Servant

“Servant”

Genesis 2:7-8, 15

1-6-2019 AM

Make me a servant

Humble and meek

Lord let me lift up

Those who are weak

And may the prayer

Of my heart always be

Make me a servant

Make me a servant

Make me a servant today

Songwriters: KELLY FAYE WILLARD

© Universal Music Publishing Group

I was reading the other day and found myself fascinated by a single word.

The word I am referring to is servant.

As I began looking up this word I found that 462 times this word is used in the Word of God.

382 times in the Old Testament

80 times in the New Testament

If you at an “S” to servant you will find 889 time

743 Times in Old Testament

143 Times in the New Testament

There is also the “Law of first mentioned.” Genesis 2:7-8, 15

Vs 15 “to dress it”= is the root word to serve

In our text today I would like to simply define what a servant is and ask a simple question; Am I the servant God intended me to be?

The primary word in the O/T is

05650 ebed (eh’-bed)

From 05647;

AV-servant 744, manservant 23, bondman 21, bondage 10, bondservant 1, on all sides 1; 800

05647 abad (aw-bad)

a primitive root; AV-serve 227, do 15, till 9, servant 5, work 5, worshippers 5, service 4, dress 2, labour 2, ear 2, misc 14; 290

1) to work, serve

New Testament

80 times the word servant.

1. Servant = pais (paheece)

AV-servant 10, child 7, son (Christ) 2, son 1, manservant 1, maid 1, maiden 1, young man 1; 24

2. Servant = doulos (doo’-los)

AV-servant 120, bond 6, bondman 1; 127

1) a slave, bondman, man of servile condition

3. Servant = diakonos (dee-ak’-on-os)

probably from an obsolete diako (to run on errands)

AV-minister 20, servant 8, deacon 3; 31

1) one who executes the commands of another, esp. of a master, a servant, attendant, minister

1a) the servant of a king

1b) a deacon, one who, by virtue of the office assigned to him by the church, cares for the poor and has charge of and distributes the money collected for their use

1c) a waiter, one who serves food and drink

4. Servant = therapon (ther-ap’-ohn)

AV-servant 1; 1

1) an attendant, servant: of God

1a) spoken of Moses discharging the duties committed to him by God

So what does all the Hebrew and Greek mean?

They all refer to a person who is under the leadership of another.

I. God Made Man For His Purpose

Vs. 7

We see that God made man different than the animals and that God breathed the breath of life and we became a living soul.

No other creature has this described but man.

Vs. 8

God planted a garden and put man in it, why?

Vs. 15 To dress it (to servant in it).

II. Did Adam Have A Choice?

NO! Adam became a living soul by God who had a purpose for Adam and his wife Eve.

Vs 15 “And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.”

Took = Fetched him, to take and carry along, to snatch

Put him = to leave in a place to rest, left alone

To dress it = serve in it?

And to keep it = Watchman, keeper, preserve

Do we have a choice? Yes with a caution; God will allow us to say NO but we do not get to pick the consequences of our NO!

The following is from: Gleanings from Lessons from a Sheep Dog/Phillip Keller https://www.laurareimer.net

Lessons from a Sheepdog, by Phillip Keller. (1920-1997)

Keller was a shepherd, along with many other things.

In “Lessons from a Sheepdog” book he shares thoughts into his own faith journey that he learned while training a rescue dog named Lass.

From his experiences in training her; he relates how Christ, as our Shepherd, might view our sometimes wayward progress in learning to follow and serve Him.

It took a long time for Keller to even get this dog to trust him. However, once she did develop a sense of him being her master, she became so attached to him that her affection sometimes trumped her obedience.

He needed her to be obedient to his commands in order for her to be a useful partner and co-worker in tending the flock.

Her own desires and excitement for the lively parts of caring for the flock would often draw her away from the actual work he expected from her.

Keller likened it to followers of Christ when we allow our zeal for God and outward displays of service to become the focus of our efforts instead of obedience.