love for God.

How do we feel, people who consider themselves Christians, whether as slaves who must follow the instructions of their Lord, or as voluntary slaves who desire to follow these instructions?