- But if he says to you, ‘I will not go out from you,’ because he loves you and your household, since he is well-off with you, then you shall take an awl, and put it through his ear into the door, and he shall be your slave forever. And to your female slave you shall do the same. Deuteronomy 15:16-17 – So much of this doesn’t make sense to our 21st century mind. First, a slave “loving” their master and wanting to remain under slavery with him? This shows us that in God’s plan that if slavery was to be a thing amongst His people that slavery was to be handled far differently than the world around them handled slavery, something that treated well those enslaved to the point that they may want to remain in their master’s household forever. Second, what’s up with this awl through the ear? Imagine the master putting a wooden peg through the earlobe of the slave, leaving an opening, a hole, through the ear. This was a mark of complete, lifelong devotion to one’s master that all could see. While this mark was given as a way for the enslaved Israelites to show their devotion to their earthly masters, it can also help us see the devotion God is looking from us. In Psalm 40:6 the psalmist writes, “but you have given me an open ear.” It’s the same concept as spoken about here in Deuteronomy of the master opening the ear of the slave. God, our Heavenly Master, wants from us the sort of loving devotion that is depicted in this chapter. Where we understand we are under His Lordship and rule, yet we long to be there and to remain in His house forever. Where we long for God to give us an “open ear” showing we’re His and devoted to Him forever. As believers we are His for eternity, but does our heart yet long for that yet like it should? I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 3454
- You shall give to him freely, and your heart shall not be grudging when you give to him, because for this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake. Deuteronomy 15:10 – This chapter shows us how deeply important it’s is for us as followers of Jesus to live a life with our hands open to others. To be on the look out for the needy around us and to not hold back when we see their need. What we see promised here is that God isn’t going to let us go without. Maybe it’s hard to grasp that when we give we’ll have more, but this is how God works. I understand that in our time people take advantage of those who give out, but something I don’t see anywhere is in the passage is God telling us to worry about how they handle what we give. Let’s be wise when we give of course, but lets be open to freely giving when there is a real need in front of us. Trust God to handle you and them after that. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1310
- Deuteronomy 15 – Pastor Mac Daily DEVO And when you let him go free from you, you shall not let him go empty-handed. You shall furnish him liberally out of your flock, out of your threshing floor, and out of your winepress. As the Lord your God has blessed you, you shall give to him. Deuteronomy 15:13-14 – God established a command for His people that every seventh year, the Sabbath year, they would have to free those in enslaved to them. This would be the Jewish men and women, who for an assortment of possible reasons, found themselves serving someone to pay off their debt. Every seventh year, God commanded them to forgive whatever debt and free that person. What’s even more special is that God commanded the slave owner to generously bless those they were setting free so they didn’t walk away empty-handed. As generously as God had blessed them so should they bless whose they were setting free. While releasing slaves isn’t something we deal with in our culture today, how we choose to bless others is. We too should let the example of how God blessed us be the foundation for how we bless others. As deeply as He forgave us is how we should forgive others. As patient as He has been with us in our sin we too should be patient with others mistakes. While it will be impossible to fully match how God forgave or loved or blessed, it can be the target we are aiming for and the example we base our life on. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2440
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