WORSHIP -- Part 2:

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 Elohim 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 Yershalayim 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 center did not. Elohim 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 Elohim’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 Yershalayim. 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 firstfruits 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 Elohim 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 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 Yerushalayim. 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 Yisrael from Misrayim - Egypt. At Passover each family ate roasted lamb and bitter herbs to reenact the last meal their forefathers ate before leaving Misrayim (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 Elohim had delivered them from slavery in Misrayim 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, Scripture 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 Hebrews 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).

WORSHIP IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

At the time of Yeshua, the Hebrews had become far too dependent on a physical place, the temple, for their worship. When YEshua arrived on the scene, He proclaimed that He Himself was the Temple of YHVH; in resurrection, He would provide the spiritual dwelling where YHVH Ruach HaKodesh and people in spirit, could have spiritual communion -- see Matthew 12:6; John 2:19-22. In other words, worship would no longer be in a place but in a person -- through Yeshua Moshiach and His Ruach the worshipers could come directly to Elohim (see John 14:6; Hebrews 10:19-20). This shift in worship-from physical to spiritual-is the theme of John 4, a chapter that recounts Yeshua’ visit to the Samaritans. After Yeshua’ encounter with the Samaritan woman, she acknowledged that He must be a Prophet and then she launched into a discussion concerning the religious debate between the Hebrews and the Samaritans over which place of worship was the right one -- Yerushalayim- or Mount Gerizim. The Samaritans had set up a place for worship on Mount Gerizim in accordance with Deuteronomy 11:26-29 and Deuteronomy 27:1-8, while the Hebrews had followed Dah'veed and Shelomoh in making Yerushalayim the center of Hebrew worship. The Scriptures affirmed Yerushalayim as the true center for worship (Deuteronomy 12:5; 2 Chronicles 6:6; 2 Chronicles 7:12; Psalms 78:67-68). But Yeshua told her that a new age had come in which the issue no longer concerned a physical site. Elohim our Father would no longer be worshiped in either place. A new age had come in which the true worshipers (Hebrew, Samaritan or Gentile) must worship our Father in spirit and in truth. -- In spirit -- corresponds to Yershalayim and -- in truth -- corresponds to the Samaritans’ unknowledgeable ideas of worship, Elohim and so forth. Formerly, YHVH was worshiped in Yerushalayim, but now the true Yerushalayim would be in a person’s spirit. Indeed, the church is called -- the habitation of Elohim in Spirit -- (Ephesians 2:22). True worship required a people to contact Elohim the Spirit, in their spirit, as well as a people who knew the truth. New Testament worship must be in spirit and in truth. Since Elohim is Ruach, He must be worshiped in Spirit. Human beings possess a human spirit, the nature of which corresponds to Elohim’s nature, which is Ruach. Therefore, people can have fellowship with Elohim and worship Him in the same sphere that He exists in. In a sense, John 4 anticipates Revelation 21 and Revelation 22, where Elohim provides the Rivers of the Water of Life to all the believers and where the Lamb and YHVH are the temple in the New Yerushalayim. The believers receive life from Elohim and they worship in Elohim. There is a profound, even mystical connection between drinking of the Spirit and worshiping YHVH in the Spirit -- see 1 Corinthians 12:13. This is also described in Ezekiel 47:1, which pictures the river flowing from YHVH’s Temple as a symbol of Elohim’s never-ending supply. In John 4, Yeshua provides the living waters to all who receive the gift of Elohim and He directs people to a new temple, a spiritual one, where YHVH is worshiped in Spirit.