Deuteronomy 15:12 says, And if thy brother, an Hebrew man, or an Hebrew woman, be sold unto thee, and serve thee six years; then in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from thee. Moses said that if a Hebrew man or woman had sold themselves into slavery to another Hebrew, then on the seventh year thay they were to be set free. For some, this might have meant that they had only served for a year or so. Verse thirteen adds, And when thou sendest him out free from thee, thou shalt not let him go away empty: Verse fourteen adds, Thou shalt furnish him liberally out of thy flock, and out of thy floor, and out of thy winepress: of that wherewith the LORD thy God hath blessed thee thou shalt give unto him. Moses said that when the person was released from bondage, he or she was not to be sent away empty handed, but was to be given liberally of the possessions that God had blessed the man freeing them with. We today, even if God has richly blessed us, too often do not want to share those blessings of material things with others, and especially not liberally. Verse fifteen concludes, And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt, and the LORD thy God redeemed thee: therefore I command thee this thing to day. Moses said that they were to remember that God had freed them when they were bondsmen in Egypt, and that He didn't send them away empty handed. As followers of Christ, God has freed us from the bondage of sin, and He liberally provides for our needs afterwards, if we put our faith in Him to do so. Verse sixteen states, And it shall be, if he say unto thee, I will not go away from thee; because he loveth thee and thine house, because he is well with thee; Moses then told them that a person under bondage to them might not want to leave, because the man had been so good to them. After God frees us from sin and we begin to faithfully serve Him, we should never want to leave Him. Verse seventeen adds, Then thou shalt take an aul, and thrust it through his ear unto the door, and he shall be thy servant for ever. And also unto thy maidservant thou shalt do likewise. Moses said that if the man or woman didn't want to leave, the master was to run an awl through their ear into the door of his house, and this would be a sign that he or she had willingly bonded themselves to him from then on. We don't have a physical sign of being a servant of God today, but once we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord, we are bonded to Him forever. Verse eighteen continues, It shall not seem hard unto thee, when thou sendest him away free from thee; for he hath been worth a double hired servant to thee, in serving thee six years: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all that thou doest. I believe this referred to those who wanted to be set free, and not to those who wanted to stay. Those that the man released he was to release freely without it feeling like a burden to him. I believe we can apply this to forgiving others today, which we should never feel is a burden to us, but is done freely. Verse nineteen declares, All the firstling males that come of thy herd and of thy flock thou shalt sanctify unto the LORD thy God: thou shalt do no work with the firstling of thy bullock, nor shear the firstling of thy sheep. Moses reminded them once again that the first born of their flocks belonged to God, and they were to not use them for their own benefit in any way. What we dedicate to God today, His tithes and our offerings, we should never attempt to then use for our own purposes. Verse twenty adds, Thou shalt eat it before the LORD thy God year by year in the place which the LORD shall choose, thou and thy household. Moses said that they could eat of the sacrifice after it had been offered to God at the place He specified. They were to do this perpetually. Verse twenty-one says, And if there be any blemish therein, as if it be lame, or blind, or have any ill blemish, thou shalt not sacrifice it unto the LORD thy God. Any firstborn with a blemish or physical defect was not to be sacrificed to God. God wants the best, and if we accept Jesus Christ, we become spiritually perfect to God, and as long as we live by the direction of the Holy Spirit, we remain that way. Verse twenty-two adds, Thou shalt eat it within thy gates: the unclean and the clean person shall eat it alike, as the roebuck, and as the hart. Verse twenty-three continues, Only thou shalt not eat the blood thereof; thou shalt pour it upon the ground as water. Though they were not to bring the first born that had some defect to the altar, they weren't to keep it either. They were to kill it and eat where they were, just as would have happened if they had sacrificed it on the altar. The first born still belonged to God and was not theirs to keep. We as Christians belong to God, and everything that we have is His. Moses also again reminded them that they were not to eat the blood of the sacrifice. This represented the life of the animal.
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