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Service is one of those intersting and ambiguous words.

As "Avodah" it is related to ebed and Avod. In Arabic Abdullah means "servant of God" and the ABD root shows the meaning.

But a generic name for what we do in Church is "service", right? But that's also a generic name for joining the military.

THis is total spitballing here, an opinion unencumbered with knowledge OR the thought process, but it seems to me that compared to all other types of service, service of God in His sanctuary is the supreme, the most sublime. But they are all service.

So even in the OT we have this kind of binary sacred v. profane thing at the same time as this sort of gradations thing.

I trust I make myself obscure.

“This is total spitballing here, an opinion unencumbered with knowledge OR the thought process, but it seems to me that compared to all other types of service, service of God in His sanctuary is the supreme, the most sublime. But they are all service.”

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There are two basic errors in logic here in the responses to my post.

First, they take the word “service” in a verse of the O.T. and decide that the meaning of the word IN THAT VERSE is the only meaning that it can possibly have in the entire Word of God, or anywhere else for that matter. In other words, the “service” of God, which is another term for “worship”, is the only “service” that is possible. Any other meaning of the word is invalid.
“Service” of Mary (venerating and honoring her) is wrong. Service of the saints (venerating them and asking them to pray for us to God) is wrong,
“service” of fellow Christians is forbidden.
Helping my mother do the dishes or take the trash out is forbidden. Well, the list could go on indefinitely.

This is simply madness! I feel like I've fallen through the Looking Glass here, and I'm speaking with the Mad Hatter or Humpty Dumpty...”when I say a word, it means exactly what I say it means!”

I'm going to rush on down to Joe's service station around the corner and tell him he's blaspheming. How dare he provide service to people! Service is only to be given to God! How dare he!

While I'm on that, I'm going tell that Italian restaurant I like to eat at that their good service is no longer appreciated or wanted. I'm never going there again and participating in their blasphemies! No, Sirree!

The second error they made was not reading the verse in 2 Kings carefully.
The verse merely forbids “service” of false gods in place of the true God. It says nothing about other forms of service to people.

These posters need some basic education in Logic and semantics, among other things.