of Ezra this morning chapter
2. One more verse in this chapter
2 catches our eye and that's verse 65. Ezra chapter 2 verse
65. In this list of those who left
Babylon after the edict by Cyrus, king of Babylon, that those who
were of Israel, those who had been taken as captives 70 years
prior, they spent their 70 years in captivity Now they were permitted
to go free, and we have a long list of folks that went back.
They traveled those 800 miles. They took their four months to
get over there. And in the midst of that, in verse 65, we find
a curious passage of scripture. It was curious to me, and I had
to do a little work on it. And that is verse 65, where it
says, beside their servants. and their maids, of whom there
were 7,337. Now in that verse of scripture,
not only do we find that God is an exact God, he does things
in an exact way. He lists for us in this passage
of scripture the number of these, what does it call us? Call them
servants and their maids. These two words in this verse
that we are would like to look at today, servants and maids
have a connection. Servants to us today have a much
different connotation than here in the Old Testament Scriptures
and even in the New Testament Scriptures. A servant that we
find in this verse of Scripture and a maid that we find in this
verse of Scripture, these two words are connected by the term
slave. They were bond slaves. They were
slaves in the Hebrew These servants, these bondage men, these bondmen,
these maids or maidservants or female slaves had that thing
in agreement. They were all slaves of somebody. So we'd like to spend some time
on that subject today. Not that I'm going to preach
against or for the Civil War. That's not my issue. We don't
bring in politics. That's not our job. But there's
certainly a lot said in the scriptures about being a bondman or a slave
or a servant in the Hebrew context or a maid or a bondmaid or as
we have a maid servant or a female slave. A servant who is amongst
the Hebrews was commonly a slave. Now, it's interesting that this
group of people and quite a few, if we take the number of folks
that went back and the number of slaves that went back, we
have a pretty large proportion of them that were slaves or female
or male that went back. We find that in the Old Testament
scriptures, there was a manner in dealing, provisions were made
in dealing with a slave that was truly a slave, and were permitted
to go free, that if they chose to do so, they could remain because
they loved their master. Would you turn with me over to
the book of Exodus chapter 21? In Exodus and Deuteronomy, we
have a passage of scripture that deals with the subject that if
there is a slave, and they are bought out of, or the year of
jubilee comes by, and they're set free, in the book of Exodus
chapter 21, verses one through six, it shares with us the provisions
that God had for them in the Old Testament. Exodus chapter
21, and verse six, it says, Now these are the judgments which
thou shalt set before them, if thou buy a Hebrew servant. Now
if you buy somebody, we're just going to have to say that it
is much different than would you like to go to work for me
and I'm going to pay $15 an hour when you buy somebody. Now we
never find that the Apostle Paul got into politics. He lived in
a culture where there were a lot of things going on that you and
I would not agree with. We're not interested in having
them in our culture, but they were there. But the Apostle Paul's
command was to preach the gospel. And when the gospel is preached
and owners are saved, they treat their slaves differently. And
when slaves are saved, Onesimus by example, they treat their
masters differently. So we're not going to get into
that, but read with me here. If he came in by himself, If
thou buy a Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve, and in
the seventh he shall go out free for nothing. And if he come in
by himself, That is, I bought him by himself. He go out by
himself. If he were married, then his
wife shall go out with him. If his master have given him
a wife, and she have born him sons and daughters, the wife
and her children shall be her masters, and he shall go out
by himself. And if the master shall plainly
say, I love my master, my wife, and my children, I will not go
out free. Then his master shall bring him
to the judges. Now he wants to make sure that
everybody understands that this man is not being held against
his wishes. He wants the judges to understand
that this man is saying by his own purpose and will, I love
my master. I love my wife and I love my
children and I want to stay with them all my life. It tells us when he brings them
to the judges, he shall also bring him to the door or unto
the doorpost. And his master, now I don't know
about you, but it would take a lot for me to say, I agree
to this. Because it says he shall bore
his ear through with an all and he shall serve him forever. Now turn with me to the book
of Deuteronomy chapter 15 because we have a little bit of addition
there that we don't have here in the book of Exodus with regard
to servants, to slaves. Deuteronomy chapter 15. Deuteronomy
chapter 15 and verse 12 we read these words that were left for
us For us to read and to study and to see the blessings that
we have in Christ Jesus Now it doesn't take much for a believer
to understand that by birth. We are slaves of sin our nature
compels us in that direction We cannot ever clean up our nature. We are slaves. We are servants
to sin. Then as we read about this slavery,
this servitude in the Old Testament, that there is something that
takes place in the heart and in the minds of people that they
would say, I've worked for this master and he has been a taskmaster,
and he has caused me to work for him and to serve for him
and yet, There has been such an attraction made between me
and the master and my wife and children that I am willing to
back up against a doorpost and have my ear all through so that
I have a mark left on me for all to see that I am staying
where I am and I will stay as long as I live. Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy chapter 15 and verse
12. These words are left for us.
And if thy brother, a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, be sold
unto thee and serve thee six years, then in the seventh year
thou shalt let him go free. And when thou sendest him out
free from thee, thou shalt not let him go away empty. Thou shalt furnish him liberally
out of thy flock and out of thy floor. or grain, and out of thy
winepress, and wherewith the Lord thy God hath blessed thee,
shalt thou give to him. And thou shalt remember that
thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt, and the Lord thy God
redeemed thee, therefore I command thee this thing today. It shall
be, if he say unto thee, I will not go away from thee, because
he loveth thee, and thy house, because he is well with thee,
then thou shalt take an awl, and thrust it through his ear
unto the door, and he shall be thy servant forever. Now this
is the next part. And also unto thy maidservant
thou shalt do likewise. So no doubt we have a group of
folks that are going back from Babylon over to Jerusalem and
there to be the servants of these folks that are going along that
have the mark in their ear that they want to continue to be with
their master. Now Paul used this term servant
many times in the New Testament in his writings declaring that
he was a slave. Now he defended his rights. when
it came to physical things and said, I was born a free man. When he deals with the Romans,
I'm a Roman. And man, when they had punished
him for something, they backed up and said, my goodness, we
have dealt harshly with a free Roman. What's going to happen
to us? He was a free born Roman by inheritance. But when it came to his relationship
with the Lord Jesus Christ, he shares with us time and time
again, I am a servant or a slave of the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn
with me to the book of Romans chapter 1. Romans chapter 1,
Paul, as he opens up that book, as he's led by the Holy Spirit,
and he's not bashful to say this. He is not bashful to say that
I am a servant, a slave of the Lord Jesus Christ. I was a servant
and a slave of sin, but by the new birth, God has given me peace
in him. And I am willing to stay with
him because he has loved me with cords of love from eternity.
He has purchased me with his own blood. He has set me free
in Christ Jesus. I would be willing to back up
my ear against the doorpost of grace and say, run that all through. Because he brings up the same
word, Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ in verse one of the Book
of Romans. Chapter 1 verse 1 a servant of
Jesus Christ called to be an apostle Separated unto the gospel
of God that word servant is slave. I'm a slave of the Lord Jesus
He would it was fighting words for him Saul of Tarsus he was
a A Jew that had been born in freedom under the Roman law,
fighting words when it came to him being a slave under the Roman
Empire. But when it came to his position
and place in the Lord Jesus Christ, he would readily agree, I am
a slave of the Lord Jesus. In the book of Galatians chapter
1, would you turn there with me, Galatians chapter 1 and verse
10. Galatians 1 and verse 10, the word of God says, for do
I now persuade men or God? Or do I seek to please men? For
if I yet please men, I should not be a servant of Christ. I
am not a slave. If my intent is to go along with
every religious thought that everybody has and make no problem
with anybody, if that's what we do, then I am not a servant,
a slave of the Lord Jesus. a servant or a slave of the Lord
Jesus in complete agreement with the Lord Jesus Christ himself
and with his word and will not deviate to the best of their
ability. We are frail children of dust
and we do make mistakes and we say things that we shouldn't,
but our heart is right with God because he has given us a heart
that is right with God. But Lord, when we find that out,
We have God's word to change us and say, oh, forgive me, instead
of, oh, I'd never say that. Well, in the book of Colossians
chapter four, Colossians chapter four, verse 17. These words are brought up again
in the writings of Paul. I'm a bondservant. I'm a slave
of the Lord Jesus. I'm just like those slaves in
the Old Testament that God had given them grace, that they wanted
to stay where they were. God had given me grace. I'm in
it for the long haul. Bore my ear. In Colossians chapter
4 and verse 17, Well, let's go to Titus chapter
1. Paul wrote to Titus, he said,
Paul, a servant of God. Over in Romans, it was a servant
of Jesus Christ. He is taking his servitude from
the Godhead. a servant of God, an apostle
of Jesus Christ, acknowledged according to the faith of God's
elect, and acknowledging the truth which was after godliness. There is much said in the book
of the Psalms. about being a servant. So I would
ask you to turn there with me. We have several readings out
of the book of the Psalms as they share with us the manner
in which God makes servants, how servants are made, how slaves
are made, how they are accepted, and how they accept. In the book
of the Psalms, Psalm 34. Psalm 34. There is something about the
Apostle Paul's word. I am a bondservant or I'm a slave
I'm a servant of the Lord Jesus. I am a servant of God I am a
servant of the Most High God in Psalm 34 in verse 22 as we
think about these folks and that are coming out of Babylon,
traveling 800 miles with their masters, getting to Jerusalem
and going to be participating in the work that was set before
them, that there is something about the relationship that they
have with their master that is not what we normally think of
as slavery. They're not being beaten. They're
not being taken advantage of. They're there because they want
to be there. They show the mark of it. And
why do we see the mark of it? Well, if you're in slavery, and
that's where the word redeemed comes in, it is only towards
slaves. Now we have different ways of
definition today with regard to redemption. But during the
original time, it was dealing with slaves. And if you redeemed
someone, you bought them. You bought them out of the position
that they were in. Well, that's wonderful when we
start looking at what we are by nature, and then God redeemed
us. Notice with me in Psalm 34 and
verse 22. The Lord redeemeth the soul of his servants. The Lord has purchased his servants,
the souls of his servants, his slaves. You mean, I'm a slave
of Jesus Christ, I'm a slave of Almighty God, but in this
process of being a slave of the Most High God, he has purchased
me? Purchased me from my root my
original position which was in sin purchased me from my original
position Which is in Adam he has purchased me bought me with
his precious blood Goes on to tell us here and none of them
that trust in him shall be desolate Well, I know what desolate means
today. Don't you that's Eastern, Oregon? desolate People that drive out
there from foreign countries cannot believe that there's this
much territory that there's no houses in. But this word desolate
means to be guilty by implication to be punished or perish. What
does it say? Trust in him shall be desolate
or not guilty. The redemption has been brought
out of that position. God has redeemed his servants. Every servant of the Lord Jesus
Christ has been redeemed, been purchased by his own blood. No wonder the Apostle Paul was
glad to say, I'm a servant of the most high God. I'm a servant
of Jesus Christ. I'm a servant of God. He has
purchased me. He has bought me with a price. That is his own blood. In Psalm
78, Psalm 78 and verse 70, we have another word here that deals
with a servant. These, that those folks would
purchase. Psalm 78 and verse 70. Those folks that had been purchased,
that had been redeemed, Notice what we read here with regard
to this, Psalm 78 and verse 70. The Apostle Paul, when he said,
I'm a servant of Jesus Christ, or I'm a servant of God, not
only is he saying that he has redeemed me, but he chose me. Now, for whatever reason, the
person that is buying a servant might have had, are choosing
that person to purchase and when it comes to the redemption by
Jesus Christ of a group of people that he calls his servants and
His people are glad to be called his servants those people as
it says he chose as he chose David also his servant and Took
him from the sheepfolds David If he'd have been left to himself,
would have been just pleased as punch to be a plumber. In
this day and time, what was a sheep herder? But God chose him to
be his servant. He was elected out of all the
rest of the folks. He was chosen to be king. He
was chosen to be a believer. He was chosen to be a servant. So when the Apostle Paul is declaring
to the church at Rome, Or to Titus and said, I'm a servant
of Jesus Christ. I'm a servant of God. He's saying,
he's redeemed me. And in the same tone, he has
called me. He chose me. He chose me. And it was not my choice. I'd
have been just tickled to death to be a rabbi. with my phylacteries, and walking
around Jerusalem and having everybody bow down and say, oh, there's
Saul of Tarsus, wonderful man, just don't cross him. We've seen
what happens when you cross him. In the book of the Psalms, Psalm 105. Would you turn there with me?
Psalm 105. In Psalm 105 verses 5 and 6. Now this is what servants of
God do. God's done this. He's redeemed. He's chosen. He's revealed. And God's servants are glad to
be called God's servant. And it's not Selfishly. It's out of thanksgiving. And here in Psalm 105 verses
5 and 6, it says, remember his marvelous works that he has done,
his wonders, and the judgment of his mouth. Now it is wonderful
to remember that he created the heavens and the earth. It's wonderful
that he's in charge of all things. And that he has taken care of
everything and every asteroid that ever struck the moon. He's
in director of it. But let's go farther beyond that.
He, remember his marvelous works of redemption. Remember his marvelous
works of being Emmanuel, God with us. Remember him as Savior. Remember him as Redeemer. Remember
him as one who has set his affection upon us. Remember his marvelous
works. And then in verse 6, O ye seed
of Abraham, his servant, and ye children of Jacob, his chosen.
Seed of Abraham? His servant. Now in the book
of Galatians it says, know ye therefore that they which are
of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. God has chosen the
people for himself and they have one thing to do and that is to
praise his name. It tells us over here in the
book of the Psalms, Psalm 113. Psalm 113, verse 1. Praise ye the Lord, praise all
ye servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord. Well, we
find that passage of scripture in Matthew chapter 1 verse 21,
they shall name his name Jesus, call his name Jesus. Why? For
he shall save his people from their sins. There is a reason
that God's people say, praise the Lord. It's not just a flippant
statement that God's people use it. It is actually what the heart
feels because of all that he has done. He has redeemed his
people and their servants. He has called His people, and
they're His servants. And He has revealed Himself to
His people, and they're His servants. And He has caused them to rejoice
in the Lord, and to rejoice in Him only for all their salvation. They shall call His name Jesus,
for He shall save His people from their sins. And God is pleased
for every one of His slaves, every one of His bondservants,
every one of His people. Be thankful that he has taken
care of the sin issue in Psalm 119 Psalm 119 verses 89 through
91 Psalm 119 we find these words about a servant a slave a bond slave
a Though one that has been willing
to back up to the doorpost of the temple, and he is the temple,
and have him put his finger in our ear and say, you're mine. And we say, in agreement, I agree
with that. Thank you. In Psalm 119 and there
in verse 89, we read these words. It says, forever, O Lord, thy
word is settled in heaven. Thy faithfulness is unto all
generations. Thou hast established the earth,
and it abideth. And they continue this day according
to thy ordinances, for all are thy servants. Young man that
came to hunt with us is blaming a lot of problems that are going
on in this world. On who? The devil. And my response was, he's God's
devil. He is his servant, and every
servant of God serves God in one capacity. Now, a servant
of the Lord Jesus Christ, what do we find in that passage of
scripture? There in Psalm 119 verse 89 through 91, it shares
with us there, they continue this day according to thy ordinances
for all are thy servants. The faithfulness of God to all
generations, As we heard mentioned this morning in the book of Malachi,
be thankful, ye sons of Jacob, that he doesn't change. He's
faithful. Be thankful, servants, slaves
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And in Psalm 123, Psalm 123 and
verse 2, behold, As the eyes of servants look
unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden,
or a maiden slave, unto the hand of her mistress, so our eyes
wait upon the Lord our God until that he have mercy upon us. Where does mercy come from? We're
not waiting in demand, we're waiting on God for mercy, for
the mercy of God. Now, the Lord Jesus Christ has
been given to us as a great example of a servant. We heard read there
in Isaiah chapter 42 this morning, behold my servant, same word. He's my slave, he's the Godhead
slave. And he has a purpose in mind. He has, too, backed up against
the door and had his ear awed, as we read in the scriptures
in there in the book of Psalm 40. Would you turn back with
me in the book of the Psalms, Psalm 40, verses 4 through 8? We find here that mine ear hath
been opened. but it means to be bored just
like the servant was bored there at the doorpost of his master
when he says, I am pleased to stay with you. Here in type,
we find that the Lord himself said in the covenant of grace,
I am doing this willingly. Nobody is imposing redemption
upon me. I am doing this willingly. In
fact, it is so willingly that I am going to back my ear up.
I want to do this. I want to stay. As the servants
of old would say when they told their master, I don't want to
leave. I want to stay here. I like it here. I'm being treated
well. You're taking care of me. I want
to stay here the rest of my life. Here in the book of the Psalms,
Psalm 40 and verse 4, It says, blessed is that man that maketh
the Lord his trust and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn
aside for lies. Many, O Lord my God, are thy
wondrous, wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts
which are to usward. They cannot be reckoned up in
order unto thee. If I would declare and speak
thee, they are more than they can be numbered. Sacrifice and
offering thou didst not desire, mine ears hast thou opened. And that word means to be bored.
My ears hast thou opened. The Lord himself was willing
to back up against the doorpost of eternity and have his ears
awed by the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit and say,
I am so willing to go forth into a sin-cursed earth and redeem
my slaves out of the market of sin and make them my servants,
my slaves who are willing to be with me for eternity. What
a change He makes in us. We had no choice in the matter
when it came to being a servant of sin. But God, by His great
grace, has made our heart to be glad in Him and rejoice in
Him and to say, I am a servant of Jesus Christ. I am a servant
of God. Why? He's redeemed me. He bought
me out of sin. What? He has revealed to me Christ. He's shown me. He has made all
things new. This is this God, and I am willing
to be in His name as a servant. As it tells us here with regard
to the Lord Jesus, in verse 6, sacrifice an offering thou didst
not desire, my ears hast thou opened. Burnt offerings and sin
offerings hast thou not required. All those sacrifices that took
place in the Old Testament, when it came down to it, they didn't
accomplish one thing. When it came to sin, they only
appointed to someone who could, and that was the Lord Jesus.
And then it says, I've had my ear opened. In this covenant of grace, I
have made known I am a willing servant of the covenant of grace. And if you'll turn with me to
Isaiah chapter 50, Isaiah chapter 50 verse four. The Lord never saved one person
that wasn't going to be his servant. Religion teaches that we can
take him as our savior, but we don't have to be a servant to
him. The Lord Jesus never saved one
soul without them being his servant, being his slave. Why? Because he redeems them. Why? Because he reveals himself to
them. Why? He chose them. They're his and
there's such a new heart given to us in regeneration that we
gladly, most gladly accept that position. He is God and He's
God Almighty and I am just a meager worm of the dust and He would
show me His mercy and bring me out of the place that I was by
nature and make me an heir of God and a joint heir with Jesus
Christ, most gladly will I be a servant. Here in the book of
Isaiah chapter 50 verse 4, the Lord God has given me the tongue
of the learned that I should know how to speak a word in season
to him that is weary. He wakeneth morning by morning,
he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned the Lord hath
opened my ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away
back. I gave my back to the smiters
and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair. I hid not my face
from shame and spitting. This is only speaking about the
Lord Jesus Christ, and right there in the middle of that,
he says, the Lord hath opened my ear. He awed me through. Spiritually speaking, he has
the mark of every one of his children. That is the mark of
grace, the mark of salvation, and the mark of the Savior. He
hath opened my ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned
away back. That's just like that servant
saying, I want to stay with you all my life. I will not be in
rebellion. I will not change my mind. I
will stay. And that's the words of the Lord
Jesus. even to the point of knowing full well what was going to happen
to him. He would give his back to the
smiters. He would be maligned, spoken ill of, mistreated, and
yet in all of that, he said, I have come for a purpose and
that is to give my life a ransom for many. That's exactly what
he did. He freely offered himself. Now
when we read that passage of scripture over there about the
eyes of the servants look upon the hand of their master waiting
for mercy. That's not like us going to the
dog pound and saying we're gonna rescue a dog and the one that
looks at us with the most droopy eyes and wants to, you know what
I'm saying. Boy, I've heard people, I went
in there and that dog just appealed to me. It just followed me around
with its eyes. Well, that's great if you want
a dog. But that's not what attracted God to his people. What attracted
God to his people was a covenant. In that covenant, he had his
people written down in the Lamb's Book of Life before the foundation
of the world. Then he said, this is what I'm
going to do for every one of them. They will remember what
I've done for them because every time they say I'm a servant of
God, They are saying, I've been redeemed. He's been revealed
to me. He chose me. I belong to Him. I belong to the King. And I am well pleased. Just as the Lord Jesus could
say, I am well pleased. Brother Mike.