HEBREW WORD STUDY – FALL IN LOVE WITH GOD – ‘EVED עבד Ayin Beth Daleth

Luke 4:41: “And devils also came out of many, crying out, and saying, Thou art Christ the Son of God. And he rebuking [them] suffered them not to speak: for they knew that he was Christ.

James 2:19-20: “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. ⁽20) But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?

Someone wrote on Twitter today addressing what she believes is a controversial question; “How can our faith in God be different than the demons?”

Actually, this is the question that James himself is addressing. The demons know who Jesus is, they declared Him as the Son of God the Messiah. They believe as we do, so why are they not saved? That is why James says that faith without works is dead.

But wait one minute, does not Ephesians 2:8-9 tell us that we are saved by faith and not works? That is a very good point because the same word is used in the Greek in Ephesians 2:9 as is used in James 2:20. It is the word ergon which means to work, perform a task, a deed or action. According to the Greek, you need to back up your faith with actions. But then that means you need to do something, some work for your salvation.

The Aramaic word for work is ‘eved which is also used in both passages, but its meaning is a little different. This is a word used for an indentured servant. In its Semitic root, according to the Rabbi Samson Hirsch a 19^th Century linguist and Hebrew master, it has the idea of work that is subject to another’s will. There are a lot of people who do the Lord’s work, but it is not necessarily subject to the will of God. For some, it is subject to their bank account. Maybe for others, it is subject to their pride or personal identity.

Yet, even if you truly ‘eved, that serves according to God’s will and not your own, that work will not save you. But the only way you can truly ‘eved, truly serve God for the sake of God alone and not your own, to serve no matter what the cost, no matter if it cost you your life, is to love God with all your heart, soul and might. An indentured servant will serve a master to pay off a debt or until seven years pass and then he is free. However, he may opt to stay with his master because he has learned to love his master and thus he can become a bondservant, one who willfully serves his master out of love and respect.

The devils believe in God and that Jesus is the Son of God but they tremble. The word tremble is rael which is a ra’ word used for terror. The devils or demons know who Jesus is and tremble in terror. Any work they do is not ‘eved. They believe but have no love or respect for God.

If our faith does not result in love and respect for God causing us to serve Him out of love and not personal gain, we have proven our faith is dead. The word dead in Aramaic is muth which is both a physical death as well as spiritual death. Performing work or service to God without loving Him, doing it for your own benefit, that is to get answers to prayers, to be blessed, to gain heaven all for your benefit and not out of a love for God then those works are spiritually dead, it has no spiritual value whatsoever.

It is the first commandment and the greatest commandment: “Thou shalt love the Lord you God with all your heart, soul and mind. We get it backward, we seek to serve God, perform ministry or teach Sunday School before we fall in love with God. In an ancient Jewish marriage before a couple became physically intimate, they were first married and then spent one year betrothed. In that year they spent much time together but they do not share a physical intimacy until that year has passed. They do not perform the function of man and wife to produce children until they spend a year getting to know each other, share their dreams together, share their hearts and after a year they generally fall in love. Then they come together to produce offspring.

In Christianity when a person gets saved, we give them a Scofield Bible a few classes in evangelism and send them out to make converts. God’s intention is not for our first step to win the world, but to fall in love with Jesus. Spend time with Him, in His Word, in prayer and in sharing our hearts. After some time we mature to real love, love which causes you to want to win a lost world.

The first work of faith is to fall in love with Jesus. Without that love, any work you do with your faith will have no spiritual life.