Vision Logo Circle
Vision Logo Circle

Doors & Ear Piercings Pt 3

by | Fri, Sep 3 2021

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Over the last couple of programs we’ve looked a little more closely at what it meant to be a slave, or more specifically a bond-slave in ancient Israel and the process that took place when a slave decided that he didn’t want to leave his master after six years of service, but wanted to rather become a permanent member of his household.

The slave was taken to the doorpost where his ear was pierced with an awl and this became an outward sign of permanent, voluntary ownership to his master.

We looked at the significance of the piercing process, and how they demonstrate the permanent marks of Jesus because of His sacrifice. We also looked at the significance of the doorpost, and how it demonstrates the wood Jesus Himself was hung on. It’s also the perfect picture of the Passover ceremony where the blood of the lamb was painted on the doorposts of the house with hyssop so that the angel of death would ‘passover’ and death would not touch those covered by the shed blood.

Now we’re going to learn about the significance of the earlobe.

Why ears?

Earlobes while seemingly insignificant, actually are quite significant in the Old Covenant, in regard to the consecration of priests and also in the cleansing of lepers.

Leviticus 8 goes into great detail about the consecration process for the priest and in verses 23-24 it says, “Moses slaughtered it (the ram) and took some of its blood and put it on the lobe of Aaron’s right ear and on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot. He also had Aaron’s sons come near; and Moses put some of the blood on the lobe of their right ear, and on the thumb of their right hand and on the big toe of their right foot. Moses then sprinkled the rest of the blood around the altar.”

Lev 14:1-4 “The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “This shall be the law of the leprous person for the day of his cleansing… the priest shall command them to take for him who is to be cleansed two live clean birds and cedar wood and scarlet yarn and hyssop…” Scarlet yarn? Like the colour of blood? And hyssop, you say? Like they used to paint the blood on the door-frames on Passover night? Interesting… It continues, v14-20: “ The priest shall take some of the blood of the guilt offering, and the priest shall put it on the lobe of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed and on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot. Then the priest shall take some of the measure of oil and pour it into the palm of his own left hand and dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand and sprinkle some oil with his finger seven times before the Lord. And some of the oil that remains in his hand the priest shall put on the lobe of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed and on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot, on top of the blood of the guilt offering. And the rest of the oil that is in the priest’s hand he shall put on the head of him who is to be cleansed… Thus the priest shall make atonement for him, and he shall be clean.”

In these scenarios we have priests being made holy by way of blood being placed on their right earlobes, their right thumbs and their right big toes; and we have people afflicted by leprosy, which is a symbol for sin in the Bible, being made clean and atoned for by having the blood of a sacrifice also being applied to their right earlobes, right thumbs and their right big toes and then followed by anointing oil over the top.

We’ve talked before about how Judaism is a very physical, practical and literal religion. God said to put blood on earlobes, thumbs and toes, so the Hebrews didn’t think twice about whether this was a spiritual, metaphorical action…by way of the priests, these instructions were physically and literally fulfilled, but what did these physical actions represent?

Ears:                      It’s by our ears that we hear and obey.

Thumbs:               It’s by our hands that our deeds are done.

Big Toes:              It’s by our feet that we live and determine our life’s direction.

The verses we read in Leviticus 8 & 14 show two really beautiful pictures. One is of lives being cleansed and consecrated for service to God and the other is of sin being atoned for and a body being made ready for service, both with their ears to the throne listening for instruction of the Master they love and being ready to carry out every instructions when it’s given.

Apart from Jesus Himself, Paul is the most prolific preacher in the Bible; he was a Pharisee of Pharisees, taught and mentored by Gamaliel and then Jesus Himself after His conversion and how did he refer to himself? He called himself a bond-slave of Jesus and he used the Greek word doulas (δοῦλος) which means a slave, bond-servant, one of servile condition, and we would do well as those redeemed from sin and consecrated as priests to see ourselves in the same way.

In fact, in almost every single place in the New Covenant where the word servant is used, it’s wrong. The Greek word for servant is ypiretis (υπηρέτης) – it’s not doulos. Doulos never means a servant, doulos always means a slave but the translators over many centuries have shied away from using the word slave because of the negative connotations of human slavery.

If we’re in Christ, it’s alright to not be afraid to challenge the Word of God, dig into it and really put it to the test…I promise you it will pass with flying colours. Being a slave to Jesus according to the Biblical meaning and context is the most wonderful and the safest position to be in.

So are we bond-slaves to Jesus? Yes we are.

Are we free in Jesus? Yes we are.

A contradiction? Not at all.

Remember that before coming to faith in Jesus we were already slaves enslaved to sin, corruption, death and awaiting judgment. We’ve always been slaves, we just have to decide which master we want to be enslaved to.

When you examine the God of the Bible, the Father who gives so much, even His only Begotten Son who gave His own life for us, it’s hard not to love them with our whole heart. When you do realise how much you love them, don’t you want to bear His scars, stigma, in your own body and surrender your entire life to Him and willing be His bond-slave forever?

What are we really losing in this deal? We lose our right to do anything we like by making bad and dangerous decisions. Basically we submit and surrender everything to Him. He calls the shots. He directs us where to go and what to do. Our lives no longer belong to us and they no longer belong to another master which is the most important and our new Master takes care of everything for us.

Everything in the Old Covenant points to Jesus even though sometimes it’s hard to see Him there. The lesson of the bond-slave and how he becomes one, is yet another picture of the relationship between Jesus and those who belong to Him. The ceremony of placing blood on the right ear lobes, right thumbs and right big toes of priests and lepers, reveals Messiah to us. Jesus stressed this to the Pharisees in His day as well when This is one of my all-time favourite verses, Jesus said to them…

John 5:39, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me.”

 

Shalom

Mandy

 

 

 

 

 

[1] www.blueletterbible.org/lang/Lexicon/Lexicon.cfm?strongs=G4742&t=KJV

[2] www.blueletterbible.org/lang/Lexicon/Lexicon.cfm?strongs=G2374&t=KJV

 

 

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