I recently overheard two children playing.  The older one tried to tell the younger one what to do.  The littler one said, “You are not the boss of me!”  How quickly our little independent spirits show up.  How early we know that we want to be our own boss.  But if Elohim, the creator God, has become your Adonai, you are no longer your owns boss, nor are you (not that you ever were) the master of your own fate.  If you have made Elohim your Adonai, you now have someone else as at the helm of your life.

The Hebrew name Adonai is translated Lord in our English Bibles.  Adonai, like the name Elohim, is a plural name.  It carries the same inference of the Trinity that we saw in the name Elohim.  When it is singular, adon, with a lower case,  refers to men who are lords.  The plural, Adonai, refers to the Lord God.  This name is used 219 times in the Old Testament.  It is a term of respect and honor.  It is also a title of authority.  This name for God speaks of him as the master. As the master he has responsibility for provision and care for his subjects.  The early form of this word denoted ownership, absolute control.  Adonai also speaks of possession and his sovereign position.  He is the one who rules. This concept is rooted in relationship, because to be a lord, you must have subjects.  Each of the two parties has a role.  Adonai is the Lord, the ruler, the provider.  His subjects relate to him by serving him, submitting to him,  trusting and obeying him.  The servant shows reverence and respect for his master.

The first time the name for God Adonai was used in the Bible is in Genesis 15.  In this chapter Abraham had an encounter with the living God. God made a solemn covenant with him, promising that he would have numerous descendants, so numerous they couldn’t be numbered, and a specific piece of land that today we call Israel.  God confirmed this unilateral covenant with the shedding of the blood of several animals.  It is in this chapter of Genesis that Abraham begins to call God Adonai.

Abraham knew well what it meant to be called lord. In Genesis 14 we learn that Abraham was a man of great wealth.  He was able to raise an army of 318 trained men from his own household to rescue his nephew Lot.  He was lord over those men in his household. Abraham knew firsthand about the responsibilities of a lord to his servants for their care, protection and well being.  He also understood the position of a servant, to submit and obey his master.  

Abraham willingly placed himself in submission to God by calling him Adonai. He had come to know and experience God’s goodness. He knew God wasn’t a heartless master who only made unreasonable demands of his servants.  Abraham had walked with God for long enough to trust His character and faithfulness. He wanted to come into this precious relationship.

In Deuteronomy 15:12-17  a ceremony is described. In the Old Testament if a Jewish person became a servant it was usually because he had fallen into debt. The law stated that servants were to be set free every seventh year.  So after six years of service their debts were absolved and they were set free.  However if the servant loved his master and his master’s household and he didn’t want to leave, but to become a permanent servant, there was a provision for this under the law.  This passage in Deuteronomy begins by telling how to release a servant into freedom, then it gives these instructions, “but if he says to you “I will not go out from you” because he loves you and your household since he fares well with you, then you shall take an awl and pierce it through his ear into the door, and he shall be your servant forever. And also you shall do likewise to your maidservant.” Deuteronomy 15:16-17

This ceremony was an act of voluntary submission on the part of the servant to submit to the rulership or lordship of his master.  Once made, it was a lifelong commitment on behalf of both parties.  The master took on the responsibility of caring for the servant and the servant of submitting and serving his master.

I love that picture!  The submission of the servant is done from a willing heart in response to the goodness and love of his master.  This is not automatic.  We are all created by God, Elohim the Creator God of all.  But we are not all the bondservants of Adonai. We enter into this relationship whereby He becomes Adonai willingly.

In the Gospels and still today, Jesus is calling us to a lifetime of following Him as our Adonai.  He is asking us to lay down our agenda, our very lives, and follow Him.  Our heart attitude becomes “Lord, what is it that you want me to do?” not, “Lord bless me in what I want to do.”  Big difference!   He will show you.  This is totally counter-culture.  The world tells us we are the captain of our fate, in the words of Frank Sinatra, “I did it my way.” The irony is, doing it my way —pursing fame, fortune, whatever it is you think you have to have to be happy, will never do it for you.  Maybe for a brief moment, then it will fade away just like yesterday and you will want more.  God made us. He designed us. He knows how to bring true lasting fulfillment and joy.  It only comes when you lay down your life and make Him  Adonai.  Only then will you know the path to true freedom.  This is where you will discover the abundant life, joy and fulfillment.

So I have a couple of questions for you, have you ever had your ear pierced —in the fashion of Deuteronomy 15:16-17?  Are you still trying to be “the boss of me” or have you come to the place where you have made Jesus your Adonai, your Lord?