God's plan for worship from Genesis through Revelation - Research Paper Example

?Worship principles Insert of Introduction Worshiping is has a long history since the inception of the universe. The angels of heaven gathered before God to worship him and pay reverence to Him who created the earth and everything in it. This worship trend was transmitted to humanity upon creation and consequent location in the Garden of Eden. Man’s sole purpose while living in the garden was to worship God at al times, obey His commands and praise Him for the wonderful work He had done in creating the entire universe. But what actually is worship? Several instances of worship have been mentioned in the bible right from the first book, Genesis, to the last book in the bible, Revelation. God’s greatest commission to humanity from the beginning was to worship Him and honour Him as his creator and sustainer as well as the provider for all that man needed in the world. This reverence was to be shown by simply bowing to God in reverence for the works he had made during man’s life. It has however not been easy for humanity to accomplish this task as he is rocked on either side by the enemy, the devil. Anderson defines worship as inner form of communication with God (Anderson, 1992). Worshiping is the only way through which we pour our hearts to God and tell Him of all lour tribulations in this world “Arise, cry out in the night, as the watches of the night begin; pour out your hearts like water in the presence of the Lord. Lift up your hands to Him for the lives of your children, who faint for hunger at the head of every street” (Lamentation 2:19). God however teaches humanity the way of worship both in the old as well as in the new testaments. In this paper I will discuss the principles of worship both in the Old Testament and the New Testament. I will also look at the worship principles according to the psalmist and compare these with our daily today forms of worship. Old Testament principles of worship As we have seen in the previous text, worship is a way of communicating our inner hearts to the creator. The instructions for worship of the Lord are very different in the Old Testament as compared to the New Testament principles. These however have a common convergence point that of serving the Lord. The ways of worship are however not changed as these remains the same throughout the entire bible. God gives strong commands in worshiping Him in the Old Testament. The repercussion for not worshipping God according to the Old Testament requirements are felt immediately, such included stoning one to death upon doing something which is contrary to what God has commanded. ‘If a person sins and does what is forbidden in any of God’s commands, even though he does not know it, he is guilty and will be held responsible. He is to bring to the priest as a guilt offering a lamb from the flock, one without defect and of the proper value. In this way, the priest will make atonement for him for the wrong he has committed unintentionally, and he will be forgiven. It is a guilt offering, He has been guilty of wrong doing against the Lord’ (Leviticus 5: 17- 19). The regulative principle The kind of authoritative worship which the Lord commands in the Old Testament was pegged on the mosaic laws which had strong commands on how the worship of the Lord was to be conducted. Failure to comply with the requirements of God during worship times was punishable by immediate death of the victims. God thou shall not have any other god before me for I m a jealous God, I punish those who sin against me up to their forth generations and blesses the thousands who comes before me to worship me (Anderson , 1999). The regulative principle note throughout the Old Testament required that the people of God do not add to anything to what God had commanded them to do neither were they to remove from God’s commandments what He had stipulated. Such actions were to be punished immediately as has been shown in the previous instances. He says in Deuteronomy chapter 12 vs 32 “Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it.” This is actually what the Lord commands throughout the entire Old Testament. God’s requirements in the Old Testament is to be worshiped only n the ways He had pelt out and according to the practices he had instructed His people to observe. Christians always refer to this as the ‘regulative principle’ whereby God is seen to be regulating the way His people should worship Him. God does not jus provide a norm here but rather a standard way of worship. God knew that man cannot regulate himself when left alone specially after man had sinned and was drive out of the Garden of Eden, he could not be trusted and left in charge of himself. The fall of man according to genesis marked the beginning of the regulative principles and God ad to keep an eye on the operations of man so as to ensure that all that he did was according to the requirements of his commands. This is why God gave the commandments to guide the way people worshiped and revered God. Man was prone to going overboard by yielding to the allurements of the devil thus wondering out of God’s sight. There are several instances in the Old Testament which asserts the regulative worship system. Some bible scholars have argued that the regulative system only showed the love of God to humanity and not the punishing and jealous nature of God upon humanity. One who loves the other must be jealous about that person he or she loves and this will always come with various repercussions to help regulate the actions of the persons loved. The jealousy of god upon humanity is therefore the jealousy of love and not hatred. 1689 Baptist confession has it records, “… the acceptable way of worshiping the true God, is instituted by himself, and so limited by his own revealed will, that he may not be worshiped according to the imagination and devices of men, nor the suggestions of Satan, under any visible representations, or any other way not prescribed in the Holy Scriptures. (Brueggemann, 1997)” The following are the various instances where God justifies the observance of the regulative worship among men and women of the earth. To begin with we will look at the second commandment which forbade the Israelites from making any graven image or worshipping it. They were to worship only God, Yahweh and not any other god besides the forbidding of the making and revering graven images by the people of God was to remark the fact that God Himself did not give an Image of Himself to be worshipped. God does not want a representation and commands everyone everywhere to worship only Him. It is for this reason that God commanded His people not to make any graven image. As I had mentioned here before, the commandments were meant to guide the Israelites on the true worship of their Lord. Thompson argues that the provision of the Ten Commandments was prompted not only by the fall of man in the Garden of Eden but several factors underlay these provisions (Thompson, 1980). Right from the time man was evacuated from Eden, he started yielding to the sins and afflictions of the devil. He had begun listening to the loud voice of the devil. The same voice and words that cheated him while in Eden and so man became vulnerable to committing sin. Cain listened to this voice and killed Abel and so God was very upset. As Hendel asserts, it was the time when no man had known what death is. No man had ever tested death at this time and so the death of Abel became the first ever witnessed since the existence of humanity on earth (Hendel, 1995). The death of Abel was then followed by the making and worshiping of idols in Israel for instance the revering of the golden calf that was made to the Israelites to the people of Israel, worshiping of baal and the rest of the gods which were worshipped during this time. Several guidelines spelling out the ways of worshipping God were therefore put in place to ensure that man actually knew what was to be done. The laws which were formally written in the hearts of the people were now written down on two stone tablets to remind the people of God about the promised they made with their God. Worship in the New Testament Both the old and the new testaments somehow compliment each other with the Old Testament talking about the tings which were to happen for instance the coming of the messiah who was to be Jesus Christ while the New Testament confirms the attainment of the promises that were made in the Old Testament. This is where Jesus is born as was prophesied in there before. We can therefore conclude that the two sections of the bible actually compliment one another and that they are not independent of the other. Jesus confirms this compliment right from the beginning of his mission on earth. In Mathew 5:17- 19 He say; “Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Whoever then relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but him who does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” Here Jesus bridges the gap between the old testament and the new testament putting himself at the brink of the fulfillment of the mosaic laws by testifying that his main mission on earth is not to change the way of worship or any of the laws that were made known to the people by God Himself but to accomplish these by propagating their observance and reverence among human races. Even among the Pharisees and the teachers of the laws, the distinction between the laws that were there before and the observance of these laws is not made known to anyone. As a result, they have mastered the laws of Moses and the teachings in the Old Testament which they use to guide and judge the transgressors of these laws in the New Testament (Dan, 1982). In deed, it is the Old Testament’s fundamental ethics and religious stipulations that are used to pass judgments on matters relating to worship and the observance of the worship principles. The sole difference is however seen in the way people who transgresses these laws are punished. While the law transgressors in the Old Testament were to face the repercussions immediately, the New Testament puts leverage for the transgressors and holds the responsible for their sins and transgressions till the time of judgment. These provisions are seen in Jesus’ teachings when he tells a parable saying that both the good crops and the bad crops should be left to grow together till the owner of the farm comes to harvest, then he would take home the good harvest and cast on fire the bad ones. Contrary to the old testaments requirements, the freedom to worship the Lord is given upon the decision of human beings on condition that judgment will be passed on the on the last day; during judgment (Wenham, 1995). Besides there are some provisions which have been added in the New Testament which were not there in the Old Testament and which are binding between man and his creator, Yahweh. However, the New Testament has a single thematic way of worship which runs across the entire texts here. While the Old Testament focused much on the relationship between God and man and the physical and immediate repercussions following the breaching of these laws. The New Testament talks about worship at a personal level whereby each person is called upon at a personal level to come unto his Lord and worship him who created the heaven and earth and all that are in them. At this level, the provisions put forth on worship are personal between God and the person in question. For instance, in John 4: 24, Jesus says to the Samaritan woman; God is spirit and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth. Here is the first principle of worship which the lord himself has set to the people to follow, contrary to the former worship styles which were somehow dogmatic, one had to comply or risk being stoned to death, the humble voice of Jesus now calls upon every man to worship God in truth and in spirit making the worship system here a rather personal affair as opposed to the former compulsion in the Old Testament. The other principle stipulated here in the New Testament is the need to worship God in an acceptable way. He claims that acceptable worship comes from the heart and not that which is involved in pleasing any man. God cannot be mocked; he who loves his God must do so from the heart. This is proved in Mathew 5: 8 when Jesus says: these people honor me with their lips, but their hearts is far from m. in vain do they worship me teaching as doctrines the precepts of men. The underlying meaning referred to here is still pegged on the need to worship the lord n truth and in faith, the spirit. Contrary to the Old Testament when Aaron’s sons decided to offer a strange fire and God finished them all on the spot. Eichrodt notices here that the problem here was not about doing something clearly forbidden before the lord but simply worshipping God in a manner that he had not commanded, contrary to the specifications that were put forth by him to be followed by his people (Eichrodt, 1961). In the Old Testament, the Lord punished people immediately upon the breaching of His laws, in the New Testament on the other hand every person are called upon to worship in faith and from the heart not as a requirement. One had the opportunity to inspect himself and see if actually he is in line with the requirements of God and keep himself pure and trustworthy before God. The other principle that is stipulated here is that while in the houses of worship, women should worship in silence and let their men ask for them whatever they need from their God. As Wrider notes, the husband is compared to Christ as who is the head of the church as the man is the head of the house. Whatever the woman of the house would want to ask from God, she was to as her head who is the husband; the husband would then ask Christ who eventually delivers the prayer to the father in Heaven (Wrider, 1985). The protocol and channel had to be maintained as long as the man lived in any household. In Ephesians 5: 23 Paul confirms this provision by saying “for the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body and is himself its savior. As the church is subject to Christ, so let women be subject to their husbands in everything”. He also asserts in first Corinthians 14: 34- 35 saying “as in all the churches of saints, the women should keep silence in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak, but be subordinate as even the law says. If there is anything they desire to know, let them ask their husbands at home for it is shameful for a woman to speak in church.” These are just among the many provisions which were given in the New Testament for man to observe and abide by. Application of worship in daily living Worship is a process which is supposed to be carried out on a daily basis as man keeps on sinning every now and then. 1st John asserts that ‘all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God’. This is seen from the beginning of the bible, that is, from Genesis to the end, Revelation. The worshiping of the Lord must be done in a way that shows respect and obedience to the Lord. In Revelation chapter 4, the elders of Heaven are seen by John paying honor and glory to the Most High God by bowing for Him. And whenever the four living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives for ever and ever, the twenty four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worshipped him who lives for ever and ever; they cast heir crowns before the throne singing worthy art thou, our Lord and God to receive glory and honor and power… Besides, Paul urges the Corinthians to continue praying for one another and for their brothers in jail such as himself and other fellow brothers on Christ such as Silas. In this way, Paul is referring to prayers as the only direct means of getting to the Lord. That any time we want to communicate to our Lord; we need to do so through prayers. This aspect of daily and hourly prayers is seen in Daniel, in Daniel chapter 6, used to go to the roof of his abode and pray to God after every three hours. Seeking the face of the Lord through prayer at all times helped in putting Daniel closer to the Lord, empowered, and filled with the holly spirit. When he is thrown into the lions’ pit, through Daniel’s prayers, the mouths of the lions were shut. When Jesus goes with the three disciples to the mountains so that they could pray to their god and find them still sleeping, he asks them to rise up and pray to their God before they fall into temptation. Eventually the three disciples see the three elders talking to Jesus but cannot hear what they say afterwards. It is daily prayers which keeps us closer to God and helps us understand the underlying requirements of God. Jesus himself had formed a tendency of praying at all times putting himself closer to the Lord and His Father. This is what is required of all Christians today. To continue praying on a daily basis so as the keep in touch with the Lord’s honor and glory by being filled with the Holy Spirit whom he said He would send to come and dwell with humanity. Worship in Psalms The book of psalms is a collection of songs which can be grouped as praise songs. Psalms have a style of worship mainly inclined to praise. Carpenter notes that the book of psalms fills a very important void in connecting man to God by recognizing and revering the mighty and great works he has done to His own people (Carpenter, 1988). Through this the covenant people of God founded their path to Heaven. The psalms help in reaching the depths of human agony and tribulations to the highest level of joy in human’s connection with her savior. It presents a kind of worship system where laments of despair are exchanged with songs of praise and thanksgiving among God’s people. Psalms 23 for example sings of the great mercies upon humanity as it sings; “The lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want; he makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me besides still waters; he restores my soul. He leads me in the paths of righteousness. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil; for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. Thou prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; thou anoint my head with oil, my cup overflows. Surely, goodness and happiness will follow me all he days of my life; and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for ever” Conclusion In conclusion, it is good to note here that the nature of the bible ways of worship are interconnected with the old testament signifying the coming new testament in a manner which shows God’s honor and glory. While the Old Testament expresses a compulsion in worshiping God accompanied with an immediate death penalty upon a breach, the New Testament comes in to pardon this asserting that the worship of God should be determined by an individual’s personal relationship with God. Those who actually breach the law requirements are left to face the throne of God during judgment. The book of psalms on the other hand presents yet another mode of worship based of the glorification and praise for the name of the father for the great and wonderful works he has done. Besides, the life of Jesus and other prophets such as John, Paul, and Daniel among others shows us of the importance of prayer at al times as it draws us closer to our Lord and savior. Biblical terms of worship Worship: is the art of showing respect to God and adoring Him for what he has done in ones life. A way of speaking to God in spirit Reverence: Showing inner adoration to God Testament: Referring to both the new and the old testament of the bible Transgression: breaching of the mosaic laws Pharisee: teachers of the Laws of Moses References Anderson, B. (1999). Contours of Old Testament Theology. Minneapolis: Fortres. Anderson, G. A. (1992). Sacrifice and Sacrificial Offerings: Old Testament. (D. N. Freedman, Ed.) In Anchor Bible Dictionary , 5, 870-886. Brueggemann, W. (1997). Theology of the Old Testament. Minneapolis: Fortress Press. Carpenter, E. (1988). Sacrifices and Offerings in the Old Testament . (GeoffreyW, Ed.) In International Standard Bible Encylopedia , 4, 260-273. Dan, J. Sacrifice. (C. Roth, Ed.) In Encyclopedia Judaica , 14, 599-616. Eichrodt. (1961). Theology of the Old Testament. (J. Baker, Ed.) Walther , 1. Hendel, R. S. (1995). Prophets, Priests, and the Efficacy of Ritual. (D. N. David P. Wright, Ed.) In Pomegranates and Golden Bells: Studies in Biblical, Jewish, and Near Eastern Ritual, Law and Literature in Honor of Jacob Milgrom , 185-198. Thompson, J. (1980). Grand Rapids. The Book of Jeremiah . Wenham, G. J. (1995). In Pomegranates and Golden Bells: Studies in Biblical, Jewish, and Near Eastern Ritual, Law and Literature in Honor of Jacob Milgrom. (D. N. David P. Wright, Ed.) The Akedah: A Paradigm of Sacrifice , 93-102. Wrider, A. J. (1985). Water, Fire, and Blood: Defilement and Purification from a Ricoeurian Perspective. Anglican Theological Review , 65 (2), 137-148. Read More