John begins the Revelation with these words: " The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John" (Revelation 1:1-3)
William Barclay puts some insight on these words: "In Greek the word is doulos and in Hebrew ebedh. Both these words are difficult fully to translate. The normal translation of doulos is slave."
Why would it matter if it is servant or slave? Being persons who have neither of these in our homes it is hard to separate the two. In the time of this writing both were common in households. There is some difference in a servant and a slave. A servant works for wages and can bargain with his boss. He/she can even quit and move to another employer. Not so with the slave.
A slave was an absolute possession of his owner.He received whatever the owner wished to give him. He had no hours of his own except those given by his master. His life, literally, was in the hands of his owner. The worst possible setting was belonging to a mean, cruel, uncaring owner. To be a slave to such a one was terrible. The Bible states that we can be a slave to sin. Sin is the worst owner imaginable for any person.
To have a loving, kind, caring owner was the very best scenario for a slave. He knew that he would always have food,clothing,shelter, protection, and love. He could work day and night for a person like that. He didn't mind what was given for him to do, for the assignments came from one who would always be there, loving and caring for him.
Perhaps the doulos translation of slave over against servant would better serve us in the Kingdom. Doulas brings home to us how absolutely and completely we must surrender ourselves to the Lord. We have sung it again and again:
Take my life and let it be consecrated Lord, to Thee.
Take my hands and let them move at the impulse of Thy love
Take my silver and my gold, not a mite would I withhold.
Take my moments and my days. Let them flow in ceaseless praise.
To capture this is to be a true servant of God.
