What is the Difference between a Servant and a Slave?

In the Bible, there are very few times in which God's people owned slaves. However, there are MANY instances of them having servants.

A man or woman who was a servant was usually so because of a debt that was owed.

Today, if you work for an employer, it is because you are paying off a debt. Bills are forms of debt. If you are employed, then you are a servant.

As a servant - or employee - today, you have the opportunity to start your own business and be the boss, thus working your way out of servitude.

A slave has no hope of ever having freedom unless his master wills it. A slave's sole purpose is obedience, and that includes servitude.

A servant, on the other hand, can buy his freedom. A servant has the freedom to choose his master, in most cases. A servant can rise up to the master's level eventually, whereas a slave will never have such opportunity.

The Bible teaches us to be good servants. It teaches us how to serve God, and how serving man is vital to our service to God.

In Chapter 21 of Exodus, we will be talking about servitude, slavery, and women's roles in society, as well as women's rights in the Old Testament, and how that effects us today.

God is an All Natural God

Exodus 20:

24 An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen: in all places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee.

25 And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it.

26 Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon.

If you want to get to know God well, all you have to do is read and get to know His laws.

God doesn't like fake. He doesn't like short cuts. And, He clings to morality. Everything is black or white when it comes to God. There is no grey area.

God would rather you go out and find a big rock somewhere and use it to pray on. He doesn't want fancy carved benches, altars made by expensive carpenters that sit in front of the pulpit at churches, or people who vainly climb to the tops of the steps to be seen. He doesn't like anyone to display their nakedness to the world. God created you naked, then covered your shame in the Garden for a reason.

Staying covered and hiding your nakedness means that you are ashamed of your sin. To display and bare all only allows others to see your sin and be influenced by it.

God wants you right where you are -- unedited, unadulterated, untarnished, unchipped, and yes, unworthy. He is the potter. HE wants you to be the clay!

God's Laws #11: God doesn't need help

There are a lot more commandment than just the first ten that we all know and love. In these next posts, I will be expounding on them.

This verse, “Ye shall not make with me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold", seems to mirror the verses in Exodus 20:4-5, God's law #2.

However, upon closer inspection, I believe (I say "I believe" because it is not clearly stated in the Bible and I could be wrong, but I am believing that the Holy Spirit is guiding me here) that this is a warning to believers to keep in mind that God does not need help to be God.

There is nothing you can want, need or ask for that God cannot do by Himself, if He so chooses.

I believe this verse is telling us to trust God entirely.

If we decide to give God "help" by creating "things" to pray to or with, rather than going to the Most High and trusting Him alone with a one on one conversation through Christ Jesus, then we err. It is a sin, and we will be judged accordingly.

God's Law #10: Don't Desire What Belongs to Someone Else

The definition of "covet" is to yearn to possess or have (something). It is not a sin to covet. It is a sin to covet something that belongs to someone else. If we did not covet at all, we would have no need to petition God for anything.

You can't want a woman or a man in your life that is already committed to someone else.

You can't want a job that is assigned to someone else.

You can't want someone else's car, home, or anything else.

If you don't have much money, and you meet a rich man, you should not covet his money.

God wants us to appreciate and be content with what God gives us. The more we prove ourselves as good stewards in little, God gives us more. (Luke 16:10) If we can not learn to appreciate what we already have, how can we be trusted to have more?

God's law #9: Be a Truthful Witness

Exodus 20:16 tells us that we should not bear false witness against our neighbor.

This means, whether you like someone or not, if they have not done you wrong in any way, and someone asks you for a reference of them, then that is what you should tell them. If they were a little late in paying you for a debt owed, but you think they are an awesome person, you should not let your feelings for them dictate your truthful answer.

Too many times, events are dictated by cliquish behavior. When people voice opinions based upon other people they are involved with, the truth gets clouded and the results can be disastrous.

A good example of this is in the political realm. People will vote for their party line regardless of the actions of the individual they are voting for. When you vote for someone,  you are bearing witness of what you know about them. The Bible says to be a truthful witness.

Welcome Home.

Yesterday I was having a discussion with a friend about the Sabbath and I felt a conviction that I have not felt in quite a while.

It was actually refreshing. It was akin to hearing your mother chastise you for leaving your dirty clothes in the hallway.

Some of us actually wish we could hear our mothers chastise us like that again.

I thought God was done talking to me. He hadn't done it in so long. Then, suddenly, I feel this wave of...relief and joy and conviction -- the kind that makes you want to drop to your knees and say, "Thy will be done, Lord. I, your servant, am listening!" that I haven't felt in so long.

My friend asked me, "Are you preaching to me?", to which I answered, "Not since I figured out that that is what I was doing!"

I was in the process of explaining why I honored the Sabbath on Saturdays, even though - in my line of work - the busiest days are on the weekends. But, the conversation took a whole new turn. It was possibly something that both of us needed to hear.

I started talking about how God listens to those who obey Him, and takes care of them. I explained how God has always answered all of my prayers, even when the answer was "No", or "Not right now". Concerning something I had been praying for I told him, "I don't know if the answer is "No", or "Not right now." I just know that the answer is "No" right now, and I should act accordingly.

BAM. There is was. I realized I should listen to myself speak.

I went on to say, "And I am not perfect, and nor do I pretend to be so. I am still stumbling and learning. And what I know and what I do sometimes do not meet." I realized at that moment that I was starting to sound like Paul, when he was speaking in Romans Chapter 7. I finished with, "But I am not going to throw out all of it just because I am not perfect at all of it."

No. God wants me to keep trying. It is in trying that our true intentions of the heart are made manifest.

It was refreshing.

I heard God, at that point say, "Welcome home, Child."