I Like Where I Work - Exodus 21-24

I Like Where I Work

Exodus 21:1-5 (ESV)
1 “Now these are the rules that you shall set before them. 2 When you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve six years, and in the seventh he shall go out free, for nothing. 3 If he comes in single, he shall go out single; if he comes in married, then his wife shall go out with him. 4 If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he shall go out alone. 5 But if the slave plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,’

Before we take a lesson from this passage, we need to understand the concept of slavery in the Old Testament.   Here is one commentary on the subject:

Understanding Biblical Commentary - “These slaves were debt slaves ... people who had incurred a debt and could not pay it.   God started with the concept that slavery was a way people paid debts.  God is not necessarily approving of the cultural norm but regulating it.”

With this understand we can now see the value of the above verses.   These “slaves” were not people who were conquered and made to serve out of punishment and oppression.  What God is instituting is a way for someone to pay off a debt they incurred.  The meaning of the text shows the complete opposite of oppression.  The above text shows that the person in “slavery” was there to pay off the debt they incurred and was to be let go (whether the debt is paid or not paid) after seven years.    But, if the “slave” liked where he worked, he could ask to stay longer and become an “employee” of the person he owed the debt to.   The concept of the awl through the ear and an earring in the ear was to testify that I like where I work and I want to be a faithful employee.   Jesus, in the New Testament, summed up the law by saying it was loving God with all your heart, soul and mind and loving your neighbor as yourself.   The above passage shows that to be the concept being taught.  The love the man had for his “slave” (debtor) would be so great it would entice the “slave” (debtor) to want to stay with him for his life.   This is the best relationship to have with those who owe you and those your are in debt to.   God’s love flows and our desire to make life great for the other person is a priority.   That is the lesson taught in this passage.