//note: This is one aspect of giving up rights, there are plenty more to think about, like what are my rights, how do I give them up, why should I give them up etc. This is just a start.
Who do we give them to?
Exodus 21v2-6If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for 6 years. But in the seventh year, he shall go free, without paying anything. If he comes alone, he is to free alone; but if he has a wife when he comes, she is to go with him. If his master givers him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the woman and her children shall belong to her master, and only the man shall go free. Bit if the servant declares, “I lover my master and my wife and children and do not want to go free”, then his master must take him before the judges. He shall take him to the door or the doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he will be his servant for life.
Deuteronomy 15v12-18
If a fellow Hebrew, a man or a woman, sells himself to you and serves you six years, in the seventh year you must let him go free. And when you release him, do not send him away empty-handed. Supply him liberally from your flock, your threshing floor and your winepress. Give to him as the Lord your God has blessed you. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you. That is why I give you this command today. But if your servant says to you, “I do not want to leave you” because he loves you and your family and is well off with you, then take an awl and push it through his ear lobe into the door and he will become you servant for life. Do the same for you maidservant. Do not consider it a hardship to set your servant free, because his service to you has been worth twice as much as that of a hired hand. And the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do.
In Moses law after 6 years of being a slave a Hebrew was set free. They had paid their way and were now legitimate citizens again, free. What more could they ask for? To be bound in slavery for a set time, no matter what the cost of pay back, and have full rights restored to them again? However they were given the option of giving themselves back to their master for the rest of their lives. Giving up the freedom they were entitled to and devoting themselves to their master. If they chose this the master would take them to his front door and take an awl, a small sharp metal spike or hammer, and pierce their ear to the door. This symbolised the ownership to the master. Then they took a ring and put it through the slaves ear to symbolise the covenant the slave has made to his master.
What would make someone do this? Why was it a benefit to the slave to give himself to his master like this? Does it make sense to willingly sell yourself into slavery again, this time with NO WAY OUT?
You can get to know someone very well in 6 years. Especially when they have no obligation as to how they treat you. If you were a slave you were someone who had no rights. You had to do what you were told or you were beaten, simple as that. Also you were in slavery because you had a debt to pay that you couldn't pay with money so you had to sell yourself in order to pay it off. Therefore you were literally owned by your master. No longer free to make your own choices or do your own things. As Jesus says in Luke 17v7-9:
'Suppose one of you has a servant ploughing or looking after the sheep. Will he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, “Come along now and sit down to eat”? Wont he rather say, “Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink after that you may eat and drink”? Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do should say “We are unworthy servants: we have only done our duty.”'
Here Jesus sums up what it means to be a slave, your priority is your master, what his needs are and what he wants you to do. So why would you willingly give yourself to this lifestyle, with NO WAY of getting out again, if you didn't have to?
Who is our master?This is the most important question we can ever ask. It defines who we are and how we live. There are a few answers to it and sometimes we can't even answer it fully ourselves. Here are a few ideas:
Ourselves – we are our own masters if we do things purely for ourself. This is the default human condition, right the way from Adam and Eve when she saw the fruit and made the decision she wanted it for herself. How can we tell if this is our condition?
The enemy – sometimes called possession or oppression, this is where we are owned by the enemy and controlled by him. How does this happen? By selling yourself to him, every act that aligns your life with his gives him more authority in your life. It can get to the point where you are mostly controlled by him, like the man with a legion of demons, however God's grace is always more powerful that all the enemy's strength and there is a way out.
The world – This world has systems in place that want you to be controlled by them. We have different cultural mindsets, western vs eastern being one extreme example. There are also differences between areas in a country, countries themselves, continents etc. There are mentalities too like consumerism where we are driven to place our value in what we can own or buy. Communism where the collective is more important that the individual and so on. The world wants to take our gaze and place it firmly on itself.
God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit – Looking at the Godhead we see who our Master should be. God is the template for masters on earth as well as reality for all of us living today. He demands our all. He also shows how to live under submission to Him, through the earthly life of Jesus and teaches us how to live it out today through the prompting and leading of the Holy Spirit. Getting to know God through study, meditation, communion and conversation with Him brings us to the place where our rights don't matter any more.
Only His do.
