“If you buy a Hebrew slave, he may serve for no more than six years. Set him free in the seventh year, and he will owe you nothing for his freedom. But the slave may declare, ‘l love my master, my wife, and my children. I don’t want to go free.’ If he does this, his master must present him before God. Then his master must take him to the door or doorpost and publicly pierce his ear with an awl. After that, the slave will serve his master for life” (Exodus 21 :2—6)
Thanks to the tireless efforts of abolitionist movements, slavery has ceased to be common practice in most of the world.
But in Bible times it was a matter that needed to be regulated. Although slavery was far from society’s original ideal, God established laws to protect and vindicate slaves.
According to the Talmud (Kidushin 22), the act of piercing an ear and not another part of the body meant that the person hadn’t heard that God had declared the children of Israel were His servants, not slaves. And it had to be performed at the door, because the door and doorpost had witnessed that God had delivered His people from slavery in Egypt.
Although it’s possible to perceive a certain loyalty on behalf of the slave who voluntarily submitted himself to his master to live in that prolonged condition, God reminds us that it’s not His intention for us to live that way.
Maybe today there aren’t any chains, awls, or pierced ears. And that’s for the better!
However, many times we run the risk of submitting our will to others, of manipulating situations, of taking advantage of the weakest and imposing burdens that are difficult to bear.
Regardless of our social status, we all have defenseless people around us, people we could consider inferior to us.
In Patriarchs and Prophets, when referring to Israelites who owned slaves, Ellen White says, “The memory of their own bitter servitude should enable them to put themselves in the servant’s place, leading them to be kind and compassionate, to deal with others as they would wish to be dealt with” (ch. 27, p. 310).
God has given us freedom, both when He created us and when He gave us the opportunity to be saved. And today He gives us an opportunity to act with mercy and justice in every area of our lives.
