Servant Rules

 Servant Rules

Exodus 21: “Now these are the judgments which you shall set before them: ² 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.

 

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GOD continued HIS conversation with Moses by giving a mindset of how to treat people. The deeply engrained mindset of Egyptian slavery was being addressed.

 

My Observations:

• GOD is compassionate, loving and caring, so HE views servants as help versus the way humans view slavery.
• GOD has expectations that employers treat all hired help with care.
• GOD gave freedom as the goal.

 

Egyptian slavery was cruel, self-serving and quite demeaning. Pharaoh saw himself as a god, which bred the thought of ultimate power. With ultimate power, came ultimate corruption. BUT GOD hated this cruelty. HE also knew that some people would not be able to own land and manage animals.

 

These people would still need to work, but would be unde4r the care of those who would have their own places. GOD expected everyone to help in sustaining life. Some people would become servants voluntarily. They would not be servants forever, unless there was an agreement.

 

I believe GOD’s expectation was for the hirer to help those who would become servants with a plan to be able to sustain themselves. The rules would protect innocent women and children from abandonment.

 

This set of rules would only be temporary, however, the heart of caring for people would always apply. GOD would eventually say that the law would be fulfilled by loving one another.

 

Challenge

• Why does GOD remind Moses about the rules of servanthood?
• Have you ever felt that your employees or servants need to serve you forever?
• How are you setting people up for success to be free as GOD wants them to be?

Mindsets Addressed by GOD

Mindsets Addressed by GOD

Exodus 14: ²⁶ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the waters may come back upon the Egyptians, on their chariots, and on their horsemen.” ²⁷ And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and when the morning appeared, the sea returned to its full depth, while the Egyptians were fleeing into it. So the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. ²⁸ Then the waters returned and covered the chariots, the horsemen, and all the army of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them. Not so much as one of them remained. ²⁹ But the children of Israel had walked on dry land in the midst of the sea, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

 

³⁰ So the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. ³¹ Thus Israel saw the great work which the Lord had done in Egypt; so the people feared the Lord, and believed the Lord and His servant Moses.

 

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When GOD took the wheels off of their chariots, the Egyptians were filled with fear and tried to turn around from their pursuit of the children of Israel. They may have gotten close to them but fear made them turn around. Moses held up his hand again and the sea returned to its full depth.

 

My Observations:

• GOD wiped out the last thing the Egyptians had, namely a mindset of power.
• The Egyptian mindset of believing in humans as gods was wiped out by GOD.
• The children of Israel heard Moses before the plagues, saw the miracles that would be performed, saw the actual plagues happen, but did not believe until they saw the Egyptian army killed by the Red Sea.

 

Mindsets can help our free will or attack it. The children of Israel were so used to being slaves, that they could not see GOD for who HE was. They cried for help and GOD came. They watched GOD take down Egypt. They left. But it wasn’t until the sea swallowed up the army that they believed in the LORD and they believed in Moses. We treat GOD the same.

 

Our limiting beliefs can limit what GOD can do in our lives. HE does not force HIMSELF on us, rather stands back and knocks on our hearts. If we let HIM in, then HE can do amazing things. GOD allowed Pharaoh to think he was a god. GOD hardened Pharaoh’s heart by simply letting him think he was in charge. All of Egypt fell because GOD saw that his heart would not change. GOD did just as HE promised.

 

Challenge

• Why does GOD remind Moses about how HE wiped out the Egyptian army?
• How many times has GOD rescued you and yet you may still be operating with limiting beliefs of HIM?
• Is there a limiting belief that makes you tentative that GOD can do what HE said HE would do?

Freed From Complacency

 Freed From Complacency

Exodus 12: ⁴⁰ Now the sojourn of the children of Israel who lived in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years. ⁴¹ And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years—on that very same day—it came to pass that all the armies of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt. ⁴² It is a night of solemn observance to the Lord for bringing them out of the land of Egypt. This is that night of the Lord, a solemn observance for all the children of Israel throughout their generations.

 

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Joseph wanted to see his family do well, even though they plotted evil against him. Joseph was placed over all of Egypt during the severe famine caused by GOD. Joseph gave his father Israel, and his brothers, the land of Goshen. Thing seem to go well while Joseph was alive. But joseph died and new Pharaoh’s rose up. The children of Israel were treated worse than ever before. They cried out to GOD and HE tore down the mindsets of the Egyptians. They left on the same day they moved into Egypt.

 

My Observations:

• GOD used the same day the Israelites moved into Egypt to move them out.
• GOD watched the complacency of the Israelites and forced them out of a place that was harmful to them.
• GOD was watching over the people, but was keeping HIS promise to protect humans so JESUS could be born to save the world.

 

We all want heaven on earth. This means no conflict, no problems and a peaceful existence until we die. BUT GOD knew there would be people who wanted to rob, steal and kill others of their peace.

 

The Israelites just wanted peace, but it came with a price. Joseph believed in following GOD with all his heart. But his brothers would follow the easiest route to worldly success. This mindset was passed down for generations. Eventually, the children of Israel were complacent in being slaves. They even complained when Moses upset their slave processes by confronting Pharaoh. When they lost their straw to make bricks, they turned on Moses.

 

But some time later, GOD destroyed Egypt one plague at a time. HE set them free. The children of Israel stayed in captivity for four hundred thirty years. They say a frog will sit in a pot of water if you turn the heat up slowly. It won’t move and get boiled to death. The children of Israel gave a lesson for you and me. GOD does not want us to become complacent with where we are.

 

Challenge

• Why does GOD remind Moses about the time and day of the Exodus of the children of Israel?
• Have you become complacent by seeking a meager peaceful existence when GOD wants you to exit to serve HIM in the wilderness?
• Has complacency blinded you to the once powerful view you used to have in GOD?