WORSHIP -- PART 2

WORSHIP IN THE NEW TESTAMENT
At the time of Yeshua, the Jews 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 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 Ruach HaKodesh the worshipers could come directly to YHVH -- 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’s visit to the Samaritans. After Yeshua’s 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 Jews and the Samaritans over which place of worship was the right one -- Jerusalem 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 Jews had followed David and Solomon in making Jerusalem the centre of Jewish worship. The Scriptures affirmed Jerusalem as the true centre 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. YHVH the Father would no longer be worshiped in either place. A new age had come in which the true worshipers -- Jew, Samaritan or Gentile -- must worship the Father in Spirit and in Truth. In spirit; corresponds to Jerusalem and -- in truth -- corresponds to the Samaritans’ unknowledgeable ideas of worship, YHVH and so forth. Formerly, YHVH was worshiped in Jerusalem, but now the true Jerusalem would be in a person’s spirit. Indeed, the church is called -- the habitation of YHVH in Spirit -- Ephesians 2:22. True worship required a people to contact YHVH, HaRuach, in their spirit, as well as a people who knew the Truth. New Testament worship must be in Spirit and in Truth. Since YHVH is Ruach, He must be worshiped in Spirit. Human beings possess a human spirit, the nature of which corresponds to YHVH’s nature, which is Spirit. Therefore people can have fellowship with YHVH and worship Him in the same sphere that He exists in. In a sense, John 4 anticipates Revelation 21 and Revelation 22, where YHVH provides the rivers of the water of life to all the believers and where the Lamb and YHVH are the Temple in the New Jerusalem. The believers receive life from YHVH and they worship in YHVH. 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 YHVH’s never-ending supply. In John 4, Yeshua provides the living waters to all who receive the gift of YHVH and He directs people to a New Temple, a Spiritual one, where YHVH is worshiped in Spirit.