Are We Willing to Yield and Commit?
The simple and generic definition of a willing participant is someone who is (enthusiastic, eager, ready and prepared) and usually happy to take part in an activity or event without needing to be coerced. This implies a readiness to engage in the task at hand, indicating that the individual is agreeable to contribute if asked.
“Hear, My people, and I will admonish you; Israel, if you would listen to Me! “There shall be no strange god among you; nor shall you worship a foreign god. “I, the LORD, am your GOD, Who brought you up from the land of Egypt; open your mouth wide and I will fill it, “but My people did not listen to My voice, and Israel did not obey Me. “So, I gave them over to the stubbornness of their heart, to walk by their own plans. “Oh, that My people would listen to Me, that Israel would walk in My Ways! “I would quickly subdue their enemies and turn My hand against their adversaries. “Those who hate the LORD would pretend to obey Him, and their time of punishment would be forever, “but I would feed you with the finest of the wheat, and with honey from the Rock, I would satisfy you” -Psalm 81:11
To give consent is very much needed before anyone can come and have say, power or to have any input in our lives. It is required to have consent for sexual intercourse. If not, it is called rape. By giving someone permission, you are telling them that you desire what they are wanting to offer you.
In the language of the Bible, a very popular verb for a servant of the LORD is the action word, "abah". In most of its uses, it suggests the idea that the person in the picture was willing and had already given consent. It, “abah”, is applied to express a person's readiness or desire to do something, often in the context of making a choice or decision.
NOTE: The term can also imply a sense of yielding or giving in to a request or command.
Just like in the early Biblical times, the Father wants committed and submissive servants. How else would the people of Judah have been transformed, if it was not for the obedient Son of YAH? Later, that same willingness to obey the Words and Commands of the Father came as the disciples went to the Nations to share to same things their Moreh (Teacher), Jesus, communicated to them. His Words were the same Ones the Spirit of His Father told Him to share.
The willingness to obey GOD's Commandments was a central theme in the covenant relationship between He and Israel, for the name Israel is very telling of that battle, because they “wrestled with GOD’s Plan and His will for them.”
As we saw all throughout the Scriptures, we read that the kings made treaties and allies with other countries. Their (Israel’s) trustful compliance to their GOD’s Laws of Guidance played a crucial role in treaties and other forms of mutual consent.
NOTE: In contrast, being DISobedient is refusing or neglecting to obey.
“You stand today, all of you, before the LORD your GOD: your heads, your tribes, your elders and your officers, that is, all the men of Israel, your little ones, your wives, and the stranger who is within your camps, from the one who gathers your firewood to the one who draws your water, so that you may enter into the covenant with the LORD your GOD, and into His oath which the LORD your GOD is making with you today, in order that He may establish you today as His people, and that He may be your GOD, just as He spoke to you and as He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
“Now it is not with you alone that I am making this covenant and this oath, but both with those who stand here with us today in the presence of the LORD our GOD, and with those who are not with us here today, for you know how we lived in the land of Egypt, and how we passed through the midst of the nations through which you passed. Moreover, you have seen their abominations and their idols made of wood and stone, silver and gold, which they had with them; so that there will not be among you a man or woman, or family or tribe, whose heart turns away today from the LORD our GOD, to go to serve the gods of those nations; that there will not be among you a root bearing poisonous fruit and wormwood. It shall be when he hears the words of this curse, that he will consider himself fortunate in his heart, saying, ‘I will do well though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart in order to destroy the watered land along with the dry.’ The LORD will not be willing to forgive him, but rather the anger of the LORD and His wrath will burn against that person, and every curse that is written in this book will lie upon him, and the LORD will wipe out his name from under heaven. Afterwards, the LORD will single him out for disaster from all the tribes of Israel, in accordance with all the curses of the covenant which is written in this Book of the Instructions” -Deuteronomy 29:10-20
We can choose to be a slave to sin, or not. We all choose to submit to the very thing that leads us to death. Sin does not drag us, rather, it walks along side of us and empowers us to do the things we know is abhorrent to the Truth of the Instructions the LORD gave. -see Romans 7 & Exodus 20
Faithful and unfaithful servants are always available: “The servant who knows what his master wants him to do, but does not get himself ready and do it, will be punished with a heavy whipping. However, the servant who does not know what his master wants, and yet does something for which he deserves a whipping, will be punished with a light whipping. Much is required from the person to whom much is given. Much more is required from the person to whom much more is given”—Luke 12:47-48
Genesis 3 shows us how slavery to sin refers to the natural sinful nature of humans due to the fall. This slavery is spiritual bondage, where individuals are unable to break free from sin's power on their own.
“When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! Now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of GOD, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life, for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of GOD is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” -Romans 6:20-23
REMINDER: The Law [Torah, Guidance, Instructions, Words] of GOD gave them clear-eyes as to what sin was and is. It still does the same for us. Those Ten Commandments did not wipe the slate clean back then. It was a yearly requirement for atonement, until the Christ (for all mankind) and Redeemer (for the submitted in faithfulness and obedience) arrived on the scene. Even His life, death and resurrection are useless to us, if we are still choosing to be slaves to the destructive choices of sin.
“…or do you not know, brothers and sisters for I am speaking to those who know the Law (GOD’s Words of Guidance), that the Law has jurisdiction over a person as long as he lives? The married woman is bound by law (of marriage) to her husband as long as he is alive; but if her husband dies, she is released from the law (of marriage) concerning the husband. So then, if while her husband is alive she gives herself to another man, she will be called an adulteress. However, if her husband dies, she is free from the law (of adulterous sin), so that she is not an adulteress if she gives herself to another man [in marriage].
Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you also were put to death in regard to the law (of sin and death) through the body of Christ, so that you might belong to another, to Him Who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for GOD. While we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were brought to light by the Law (of GOD’s Words of Guidance), were at work in the parts of our body to bear fruit for death, but now we have been released from the law (of sin and death), having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.
What shall we say then? Is the Law (of GOD’s Words of Torah) sin? Far from it! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law (GOD’s Words of Guidance); for I would not have known about coveting if the Law (GOD’s Words of Guidance) had not said, “YOU SHALL NOT COVET.” However, sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment (of death), produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law (of GOD’s Words of Torah) sin is dead. I was once alive (to sin) apart from the Law (of GOD’s Words of Guidance); but when the Commandment (of GOD’s Words of Torah) came, sin came to life, and I died; and this Commandment (of GOD’s Words for Guidance), which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me; for sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment (of death), deceived me, and through it, killed me. So then, the Law (of GOD’s Words of Torah) is holy, and the Commandment (of GOD’s Words of Guidance) is holy and righteous and good”—Rom 7:1-12
Words and context matter!
Another word for understanding is "ebed". It denotes a servant or slave, someone who is in service to another. It can refer to a range of servitude, from voluntary service to involuntary slavery. In the framework of the Torah (Old Testament), "ebed" is used to describe individuals who would also be domestic servants and laborers due to debt or conquest.
It is also used figuratively to describe the relationship between GOD and His people, where Israel is often referred to as the "servant" of the Lord.
NOTE 1: The concept of servitude was multifaceted. Servants could be fellow Israelites or foreigners, and their treatment was subject to various laws (moral, ceremonial, judicial and social) outlined in the Torah.
NOTE 2: GOD’s people were governed by many things that assisted the leaders with making certain law and order were kept, but that people – to include slaves and servants were treated with dignity and care.
NOTE 3: Here are some other ways that Israel was governed. They can be found in Psalm 119.
How blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the Law of the Lord.
How blessed are those who observe His testimonies, who seek Him with all their heart.
They also do no unrighteousness; they walk in His ways.
You have ordained Your precepts, that we should keep them diligently.
Oh that my ways may be established to keep Your statutes! Then I shall not be ashamed when I look upon all Your Commandments.
I shall give thanks to You with uprightness of heart, when I learn Your righteous judgments.
How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Your Word.
The concept of the bond servanthood bridges both the Old and New Testaments, albeit with specific differences. In the NT, the term bondservant highlights a voluntary dedication to serve Christ. This comes with the need to be compliant to the Words the Lord shared pertaining to humility and obedience. This spiritual commitment contrasts with the Old Testament's broader term ebed, which encompasses various forms of servitude from hired workers to slaves.
It was from Genesis through Revelation (Old through Renewed Covenant), GOD’s Chosen Ones (Jacob’s Sons and Joseph’s 2) lived according to the ways of the land.
It was a lifestyle. It was the way of life. To NOT do so, would make them unruly servants of the GOD of Israel and the Words He sent His obedient Son to share.
To be disobedient to those instructions would show the Father their lack of commitment to Him; and that they we not willing to yield and submit to the Son Who would be sent to die for them.