We rightly regard ‘slavery’ as an awful practice: people ‘owned’ by others, denied their freedom, forced to work for no or little reward and certainly with no choice, haunt world history. Yet in the ancient world, ‘slavery’ could mean indentured labour: a firm but time-limited work contract that provided some form of social security in a world where there was no welfare state. We would much prefer a welfare state but can recognise that for some ancient people it might have been better to work than starve.
Last Sunday morning we saw from Deut ch15 how Moses taught the Israelites to limit the impact of poverty by limiting the term of such service to 7 years, with the servant ending by being set up with goods to return them to society with plenty. Yet, some servants wanted to remain in post for life: Strange as it may sound to us, they did so out of love and a continued desire to serve, having…
“…an awl and push it through his earlobe into the door, and he will become your servant for life.” (Deut 15:17).
That same model of continued service was foretold by David of the Lord Jesus by the psalmist David:
“my ears you have opened…” (Psalm 40:6; Heb 10:5 – translated slightly differently)
It’s an idea that the Lord Jesus spoke of freely:
“even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45)
Yet what’s challenging is how it applies to those of us who follow Him. Look at the previous verse:
“whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.” (Mark 10:44)
Spencer Shaw