What is Worship?

[gregoryfl]

What comes to your mind when you hear the word "Worship?" It is usually thought of as some religious act done to a diety, often in a particular holy place. Some use it to describe the singing and or prayer time that takes place at church. Whatever definition you come up with, one constant theme would be something of a religious or spiritual nature.

However, as you may already have figured out from reading my other blog entries, I would like to share another view of what worship is that has been hidden in scripture, and is more all encompassing than we have been led to realize.

To start off, most would agree that worship in scripture was given to the true God, and also to false gods. But what is not so well known is that the same worship is also given to humans, and rightly so. You see, when you trace the usage of the Hebrew and Greek word for worship, you will find that it was something expressed to men as well as to God. While worship can have religious connotations to it, by its very nature it does not.

The reason that most are not aware of this is because the same word is rendered in two general ways: 1) As bowing down if done toward a human and, 2) as worship if done toward God. The reason this distinction is made is because the English word worship has acquired a meaning that has restricted it to something done of a spiritual or religious nature. What it originally meant helps us to understand why it was done before humans as well as God. It will also help us see why it is far more encompassing in our lives than we may think.

[gregoryfl]

Let's take a look at the Hebrew word that is rendered as "worship." The most common one is "shachah." At its heart is the simple basic meaning of bringing one's face to the ground out of respect. It was commonly done with regard to anyone someone was wishing to show the utmost respect to and lifting the person up over them in stature, recognizing their greatness. This was represented by lowering the face all the way to the ground, where a persons feet are. Most commonly this was done toward God but as I mentioned, it was also commonly done toward people as well. Here are some examples of that:

Gen 23:7 Abraham rose up, and bowed himself to the people of the land, even to the children of Heth.

Gen 27:29 Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers. Let your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you. Blessed be everyone who blesses you.”

Gen 42:6 Joseph was the governor over the land. It was he who sold to all the people of the land. Joseph’s brothers came, and bowed themselves down to him with their faces to the earth.

Exo 18:7 Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, and bowed and kissed him. They asked each other of their welfare, and they came into the tent.

Exo 34:14 for you shall worship no other god: for Yahweh, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.

Notice how all the verses in Genesis (which are only a few of the many other instances of the word shachah) and the first one I listed in Exodus all translate the word as bow down. Notice that it was done to various people, including (in the case of Abraham) children.

Yet when we compare it with the verses that concern God, the translators decided to render it as "worship." I believe this is because of the change in understanding and the religious connection that was given to the word, which it originally did not have. At least not in the way it should be understood.

When we take it basic meaning, that of lowering the face, in recognition of someone we put before ourselves, we can see that this meaning remains consistent throughout all scripture, both with reference to man, as well as to God.

Knowing this also helps us see why God said that such bowing of the face was not to be done toward false gods. Quite simply, anyone doing that was putting that false god in the place of the true God, giving it the place that should be given to God himself. That is the reason God was so adamant about avoiding such things; not because bowing the face in respect was to only be done to God, for we see that it indeed was done to others, not just God. The difference was that the bowing down was done to recognize the person themselves in themselves, not as a replacement for the true God. Of course, to do such a thing with another human would be wrong.

This also helps us see why the 3 so-called "wise men" went to Jesus to "worship", or bow down before him. They themselves give the reason for doing so, when they ask "Where is this one, who is born king of the Jews?" They did not think of him as God, or even a god, but a king, and as such, worthy of bowing down to in respect for that position.

We will continue to look a bit more into some other verses that I think have been misunderstood about worship, and then wrap it up by sharing how this understanding indeed has greater meaning for us today than the limited "worship time at a worship service" so many are used to.

[Silence]

Hello Gregory,
I agree with what you are saying about the nature of the word for worship. When I think of the way this is expressed towrds God, I think the ultimate is when Daniel, John, Ezekiel, and Paul describe falling down as dead men, with no strength remaining in them, trembling and astonished, etc. I met a Jewish man once who saw Jesus at his uncle's funeral when he was a boy, only he didn't know who He was. All he knew was this Person was wearing a very bright, white robe and had eyes of fire and that he felt a pressure all around him like he was being pushed into the ground and all he could smell was dirt even though he knew that he was sitting upright in a chair.
Not everyone gets an intense vision like that, but if we spend time in God's word we can see Jesus there and have a similar experience.

[gregoryfl]

Having seen that worship is, at it's core, a flattening of oneself to the ground in respect for another, whether human or God himself, let us now look at some commonly misunderstood scriptures concerning this subject.

The first I wish to consider is Matthew 4:9,10:

He said to him, “I will give you all of these things, if you will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Get behind me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and you shall serve him only.’”

Here it would appear to be saying whatever worship is, it is not to be given to anyone but God himself. I would have to both agree with that, as well as disagree. Ask yourself why was Satan seeking worship? How would the simple act of Jesus' flattening himself to Satan be so wrong? We have already established that this flattening was done both to God as well as humans, so we must look at the context of Jesus' quote to get the clue we need as to what he was thinking.

Jesus quoted from Deuteronomy 6:13, but I would like to quote the next 2 verses which give us the clue we need:

Deu 6:13-15 You shall fear Yahweh your God; and you shall serve him, and shall swear by his name. You shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the peoples who are around you; for Yahweh your God in the midst of you is a jealous God; lest the anger of Yahweh your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth.

If you look up every instance where the Lord says to flatten yourself to him, he is not saying that people should not flatten themselves before others, otherwise we would have a major problem. In these instances, he is speaking so as to keep them from replacing him with false gods, idols. He doesn't just say worship him; he always adds that they are not to go after other gods, to flatten themselves to them.

The reasons for this are not only that the false gods are no gods at all, but also because to flatten yourself before the true God is to respect who he is, and this respect is only to be given to him, no one else. The key to understanding this is to consider the thinking involved behind the respect given. Anyone flattening themselves to a king is to respect them as a king. Abraham flattening himself to his father meant to respect him as his elder and father. In just these two examples, the king is not being thought of as God, nor is Abrahams father.

In the case of idols, false gods, that isn't the case. In those cases the idol is being thought of as their god. God is, in effect, being replaced by that idol. That is why in those cases it is wrong.

With this in mind, now we can answer the question as to how it would have been wrong for Jesus to flatten himself before Satan. What Satan was asking was for Jesus to, just for one moment, to put him in the place of God, by showing him that respect. Jesus rightly saw through that and quoted the scripture, showing that any act of flattening oneself to a false god is to do so to Satan, the false god behind every idol ever made. Such respect is to only be given to God, and God alone.

As a quick note, some may point out that the text also says that you are to serve God only as well. Just as with the word for worship, the word serve has many different expressions, from Adam and Eve "serving" the garden of Eden, to Abel "serving" the flocks, to humans serving other humans, etc. Once again, it has nothing to do with the act itself, but with the thinking behind the act. If it is done as a replacement for God, then it is sin. Otherwise, it is a normal human act.

You may be thinking about what an angel once said to John the apostle, which occurred twice, as noted here:

Rev 19:10 I fell down before his feet to worship him. He said to me, “Look! Don’t do it! I am a fellow bondservant with you and with your brothers who hold the testimony of Jesus. Worship God, for the testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of Prophecy.”

Rev 22:8-9 Now I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. When I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who had shown me these things. He said to me, “See you don’t do it! I am a fellow bondservant with you and with your brothers, the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.”

Here again, the commonly held view is that the angel is saying it is wrong to worship him, and that only God is to be worshipped. But think for a moment...here you have an apostle who has served God faithfully all his life. Do we really think that he had a brain lapse in these 2 moments and decided that he wanted to worship this angel as God? I personally do not believe that. He certainly knew better, but that is what is commonly understood. I think it is also taken for granted that the angel was saying that John was doing something wrong. I do not believe this is the truth though, and here is why.

Here you have this messenger from God with John, and this messenger is showing John all these marvelous and awesome things. I believe that John simply was expressing his respect for this angel for what he was showing him. However, the angel knew that he was not the source of the revelation, but God the Father through the Lord Jesus Christ. I believe that this is why the angel said what he said to John. In other words, he was, in effect, telling John "John, get up. I am not the source here. It is with God the Father. His son Jesus is the Spirit of prophecy, not me. I am a mere messenger, a mere servant just as you are. Show this respect to God, not me.

Understanding what worship truly is, we can see that John did not all of a sudden begin to commit the sin of idolatry by worshipping at this angels' feet. He was merely showing respect and honor to this angel, since, from John's perspective, the angel was the one showing him these things. His fault, if you will, was not in replacing God with an angel, but in expressing appreciation to an angel for things that were given by God.

Now, having seen that worship is indeed something far different than we have been taught, how should this affect us? Is this simply about the act of flattening oneself on the ground before someone, or is something more to be understood?

Indeed, there is something more, something much more, than at first meets the eye. You see, someone that you "worship" you "serve". For example, to worship the king also means you serve the king. Abraham's worship of his father also meant he served his father. And of course, to worship God is to serve him. Worship and service are linked together. At the heart of this is the idea of something that continues over time. While the act of worship can be a momentary thing, flattening down to someone, the principle behind it is a continuous mindset and daily expression of serving that one. Herein is where the Hebraic mindset is different from the Western mindset with regard to worship.

For our culture, worship is something religious you do at a certain place for a period of time that begins and ends. In the Hebraic mindset, EVERYTHING IS WORSHIP. This is so important to grasp....EVERYTHING WE DO IS WORSHIP!! There is no separation of secular and spiritual in God's eyes. Every act is spiritual. When you go to work, you are not doing something secular. You are worshipping God and serving him. When you eat, you are not doing some mundane thing. You are worshipping God and serving him. Every moment of one's life is considered worship and service, all spiritual, in the eyes of God. This is why it is written that, with regard to our work, it is "with good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men." Eph 6:7 And also, "Whatever you do, in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father, through him." Col 3:17

I hope that this has given fresh perspective to this often misused and abused word, a perspective that broadens our thinking with regard to everything we do, both mundane and important.

Ron

[gregoryfl]

Hello Gregory,
I agree with what you are saying about the nature of the word for worship. When I think of the way this is expressed towrds God, I think the ultimate is when Daniel, John, Ezekiel, and Paul describe falling down as dead men, with no strength remaining in them, trembling and astonished, etc. I met a Jewish man once who saw Jesus at his uncle's funeral when he was a boy, only he didn't know who He was. All he knew was this Person was wearing a very bright, white robe and had eyes of fire and that he felt a pressure all around him like he was being pushed into the ground and all he could smell was dirt even though he knew that he was sitting upright in a chair.
Not everyone gets an intense vision like that, but if we spend time in God's word we can see Jesus there and have a similar experience.Hello Silence, Thanks for sharing your expression of this. With all the disrespect we see in the world today, that is surely something we need a dose of brother. :)