YHWH told Abram that his offspring, like he, would be strangers in a land not their own. But after four hundred years, He would bring judgment upon the people groups of Canaan who “afflicted and mistreated them” and on “that nation who enslaved them.” The two verbs used are `anah (to afflict, to humble) and `abad (to cause another to work, to serve). YHWH would bring them out from under their burdens to Mount Sinai and return them to the land to inherit it by serving (`abad) Him.

When Moses bowed before YHWH at the burning bush, the sign He gave Moses that He sent him and would be with him to bring Israel out of Egypt was Israel worshiping, `abad, God on that very mountain (Exo. 3:12). Seven times YHWH through Moses tells Pharaoh to let My people go “that they may serve, `abad, Me.” YHWH called Israel His servant, His firstborn, a holy kingdom of priests before the nations. What did it mean for Israel to be YHWH’s servant?

Egypt held Israel in a death grip, subjugating them with taskmasters and killing their sons, enslaving them to ruin. Serving Egypt and their gods did not support life or increase to fill the land. Egypt’s dealing shrewdly with Israel was genocide by enslavement, a failure-to-thrive program aimed at the knowledge of God. Pharaoh forced Israel to serve Egypt’s culture of death, building storehouses for the worship of dead Pharaohs. YHWH redeemed Israel to serve His culture of life, building the Tabernacle for worshiping in a living God’s presence. By the lamb’s blood, YHWH spared Israel’s firstborn sons, and they became YHWH’s servants within each Israelite house, priests to teach and maintain the knowledge of God.

The deliverer Moses, the servant of YHWH, was faithful in all God’s house, leading Israel out of Egypt and teaching them YHWH’s laws. He, choosing to be mistreated with the people of God, prophesied of one greater than he who would come out of Israel. Ministering to Israel, Moses faithfully pointed to the coming One, Isaiah’s suffering servant, who died willingly doing the will of the Father. Israel, unable to serve a holy, jealous God (Jos. 24:19), collaborated with the nations in Yeshua’s crucifixion. But, it was through Yeshua’s death and resurrection that a new Israel could serve the holy God, having had their sins forgiven. The Builder of everything is God, and His firstborn Son, Yeshua Messiah, is the Builder of God’s house. Even though Israel miserably failed to serve YHWH, through the Son given, a new Israel is born.

In the Promised Land, Joshua, the servant of YHWH, commanded Israel before he died to “fear YHWH, serve Him in sincerity and in truth,¹ and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt, serve YHWH alone!” (Jos. 24:14). The choice of whom to serve belonged to each Israelite, each day, as it belongs to each of us this day.

We choose to serve either death or life by how we choose to live each moment of every day. We either choose to live by the will of a living God, who commands the generations of humanity, or to live by rebellious gods of cruelty and death. We can either slander, gossip, lie, hate, take revenge, murder, and exalt the self, oppressing others, or we can build up, encourage, be gentle, loving, forgiving, help shoulder burdens, speak the truth, trust, and be faithful. Each day, we choose whom we will serve and worship by the way we walk. Ours is the choice between clinging to YHWH, knowing Him, or autonomy. As His images with free will, we can suffuse the earth with light or project a black hole mien, turning into a vortex of death.

Takeaway:
Made in the image of God, humans need the requisite expertise and experience for the job YHWH created them to do. Israel’s task was to be a light to the nations, to restore the knowledge of God to His exiled family. By covenant, YHWH brought Israel out of Egypt to serve His will, to know Him, and to become His servant. The journey to the place of His dwelling gave Israel the opportunity to learn to walk in worship by living in a manner that reflected Him. By this, YHWH would glorify His name before the nations. YHWH’s overarching goal is that the knowledge of God is restored to His exiled human family through His servant.

Fun Factors:
`abad = 76, 2<sup>2</sup> × 19; 76<sup>2</sup> = 5776, 5 × 7 × 7 × 6 = 1470
`Abad appears 23 times in Genesis, 32 times in Exodus, and 290 times in the Tanakh. “The etymology of this word seems to share the ideas of several Semitic roots, e.g. the old Aramaic root which means ‘to do or make,’ an Arabic root meaning ‘to worship, obey’ (God) and its intensive stem meaning to enslave, reduce to servitude.” When persons impose servitude, it is bondage, but when we offer our servitude to God, it is satisfying and freeing. (From Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament. Copyright (c) 1980 by The Moody Bible Institute of Chicago. All rights reserved. Used by permission.)

Isaiah totes four servant songs. The first shows YHWH naming Israel His servant to carry His Torah (knowledge of God, Tree of Life) to the ends of the earth (Isa. 42:1-4, letter sum 10973). Instead of becoming a light to the nations, the nations’ darkness imprisons blind Israel. In the second servant song, YHWH calls a new servant by name, a new Israel, to restore Israel in a new exodus, making them a light to the Gentiles, bringing His salvation to the ends of the earth (Isa. 49:1-6, sum 22508). Isaiah defines the servant of YHWH in the third servant song as an individual who hears God’s words of wisdom and does His will, yet suffers rejection (Isa. 50:4-9, sum 17883). The last of Isaiah’s servant songs shows YHWH’s Servant led as a lamb to the slaughter, yet He is exalted above all names because He has a multitude of children counted as righteous heirs (Isa. 52:13-53:12, sum 47507). The letter sum of Isaiah’s four servant songs is 98871, 3(181² + 14²), pointing to Exodus 3:14’s, I AM What I Will Be, 3(181) (see Blog 37 Fun Factors), the exponential power of the Name in His Passover sacrifice, bringing us out of bondage to live with and serve only Him forever.