SERVE THE LORD

Torah Living Daily Challenge

The 4th aspect of Moshe’s admonishment to us from verse 4 of the 13th chapter in most modern translations and verse 5 of the CJB is that we serve Yahovah. In the KJV, the term “serve” is used some 193-verses. The term “serve” in the Hebrew is “abad.” My research into the use of this term took me to some interesting places, although none of what I’ve uncovered was a surprise.

The term as used throughout the scriptures means to work, labour or serve one by labours (at the risk of using the very term to define that term). Digging deeper, we start to get into the concepts of being a slave and a vassal. The concept of being a slave of course comes with some negative connotations associated with it, especially in our Western—so-called enlightened society. Quite plainly, slavery is a bad thing. As a black man living in America, the term “slavery,” of course, carries with it the legacy of 18th and 19th century slavery and oppression that is still often referred to in various segments of our society where social injustice rears its head. And certainly, the enticement when considering this concept of slavery as referred to in this passage of Torah, is to shy away from any thought of being “enslaved” by others.

And it is that Western perspective I have learned, we must closely guard against. As distasteful as the concept of slavery may seem to us in 21st Western society—especially when hearkening back to slavery in this country two and three centuries ago and in light of recent revelations of slavery in the 3rd world as well as “white-slavery”—we can’t superimpose our negative views of slavery upon an appreciation of slavery in the ancient near east. I can understand why so many throughout the centuries and around the world have shirked the Bible, especially the Old Covenant (i.e., the Old Testament) because of such practices such as slavery being prominently discussed and even sanctioned to some degree. Certainly, slavery was a prominent practice and way of life in the ancient near east and of course, it was not looked upon by the citizens of the world living during that time, the way we may view slavery today.

In order not to get entrenched in a discussion on the ethics of the practice of slavery, suffice to say that slavery was widely practiced throughout the ancient near east, including Israel, and Torah stipulated how slaves were to be treated. The focus we must have in this discussion, is not the practice of slavery per se, but the service—the labour that is derived from the practice. The slaves whole purpose in life was to service and attend to the needs of his/her master. Their personal desires, life-goals, needs, hopes, etc., were inconsequential to say the least. And that is why I believe this concept of slavery is so fitting in this discussion, again, at the risk of insulting those who might by offended by the practice of slavery. When we gave over our lives to Father in a covenant agreement to be His peculiar treasure above all people; a kingdom of priests and an holy nation (Exodus 19:5,6)—we essentially forfeited any personal interests, agendas, goals, etc to work for Him. Yet Churchianity has taken the true Faith once delivered down an entirely different road. A would-be adherent to Christianity can come just as they are, say a prayer (the so-called sinner’s prayer), maybe get dunked in a pool of water, and then attend church every Sunday. There is no mention or instruction by the church power brokers that one get up everything in their lives in the service of Yahovah. There is no instruction as to how one should live in accordance with the stipulated ways of Father. Christians are encouraged to pursue personal goals, agendas, desires, hopes, dreams and preferences, even if they are in opposition to the teachings of Y’shua Messiah and Torah. But it stands to reason, then, that we can not truly serve Father if we are serving two masters—God and self (Mat. 6:24). Master taught us that we will inherently love the one (most likely the mammon) and hate the other (most likely the Father). So there is no middle ground in this equation. There is no compromising here. We have been instructed to be as slaves—servants—our entire being consumed in fulfilling the purposes and commands of Yahovah. What He instructs us to do—what He commands us to do—that which we know will please Him, we must do. It means denying ourselves the privileges that we would have to fulfill our own desires. Master taught: “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” Indeed, that is our Torah Challenge for this post—service to Yahovah through self-denial, constant seeking in terms of Yahovah’s will for our lives and service to the Kingdom. Shalom.