WORSHIP --- PART 1

We do not think of ourselves as a worshiping culture, let alone an idolatrous culture, but our behaviour suggests otherwise. Consider our weekly gatherings of up to 100,000 frenzied fans observing a ceremony of men dressed in strange garb acting out a violent drama of conquest. Others stay at home and join in by way of a small glowing shrine set up in the family room. Fans of professional football are probably not even aware that their behaviour could be described as worship. Or consider the way thousands of young people scream and throw themselves at the stage where their rock-star idols are performing. Human beings were created to worship. To worship is to ascribe ultimate value to an object, person or a god; and then to revere, adore, pay homage to and obey by ordering the priorities of our lives around that which we worship. The Bible teaches that YHVH alone is worthy of our worship. That worship is an expression of reverence and adoration of Elohim.

WORSHIP IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
The 1,500 years from the days of Abraham to the time of Ezra -- about 1900-450 BC -- saw many significant changes in the form of worship in ancient Israel. Abraham, the wandering nomad, built altars and offered sacrifices wherever YHVH appeared to him. In Moses’ time the tabernacle served as a portable sanctuary for the Israelite tribes journeying through the wilderness. Solomon built a temple in Jerusalem that lasted more than three centuries until its destruction by the Babylonians in 586 B.C. When the Jews returned from exile, they built a new temple, which was later renovated and enlarged by Herod the Great. Though all the temple buildings were destroyed by the Romans in AD 70, the foundations remained. Jews still pray by the Western Wall -- called the Wailing Wall -- of the old temple. If the form of worship changed with times and situations, its heart and centre did not. YHVH revealed Himself to Abraham, promising that his children would inherit the land of Canaan. Abraham demonstrated his faith through prayer and sacrifice. Throughout the biblical period listening to YHVH’s Word, prayer and sacrifice constituted the essence of worship. The promises to Abraham were constantly recalled as the basis of Israel’s existence as a nation and its right to the land of Canaan. From time to time every family visited the temple in Jerusalem. Eight days after a baby boy was born, he was circumcised to mark his membership in Israel. Then, a month or two later, the baby’s mother went to the temple to offer sacrifice -- Leviticus 12; cf. Luke 2:22-24. Animals were sacrificed in the lambing and calving season. The first lamb or calf born to every ewe or cow was presented in sacrifice -- Exodus 22:30. Similarly, at the beginning of the harvest season, a basket of the first-fruits was offered and at the end, a tenth of all the harvest, the tithe, was given to the priests as YHVH’s representatives -- Numbers 18:21-32. Deuteronomy 26:5-15 gives a typical prayer for use on such occasions. Sometimes a person would decide to offer a sacrifice for more personal reasons. In a crisis, vows could be made and sealed with a sacrifice -- Genesis 28:18-22; 1 Samuel 1:10-11. Then when the prayer was answered, a second sacrifice was customarily offered -- Genesis 35:3, Genesis 35:14; 1 Samuel 1:24-25. Serious sin or serious sickness were also occasions for sacrifice -- Leviticus 4:1-5, Leviticus 13:1-15. The worshiper brought the animal into the temple court. Standing before the priest, he placed one hand on its head, thereby identifying himself with the animal and confessed his sin or explained the reason for offering the sacrifice. Then the worshiper killed the animal and cut it up for the priest to burn on the great bronze altar. Some sacrifices -- burnt offerings -- involved the whole animal being burnt on the altar. In others, some of the meat was set aside for the priests, while the rest was shared by the worshiper and his family. But in every case the worshiper killed the animal from his own flock with his own hands. These sacrifices expressed in a vivid and tangible way the cost of sin and the worshiper’s responsibility. As the worshiper killed the animal, he recalled that sin would have caused his own death, had YHVH not provided an escape through animal sacrifice. Three times a year all adult men went to the temple to celebrate the national feasts and festivals -- Exodus 23:17; Deuteronomy 16:16: Passover -- held in April; the Feast of Weeks -- held in May -- and the Feast of Succoth in September / October. When possible, the whole family accompanied the men. But if they lived a long way from Jerusalem, they would go up for only one of the festivals -- 1 Samuel 1:3; Luke 2:41. These festivals were tremendous occasions. Hundreds of thousands of people converged on Jerusalem. They would stay with relatives or camp in tents outside the city. The temple courts would be thronged with worshipers. The temple choirs sang psalms appropriate for the festival, while the priests and Levites offered hundreds -- at Passover, thousands -- of animals in sacrifice. Groups of worshipers carried away with emotion would break forth into dancing. Those of more sober temperament were content to join in the singing or simply pray quietly. The major festivals were joyful occasions, for they celebrated the deliverance of Israel from Egypt. At Passover each family ate roasted lamb and bitter herbs to re-enact the last meal their forefathers ate before leaving Egypt -- Exodus 12:1. At the Feast of Succoth, they built shelters of branches and lived in them for a week, as a reminder that the Israelites camped in tents during the forty years of wandering in the wilderness -- Leviticus 23:39-43. These great festivals served as reminders of how YHVH had delivered them from slavery in Egypt and had given them the land of Canaan as He had promised to Abraham. Each of these three festivals lasted a week, but there was one day in the year that was totally different, the Day of Atonement, when everyone fasted and mourned for their sins. On this day the high priest confessed the nation’s sins as he pressed his hand on the head of a goat. Then the goat was led away into the wilderness, symbolizing the removal of sin from the people -- Leviticus 16:1. -- Sometime after the destruction of the first temple, synagogues developed for public worship. The services were more like modern church worship, consisting exclusively of prayer, Bible reading and preaching. There were no sacrifices made in the synagogues. When the second temple was destroyed in AD 70, synagogues became the only places where Jews could worship in public. Then there were no more sacrifices at all. The New Testament pictures this as fitting, for Yeshua was the True Lamb of Elohim -- John 1:29; because of His death, there is no need for further animal sacrifice -- Hebrews 10:11-12.

Care for the tools that Yah gives you! Keep them sharpened and used, and they will be a blessing for you every day of your life. #TorahObservant #Homestead #Garden #SelfSufficient

Declare in Egypt, and proclaim in Migdol; proclaim in Memphis and Tahpanhes; say, ‘Stand ready and be prepared, for the sword shall devour around you.’
Jeremiah 46:14

Be watchful and ready for the coming of the Day of the Lord. Be prepared to leave Egypt or be judged with Egypt! I doubt that a bunker will be of much help in either case, but I could be wrong.

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Shabbat this evening and another week of work and seed sowing one day at a time Praise Yahuah always every breath is a blessing even if at the time it don't seem like it our heavenly Father will get you through..read a great quote saying -if he brought you to it he will get you through it- so breathe pray repeat await another time of rejoicing imitate his son Yahusha in all you do in your dealings with people places things. ~Baruch Shalom

Here is a MUST READ book for kol Israel, especially all who desire community and desire to see the nation restored. Durable Trades is a road map for personal and generational stability, but more importantly, a way that kol Israel can decouple from part/all of Babylon!

https://natsab.com/2022/01/07/....must-read-durable-tr

 

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MUST read: Durable Trades, by Rory Groves | natsab

The very best book I have read in the last six months is not a theology or even Bible book. And, it is a must read for all who long for freedom, restoration of kol Israel, homestead, homeschool, rear children, have teens, etc... Basically, everyone w

Much of public education is state and #bigtech indoctrination in an environment where the professor has a psychological advantage, which is resulting in dystopia. Break free from digital #censorship and #bigtech. Work with those who share your values. https://tfp.digital