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In our previous study we considered the text of Exodus 21:1-6 under the title “Freed to Serve.” Two days after I completed that study, I began to read the book of James in my personal devotions, and was immediately struck by the opening words, “James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ” (1:1). You can understand why this particular appellation arrested my attention. James apparently saw himself in relation to God, in relation to the Lord Jesus Christ, in the same way as the servant in Exodus 21 did: one who loved his Master and who was thus willing to be forever identified with him.
My mind immediately began to consider this term and I was compelled to do some study as to how it was used in the New Testament. The more that I dug into this study the more I became convinced that we need to return to this subject for another study.
A word of review is in order.
The children of Israel had been delivered from bondage (forced servitude) in Egypt. Their freedom from dictatorial, forced labour was a freedom to devoted, faithful labour. This was indicated by God’s revelation of His Ten Commandments to Moses (20:1-17). They had been freed from tyranny to serve the Trinity.
Immediately following the giving of the Ten Commandments, Yahweh revealed “judgements” or case laws in the Book of the Covenant (20:22-24:7a). These were practical expressions of the Ten Commandments in everyday life. And the first matter that they addressed was that of servitude (21:1-11).
Having been cruelly enslaved for so long, the Israelites would need to know how to treat their brethren, some of whom, for whatever reason, found themselves in financial debt. Such indebted Israelites required the assistance of a neighbour or brother to deliver them. And this set the backdrop for slavery as God defined it in Exodus 21.
In such a relationship, the neighbour would pay the man’s debt thus changing the relationship from brother-brother to slave-master. For the next six years the “servant” (technically what we would call an “indentured servant” or “bondservant”) would labour in exchange for the debt being settled. In my research, I have been surprised to read on several occasions claims such as this one: “A bondservant is someone bound to labour without wages.” I have to wonder whether such commentators are reading the same Bible as I am! The servant most certainly was paid wages: He was given the opportunity to pay off his debt by someone else purchasing it for themselves.
Modern societies would do well to learn from this, for bankruptcy laws—at least in the west—are often very unjust, particularly toward the creditor. Debtors are freed with very little accountability, while creditors lose their shirts! All too often the one in debt is freed to make the same mistakes over and over again. This “judgement” from the mouth of God guards the entire society. The creditor gets paid; the debtor is taught responsibility/productivity (he has opportunity to sharpen his skills); and he and his family are provided for and the one who has shown mercy is compensated by the debtors labour. Everybody wins! What an amazingly wise God and what an incredibly relevant book!
After six years the servant had paid back his debt and was freed to leave. However if he so chose, he could make the public commitment to remain as a servant in the house of the master forever. No provision was given for the master to refuse such lifelong servitude, for he had bought into it in principle by taking the servant on in the first place.
At this stage the servant made his desire known to the elders of the town and this was attended by the ceremony of his ear being bored with an awl at the doorway of the master’s house. This symbolised the servant being joined to his master’s house. “Forever” the servant would hearken and heed the commands of the master, and in exchange the master would provide all that the servant and his family needed. But note, just as the initial bond service changed the relationship from brother to master, this act changed the relationship from master to father. After this point, the servant was to be treated as an adopted member of the family with all the rights and privileges pertaining thereto. (Note that vv. 7-11 intimate the same thing regarding female servants.)
But these case laws were more than mere socioeconomic, legal stipulations by which the children of Israel were to order their society. Rather, since they came from the mouth of God they, like the rest of Scripture, served as a revelation of the character of God and point us to the Lord Jesus Christ (Luke 24:27).
Therefore as we meditate upon these case laws we do so asking some important questions: What do they teach us concerning the nature, the work and the will of God? What do they teach us concerning how we are to worship and serve God? What do they teach us about the Lord Jesus Christ? What do they have to say to us about the gospel? That is, how do they relate to us today?
Last week I sought to make some connections between this law as it was given in 1500 BC and a millennium and a half later as it was fully exemplified in the Person and Work of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ publicly identified Himself as the servant of His Father to the point of being publicly pierced at His crucifixion. He delighted to do the will of His Father, even to the point of death.
It is interesting that when Paul speaks of Christ as the “servant” of God in Philippians 2:7 he uses the term that referred to such a servant as depicted in Exodus 21. (I will seek to prove this assertion below.) Jesus manifested such bond-service in how He lived (Luke 22:42; John 5:30; 6:38).
Thus we have learned that the Lord Jesus Christ saw Himself as a bondservant to the Father and through His faithful obedience to Him (Luke 22:42; Hebrews 5:7) the whole family of God has security forever. You see, we, the chosen of God, were in the hands of the Saviour when they were pierced. When His body was pierced He was representing us, the church, the people of God. Thus when His submission to the cross was accepted by the Father, the entire household of Christ (Ephesians 2:19) was set free from any and all past, present and future claims of debt. We were freed!
But lest we miss the point of this picture, we were set free in order to serve. And it is here where I want to park in this study. I want to move from 1500 BC, past 33 AD to 2010 and help us to see that the application of this bond service law is very relevant for us. If you have benefited from the sacrificial, substitutionary service of Jesus Christ then you have the joyful obligation to be His bondservant. This law of Exodus 21:1-6 is very relevant today.
A Servant’s Worldview
After our previous study, many people commented to me that they had never seriously considered this passage of Scripture. To be frank, for most of us it does not seem too interesting (read, “relevant”). The fundamental reason is that our worldview is all too often not informed by Scripture, especially Old Testament Scripture.
C. S. Lewis used to condemn what he called “chronological snobbery”: the attitude of contempt towards that which was old due to the idea that because we are the latest generation we are the best generation. The idea is often prevalent that we have arrived and those poor sops in “the olden days” did not know any better. Tell that to the Aztecs and to those who built the South American pyramids. Tell that to those who built those bridges in Czechoslovakia six hundred years ago which are still being used today!
When it comes to our view of the Old Testament, oftentimes the church is guilty of such ridicule and arrogance. After all, we who live on this side of the types and shadows, who have inherited the wonderful blessing of the substance in Christ certainly should not be in bondage to a near-sighted approach to life like those under the old covenant.
On one hand I would concur with such sentiments, for indeed many Old Testament practices such as the sacrifices were fulfilled and thus done away in Christ (see Colossians 2:16; Hebrews 8-10; etc.). But on the other hand there are many Old Testament teachings which deal with social, legal and human rights issues that are very relevant for the day in which we live. And as far as I can discern from the Scriptures, there is nothing under the old covenant which nullifies such teachings. I believe that the case laws as recorded in Exodus 22:1-24:7 generally fall into this category.
As I attempted to show previously, if governments would take seriously these laws then a whole lot less waste would occur. Governments could be much smaller and it would be far more effective. I don’t know why such sentiments should surprise us. After all, God revealed these laws and thus we should assume (in accordance with 2 Timothy 3:16-17) that these too are profitable for us.
The late theologian Cornelius Van Til once said that “the Bible is correct in everything that it addresses and it addresses everything.” Economics is a subject that the Bible certainly addresses. Many of these case laws do address this very theme and any society which disregards them only fails itself.
But let me go further and state my case this way: These Old Testament laws teach us how to be faithful servants of God. And they especially teach us how to be faithful servants to our Master, the Lord Jesus Christ. At this point I need to prove my thesis that when the New Testament speaks of “servants,” “slaves” or “bondservants” (depending on one’s translation) it is this Old Testament picture which is in mind. In other words, the translation in James 1:1 of “bondservant” is a good one, for it reflects the biblical worldview of the author (especially considering that James was a Hebrew). You will need at this point to put on your thinking cap and I believe that in the end you will be glad that you did.
In recent years there has been much passionate discussion regarding the use of the term “bondservant” as used in Scripture (especially in the KJV and NKJV, NASB). There are some very respected pastors, teachers and authors in the church who argue that this is a misleading translation of the Greek word doulos and that the term should rather be translated as “servant” (at least) and as “slave” (at best). The idea is that the New Testament concept of doulos came from the surrounding culture, and since the population of the Roman Empire was composed of at least one-third who were slaves, this would be the idea behind the writers’ use of the term when describing believers. Of course, many of the slaves in the Greco-Roman world were horribly treated and were generally despised.
Thus, the teaching says, when we read doulos we are to do so with the historic-cultural mindset of subservience without any rights at all. Though I highly respect many of these teachers, and though I understand the point that they are trying to make about the obligation of the believer serving Christ, I reject this interpretation. I do not believe that the word for “servant” in the New Testament should be read with the Greco-Roman mindset of chattel slavery. Rather, since the new covenant is rooted in the antitypes of the old covenant, I am persuaded that the bondservant of the New Testament is the same as that of Exodus 21 and the like.
Let me explain my reasons.
First, not all slaves in the Greco-Roman world were in such abject condition. Many had positions of high importance. Most of the despised slaves were captives from wars, but not all servants fell into that category, and thus many had significant privileges and were treated quite well. I believe that this was the result of the old covenant influence on culture. (Remember that it was not only the new covenant church which was to be a light to the nations.)
Related to this, I must say that one reason we are so hesitant to embrace this old covenant picture is simply because we read back into texts such as Exodus 21 and then those in the New Testament the horrific practice of forced enslavement as practiced by both the Arabs and the West (as well as by fellow Africans). But of course this is a worldview problem. We are allowing our experience to dictate our exegesis. We must be careful.
Second, I believe that “bondservant” is a correct and helpful translation because of the continuity between the old and the new covenant. When the apostles wrote their Gospels and epistles they did so within an old covenant framework. They did not approach the new covenant as many in the church do today; that is, with the mindset of a huge cleavage between the two. Rather, they saw the new covenant as flowing quite deliberately and naturally out of the old covenant (see, for example, 2 Timothy 3:14-17; 4:1-2). They saw that the Old Testament pointed to the Lord Jesus Christ and thus when they wrote, they did not do so in a historical vacuum. Rather, they did so fully aware that the new revelation was rooted in the soil of the older revelation. There was an “organic” connection. Further, since what they wrote was inspired by God, there most certainly was a covenantal continuity, for He is the Lord God who does not change (Malachi 3:6).
I say all of this to help us to see that when we come to the New Testament use of “servant” we must not read Greco-Roman ideas into this term, but rather understand it Judaistically. That is, we must understand the term as it is used in the Old Testament. When we read of “a servant of Jesus Christ” in the New Testament we must do so with Exodus 21:1-5 in mind. When we read “bondservant” (e.g. James 1:1 in NKJV) then we must do so with the mental picture of one with a hole in his ear standing by the doorway of his master.
Let me summarise thus far. When the New Testament uses the doulos word group (servant, slave, slavery, bondservant) we need to read this with biblical glasses; that is, with a biblical worldview. For evidence of this consider these New Testament verses read with such a worldview in mind. These texts make this patently clear.
The Gospels and Acts assume this worldview.
- Matthew 6:24—“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”
- Matthew 10:24—“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more will they call those of his household!”
- Matthew 20:27—“And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave.”
- Matthew 24:45—“Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?”
- Matthew 25:14—“For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them.”
- Mark 12:4—“Again he sent them another servant, and at him they threw stones, wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully treated.”
- Luke 1:38—“Then Mary said, ‘Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.’ And the angel departed from her.”
- Luke 2:29—“Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word.”
- John 15:15—“No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.”
- Acts 2:18—“And on my menservants and on my maidservants I will pour out my Spirit in those days; and they shall prophesy.”
- Acts 4:29—“Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word.”
The Epistles assume this worldview.
- Romans 1:1—“Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God.”
- Romans 6:22—“But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life.”
- 1 Corinthians 7:22—“For he who is called in the Lord while a slave is the Lord’s freedman. Likewise he who is called while free is Christ’s slave.”
- Ephesians 6:6—“Not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart.”
- Philippians 1:1—“Paul and Timothy, bondservants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops and deacons.”
- Colossians 4:12—“Epaphras, who is one of you, a bondservant of Christ, greets you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.”
- 1 Thessalonians 1:9—“For they themselves declare concerning us what manner of entry we had to you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God.”
- 1 Peter 2:16—“As free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God.”
- 2 Peter 1:1—“Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ.”
- Jude 1:1—“Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ.”
Revelation assumes this worldview.
- Revelation 1:1—“The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants—things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John.”
- Revelation 15:3—“They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying: ‘Great and marvellous are Your works, Lord God Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of the saints!’”
- Revelation 22:6—“Then he said to me, ‘These words are faithful and true.’ And the Lord God of the holy prophets sent His angel to show His servants the things which must shortly take place.”
Read the texts below as Paul, who had been a Pharisee among Pharisees, would have thought of the terminology.
- Ephesians 6:5-9—“Bondservants, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as to Christ; not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, with goodwill doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men, knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free. And you, masters, do the same things to them, giving up threatening, knowing that your own Master also is in heaven, and there is no partiality with Him.”
- 1 Timothy 6:1—“Let as many bondservants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honour, so that the name of God and His doctrine may not be blasphemed.”
- Titus 2:9—“Exhort bondservants to be obedient to their own masters, to be well pleasing in all things, not answering back.”
Simon Kittel writes,
But sonship does not mean autonomy; it means a new relationship with God. The result is a new service. With his work of redemption Christ has made believers his own possession and now gives them the goals that shape their lives. This new commitment, which is a commitment to righteousness (Rom. 6:19), holiness (1 Th. 3:13, and newness of life (Rom. 6:4), finds expression in the description of Christians as Christ’s douloi (1 Cor. 7:22; Eph. 6:6). This entails confession of what Christ has done and acceptance of its practical consequences. . . . Jesus [said] that he calls his disciples, not douloi, but friends, for these are friends who do what he commands them (Jn. 15:14-15).
Yes, servanthood is good, at least when you serve the right Master!
To effectively function in this world, you must adopt the worldview of slavery, of being a bondservant to God through Jesus Christ. If you do not then you will perish outside of His household.
Yet to most who have a worldview shaped by autonomy, the idea of someone being in servitude to another just sounds so undemocratic. But as we are coming to appreciate, we need to step back and put our hands over our mouths before we speak reflecting on the fact that this is the Word of God. And since it is His Word then we must adjust our worldview rather than sitting in judgment upon God’s judgements.
A Servant’s Worldview
Having established the truth that the believer is described in Scripture as a servant, let us now turn our attention to the worldview, the perspective, that a servant of God through Christ is to have.
I was recently speaking to one of our missionaries who is facing a disciplinary situation in his church. A father and his son (now 16) made a profession of faith some time ago and were both baptised. They were apparently growing in grace, and the son in particular showed tremendous passion for Christ and spiritual discernment.
The parents have grand designs for their son and thus education is extremely important to them. In light of this they have hired a private tutor to which this young man goes to every day—including the Lord’s Day. Because of this, the young man and his father have stopped attending church. When confronted with this the father said, amongst other things, that there must be a time for everything, including studies and that after the exams then the son would have time to attend church. This is sad on several levels and yet two observations must be made.
First, this is not a unique problem that is confined to the mission field. It is almost pandemic in the church at large. The secularisation of the Lord’s Day is a very real challenge faced by the church worldwide.
Second, we need to face the reality that the church for far too long has made an unbiblical discontinuity between the old and the new covenants. And by doing so we have perhaps lost sight of how worship and service is biblically defined. In fact, for many, the God of the New Testament is far more friendly and tolerant than the God of the Old Testament. The result is a church which is flabby when it comes to commitment.
Third, the issue that I want to focus on is the mindset that wants to pick and choose those areas in which we as believers will submit to our Master, the Lord Jesus Christ. One of the most basic truths of the Christian life is that everyone who believes savingly in the Lord Jesus Christ is a disciple of Christ. Every believer is a disciple, though, as we see in Jesus’ ministry, not every disciple is a believer.
Those who have been born again by the grace of God are automatically enrolled in the school of Jesus. He is the Teacher and the believer is the student. And in the ancient world this was the equivalent of a master and his servant. The teacher speaks and the student hearkens and obeys, in the same way as a master commands and his servant obeys. This is the norm for the Christian, for the truly born again person. Those who have been saved by Christ are categorically expected to behave as His servants, as His bondservants.
We must reckon upon the reality that when Jesus Christ redeemed us He was buying us out of slavery. This redemption occurred over 2,000 years ago, and yet when the Holy Spirit regenerates us we come to realise that we have a new master. There is an inexplicable change which occurs within our affections, our attitudes and our actions (Romans 6:16-22).
Yes, we have been freed to serve. Those redeemed by God through the Lord Jesus Christ, the Bondservant, have the obligation to serve Him unquestionably.
We must do so with the picture in our minds of a master who was committed, indeed obligated, to care for his servant and his family forever; that is, until death or until the year of Jubilee. And since the believer never dies, we are privileged to serve our God throughout eternity!
We must do so with the Old Testament understanding that this servant was one who served willingly, as one who served unquestionably, and as one who served with a sense of great dignity.
This is the biblical picture of being a servant or a slave to the Lord Jesus Christ. What kind of a servant are you?
A Servant’s Work
J. I. Packer notes,
“Servant” in our English New Testament usually represents the Greek doulos (bondslave) [which] denote[s] a man who is not at his own disposal, but is his master’s purchased property. Bought to serve his master’s needs, to be at his beck and call every moment, the slave’s sole business is to do as he is told. Christian service therefore means, first and foremost, living out a slave relationship to one’s Savior (1 Corinthians. 6:19-20).
What work does Christ set his servants to do? The way that they serve him, he tells them, is by becoming the slaves of their fellow-servants and being willing to do literally anything, however costly, irksome, or undignified, in order to help them. This is what love means, as he himself showed at the Last supper when he played the slave’s part and washed the disciples’ feet.
When the New Testament speaks of ministering to the saints, it means not primarily preaching to them but devoting time, trouble, and substance to giving them all the practical help possible. The essence of Christian service is loyalty to the king expressing itself in care for his servants (Matthew 25: 31-46).
As we saw previously, these case laws address several practical issues of stewardship. The children of Israel were being prepared to exercise dominion over pagan nations in Canaan for the glory of God. And the only way that they could effectively do so was by being retrained by God regarding personal responsibility. This is clearly at the heart of these case laws and it is clearly seen in the first one regarding bondservants.
For God’s people to impact a culture under Christ for Christ they must be faithful stewards. They must behave responsibly. It is a strange approach to world dominion but the Lord’s method is that he church is to descend into greatness. The servant becomes the chief of all. In fact when you think about it, this makes perfect sociological sense. Those who have suffered in society can often be the most sympathetic when they themselves are in positions of power.
Thus we who have been saved by God’s amazing grace will be gracious to others.
A Servant’s Wellbeing
In conclusion let me simply and yet pleadingly note that everyone is a bondservant but not everyone has the same Master (cf. Ephesians 2:1ff; 2 Corinthians 4:1-4; Romans 6).
Philip Ryken suggests in his commentary on Exodus that “the Book of the Covenant showed how a servant living with a bad master could be redeemed and go back home.” In other words, if the servant after six years wanted to leave a bad situation then he could do so. He had a Master and yet he could leave. Sinners also have a master, sin and Satan.
But by God’s grace, sinners can be freed; they can find their redemption inn Christ. They can flee the tyrant and run into the arms of the Triune God. And they can do so because the debt has been paid. They are redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, the One of whom the Father says, “Behold! My Servant” (Isaiah 42:1).
I said earlier that in Exodus there is the wonderful account of a relationship being transformed from that of master/servant to that of father/son. That is a wonderful picture of the gospel. Because of the Servant, sinners can experience the transformation of Judge/sinner to that of Father/son; from being in debt to being free. We call this good news; we call this the gospel.
By the death burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, morally debt-ridden sinners can be redeemed. They can be freed from the just punishment that awaits them and delivered by the mercy and grace of God in Christ. Will you?
Whom are you serving? How is it going—really? We need to see that being such a bondservant is only possible when we realise our need for such a Master, when we properly assess our debt. True freedom is experienced in the household of the Master. We need the freedom that only comes from being told what to do.
In Exodus 21 we have the picture of free choice to remain a servant in the household of the Master. This decision by the servant was fully free, and yet it was compelled by another motive: love. And I would suggest that the love was not merely one-sided.
Packer says concerning servanthood to Christ, “Only the Holy Spirit can create in us the kind of love toward our Saviour that will overflow in imaginative sympathy and practical helpfulness towards his people.” We must ask God for such a servant’s heart.
The love of Christ constrains us to plead that you be reconciled to God. Would to God that we could grasp something of the unspeakable blessing that accompanies being a friend—a child—in the household of God! And would to God that we who are His children would grasp more and more of what this means (Ephesians 3:14-20).
A Servant’s Worth
A servant may not have much worth, and yet both the Father and the Son were willing to pay a high, an infinite price. Our bondservice is to God the Father as mediated by God the Son.
Again, it is simply wrong to assert that bondservants were enslaved without remuneration. In fact, a huge debt was paid. And in our case, it was most certainly a debt that we could never pay!
May God in His grace grant us the revelation of the knowledge of Christ that we will forever serve Him, not because we are worthy but rather because He is. To God be the glory, great things He has done!
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