Pierce My Ear

Now here’s where that beautiful little picture comes in.

What if my six years of serving as a slave were up, so I was given my freedom, but I didn’t want to leave? What if life was good in my master’s house? He treated me well, he’d done a lot for me, he even allowed me to marry one of his maidservants.

The law allowed me to CHOOSE to remain a slave of my good master. I’m legally free – free to go. But I could CHOOSE to stay in the house.

If I made that choice, there was a little ceremony they would perform to make it official. My master would bring me before the judges of the people and together we would tell them of my decision. And my master would stand me up against the door-post of his house, and he would take an “awl” (somewhat like a nail), and he would drive it through the lobe of my ear and into the doorpost. That ceremony of piercing my ear would seal it. I would be a free man – but a committed slave of love for the rest of my life. What a beautiful picture.

Every time it was ever done in Israel – every time a slave made that choice in the 7th year – as he walked back into the house arm in arm with his master, I can just imagine God looking down from Heaven and saying, “THAT is my quest. Right there. That’s what I’m after. A people who will take the freedom I offer, but then use it to walk with Me, and serve Me.”

This Bible picture reminds me of an often-told story about President Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln, of course, was instrumental in the first steps toward abolishing slavery. And the story goes that one day he went down to a slave block to buy a slave girl. As she looked at the well-dressed white man bidding on her, she figured that he was just another one that was going to buy her and then abuse her. Well, Lincoln won the bid, but as he was walking away with his legal property, he said, “Young lady, you’re free.” She was silent for a moment, and then she asked, “What does that mean?”

“It means you are free.”

“Does that mean I can say what I want to say?”

“Yes.”

“Does it mean I can say what do want to do?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Does it mean I can go where I want to go?”

“Yes, you can go wherever you want to go.”

Then with tears streaming down her face she said, “Then I will go with you.”

What a picture. Pierce her ear to the door! She’s a slave captivated by love alone.

When a Hebrew slave was set free in his 7th year, but he decided to have his ear pierced to the master’s house and remain with his master, he was saying a number of things. Here is what he was saying …

1. I Have Made My Choice

This was HIS decision. It couldn’t be made FOR him. He could not be forced or cajoled into it. The master could bring him to the judges, but it had to be the servant’s own choice.

Verse 5 – “If the servant plainly says…”

This is the very essence of God’s quest. That YOU will choose for Him.

Your parents cannot choose for you. Your wife can’t choose for you. Your husband can’t do it. Nobody can. Nobody but you.

Oh, I could sometimes wish that my Dad could’ve made every decision for me. He’s a godly man. He’d have made good choices for me. I’d have avoided a lot of dumb mistakes – especially in those headstrong teenage years. If he was making all my choices, it would have saved me a lot of heartache. I know it.