| Perpetual
Bondservants
Issue #142
December 2000
The Rest of the Law: Part 3
The
laws of bondservants are particularly applicable to us today, because
we are to be God's bondservants. For this reason Paul calls himself a
bondservant (slave) of Jesus Christ in Romans 1:1. In other words, justification
sets us free from the slavery of sin and (ultimately) death, but we are
now slaves of Jesus Christ and righteousness.
In
other words, we have not been redeemed so that we can do as we please;
we are slaves purchased by Jesus Christ. Our new Master loves us, but
this is no reason why we should take advantage of that love by disobeying
His righteous laws.
The Law of Perpetual Bondservants
One
of the more fascinating laws of bondservants is found in Exodus 21:5 and
6,
5
But if the slave plainly says, "I love my master,
my wife and my children; I will not go out as a free man," 6 then
his master shall bring him to God, then he shall bring him to the door
or the door post. And his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and
he shall serve him permanently.
In
the seventh year--the year of land rest--masters were supposed to let
their servants go free. We saw in our last issue that this prophesies
of the 7th millennium, when God fulfills His law on a worldwide
level. He is about to set the world free of an oppressor called "Mystery
Babylon."
Everyone
will benefit on some level, because the social and political upheavals
in this time will allow men the freedom to decide which God or gods they
want to follow, and which form of government they wish to have--whether
of men or of God's Kingdom.
What
will men do with this newfound freedom? That is where we must step forward.
A second work of Christ is about to begin. It is the Joseph work. Even
as Christ came the first time of Judah to claim His throne rights, so
this time Christ comes of Joseph to claim the birthright. The religions
of this world will be our competition for the hearts and souls of men.
We will win, of course, because God is about to pour out His Spirit in
a way never seen before. Jesus said that we would do "greater works
than these" (John 14:12), and I believe that this prophecy will find
its ultimate fulfillment in the unveiling of the sons of God, as they
fully manifest Christ and His love to the world. This is the fulfillment
of the feast of Tabernacles.
When
Moses was on the mount for the eighth time in Exodus 34, he received the
second law (same as the first), and God said to him in verse 10,
10 . . ."Behold, I am going to make a covenant.
Before all your people I will perform miracles which have not been produced
in all the earth, nor among any of the nations; and all the people among
whom you live will see the working of the LORD, for it is a fearful thing
that I am going to perform with you.
Moses'
eight trips up the mount represent the eight days of Tabernacles. His
eighth trip up the mount represents the eighth day of Tabernacles. So
this covenant of miracles appears to be a reference to what God will do
when we experience the fullness of the Spirit at the end of the feast
of Tabernacles.
These
miraculous things will draw all men to Himself, even as He said would
happen if He were "lifted up," or put on the cross (John 12:32,
33). The true manifestation of Jesus Christ's character is irresistible
to men. God does not need to convert men by force of arms or violence,
though He certainly has the power to do so. It is the glory of God to
conquer mankind by His love. Man conquers by force because he lacks the
character to win the hearts of the people by love.
The
same can be said of religions--even Christianity, which ought to know
better. Force is a poor substitute for the power of the Holy Spirit. The
question is: how do we obtain the perfect character of Christ? How do
we ensure that we will do these "greater works"?
The Divine Awl
As
we read earlier, the law says that bondservants who are set free are allowed
to return out of a heart of love for their master. If they wish to remain
as bondservants, they are to have the lobe of their ear bored to the door
or door post. What a strange law! What does it mean?
This
law shows us how to become the bondservants of God. Nailing one's ear
lobe to the door of the master's house is done to signify the opening
of the ear. That is, when the ear is "opened," the servant hears
and obeys his master's voice.
The
Hebrew word, shama, means "to hear" as well as "to
obey." It is translated both ways in the Bible, because they mean
the same thing. If one claims to have heard the voice of God, he has not
really heard at all if he does not obey. Obedience is the evidence of
hearing.
The
New Testament Greek word, hupakouo, likewise means "to hear"
as well as "to obey." Thus, in both the Old Testament and the
New we find the hearing of the word tied to obedience. True hearing results
in obedience.
This
is what it means to pierce the ear with an awl. When dealing with the
bondservants of men, this was the mark of hearing and obedience in ancient
times. But when we deal with being a bondservant of Jesus Christ, the
form of the law takes a different dimension. Because God is Spirit, we
must relate to Him in Spirit.
The
spirit of the law says that I must hear His voice and be obedient. His
law must be written on my heart. If I love my Master and know that His
laws are not grievous, I will want to return to Him and be His permanent
bondservant.
Jesus
Christ was our example. This is why we read of Him in Psalm 40:6-8,
6
Sacrifice and meal offering Thou hast not desired;
My ears Thou hast opened; burnt offering and sin offering Thou
hast not required.
7 Then I said, "Behold, I come; in the
scroll of the book it is written of me; 8 I
delight to do Thy will, O my God; Thy Law is within my heart."
In
Hebrews 10:5-9 this passage is quoted and applied to Jesus Christ, our
perfect Example. Because His ears were opened, He obeyed all that the
Father commanded Him. In fact, because the Law was written in His heart,
He delighted to do God's will--even
though it meant going the way of the Cross. To delight in such a horrible
death is only possible when one has a very special relationship with the
Father.
We
ourselves are called to have that same relationship to our Master. The
law says that we are to have our ear bored to the door by the divine awl.
Jesus said in John 10:9, "I
am the Door." Are you nailed to the Door by your earlobe? Are
you Jesus' permanent bondservant?
If
so, then you are called to do the second work of Christ, for this work
can only be done by those who are absolutely committed to hearing and
obeying Him. The requirement is to have the law written in your heart
so much that you delight to do His will. That is possible only if you are in agreement
with Him. If you do not agree that His law is your delight, if you do
not agree that His law is righteous, then you are not yet qualified for
this work.
It
is not a matter of being perfected by the law. It is a matter of the attitude
of the heart toward the Word of God. In our flesh we are a rebellious
and stiff-necked people. We have always had a tendency toward lawlessness,
and our flesh seeks new ways to justify disobedience.
The
New Testament calls this problem anomia, using the word 15 times.
We
may disagree on the interpretation and application of the law, but if
it is in our heart to know the law of God and how to apply it by the teaching
and leading of the Spirit, then He will lead us in the right way. But
if we throw out any portion of God's Word, or relegate portions of it
to the side, we are then no longer living by every
word that proceeds out of His mouth (Matt. 4:4).
From Servanthood to Sonship
and Friend
When
a bondservant returns to his master, it is because he loves his master.
He returns because he desires to be obedient. He no longer has
to do the master's will--now his motive is love, and he wants to do the master's will. The bondservant of Jesus Christ is
elevated to a position of rulership over His household (Luke 12:42-44).
This is also the equivalent of Sonship.
Jesus
referred to this law in John 8:34-36.
34
Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to
you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin.
35 And the slave does not remain in the house forever;
the son does remain forever. 36 If
there-fore the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.
When
Adam sinned, he and his entire household were sold into slavery to sin
(Matt. 18:25). Jesus redeemed us by purchasing us from the slave master
called Sin. The law of redemption mandates that the redeemed must serve
his redeemer (Lev. 25:54). But, as Jesus said in verse 35 above, "the
slave does not remain in the house of his master forever." There
is always a time when he must be set free, either when he has paid the
debt or when the year of release comes.
"The son does remain forever." For a bondslave to return and have
his ear bored to the door means that he becomes like a son--he
remains forever in the house of the Master. Those who want to be free
from obedience to Christ and His law will not obtain Sonship.
The
same change in relationship is seen in the upgrade from a servant to a
friend, which Jesus mentioned in John 15:14 and 15.
14
You are My friends, if you do what I command you.
15
No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does
not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for
all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.
A
master would never confide in the slave who does not love him. His relationship
is different with those servants who enthusiastically obey Him out of
a heart of love. Such servants become friends. The master reveals his
heart to his friends, even if they are technically just bondslaves.
So
we see that the Scriptures talk about upgrading our relationship to Jesus
Christ from servant to bondservant, or from servant to son, or from servant
to friend. But these all are applicable to us in our relationship to God.
Hence, they are all relevant to the law of bondservants in Exodus 21.
The Law of the Bondwoman
Exodus
21:7-11 reads,
7
And if a man sells his daughter as a female slave
[amaw, a concubine], she is
not to go free as the male slaves do. 8
If she is
displeasing in the eyes of her master who designated her for himself,
then he shall let her be redeemed. He does not have authority to sell
her to a foreign people because of his unfairness to her.
The
context shows that this law refers to a daughter being given to a man
as a concubine, or bondwoman, much like Hagar had been given to Abram.
In fact, in Genesis 21:10 Hagar is called an amaw, translated "bondwoman,"
after she had been married to Abram for many years. At first glance, this
law seems to discriminate between bondmen and bondwomen, but in actuality,
this law was a marriage law. Masters did not purchase bondmen
for the purpose of marrying them. That would have been a homosexual relationship,
which is unlawful in the sight of God.
We
conclude, then, that this law set the bondmen free every seventh year,
but the bondwomen who were married to their masters were not given a rest
year. God's law is unclear whether or not non-married bondwomen were to
have a rest year. But in Jer. 34:9 we find that bondwomen were to be set
free along with the bondmen. This refers to bondwomen who are not married
to their masters.
Sarah
was the freewoman; Hagar was the bondwoman. Both were wives of Abraham,
but they had different legal relationships. The son of the freewoman was
always to be the heir. And so we see Isaac as the heir of the promises
to Abraham, while Ishmael was ultimately cast out.
This
relationship later was repeated in a national allegory when God redeemed
Israel out of Egypt. Israel had been enslaved in Egypt, but God purchased
this bond-woman from Egypt in much the same manner as an individual man
might purchase a bondwoman. God purchased her and then married her at
Mount Sinai.
As
God's wife, Israel was not supposed to leave her Husband in the rest year.
No wife, bond or free, could take a year off from her marriage. Marriage
is a full-time job.
Israel's
marriage covenant was later called the "Old Covenant," or the
covenant under Moses. It was a conditional covenant that based God's blessings
upon obedience. Paul said the Old Covenant was Hagar in Arabia (Gal. 4:24).
It was very much of a bondwoman's relationship to a husband who had purchased
or redeemed her. It was a legitimate marriage, but it was not the kind
of relationship that God was ultimately looking to have.
The
leaders of Judaism who rejected Jesus Christ and the New Covenant chose
to remain as Hagar in a bond-woman relationship with God. But God had
no intention of continuing that relationship beyond a certain point. For
this reason, the Scriptures say, "cast
out the bondwoman and her son." Abraham had to cast out Hagar,
because it prophesied of what God later would do with those in Judaism
who wanted to remain under the Old Covenant in a bondwoman relationship
with Him.
The
New Testament Church under Pentecost was called into a new type of relationship
with God. Unlike the Sinai covenant, which had been instituted on the
day of Pentecost under Moses, Pentecost in Acts 2 brought the Church into
the New Covenant. It was made possible by the fact that at the Cross Jesus
Christ had set this "woman" free from slavery. By law, this
now made her eligible to marry Christ as a freewoman.
But
not every Christian wanted to have this type of relationship as a freewoman.
Some wanted to retain the sign of the Old Covenant--physical circumcision--and
remain as a bondwoman married to Christ. There were many who retained
the Hagarite view that God desired to inhabit buildings of wood and stone,
rather than "living stones" who were people.
This
problem has persisted to the present day, where it is common to speak
of "going to Church," instead of the Church assembling at a
building in a particular location. Christians confuse the Church with
a denomination. Ministers perpetuate this confusion by speaking of a building
as "the house of God," as if God continues to dwell in buildings.
All
of this implants in Christians the mindset of Hagar and perpetuates the
marital relationship of a bondwoman. It is not surprising, then, that
many evangelicals support the building of a physical temple in the old
Jerusalem. This rebuilt temple, they say, will first be the house of the
Antichrist, and then later Jesus Christ will kick him out of the house
so that He can dwell there and rule the earth from that temple in the
millennium.
A
bondwoman cannot bring forth the heir, even if she is married to the master.
This is well illustrated in the story of Abraham and Hagar. This means
that the bondwoman Church today cannot and will not bring forth the Manchild.
The son of the bondwoman cannot and will not inherit and fulfill the promises
to Abraham of being a blessing to all the families of the earth.
The
bondwoman can only bring forth more slave children--slaves to the denominational
systems. This is not "bad" in itself, for God has ordained that
this take place. However, God has also ordained that some Christians be
the son of the freewoman. These are called to a better marriage relationship
that can and will set men free. Ultimately, the whole of creation will
be set free into this glorious liberty of the sons of God.
There
are, therefore, two types of Christians, even as Abraham had two sons
(Ishmael and Isaac). Both types of Christians have the same heavenly Father,
but they have different mothers here on earth. Christians who remain under
the Passover or Pentecostal anointing have the faith of father Abraham,
but are enslaved by Pharaoh through mother Hagar and her denominational
systems.
On
the other hand, Christians whose goal and focus is the feast of Tabernacles
can have not only the faith of Abraham, but also move in the freedom of
Sarah. It is not the type of freedom that frees us from the bonds of the
marital relationship with Jesus Christ. Obedience and submission to His
authority and law is still as necessary as ever. It is "liberty in
law." Our marriage to Jesus Christ did not set us free to be disobedient.
Instead, we were set free by the Cross in order to marry Christ as a freewoman.
Christians
whose focus is the feast of Tabernacles must be prepared for marriage
by practicing the principles of the Jubilee. The Jubilee comes before
Tabernacles. The law of Jubilee tells us that we personally must be forgivers.
If we do not forgive, we will not be forgiven. If we do not set men free,
we will not be set free to enter into this marriage as a freewoman Bride.
The
law of Jubilee tells us our job description in the earth. It is to set
men free, to cancel debt (sin). In this past Age we have been able to
point back to the Cross as the basis of this cancellation of debt. Under
the anointing of Pentecost, we have been limited in our effectiveness
in reaching the world. We have been limited in the number
of people we have been able to reach; and we have been limited in
the quality of relationship
that we have been able to establish between Christ and His Bride. For
the most part, the relationship has been that of Hagar.
However,
as we come into the Tabernacles Age, we see God doing a new thing in the
earth. We see Him bringing forth a company of overcomers who are collectively
the Isaac company, the son of the freewoman. Prepared by the Jubilee and
empowered by Tabernacles, the overcomers of all past ages are prepared
as a freewoman Bride, as Sarah, to be the New Jerusalem that is the desire
of all nations that have groaned under the yoke of man's religious and
political systems.
Are
you prepared for this new work?
Jesus
came of the seed of Abraham to redeem Israel as a near kinsman. He also
came of flesh and blood, not taking upon Himself the nature of angels,
in order that He might be the near kinsman of all flesh and blood (Hebrews
2:11-16). He did so in order to have the lawful right of redemption specified
in Lev. 25:48, 49. The slavemaster, Sin, has no rights in this. If Jesus
Christ could pay the price of redemption, then He, as a near kinsman,
has the right of redemption, and slavemaster has no right to refuse.
The
life and blood of Jesus Christ was worth far more than all the debts that
mankind has ever accumulated through sin. So 1 John 2:2 clearly says,
2
and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins;
and not for ours only, but also for those
of the whole world.
If
Jesus Christ had the lawful right to redeem all the world, and if He were
willing and able to pay the price to redeem the whole world--would
He do so?? Do you believe that Jesus would save all mankind if He
were capable of doing so? It really boils down to a question of whether
or not Jesus Christ loves the whole world. For me, John 3:16 is sufficient--"God
so loved the world."
If
Jesus paid the penalty for the sin of the whole world, as John tells us,
would He allow Himself to be cheated by the devil out of 95% of mankind?
What would YOU do, if you paid for 100 bushels of wheat, but then you
received only 5 bushels? Would you be satisfied? How much more than wheat
are men worth?
It
is too much for some to believe that Jesus Christ would really redeem
the whole world. We have been taught otherwise for so long. Our Hagar
mentality cannot comprehend such a glorious liberty for all of creation.
Our experiences of Passover and Pentecost are insufficient and fall short
of the Jubilee and the realm of Tabernacles. This is why it is helpful
to know the law of God, which prophesies all these things.
God’s
Kingdom Ministries
6201 University Ave.
Fridley, MN 55432 (USA) |
