I. INTRODUCTION 

In the Old Testament (OT) book of Proverbs, King Solomon provides many verses that illustrate the benefits of service from a pure heart, and in counter distinction, many verses that warn against serving wrong things. Given man’s fallen nature, it is quite common for a person to become beholden to various addictions. For instance, I know Christians who, to this day, are addicted to plagiarism; they are captive to copying the words of others. 

Accordingly, this week I would like for you to meditate on the following three rewards for service and seven captors of servitude passages. My prayer is that the Holy Spirit will use His Word to stimulate growth in these areas. May God bless you as you study! 

II. THREE REWARDS FOR SERVICE 

An attitude of serving others in the Capitol will lead to rewards in at least three areas of your life: personally, in relationship to others, and before God. Notice what Solomon says as we examine the following proverbial passages pertaining to these benefits: 

A. PERSONAL PROSPERITY AND HONOR 

He who tends the fig tree will eat its fruit, and he who cares for his master will be honored (Proverbs 27:18). 

Diligence, or “faithfully and consistently tending to something” breeds personal reward. I have greatly benefitted from observing this principle of tending for more than 40 years being wonderfully modeled by our ministry’s immediate past chairman of the board and now being modeled by our new chairman. Proverbs 10:4 states similarly, the hand of the diligent makes rich. This is in contrast to the numerous Scriptures in Proverbs that warn against “get rich quick” schemes (and current ministries that promote this false idea). In order to make a mark in this life, a believer needs to diligently pursue and tend a homogeneous career path. Keep in mind that fig trees do not bear fruit immediately. Growing them takes great perseverance for years, but then their yield is bountiful. When there is no fruitfulness, industriously keeping to daily disciplines is how to gain momentum! Contrast this wisdom with those who change vocations regularly. It is better to be a slow, plodding agent of change, a builder and a developer who is perfecting infrastructure than to be someone who is always dissatisfied, looking for seemingly greener grass on the other side of the fence. 

The character quality of tending is especially important for those committed to the incremental turnaround of our country. 

As the patriarchs in the book of Genesis died without seeing the fulfillment of God’s promises to Abraham (cf. Genesis 12), the rewards of your faithful tending may not accrue to you in your lifetime either but may possibly accrue to your children’s children. Nonetheless, today with an attitude of humble service, diligently tend the fig tree(s) that God has called you to steward! 

The second stanza of Proverb 27:18 cannot be contemplated without meditation on the Heavenly Master. He will honor those who diligently seek Him over a lifetime. Matthew 25:21 further elaborates on this when Jesus states the words we all look forward to hearing: 

“His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’” 

There is no greater honor than to personally hear those words from the lips of our Lord! May He reward your diligence with prosperity and honor as you faithfully, consistently care for the concerns of your master in the Capitol and back home. God desires for you to serve Him from a pure heart! 

Secondly, service from a pure heart builds friendships in this world: 

B. LONG-TERM FRIENDS 

He who pampers his slave from childhood will in the end find him to be a son (Proverbs 29:21). 

This Scripture must be interpreted with the context of understanding the economy of ancient slavery in society. Given that many slaves were respected and well-cared for by their owners, the application in our society with our present-day employee/employer construct is this: take care of your loyal employees, and they will take care of you.¹ 

Here is the biblical principle that assuages management/labor tensions so besetting in our culture: you will be blessed with friends for a lifetime if you consider those who work for you as more important than yourself. There is little in this fallen world that compares to the blessings of long-time loyal friendships. Serve your employees! 

C. BLESSED BY GOD 

Like the cold of snow in the time of harvest is a faithful messenger to those who send him, for he refreshes the soul of his masters (Proverbs 25:13). 

Two families who greatly helped in the establishment of Capitol Ministries in the 1990s were the nation’s largest carrot growers. On many occasions I have visited their packing plants. Immediately upon harvest, one of the first tasks to accomplish is to reduce the carrot’s core temperature by washing it with cold water. This procedure curtails the aging process, enabling it to travel to various markets throughout the world without spoilage or change. With today’s mechanization and technology, harvest in America is often accompanied by the cold of snow so to speak (ice-making machines in this case). In Solomon’s day too, such cold would preserve the crop much longer than usual. 

In a similar way, the faithful servant of Christ must view himself or herself as a messenger who preserves the integrity of a communiqué. So then, avoiding decomposition is the common thread of both snow and the faithful messenger. Accuracy, i.e., truthfulness in this Proverb, is deemed refreshing to the One who sent you to lead family and nation (cf. John 15:16). If you serve the Savior faithfully, truthfully and accurately as His messenger, God will bless you. Be increasingly straight with the truth and at the same time loving: don’t diminish what is true nor exaggerate what is not. Represent God with integrity in all your dealings. He will reward you for such service. 

Solomon says these are the benefits of true service: personal gain, loyal friends, and favor with God! Serve your nation with a pure heart and pure motives! My prayer is that God will bless you in these three ways as you serve Him in leadership of our nation. 

III. SEVEN CAPTORS OF SERVITUDE 

In contrast to humble rewarded service is the definition of servitude. It is the condition of a slave or a serf: “a state of subjection to an owner or master: bondage, serfdom, slavery.”² This definition is a good English understanding of the Hebrew word ebed found in all the Proverbs that follow. Depending on the contextual use, ebed means “attendants, slaves, or bondage.” 

Rather than serve from a pure heart, we can too easily become servants of sinful proclivities in the Capitol community. 

Importantly, notice in the following Proverbs that ebed is used by Solomon to depict a person’s falling into a lower way of life, i.e., being forced into bondage. No longer free, he now must serve a master other than the Savior. For example, 

The person in financial debt ends up serving the creditor. 

The person who is lazy will serve an overly demanding boss. 

A criminal will serve the state. 

A plagiarist will always serve the originator. 

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All of the aforementioned introductory statements about servitude raise the bigger issue regarding the institution of slavery in the New Testament and subsequent slavery in early American and British cultures. To clear the air about this, note the following in this regard: 

Although the Bible does not approve of removing slavery by social revolution, (cf. the NT book of Philemon) the Gospel throughout history has brought [about] the freedom of more slaves than any human philosophy, move-ment, or political system. In past times, some Christians unfortunately, have supported and tried to justify slavery, but the Bible does not; and where Christians are faithful to Scripture, slavery cannot flourish.³ 

Paul neither condemned nor approved slavery. His emphasis, and the emphasis of Scripture was not on racial or social reform; rather, it is on matters of one’s heart and conversion in Christ.⁴ 

Had Jesus and the apostles attacked slavery directly, the result would have been chaos. Any slave insurrection would have been brutally crushed, and the slaves massacred. 

The Gospel would have been swallowed up by the message of social reform.⁵ 

Illustrative of the spiritual vs. social reform emphasis of Scripture, Paul uses slavery as an analogy to believers’ spiritual walk with God. He refers to himself in a spiritual sense as a “bondservant of Christ.” Indeed, all believers are: we have been bought at a price!

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Now back to “Proverbs on Service or Servitude While in Office.” Solomon’s uses of the idea of slavery that follow in my outline are—in a personal sense— the demise of one’s status into being the slave of sin as underscored by the following seven captors: 

A. THE CAPTOR OF FOOLISHNESS 

He who troubles his own house will inherit wind, and the foolish will be servant to the wisehearted (Proverbs 11:29). 

Both households and nations exist that are troubled by ungodly leadership. They possess foolish superiors. The ungoverned passions of leaders too often blight the advance of the family and citizenry. In the end, they serve the wisehearted judgment of the court or the verdict of the investigative committee. Their end is personal demise if not foreign control. In a world governed by the principle of sowing and reaping, the inevitability of foolishness (despising wisdom) is always bondage or slavery, i.e., synonyms for servitude—the captors of such creatures. 

B. THE CAPTOR OF PRIDE 

Better is he who is lightly esteemed and has a servant than he who honors himself and lacks bread (Proverbs 12:9). 

People who honor themselves are full of pride. According to Scripture, this captor will lead to personal poverty in the end. Opposite of pride, in Matthew 5:3, Jesus states in the Beatitudes, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” The person who is poor in spirit is opposite of the self-sufficient, foolish and prideful person. He realizes his bankruptcy apart from Christ’s imputed righteousness. Accordingly, these are they who are lightly esteemed by the proud. The world despises the humility of the poor in spirit. But such are those who will not only have a servant, but some day in the Millennium will “inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5; cf. Revelation 20:4–6). 

Pride today leads to eventual bondage or servitude tomorrow. 

C. THE CAPTOR OF SHAMEFULNESS 

The king’s favor is toward a servant who acts wisely, but his anger is toward him who acts shamefully (Proverbs 14:35). 

This axiom is true not only in this world, wherein governmental leaders appropriately reward and punish staff members, but it is also true as it pertains to the Bema Seat judgment of every believer who will one day stand before the King of kings and Lord of lords. Note again in this specific regard, Matthew 25:21 (KJV) from the Parable of the Talents: 

His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. 

Therein is the King of kings’ favor toward a servant who acts wisely. Your reign tomorrow relates to your faithfulness today. Now note His anger as described in Matthew 25:26–29: 

“But his master answered and said to him, ‘You wicked, lazy slave, you knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I scattered no seed. Then you ought to have put my money in the bank, and on my arrival I would have received my money back with interest. Therefore take away the talent from him, and give it to the one who has the ten talents.’ For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away.” 

Observe the conclusion of this passage as it relates to serfdom resulting from shameful behavior: even what he does have shall be taken away. I am often saddened by what to me, (looking through the lens of scriptural truth) is obvious: the various forms of the judgment of God in the life of disobedient, shameful believers. A believer needs to soberly ask when facing adversity, “Is this God’s chastisement for my sin?” (Cf. Hebrews 12:3–11). That consequence is not easy for me to mention, but it is nonetheless part of the whole counsel of God. The following Proverb continues on the demise of shameful behavior, a.k.a. “disobedience to God”: 

A servant who acts wisely will rule over a son who acts shamefully, and will share in the inheritance among brothers (Proverbs 17:2). 

If it is true that ultimately God is the One who promotes and takes down (Psalm 75:6, 7), then, if you really believe what this passage says, you too can then trump cronyism via striving above all else to please God. Yes, faithful servants of Christ can triumph over bloodlines at times. On the human side, leaders of households, states, businesses, and churches are looking for men and women of character, and few possess this attribute! I have seen this principle manifest with my children who have been hired because of their character more than their résumé. With character in our culture in decline, more and more bosses realize that it’s wiser to hire character and train skill than the other way around. A person is held captive by shameful behavior, but he also wins favor by acting wisely! 

D. THE CAPTOR OF APPOINTMENTS 

Luxury is not fitting for a fool; much less for a slave to rule over princes (Proverbs 19:10). 

This Proverb is difficult to interpret. If luxury is common to princes, and it is, then it is the prince who is the fool in the proverb. Why? His foolishness is manifest in elevating people who lack character or qualification. This is a leader who appoints servants (in this case are seen in a negative light) for positions either because of cronyism or subservience to the foolish leaders’ folly.⁶ Cronyism is “Partiality, especially as evidenced in the appointing of political hangers-on to office without due regard being taken of their qualifications.”⁷ 

It follows that it is not fitting that such minions should have any delegated power or authority. Being “yes-men,” they possess no innate qualifications to rule. The luxury then afforded such a prince (or a political leader in today’s society) is not fitting; it is incongruous. King Rehoboam himself best illustrates this proverb when he violated this very principle by elevating his unwise buddies to prominence in Israel. He took their advice over his father’s counselors (cf. 1 Kings 12). The luxury of the office was therefore not fitting. 

Rehoboam’s wrong appointments led to his personal servitude and bondage. 

Scripture records this folly when it states, And King Rehoboam made haste to mount his chariot to flee to Jerusalem (1 Kings 12:18). And that’s to say nothing of the nation’s eventual ensuing bondage to Babylon. Remember, your deliberate, wrong appointments can lead to your personal enslavement and servitude. 

E. THE CAPTOR OF BORROWING 

The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower becomes the lender’s slave (Proverbs 22:7). 

A borrower no longer has the free use of his earnings; he must pay his debts. Such indebtedness becomes mental and psychological slavery. In biblical times, the inability to repay one’s debts could lead to physical slavery.⁸ In general, it is best only to incur debt when purchasing an appreciable asset, lest you become enslaved to something other than the One who purchased your allegiance with His own blood. If you have been bought with a price, who are you to then sell yourself to another? 

F. THE CAPTOR OF PASSIVITY 

A slave will not be instructed by words alone; for though he understands, there will be no response (Proverbs 29:19). 

Herein is the stubborn mule. In this passage, enslavement is the direct object of the captor called passivity. How difficult it is to work with passive-aggressive people! They are calm on the outside but no less rebellious than the angry and explosive. Such an attitude finds great disfavor with God and others. 

G. THE CAPTOR OF SUDDEN RISE 

Under three things the earth quakes, and under four, it cannot bear up: under a slave when he becomes king, and a fool when he is satisfied with food (Proverbs 30:21–22). 

What the king and the glutton have in common in this Scripture is sudden rise. With a windfall there is often a lack of experience commensurate with respective stewarding abilities. A sky rocket in power usually means great offense toward others: a person doesn’t know how to wield power with meekness. Likewise, those who stumble into prosperity are often irritating to others. 

Beware of sudden rise in office and the oft inability to manage it; it can be a captor. 

Sudden and unexpected rises by individuals bring difficulty, if not with self, with others. 

IV. CONCLUSION 

While in office serve with the love of Christ, and great blessings will inure to you. Conversely, serving anyone or anything other than Christ leads to many pitfalls and a life of bondage— the need to serve these pitfalls rather than the Savior. 

Should you find yourself in some sort of servitude or bondage today, how will you work with Christ’s help to get out of it? At Capitol Ministries we’re here to help; give us a call for confidential counseling. Choose you this day whom ye will serve ( Joshua 24:15, KJV). 

 

1. I differ greatly with Charles Bridges on his commentary regarding this and other Proverbs that deal with servants. His archaic attitude toward servants is often quite appalling (cf. Charles Bridges, Proverbs (Carlisle, Penna.: Banner of Truth, 1998), 580). 

2. Merriam-Webster, s.v., “slave,” accessed August 17, 2021, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ slave. 

3. John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, 1 Corinthians, Vol. 17 (Chicago: Moody Bible Institute, 1984), 174. 

4. The Christian activist who places social reform above personal evangelism and ministry must grapple with Philemon in the NT. Such is not in keeping with the priorities of Paul, the NT or the Bible as a whole. 

5. John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Colossians and Philemon, Vol. 22 (Chicago: Moody Bible Institute, 1992), 206. 

6. Bridges, Proverbs, 314. 

7. Merriam-Webster, s.v. “partiality,” accessed August 17, 2021, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/partiality. 

8. Peter A. Stevenson, A Commentary on Proverbs (Greenville, S.C.: BJU Press, 2001), 301.