Theology & HistoryFirst Lesson Free Preview

History And Institutions Of Biblical Worship

History Of Israelite And Jewish Worship From the beginning Israel's worship is a response to Yahweh for the acts he has performed in its history. Israel's whole history is a life of coexistence with God, a partnership in a historical drama. The emphasis is on Yahweh as the initia

Start 7-Day Full Access Preview Ask Worship Coach About This Topic

History And Institutions Of Biblical Worship

Course Study Guide & Readings

History Of Israelite And Jewish Worship

From the beginning Israel's worship is a response to Yahweh for the acts he has performed in its history. Israel's whole history is a life of coexistence with God, a partnership in a historical drama. The emphasis is on Yahweh as the initiator, but Israel responds. The people address Yahweh in a personal way. They offer praise, ask questions, complain about suffering, and converse with him about all the issues of life. This conversation of worship is recorded throughout the Scriptures, binding Jewish history together in celebration of this relationship with the Creator God. In the New Testament church the emphasis falls on the historical acts of the triune God, with the central focus on the Incarnation, the Cross, and the exaltation of Jesus Christ the Lord, made real by the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:3-14; 2:18). These details are covered in seven entries.

History Of New Testament Worship

Early Christians continued to worship in the temple and in the synagogue. Gradually, however, they separated from the Jewish institutions of worship into their own assemblies. As to form, Christian worship involved prayer and praise but centered around the teaching of Scripture and the Lord's Supper. Christ was proclaimed in the Word and celebrated at the table. Four entries on the history of New Testament worship follow.

The Tabernacle

The tabernacle, as described in the next five entries, was the sacred house where God met with his people. It was a place of dwelling for God, a place for meeting, a place for revelation, and a place for sacrifice and atonement. The tabernacle is a symbol of God's dwelling with the people of the covenant and is the basis for the New Testament understanding of the incarnation of the Word in Jesus Christ (John 1:14) and of the presence of the Lord in the midst of the church.

The Temple Of Solomon

The temple or "house of Yahweh," was the central sanctuary of the worship of the Lord during the period of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Through the sacrificial and festive worship of the temple, as explained in the following five entries, the community of Israel expressed its covenant loyalty to God and was reminded of God's faithfulness and acts of deliverance.

The Synagogue

After the dispersion of the Jews at the time of the Exile, places of assembly rose up to maintain Hebrew culture and to serve as centers for education and for the social and religious life of the Jews. As shown in the next ten entries, these institutions came to be designated by the Greek word synagogue.

The Church As An Institution Of Worship

In the following seven entries we find that Christian worship is not an activity of isolated individuals but a function of the corporate life of the church. The place and shape of worship in the New Testament can best be understood against the background of the life of the church as a whole. The church, which offers worship to almighty God and to his Christ, is and has always been a human organization. While from a spiritual standpoint the church bears the unique stamp of its Lord, it may also be described in terms that compare it with other human institutions.

Leadership In Biblical Worship

Biblical worship is both an individual and a corporate offering of praise to the Lord; it is both spontaneous and organized. It is a declaration of God's greatness and a celebration of the covenant relationship between God and his people. It is an act of obedience to the Deity who has ordained certain ways by which his sovereignty is to be acknowledged. In order for worship to be organized as a corporate expression, there must be leadership-leadership that is acknowledged by and representative of the worshiping community, leadership that is able to assemble the resources for worship and to bring to a focus the people's motivation to express their devotion to the Most High. In the Hebrew Scriptures, representatives of four major "offices," or functions, within the community served as leaders of worship. As described in the next seven entries, these roles were those of family head or elder, prophet, priest, and king. In the New Testament, Jesus Christ summed up all of these roles.