Jan 17, 2023
Based on the weekly Parashat Torah reading called Shemot,
which includes Ex 1-6
I'll be borowing several ideas for this Selah from a teaching
on this week's Parshat reading by Roger Hadad from the Mikdash
Congregation in High Point, NC.
The title of Roger's teaching was Slave or Slave, You Choose,
which is a great title, but I'm titling this Selah episode False
Freedom.
In America we're all about Freedom and our individual rights,
and while there's some truth and good in that, there's also some
real danger and false thinking associated with that, especially
when we merge and equate those American ideals with freedom that's
described in the Bible, particularly in the New Testament.
In Exodus 1-6 we learn that Israel has been slaves for a long
time (400 years), slaves
You start thinking that way, slave mentality
Reactive-your freedom to choose is taken away, you start
thinking that way, limited
Pessimistic-everything is bad and you have no control
Lacks spiritual discernment- while you’re working you stop
thinking about spiritual things and focus on natural needs
Ex 14:11-12 - Israelites complain, this becomes a pattern in
scripture again and again
Reactive, pessimistic and lack of spiritual
discernment
Numbers 14:1-4
Ex 16:2-3
In ancient history if one country conquers a land, you can
kill them, tax them or enslave them
We often think of the story of the Exodus all about God's
people becoming free from slavery in Egypt.
Interesting that Lev 25:55 "For the children of
Israel are servants to Me;
they are My servants whom I brought out of the
land of Egypt: I am the Lord your
God." THis seems to go against the idea that God's goal was
just to set the Israelites free.
A little side note here I used to be a big collector of
Christian t-shirts and one of them had a picture of a the Liberty
Bell and it said "Let Freedom Ring" then quoted Gal 5:1 "It is for
freedom that Christ has set us free"
Rom 6:18 "And having been set free from sin, you became
slaves of righteousness."
1 Peter 2:15-16 "For this is the will of God, that by doing
good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish
men— 16 as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak
for vice, but as bondservants of God. "
What follows the Ten Commandments in Ex 20 is very
interesting, a command on servitude
Ex 21:2-6
If you buy a Hebrew servant, he shall serve six years;
and in the seventh he shall go out free and pay
nothing. 3 If he comes in by himself, he shall go out by
himself; if he comes in married, then his wife
shall go out with him. 4 If his master has given him a
wife, and she has borne him sons or daughters, the wife and her
children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out by
himself. 5 But if the servant plainly says, ‘I love my
master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out
free,’ 6 then his master shall bring him to
the judges. He shall also bring him to the door, or to the
doorpost, and his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he
shall serve him forever
6 years slave, then free 7th year
Spiritually 7 is a number of completion, like the 7th day of
creation
Gods Master Plan (4 steps)
Redemption (Passover a type of Yeshua's blood sacrifice to pay
for our sins)
Baptism - outward expression of our acceptance of that
redemption
Tutor - sometimes referred to as sanctification, walking out
this new life
____
Law is tutor
Prov 16:3 "Commit your works to
the Lord,
And your thoughts will be established"
Prov 16:9 "A man’s heart plans his way,
But the Lord directs his steps"
This is new thinking
Prov 4:23
Prov 3:6-7 "In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall [a]direct
your paths.
7 Do not be wise in your own eyes;
Fear the Lord and depart from evil."
This is not slave thinking, it’s free thinking, it’s what
Torah gives you to understand
Yeshua fed the 5000 with a miracle
Then He speaks hard truths (eat flesh, drink blood), people
started leaving
Prov 3:5 "Trust in the Lord with all your
heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;"
John 6:68 "But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall
we go? You have the words of eternal life."
Graduation moment, He set them free, like year 7
Once they are complete set them free
Ex 21:5 " But if the servant plainly says, ‘I love my
master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,"
Crucial moment in the Gospel
I love my master I will not go
Ex 21:6 "then his master shall bring him to the judges.
He shall also bring him to the door, or to the doorpost, and his
master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall serve him
forever"
Doorpost bc of commandments
Deut 11:20, part of the Shma says we are to write his law on
the doorposts and on our gates.
THis action of driving the awl through your ear on the
doorpost seems to indicate You become one with the law
Jer 31:33, also quoted twice in Hebrews "But
this is the covenant that I will make with the
house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put
My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts;
and I will be their God, and they shall be My people"
John 14:15 " “If you love Me, keep My
commandments"
John 15:14-15 "You are My friends if you do whatever I command
you. 15 No longer do I call you servants, for a servant
does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you
friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have
made known to you"
In Christianity, it's often said we now only have 2
commandments, to love God and to love others. But what does
that mean? Do we answer that question with our own ideas and
or with what God has told us.
It's said there are 613 commandments in the Torah, the first 5
books of the Bible, and there are over 1,000 commandments in the
New Testament. Jesus, Yeshua actually raised the bar on many
of the commandments in the Old Testament saying that not only
should we not physically commit adultery but that we should not
lust in our hearts.
So the choice we have, in my opinion, is not slavery or
freedom.
The choice is to whom will you be a slave, to sin or to
righteousness. To Pharoah or God. In our day, you might say to
Babylon or to Israel.
So the 4th step in God's master plan is to voluntarily be a
slave to Yah the one and only God.
How does this look?
Trust the Lord and He will direct Your steps
Process is messy, when we get off track we get right
back
Plan your life so don’t fall into the ways of the
world
Or as my friend and mentor Filip says when you fall, fall
towards the cross not away from the cross.
One of my favorite songs I used to listen to on a contemporary
CHristian compilation, I think it was called WOW hits from Lifeway,
was a song "I am free" by Newsboys. THe chorus has 3
lines:
And I am free to run (I am free to run)
And I am free to dance (I am free to dance)
And I am free to live for You (I am free to live for
You)
Now there's nothing wrong with running and dancing, and I'm
glad they included the line that I'm free to live for you, but I
was personally always a little confused by these lyrics, and
wondered to myself what is freedom in CHrist really all
about?
I'm definitely still trying to figure this question out, but
this 4-step master plan Roger talked about is getting a lot closer
to the truth, I believe, than what I've thought of as freedom in
the past.
Application
at work, when we go to work do we demand our rights and our
freedoms? Well, if we do we probably will be looking for
another job. I understand the government has established
rights for workers including minimum pay, a safe workplace and
other rules that are good, but should be our heart at work be about
demanding our rights?
How about our personal relationships, should our focus be on
our individual rights and getting what's best for us? Trust
me, I've been there and found out how foolish and wrong that
attitude is.
I recently learned what's called the Humility Prayer from Dr. Joe Martin who
leads the RealMenConnect Podcast and the RealMen300 group I'm a
part of. It goes like this: "I can only make requests, I have
no rights, I walk by faith, not by sight. And If my requests
are denied, I endure by seeking Your face. And anything I
receive is by your grace".
E
Encouragement
Joshua 1:9 "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and
courageous. Do not be frightened and do not be dismayed, for the
Lord your God is with you wherever you go"
L
Laugh
from REaders's Digest "A little boy, whenever he visited his
friend's house the boy's grandmother was engrossed in the
Bible. He asked his friend why she was always reading the
Bible and the boy replied " I don't know but I think she's cramming
for the finals".
A
Adversity and affliction
Psalm 119:67 "Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I
keep your word"
There can be many benefits of afflication and adversity.
As they see in my RealMen300 group, Tribulation brings
revelation.
H
Judges 17:6 - "In those days there was no king in Israel.
Every man did what we right in his own eyes"
Reminder to make sure you staff at work is well trained and
know what they need to do and how to do it.