Liturgics - 3

Ⅲ.  Worship history

 

Introduction

 

Studying the history of worship to God allows us to understand the true aspects of worship that have been handed down from ancient times.

 

Let's properly explore the history of worship in the Bible, which is God's special

revelation, look at the process of its development, and find out the shape of true

worship that we should aim for in the present age.

 

Ⅰ. The concept of sabbath before the time of the patriarchs

 

Genesis 2: 1-3 is the end of God's creation of the heavens and the earth.

And by unfolding the situation just before human creation and briefly describing the concept of rest, it implies that this concept reveals something to the human beings to be created soon.

 

The concept of this revelation is rest. And this concept of rest is precisely revealed in verse 3.

"Blessed the seventh day and sanctified it" Here, blessing is God's "effective act of good will."

In other words, it is now the special intention that God created "to bless all creatures."

 

The next is "Have you sanctified," and the true concept of rest begins here.

In other words, holiness is distinct, especially in relation to God (awe and religious fear).

That is, the seventh-day Sabbath is a clear concept that is distinct from other days and is dedicated to God.

 

On this day, the objects receiving the grace from God, who is the subject of

the creation of heaven and earth and mankind, must obey the command and sanctify.

And, putting everything aside, it is the day of reverence, respect, devotion, purity, and purity only to God, and only sacrifices or burnt offerings prepared for God are offered as a day of reverence.

It is based on the eternal law of God's righteousness, and it is divinity in the external relationship between God and man.

Therefore, human beings are blessed with purity morally, spiritually and consciously by observing this Sabbath Day.

The concept of the Sabbath established by God in this way has been reflected in their history since the creation of mankind and continues to this day. 

 

Ⅱ.  Patriarchal worship

 

 

In Genesis 3 and 4, God's "covenant of grace" is established by the fall of man. This covenant of grace is the coming Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

 

But until His coming, something was needed to atone for the sins caused by the Fall.

 

In other words, the necessity of sacrifices that symbolized the Redeemer of all fallen mankind, Jesus Christ, emerged.

 

Of course, its establishment was benefited not by humans, but wholly in God's plan and in His will.

 

Therefore, from Genesis 5 onwards, the ancient patriarchal age of

Adam-Noah-Abraham-Isaac-Jacob-Joseph opens.

 

In addition, the covenant of God, which began after the fall of man, maintains its unity unchanged, and there are certain records of worship in the patriarchal era, which are human responses to this.

 

 

However, the earliest history of ancient worship is from the time of Abraham(2166 B.C.) to Adam, the era before that, which we cannot imagine.

 

Therefore, in a word, it is the worship of God that happened simultaneously with the first beginning of mankind.

 

 

In ancient society, Israeli patriarchs were called prophets, priests, kings, etc. (Gen 14:18).

 

And these patriarchs led public worship, and led worship at home with their families (Gen 18:19).

 

In particular, the articles of Old Testament worship appearing in Abraham detail his act of worship to God.

 

“To build an altar for Jehovah” (Genesis 12:7-8, 13:18),

 

In this way, when Abraham built an altar and worshiped according to God's intention,

God himself was present and blessed with purity.

 

At this time, a sacrifice, a type of Christ's crucifixion, was offered on the altar.

(Gen 15:9-10,  The Lord told him, “Bring me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10 So Abram presented all these to him and killed them. Then he cut each animal down the middle and laid the halves side by side; he did not, however, cut the birds in half. 

 

Gen  22: 5-8,

5 “Stay here with the donkey,” Abraham told the servants. “The boy and I will travel a little farther. We will worship there, and then we will come right back.”

6 So Abraham placed the wood for the burnt offering on Isaac’s shoulders, while he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them walked on together, 7 Isaac turned to Abraham and said, “Father?”

“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.

“We have the fire and the wood,” the boy said, “but where is the sheep for the burnt offering?”

8 “God will provide a sheep for the burnt offering, my son,” Abraham answered. And they both walked on together.

 

 

Such a record appeared in Jacob, and he even made the designation "El Bethel"

especially in commemoration of God's presence.

(Gen 35:1-8,

Then God said to Jacob, “Get ready and move to Bethel and settle there. Build an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother, Esau.”

2 So Jacob told everyone in his household, “Get rid of all your pagan idols, purify yourselves, and put on clean clothing. 3 We are now going to Bethel, where I will build an altar to the God who answered my prayers when I was in distress. He has been with me wherever I have gone.”

4 So they gave Jacob all their pagan idols and earrings, and he buried them under the great tree near Shechem. 5 As they set out, a terror from God spread over the people in all the towns of that area, so no one attacked Jacob’s family.

6 Eventually, Jacob and his household arrived at Luz (also called Bethel) in Canaan. 7 Jacob built an altar there and named the place El-bethel (which means “God of Bethel”), because God had appeared to him there when he was fleeing from his brother, Esau.

8 Soon after this, Rebekah’s old nurse, Deborah, died. She was buried beneath the oak tree in the valley below Bethel. Ever since, the tree has been called Allon-bacuth (which means “oak of weeping”).

 

 

Joshua in the latter days also put a great emphasis on worshiping God, saying, "Fear Jehovah and serve him with sincerity and truth" (Joshua 24:14),

“Only me and my house will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15).

 

In this way, God comes to those who keep God's command and respond with true worship and is present in their hearts.

Wherever God is present, true worship exists in whatever circumstances and circumstances.