To recap, or bring us up to speed
in Exodus 21, in Exodus 20, the Ten Commandments were given,
explained somewhat. And then we get into chapter
21, and we have basically the start of civil laws that are
spoken from God to Moses, Moses to the people, civil laws and
various ordinance to the maintenance of the Jewish social life. So
you had the Levitical, the civil, and the moral laws. These included
all within the Jewish order and maintenance for the
way of life. There were certain things that
were in one law that make sense, you know, for health reasons,
make sense, circumcision, that type of thing. But we're going
to particularly note the first six verses in Exodus 21, and
this is the order of the servant or the slave. This is what this
has to do. He says in chapter 21 in Exodus
and verse one, now these are the judgments, the ordinances,
the commandments, which thou shalt set before the people. If thou by a Hebrew servant,
Six years he shall serve, and in the seventh he shall go out
free for nothing." That is the history behind this. They didn't
have a welfare system. If you got behind on your payments
and you owed somebody money and you couldn't pay, you could serve
him and work off your debt. And after the seventh year, You
could go free, and that's where the year of Jubilee comes in.
Not this seventh year, but the year of Jubilee, the 49th or
50th year, I think it was, where the trumpets blew, and if you
owed anything, it didn't matter, you got set free. But this is
specifically concerning the Hebrew servant. So he was to serve for
six years, and in the seventh year he should go out free for
nothing. No, you don't have any strings
attached, so let him go. nothing to hold him, nothing
over him, he's not under any bondage. If he came in by himself,
the servant, he shall go out by himself. If the servant were
married, then his wife shall go out with him. If his master,
the servant's master, have given him a wife, and she have born
him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her
masters, and he shall go out by himself. And if the servant
shall plainly say, I love my master, I love my wife, I love
my children, I will not go out free. He's waiving his rights
to continue to be with his master. Then, and we are familiar with
this ritual, then this ordinance, then his master, the servant's
master, shall bring the servant unto the judges, according to
this law, he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the
door post, and his master shall bore his ear through with an
awe, and he shall serve his master forever." A little different
than a piercing by today's standards, but that's what that word means,
bore, it means to pierce. It appears. So as looking at this, we're
not really going to observe the Jewish ordinance, the civil law,
the civil ordinances or judgments. But as usual, we are going to
behold our blessed in type, the perfect servant, the Lord Jesus
Christ as he is here. Thusly, we also expose that one
and only gospel of the grace of God towards sinners. We see
that in this. First thing, let's look at the
servant. Now these are the judgments which thou shalt set before them.
If you buy a Hebrew servant. Turn with me to Isaiah 42. Isaiah
42. Now we're going to talk about
not just any servant, but the perfect servant. Isaiah 42 and
verse 1. It's none other than the Lord
Jesus Christ. Behold My servant. whom I uphold, mine elect, in
whom my soul delighteth, says God, I have put my spirit upon
him, and he shall bring forth judgments to the Gentiles." He's
talking about Christ, the servant. Isaiah 53. Isaiah 53 and verse 10 and 11, "...yet
it pleased the Lord to bruise him." Who? He hath put him to
grief, who? When thou shalt make his soul
an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong
his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his
hand. Who is he speaking of? Verse 11. He shall see the travail
of his soul, and shall be satisfied by his knowledge, shall my righteous
servant, servant, justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities. The righteous servant. Zechariah
chapter 3. Zechariah. Right after Zephaniah. Zechariah chapter 3 and verse
8. Hear now, O Joshua, the high
priest, thou and thy fellows that sit before thee, For they
are men wondered at. For behold, I will bring forth
My servant, the branch." My servant, the branch. Philippians. Philippians
chapter 2. Philippians chapter 2. We're
establishing the Lord Jesus Christ is more than this Hebrew servant.
He is the perfect servant. Philippians chapter 2, starting
in verse 5, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ
Jesus, who being in the form of God, thought it not a robbery
to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, and
took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness
of men. And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself,
and became obedient unto death. even the death of the cross. This is God's perfect servant. For He says in another place,
in Hebrews chapter 10, He said He came to do the Father's will,
which is what servants do. They do their Father's will. He stated in Luke chapter 2,
verse 49, He told the people, wished you not that I must be
about my Father's business? So even at a young age, He assumed
the servant. our likeness, flesh and blood.
And again, in John 6, verse 38, He said, I came down from heaven,
not to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent me. Now, we desire as servants of
our great God, of the great God, to do His will and to please
Him always, but we don't do that. We're not perfect. We are in
the eyes of God, but in ourselves, no. Sin remains. is the only perfect servant. It says in another place in Luke,
he pleased not himself. And as a matter of fact, he says,
I am among you as one that serveth. I am among you as one that serveth.
This Hebrew servant of servants. What a holy stoop this was. and
one that was purely voluntary. I know I bring this up, but it
just amazes me. The things that he underwent,
he underwent freely. No man takes his life. He gives
his life, a ransom for many. They didn't take his life. Now,
it looked like men by wicked hands slew and crucified him.
They only did what they wanted to do, which is what we wanted
to do if we would have been there. But truly, he was delivered up
to Caiaphas. Voluntary obedience. Voluntary
suffering. Voluntary trial. Voluntary hardships. He had nowhere to lay his head.
Voluntary death. He laid down his life that he
may take it up again. We, on this side of glory, will
never be able to adequately explain such grace and such mercy at
the hands of a thrice holy God. We gather together and we speak
of Him, but oh, how our speaking of Him, how our knowledge of
Him is so imperfect. But that's okay. He's the perfect
servant. Go back to our text in Exodus
chapter 21. And if you buy a Hebrew servant,
six years he shall serve, and in the seventh, he shall go out
for nothing. This is the judgment of God.
This is the civil law, the social law of the Jews. This had to
be honored. He couldn't serve five years
and then let go. He served six years. Christ Jesus our Lord
honored God's law completely. Six years, it says here. every
jot and tittle that was against him, and that he was to ordain
to fulfill, he completely fulfilled it. This was not just something
that you could do, this was demanded by the law. And so Christ came
to fulfill every jot and tittle of the law of his Father, which
was against us. We could not keep it, we broke
these laws, the moment we took our first breath, the moment
we came from the womb, we broke these laws. The law, says the
scriptures, is just, holy, and good, and we are unjust, vile,
and always wrong. The Lord of Glory, pictured here
as a servant, satisfied every aspect of God's law. Because
He says, after the seventh year, He'll go out free for nothing. God's law has no claims, just
like this, God's law has no claims on our beloved perfect servant,
the Lord Jesus Christ. You can go out, even in the law,
it goes, it points to the gospel so clearly. Go out free. You
go out free, satisfied every aspect, every one, every one
of them, whether it was moral, civil, or Levitical. Note in
this text, he shall go out free for nothing. Now when I saw this,
I just said, he satisfied the law. He satisfied God's requirement. Why did he, and I'm going to
use this word so people understand, why did he double back and die
on the cross? So why did he not just walk away? God's law was satisfied. He shall
go out free for nothing. God's claims, He didn't have
any claims on Him. The soul that sinneth, it shall
die. The Father's law was honored
and it was exalted as well. Oh, my sinful friends, all was
not yet accomplished. Legally, it was completely accomplished,
but not all was accomplished for our redemption. Look at verse
5. If the servants say, and He did,
this is what our Lord said, He shall plainly say, I love my
master, I love my wife, I love my children, I will not go out
free. The impact of this text, these
words just overwhelms me. He shall plainly say, O wonder
of wonders, the full scheme of salvation must be attended to."
This is a most blessed entry in our text. He says, the servant
shall plainly say. Now that word plainly means a
promise declared. And isn't that what Christ did?
The promise that the Father gave to us for eternal life, the Son
said, I will fulfill this, I will declare this promise. It also
means a command by word or action. And who He was, He satisfied
not only the law, but His declaration of love to His Father, His wife,
the church, and His children, every one of His elect. He said, I have a baptism where
I have to be baptized. I'm constrained. The love of
Christ constrains us. The love of Christ constrained
Him, Himself. Freely, without a cause, says
Romans, in us, but He did it all for us. He says, I love my
Master. What does I love my Master? John
chapter 14. John chapter 14. And verse 31, well verse 30,
Christ says, Hereafter I will not talk much with you, for the
Prince of this world cometh and hath nothing in me, but that
the world may know that I love the Father. This is the Son speaking. This is Christ speaking. This
is the Hebrew of Hebrew servants. This is the perfect servant speaking.
I love the Father. And as the Father gave me commandment,
even so I do arise, let us go hence. I must do. satisfy all
righteousness, and beyond that, the law has no claims on the
believer. His love has constraints on us. And I'm so thankful. Only
a perfect servant can utter such a thing as this in our text. I love my Master. Christ the Son loves His Father. Secondly, he says, I love my
wife. Songs of Solomon. Songs of Solomon. This is the
Lord speaking about His church. Songs of Solomon chapter 4 and
verse 10. How fair is thy love, my sister,
my spouse. The spouse is the church. How
much better is thy love than wine? and the smell of thine
ointments than all spices." I love my master. I love my wife. He loves the church. And lastly,
he laid down his life for the church, the Scripture says, and
he says, I love my children. Isaiah chapter 8. Isaiah chapter
8 and verse 18, Behold, I and the
children whom the Lord hath given me are for signs and for wonders
in Israel from the Lord of hosts which dwelleth in Mount Zion."
I love my children. I and the children whom the Lord
hath given me. What a wonder! When the people
of this world look at you, Everybody's in their own eyes.
They justify themselves. Everybody's better than us. They
say that or whatever, and that's fine. Because we know we don't
deserve redemption. We know we don't deserve salvation.
But only because the Son He said, I love my master, I love my wife,
and I love my children. For them, for His glory, for
His beloved, I will not go free, is what he says back in our text.
I will not go free. Take me, as he says, and therefore
set my people free. Unlock the prison doors, cut
the chains, because as Job says, a ransom was found. A ransom
was found. And I got a little star here,
this must be said, this must be said in the light of the lies
and false messages all around us. He did say, I love everybody. He didn't do it. He said, very
specifically, I love my master, I love my wife, I love my children. Christ laid down His life for
the church, for the sheep, His elect, His chosen seed, His people. And we can look at Isaiah 53,
see that, Ephesians 1, but you know that, you know this. But then let's look at verse
6. Then in the good predestinating providence of God, according
to His just character and strict code of the law, This is what
we had to do. If you love your master, if you
love your wife, if you love your children, this is what he must
do. His master shall bring him, the
servant, to the judges, him to the door, the door post, and
his master, the father, whose it says that bruised the Lord
of glory. The Lord bruised him. The father bruised his son. Yeah,
He was murdered by wicked hands, but it pleased the Father to
bruise Him, to bore Him, to pierce Him is the Word. And bore His
ear through with an awe, and He shall serve Him forever."
Forever. Here in our text, He must have
His ear bore through with an awe. Now, this Word, turn with
me to Psalm 40. I couldn't believe that this
actually was stated this way. I'd read over this and never
seen this one word. Psalms 40 and verses 6-8. We know who this is speaking
about because you can go to Hebrews 10 and find out this is speaking
of the Lord Jesus Christ. The writer of Hebrews says this
is Christ speaking. Sacrifice, he says, and offering, thou didst
not desire mine ears, my ears hast thou opened." That word
opened in the margin is digged, or in the Hebrew, it's the same
word that we're looking at in Exodus. Okay? It's a variation, but it's
the same word. Mine ears hast thou opened, or
digged, or pierced. Burnt offerings and sin offerings
thou hast not required. Then I said, who said? The perfect
servant. Lo, I come, and the biome of
the book is written of me. I delight to do thy will. I delight
to serve you, Father. I delight to honor the law. And
my delights are with you, and my bride, and my children." Oh my God, yea, thy law is within
my heart. This is speaking of Christ. That's
not all. Turn to Isaiah 50. Isaiah 50. I've never seen this before. Isaiah 50, verse 5. This is Christ speaking. The
Lord hath opened mine ears, and I was not rebellious, neither
turned away my back. He said, I gave my back to the
smiters, the cheek to them that pluck off the hair, I hid my
face from shame and spitting. These verses are messianic. We
know that. But He says, the Lord God hath
opened mine ears. That word opened, it's the same
thing. It's the same thing. It all means
to open, or to dig, or to bore, or to pierce. If we doubt the Almighty Love
which arrested us in time, may we just look back at Thomas and
see his folly, and his folly is our folly. He says, I'm not
going to believe that that was Christ until I can Stick my fingers. Well, back
to our text. If we want to see, we want to
look at the Lord's feet and His hands, but look at His ears. They're pierced for us as well.
Look at that mark of the free and sovereign grace of God in
Christ and His ear. Bore clean through. Bore clean
through. For us, undeserving wretches
that we are. Now the last thought is a promise. The last thought is almost the
tie. It's almost the tie and the shoe. Finishing it up. You know, everything's
in order. It's clean. It's these six verses. This last part in verse 6. 6C, if you want to call it that.
And He, the servant, The perfect servant, the perfect Hebrew servant,
the Lord our God, the Lord Christ, shall serve His Father forever. What He did on Calvary's tree
is forever. The law has no claims. Now, we're
going to have to give an account. But I like to think when we get
ready to open our mouths, Christ will step in front and speak
for us. That's how I visualize it. The law's got nothing on
us. because the servant voluntarily cried
out, I love the children. It's that way. It's that way. Shall the elect ever be held
chargeable for the crimes against God and humanity? No. Does Christ
ever stop honoring, serving, glorifying His Father on our
behalf? No. He shall serve Him forever. He, the servant, the Lord Jesus
Christ, shall serve Him, His Master, the Father. And if you want to break the
Holy Spirit, which makes these things real to us, that's the
threefold core that's spoken of, I believe, in Ecclesiastes.
It can't be broken. It's not easily broken, but this
one's not broken. Thank God it is so. Salvation
is forever. It's complete. and absolute to
all his seed. If the servant plainly say, I
love my master, my wife, and my children, I will voluntarily
suffer everything on their behalf that they will be with me forever.