Symbolic Acts And Gestures In Biblical Worship

Biblical men and women experienced the Lord as a dynamic God known through his interaction with them in the course of history. It is fitting, therefore, that much of the symbolism of biblical worship consists of physical actions that direct people beyond themselves to spiritual realities.

Lifting of Hands

A common symbolic gesture is the lifting of hands. Still widely used in modern worship, it was a universal ancient symbol of covenant loyalty. A bas-relief contemporaneous with the reign of Hezekiah shows the Babylonian ruler Merodach-Baladan (2 Kings 20:12) making a grant to an official; each holds a staff in the left hand and has the right hand raised in oath (James B. Pritchard, The Ancient Near East [Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1958], plate 125). Covenants were sometimes signified by the scarring of the wrist; when the hand of the vassal was lifted to his monarch, the scar was a visible reminder of the great king's responsibility to defend and protect his servant. These traditions no doubt underlie the common practice of lifting hands in worship. The people of Israel made supplication with hands extended toward the sanctuary, the earthly dwelling of the great King (Pss. 28:2; 134:2); toward the ark of the covenant, which symbolized his throne (Lam. 2:19); or toward heaven (Lam. 3:41). As Solomon's prayer at the dedication of the temple indicates (1 Kings 8:28–30), by the lifting of hands prayer was directed toward the sanctuary, as part of the tribute offered to the great King (Meredith G. Kline, The Structure of Biblical Authority [Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1972], p. 62). Moses stood with hands upraised while Joshua led Israel in war with the Amalekites. As long as his hands were up, Israel prevailed in the battle (Exod. 17:10–13). David likens the lifting of his hands to the evening sacrifice (Ps. 141:2), a daily offering to Yahweh, which was specified in the covenant regulations. There was a meat offering at that time, but David's reference is to the offering of incense (Exod. 30:8). Incense, in turn, symbolizes the prayers of God's people (Rev. 8:3–4). In many churches this practice is preserved as worshipers in the new covenant lift their hands in praise, affirmation, or supplication toward the Lord. Paul expresses the desire that all believers should lift up holy hands (1 Tim. 2:8), that is, hands belonging to people set apart for the Lord through the covenant relationship.

Bowing, Kneeling, Falling Prostrate

Related to the lifting of hands are the gestures of bowing, kneeling, and falling prostrate, all of which were acts of obeisance and humility common throughout the ancient world. Usually these acts were carried out in the presence of a monarch or other powerful figure; thus they demonstrate respect and even a measure of fear. Moses fell down before the Lord in dread of his wrath because of Israel's rebellion (Deut. 9:18–19). A bas-relief from Nineveh depicts the siege of the Judean city of Lachish by the Assyrians; inhabitants of the city are shown kneeling before Sennacherib, the Assyrian ruler (Pritchard, plate 101). And the Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III pictures Jehu, the king of Israel, kneeling with his face to the floor as he presents tribute to the monarch (Pritchard, plate 100A). Israel bowed before Yahweh because, as their God, he was their Lord or King (Ps. 95:6; Isa. 45:23). When the Magi bowed before the infant Jesus, they showed that they recognized his identity as King of Israel, despite the humble circumstances in which they found him. Kneeling was a common posture assumed during prayer by saints of both the old and new covenants. At the consecration of the temple, Solomon knelt with his hands lifted to invoke the blessing of the Lord on the new sanctuary (2 Chron. 6:13). Daniel knelt to pray and give thanks three times every day (Dan. 6:10). Peter knelt to pray over the body of Dorcas (Acts 9:40). Paul and the elders from Ephesus knelt together to pray as Paul took his leave (Acts 20:36). And Jesus prayed on his knees in the Garden of Gethsemane (Luke 22:41).

Clapping the Hands

Israel worshiped the Lord also with the clapping of hands (Ps. 47:1); even the rivers (Ps. 98:8) and the trees of the open country (Isa. 55:12) are urged to clap their hands. Clapping was symbolic of a king's victory over his enemies; the people clapped their hands at the coronation of King Joash (2 Kings 11:12), which ended the heathen rule of the queen mother Athaliah. Hand clapping in Christian worship is more than the rhythmic beating of time; it is a declaration of the victory and dominion of the Lord.

Symbolic Drama

The prophets often engaged in symbolic acts. Jeremiah visited the house of a potter (Jer. 18:1–6), and broke a jar before the elders of the people (Jer. 19:1–11) to demonstrate that God planned to break Judah and Jerusalem. Later he bought a field at Anathoth, as a token of God's promise to restore Judah to the land (Jer. 32:6–44). Ezekiel drew a picture of Jerusalem on a brick and besieged it (Ezek. 4:1–3), among other actions, as a message to the nation of impending disaster. To picture the coming exile, he was told to dig a hole in the city wall and carry his belongings out through it (Ezek. 12:1–7). Hosea married a harlot (Hos. 1:2) as a symbol of Yahweh's relationship with idolatrous and unfaithful Israel. The dramatic actions of the prophets were not acts of worship, but some of them may have been performed during festival times, when large crowds would be gathered at the sanctuary. They were object lessons to illustrate the consequence of breaking the covenant. The New Testament prophet Agabus engaged in symbolic action to picture the events that awaited the apostle Paul in Jerusalem (Acts 21:10–11). The Gospels record symbolic dramas performed by Jesus. The most colorful of these was his triumphal entry into Jerusalem to the acclamations of his disciples. Matthew (Matt. 21:5) explains the symbolism as the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy of the redemption of Jerusalem (Isa. 62:11–12) and Zechariah's announcement of the coming of the King to Zion (Zech. 9:9). According to Luke, this was not only a festive occasion, but one that dramatized the impending destruction of the city. Jesus wept over Jerusalem because of the people's blindness to the true deliverance of the Lord and went on to predict that the city would be leveled "because you did not recognize the time of God's coming to you" (Luke 19:41–44). In the synoptic Gospels, another symbolic drama follows immediately. With a whip, Jesus drives the money changers from the temple (Mark 11:15–17), reminding them of the words of Isaiah and Jeremiah, "My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations" (Isa. 56:7), "Has this house … become a den of robbers to you?" (Jer. 7:11). Jesus' action dramatizes the change from the old covenant to the new, wherein God's "house" or kingdom will include not only believing Jews but all nations of the world. Jesus' parables of the kingdom of God are word pictures that often take a dramatic turn. Through stories about such things as a vineyard rented out to wicked tenants (Matt. 21:33–46; Mark 12:1–11), a wedding feast to which the guests refuse to come (Matt. 22:1–14; Luke 14:16–24), and ten virgins waiting for a bridegroom (Matt. 25:1–13), Jesus illustrates the judgment that is soon to befall Jerusalem and the religious system it represents.

Symbolic Rituals

It can be said that the Israelite sanctuary with all its furnishings and the whole sacrificial system that accompanied it were one eloquent symbol. All the colors, the various metals, tables and lampstands, linen robes, fragrant incense, the ark with its cherubim, and the complicated rituals taken together pictured the salvation God would eventually enact, not to Israel alone, but to all the world in the person of his Son. Here we will consider a few of the more prominent symbolic actions in the worship of Israel and Judah.

Firstborn and Firstfruits.

Because Israel was in covenant with Yahweh and recognized him as King, the people were required to bring him tribute. While all the sacrifices specified in the Law represented this tribute, the offering of first things carried a special symbolism of Yahweh's sovereignty over the nation. Thus Israel presented the firstborn to the Lord, sacrificed or redeemed the first of all animals to open the womb, and brought the offering of firstfruits at the harvest. In presenting these things, Israel acknowledged that all its possessions and indeed all its people belonged to the Lord of the covenant; these offerings were a token of the whole. Jesus, as the firstborn, was presented to the Lord in the same manner (Luke 2:22–24).

The Day of Atonement.

Once each year, on the Day of Atonement, which immediately preceded the Feast of Tabernacles, the high priest would enter the Most Holy Place of the sanctuary where the ark of the covenant was placed. He brought with him blood from the altar of sacrifice, where animals were being offered in behalf of Israel's sins, and sprinkled it on the kapporet, or cover of the ark, to represent God's cleansing of the people and his continued commitment to the covenant relationship. On the same day two male goats were brought before the priests. One was offered for the sins of the priest and his household to prepare him ceremonially to offer sacrifices for the people. The other was presented live before the Lord; after the sin offering was completed, the high priest laid his hands on the goat's head, confessing the iniquities of the nation. Symbolically he transferred their sins to the goat, who was sent into the wilderness to take them away (Lev. 16:5–10, 20–22).

Living in Booths (Tabernacles).

During the celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles the people were instructed to make temporary shelters (sukkot) for themselves from tree branches and to live in them for seven days. The act of dwelling in these shelters, called "booths" or "tabernacles" in English versions, symbolized the forty years of wandering in the wilderness when Israel had no permanent home (Lev. 23:40–43). During that period the people traveled about as the Lord led them in the movements of the ark of the covenant; thus the Feast of Tabernacles reminded the worshipers that their real leader and king was the Lord of hosts (Zech. 14:16–18).

Passover Symbolism.

In the same way, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which culminated in the Passover celebration, symbolically recalled the events through which Yahweh had delivered Israel from slavery in Egypt. The matzah was a reminder of the night they left Egypt in such haste that the bread did not have time to rise. The Passover supper included lamb as a symbol of the lamb killed and eaten by each family, whose blood, smeared over the doors of their homes, protected Israel's firstborn sons from the avenging angel of death. The bitter herbs that completed the menu symbolized the bitterness of the slavery they were leaving. Although these were visual objects, the focus was not on the various foods themselves but on the act of eating them in the setting of family and community.

Processions

Ceremonial processions, frequently including dance, were a feature of the festival worship of Israel. The festal march symbolized God's reign over Israel and presented the picture of an army following its King into war.

Processions in Israel's Worship

The procession around the walls of Jericho, which began the conquest of Canaan, was a ceremonial act that took place in the context of actual warfare (Josh. 6). Similarly, a company of musicians and worshipers led the armies of Jehoshaphat into battle (2 Chron. 20:21–22) and afterward marched back into Jerusalem carrying their instruments and rejoicing in the Lord's victory in their behalf (2 Chron. 20:27–28). The most vivid biblical description of a festal procession is David's portrayal of the movement of the ark of God in Psalm 68. The psalm begins with the cry, "May God arise, may his enemies be scattered; may his foes flee before him" (Ps. 68:1). Moses used the same words whenever the ark was to move out before the congregation of Israel in their trek through the wilderness (Num. 10:35). David continues with an invitation to praise the Lord, "who rides through the deserts" (Ps. 68:4 nasb), and indeed the entire psalm appears to be a symbolic recalling of the wilderness wanderings of Israel. As such it may have been a liturgy for an annual festival such as the Feast of Tabernacles. David sings, "When you went out before your people, O God, when you marched through the wasteland, the earth shook, … before God, the One of Sinai, before God, the God of Israel. … The Lord announced the word, and great was the company of those who proclaimed it. … When you ascended on high, you led captives in your train. … Your procession has come into view, O God, the procession of my God and King into the sanctuary. In front are the singers, after them the musicians; with them are the maidens playing tambourines. … There is the little tribe of Benjamin, leading them, there the great throng of Judah's princes, and there the princes of Zebulun and of Naphtali" (Ps. 68:7–8, 11, 18, 24–25, 27). As the ark is returned to its place in the tabernacle David had erected for it, the musicians sing, "You are awesome, O God, in your sanctuary" (Ps. 68:35). One is reminded of the festal procession that accompanied the bringing of the ark from Kiriath Jearim and three months later from the house of Obed-Edom up to David's tabernacle in Zion. In the former instance "David and the whole house of Israel were celebrating with all their might before the Lord, with songs and with harps, lyres, tambourines, sistrums and cymbals" (2 Sam. 6:5). In the latter, it is recorded that David, clad in a linen ephod like those worn by the priests, leaped and danced before Lord "with all his might" (2 Sam. 6:14, 16). Perhaps Psalm 68 was used in this procession since it is a Davidic psalm celebrating the movement of the ark into the sanctuary. In Psalm 42, a Korahite psalm, the speaker, apparently detained away from the sanctuary (Ps. 42:6), expresses his longing for former days when "I used to go with the multitude, leading the procession to the house of God" (Ps. 42:4). At the dedication ceremonies for the rebuilt wall of Jerusalem, Nehemiah summoned the musicians, priests, Levites, and leading citizens of Judah for a procession of thanksgiving to the Lord (Neh. 12:27). Two great choirs led the marchers in opposite directions upon the wall until they met at the house of the Lord (Neh. 12:31–40). This was followed by rejoicing so boisterous that the sounds were heard far outside the city (Neh. 12:43).

Processions in the New Testament

The Gospels describe a procession similar to those found in the Old Testament, with one notable difference: instead of being led by the ark, the symbol of God's presence, this procession centers around Jesus Christ himself riding on a donkey, surrounded with throngs of worshipers, waving palm branches and shouting, "Hosanna!" or "Save us, Lord!" (Matt. 21:1–9; Mark 11:1–10; John 12:12–15). This celebration pictures the coronation of Christ as king of Israel. It is repeated in the Revelation as the great multitude of the redeemed stands before the throne with palm branches in their hands crying out, "Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb" (Rev. 7:10). A similar procession pictures the Lamb on Mount Zion and 144,000 worshipers, symbolic of the faithful of both old and new covenants, following him wherever he goes, singing a new song (Rev. 14:1–4). Again, we see Christ wearing a robe dipped in blood, his eyes like fire and crowned with many crowns, leading an army of saints in white linen, who also ride white horses (Rev. 19:11–14). These visionary processions depict the spiritual reality of the victorious Christ as King over his worshiping people, which the Israelite processions symbolically anticipated. Like these biblical processions, those in the church's worship today dramatize the kingship of Christ.

Dance

Music and dancing of various kinds accompanied processions in Israel, whether liturgical or simply those that celebrated military victories or other joyous occasions. As used in the worship of the Lord, dance is a form of self-abandon by the creature made aware of the mystery and majesty of his Creator. It is thus a recognition of the presence of the holy. David's dance before the ark is an illustration of this abandon in worship. The orchestrated movement of group dancing involves the subordination of the individual to the corporate expression of praise and can therefore be a token of the covenant of the Lord with all his people. Ceremonial dances were a feature of the feast of the Lord held at Shiloh each year (Judg. 21:19–21). Jephthah's only daughter greeted him with tambourines and dancing when he returned victorious from battle with the Ammonites (Judg. 11:32–34). Women danced in the streets of all the cities of Israel, singing and playing tambourines and other instruments, as King Saul and his young servant David returned from the slaying of Goliath (1 Sam. 18:6). David cries out in exultation to the God of the covenant, "You turned my wailing into dancing … that my heart may sing to you" (Ps. 30:11–12). Other psalmists invite all God's people to praise him with dance: "Let the people of Zion be glad in their King. Let them praise his name with dancing" (Ps. 149:2; cf. Ps. 150:4). For Jeremiah, the cessation of dancing is part of the curse visited upon Israel because it has broken the covenant. "Our dancing has turned to mourning … " he weeps. "Woe to us, for we have sinned!" (Lam. 5:15–16). However, in his prophecy of the new covenant, he promises the restoration of dance as a symbol of the blessing of Yahweh on his people. "Again you will take up your tambourines and go out to dance with the joyful. … Then maidens will dance and be glad, young men and old as well. I will turn their mourning into gladness" (Jer. 31:4, 13).