Friday, September 15, 2006

First Use of Worship in the Bible




One of the rules of hermeneutics (the interpretation of Scripture) is the law of first mention.  Usually the first mention of a topic in the Bible is indicative of the rest.  It gives us a snapshot, a context, a reference point of how the topic should be viewed and interpreted in the rest of the Bible.

Genesis 22 contains the first mention of worship in the Bible.  Let us look closely at this passage to gain insights about worship.

    1 Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!"
      "Here I am," he replied.

Ø Abraham was actively listening and responded in submission.  His initial openness and attentiveness led to further instructions from God.

    2 Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about."
    3 Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about.

Ø Abraham obeyed the instructions he received from God.
Ø Abraham made preparations for the sacrifice.  He came prepared.

4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 He said to his servants, "Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you."

The word worship here is defined by Strong's as to prostrate, pay homage to God, bow, humbly beseech, do obeisance, do reverence,... worship
             
            Hebrews 11:17-19  17By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, 18even though God had said to him, "It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned." 19Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.
Ø Abraham had faith in what God had promised him, that thourgh Isaac his lineage would be maintained.  He believed (had faith that) he and his son would return, even if God had to raise him from the dead.  Abraham over-came his personal obstacles to worship.
    6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, 7 Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, "Father?"      
"Yes, my son?" Abraham replied.
      "The fire and wood are here," Isaac said, "but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?"  8 Abraham answered, "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." And the two of them went on together.
Ø Abraham had faith that God would provide the sacrifice.  He understood that where God leads, He provides.
    9 When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.
Ø Abraham was ready to sacrifice that which was extremely important to him in honor of God. It was a sacrifice of love.
Ø Abraham was tested in is belief in what God had spoken to him.  He had a total abandonment to God’s will.
11 But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!"
      "Here I am," he replied.
Ø Here again Abraham is actively listening and immediately responding to God.
12 "Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son."
Ø Abraham feared God. He held God in reverence or awe and dared not to disobey Him.  God was testing Abraham’s obedience with something He Himself had promised and something Abraham truly cherished.  God was asking Abraham to lay down the thing of most importance.  After all, God was not asking Abraham to do anything He would not.
Romans 8:32  He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not also with him freely give us all things?
 13 Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram [a] caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, "On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided."

Ø Here God provides where He has led.  Verse 14 is translated “And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh. As it is said to this day, In the mount of Jehovah it shall be provided. ” in the American Standard Version.  This is the only place I found in the Bible where God is called Jehovah-Jireh or Jehovah will see (to it).

 15 The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time 16 and said, "I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, 18 and through your offspring [b] all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me."

Ø Great Sacrifice is rewarded with Great Blessing.  God promises that through Abraham’s lineage the Messiah will come and all mankind will be blessed through Abraham’s seed.

Romans 12:1-2  1Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual[reasonable] act of worship. 2Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Here is the essence of worship -- when we actively listen to God and respond immediately with total obedience and reverence, no matter the cost, He will reveal Himself to us as our provider, provide for us, and bless us for our obedience.

References
All Scriptures not specified are quoted from Life in the Spirit Study Bible (NIV). Stamps, Donald C., and John Wesley Adams. Life in the Spirit Study Bible: New International Version. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2003. Print.