Av 4
Worship
“But the hour
comes, and now is, when the true worshiper will worship the Father in spirit
AND in truth, for indeed the Father seeks worshipers who are like these. For Eloah is spirit, and those who worship
Him ought to worship in spirit AND in truth.”
(John 4:23-24 HRVS, emphasis mine)
Noah
Webster defines ‘worship’ as “to adore; to pay divine honors to; to reverence
with supreme respect and veneration”[1]. The biblical verse that Mr. Webster quotes as
an example in his definition is Ex 34:14:
“For thou shalt WORSHIP no other god: for the LORD, whose name is
Jealous, is a jealous God” (KJV ,
emphasis mine).
Interesting
to note that the Greek word that is translated as ‘worship’ in our opening
verses is the word proskuneō (Strong’s G4352), and literally means to
fall to one’s knees, touching the ground with your forehead in obeisance and
profound reverence. I believe that the
key here is the phrase ‘profound reverence’, something that I wonder how many
of us will truthfully admit to. Are we really
in awe and amazement at our Creator, and all that He has done, and continues to
do? Are we humbled at the unconditional
love that He has for us, a love that will never end? Do we hold Him, and His Torah, in high esteem and honor?
To
the Jew, the highest form of worship is the study of Torah, the divine
instructions in moral and righteous living.
I would suggest that the application of this study would also qualify as
worship, especially if it is done with ‘profound reverence’ toward the One who
created us. We were created to do the
will of our Elohim, and we know that Sh’ma
– to hear and obey – is His will (Deu 6:4-9).
We also know that the Scriptures define Torah as truth (Ps 119:142);
therefore, if we are to worship in spirit and
in truth, it would stand to reason that the application of the truth, the Torah, would somehow be involved.
Always
remember, folks, the very rocks would praise Him if the need arose (Luke
19:38-40).
“for you do not bow yourselves to another
mighty one, for יהוה, whose Name is jealous, is a jealous Ěl” (Ex 34:14 ISR)
“And
they sing the song of Mosheh the servant of Elohim, and the song of the Lamb,
saying, “Great and marvellous are Your works, יהוה Ěl
Shaddai! Righteous and true are Your ways, O Sovereign of the set-apart ones! Who
shall not fear You, O יהוה, and esteem Your Name? Because You alone
are kind. Because all nations shall come and worship before You, for Your
righteousnesses have been made manifest.” (Rev 15:3-4 ISR)
©2018
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