Old Paths Paved

Exo 21:5,6 “And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free: Then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl; and he shall serve him for ever.”

If you were able to purchase a servant from the slave market (which most could not afford), the LORD had something to say about that purchase. Six years was the length of time you could own someone, and only six. In the 7th year they must be freed. Not only freed, but as Deut. 15:14, says, “Thou shalt furnish him liberally out of thy flock, and out of thy floor, and out of thy winepress: of that wherewith the LORD thy God hath blessed thee thou shalt give unto him.” In the end, it would cost you greatly to own a servant. What happened when a servant did not wish to be released? There was provision made in the law for this. This time however, it was going to cost the servant something.

We read in this text that if a servant wanted to stay with his master, he would have to declare it. He would have to “plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free ”. Then, the slave and the master would go together to the Sanhedrin, the counsel of Israel,  and they would hear the servants words. Once declaration was approved, the master and servant would now walk together to the door of the city, and would do the following;

The master would take an awl, a large thick needle, usually used for leather repair, and drive it right through the servants ear into the door or post of the door.  It was not driven through the lobe of the ear either, where there is less sensitivity, but through the top of the ear into the hard cartilage. As I was meditating on this passage some time ago, I was reminded of the answer to our beloved Heidelberg Catechism, Lord’s Day 1. “That I with body and soul, both in life and death,  am not my own, but belong unto my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ”.

Is your ear fixed to the cross of Christ? Can you honestly say, “Who, with his precious blood, has fully satisfied for all my sins, and delivered me from all the power of the devil;  and so preserves me that without the will of my heavenly Father, not a hair can fall from my head; yea, that all things must be subservient to my salvation, and therefore, by his Holy Spirit, He also assures me of eternal life, and makes me sincerely willing and ready, henceforth, to live unto him”?

Jesus Christ never asks us to do anything that He Himself has not done. Christ humbled Himself willingly, and came in the likeness of flesh (Philip.2). His humiliation tells us that He too had an awl bored through his ear. We read in Psalm 40, that Messianic Psalm, “Mine ears hast thou opened”.The word “opened” in the Hebrew means “digged” or “bored”, and it is referring directly to the act we have just spoken about. Christ, for His great love to the Father, and the elect, had his ear, as it were, bored through for our sake. And he did so willingly, like the servant in Exodus. 21. He says of his own life in Joh 10:18  “No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.”  He could have gone free if He wished. He says to Pilate, “Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above (John 19). When the Pharisees mocked him on the cross, (“If He be the Son of God, let Him come down from the Cross”), he could have leaped in one giant stride from that cursed tree, and brought down fire from heaven to consume them. But He did not. No, His ear was to the door. His Servant’s heart kept him nailed to that tree. Willingly, without struggle, he was, of his own will, “lead as a sheep to the slaughter.”

Natural man hates the very thought of being the servant of Christ. By nature we have the Pharisee’s  mind, “We will not have this man to reign over us.” Our only master is self. We live for self, we die for self. We sacrifice dust and ashes on the alter of self. Others say, “I will go to the door and make my ear available after.” After what? “After I have had my fun. After I have had my pleasure. After I have sown my wild oats. Leave me alone until I am ready to have my ear nailed to the door. Perhaps when I am ready to settle down, and have a family, a wife, some children, but until then, I will not have my ear pierced.” But they know nothing of the words quoted above, “That I with body and soul, both in life and death,  am not my own, but belong unto my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ”. Nothing at all. And without the Lord making them willing, they will never submit to the awl and the door.

There are still others, who have professed that their ear has been pierced, yet time proves them false. Their ear was never really pierced at all. Technology today has fabricated false beauty. Is gold plate real gold? Yes, the plating is gold, but the metal underneath is nickel. A cubic zirconium stone fools the natural eye, but not the expert. So it can be with those in the Church. One old writer said, “ Oh, it is a thing most vexatious beneath the skies, the plague of the Church, and the minister’s nightmare, that there should be so many hollow confessions of faith” (C.H. Spurgeon).  Some, in the Church, if I can put it like this, have a clip on earing. When it suits them, in the company of believers, they wear it proudly. They speak with the language of Zion in the Church, but once they are out in the world, off it comes. This is all to prevalent in the Church today.

Submitting ot the door and the awl means a forsaking of self, and all that self might want. The Hebrew servant could now go free if he wished. He could have started a little farm of his own, or perhaps a store. He could now wake up and go to sleep when he pleased. Go where he wanted to go. Live as he wishes. But he does not. Instead, the one thing he desires above all else is to be with the one he loves. The pain he will face at the door, evidently, is well worth the benefit of his master’s house. So it is with those who can truly say, “That I with body and soul, both in life and death, am not my own, but belong unto my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ”. Yes there is a cross for us. Yes there is pain on the road up ahead. Don’t let anyone tell you differently. But it is worth it. Hear Paul’s own words in Php 3:8, “Yea doubtless, The aand I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ”. He counts every apparent advantage; his personal happiness, his personal pleasure, his apparent freedom, his reputation, his wealth potential, his pride, his all, he count them as “a stinking pile of refuse”.  Paul knew what it was to say, “That I with body and soul, both in life and death, am not my own, but belong unto my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ”.

What are some marks of the awl of the gospel?

Romans 5:8 “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Love given compells love returned. The Hebrew servant said, ” I love my master…I will not go free.” What a testament to the love the master had given to the slave. When the converted heart sees the great love of God in Christ, freedom is not an option, but love-slavery. Romans 1:1 “Paul, a servant (bond slave) of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God.”

In the Old Testament, a many were made a slave by their own hand. They did not have prisons like we do today for those who had committed wrong. No, they either made restoration for their wrong, or they became the slave of the one whom they had offended. Other times, they might have mismanaged their finances so badly that they are essentially bankrupt.  And all they can do to survive is either beg, or become the slave of another. So when the master would go the the market, he would be presented, very often, with people who were the lowest of the low, starving, dirty, often naked. They had poor health, and poorer manners, and were the scum of society. Often the slave, when purchased by a renown loving master, was so thankful for their purchase, they would kiss the hand of their new master. The Master was able to see them at their worst, and still look upon them in mercy. So it is with every believer who has had his or her ear pierced by the gospel of mercy. We are slaves to sin, born in it. We are offenders of the law of God, we are poor, and hungry, and naked, and sick. Romans 9:15, “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” Or as one poet says of Christ,

You have seen some of the awls, but I cannot pierce your ear. This text forbids it, “And his master shall bore his ear through with an awl”. There is no man that can fix your ear to the cross. There is no preacher who can make you say in heart, “That I with body and soul, both in life and death, am not my own, but belong unto my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ.” It is Christ that must do it.

Is your ear pierced by Christ?