Upon the completion of the Jerusalem temple—the center of Jewish
worship—Solomon reminded the Israelites that God is worthy of adoration and
praise simply because of who He is and because of all that He has done (1 Kings
8:56-60). Then the king declared: "Let your heart therefore be loyal to
the LORD our God,
to walk in His statutes and keep His commandments, as at this day"
(v. 61 NKJV). Solomon’s
plain yet solemn admonition highlights what is reiterated throughout scripture,
namely the two fundamental requirements for acceptably approaching the throne
of God: (1) a heart wholly devoted to Him, and (2) humble obedience to His
revealed will.
Disruptions and Deviations
At the death of Solomon, his son Rehoboam took the throne and attempted to rule
with an iron fist, inciting a rebellion that led to the eventual division of
the nation. Nebat’s son, Jeroboam, took control of the northern kingdom and did
not want his people worshiping in Jerusalem and potentially being influenced to
turn against him. He thus devised more convenient and innovative forms of
worship in their own land, including new sacrifices, feasts, images, shrines,
and priests (1 Kings 12:1-33).
The years that followed witnessed nineteen consecutive evil kings and a
sustained digression in the North. Consequently the LORD allowed
the Assyrians to conquer and exile the northern Israelites, and their land was
repopulated with pagans from various Gentile nations (2 Kings 17:5-24). The
chief complaint of these new inhabitants was that they did not know "the
rituals of the God of the land" (v. 26), so an Israelite priest was
repatriated to teach them how to worship the God of Israel (vv. 27-28). The
intermingling of these new settlers with a remnant of the former populace
resulted in what came to be known as the Samaritan race, whose worship was a
mixture of God-revealed worship and man-made worship (vv. 29-41; cf. Ezra 4:2).
Revelation and Restoration
A few centuries later, as Jesus of Nazareth passed through this land, He
encountered a Samaritan woman (John 4:1-18). After a brief discussion about
"living water" and morality, the conversation turned to the topic of
worship (the term is used eight times in vv. 20-24). As the woman enquired
about the rightful place of worship (Mt. Gerazim or Jerusalem?), Jesus informs
her that the place of worship is not as important as how one
worships. As a matter of fact, the Samaritans were essentially worshiping in
ignorance, while the Jews at least worshiped according to God’s revelation (v.
22).
The mention of "true" worship (v. 23) naturally implies the converse
reality of false worship. Yet the Samaritans were not the only ones who had it
wrong. When Jesus said that true worshipers "will" worship the
Father, the subtle indication is that neither the Samaritans nor the Jews, for
the most part, were currently doing it correctly. In fact, when Jesus later
applied the words of Isaiah 29:13 to Jewish scribes and Pharisees, He exposed
their absence of the fundamental requisites for acceptably worshiping God.
Neither their hearts nor their teachings were in line with the divine will
(Matthew 15:1-9).
Alternatively,
Jesus goes on to explain to the Samaritan woman that the two essential elements
of faithful worship are "spirit and truth" (John 4:23). The human
spirit is elsewhere described as the inner person or the heart, including one’s
thoughts, intentions, attitudes, and motives (cf. Romans 1:9). The truth is
equated with God’s revealed word (John 8:31-32; 17:17). Jesus was simply
restoring worship to what it was originally intended to be. The importance of this
is shown further by His repetition of these directives in v. 24, stating that
one "must" worship accordingly to be regarded as a true worshiper.
Respecting Revelation and Continuing Restoration
Today we still need to be concerned about restoring worship according to God’s
design. Many, like Jeroboam of old, are discontent with the simple worship of
days gone by and call for a more convenient, exciting, or even entertaining
style of worship. In a misguided attempt to generate deeper spirituality,
certain ones naively think that changing the outward forms of worship is the
answer. While some changes might be good and necessary (in line with biblical
teaching), many are not. Genuine spirituality is just not developed from the
outside in.
There are others, however, like the early
Samaritans, who seem to be chiefly concerned about "the rituals of the God
of the land." They are satisfied as long as the correct externals are in
place. But simply going through the motions—even the right ones—is meaningless
without dedicated, reverent, worshipful hearts.
The Bible presents a balanced approach: worship that is pleasing to God both
internally and externally. True Christian worship involves observing the Lord’s
supper with the proper focus, praying and singing with the right spirit, reflectively
hearing the word of God, and giving with purposeful and cheerful hearts (1
Corinthians 11:23-29; 14:15; Romans 10:8; 2 Corinthians 9:7).
Conclusion
If one is truly seeking the Lord and sincerely desiring to please Him, the
simple forms of worship revealed in the New Testament will not only be
sufficient, they will be all that one wants to bring to the heavenly throne as
worship is offered in spirit and truth. Let us avoid the mistake of the ancient
Samaritans of only caring about external "rituals" without having
hearts dedicated solely and completely to the Almighty. Let us avoid the error
of Jeroboam and his successors of changing the forms of worship which God has
revealed, sanctioned, and authorized. May we approach our Creator only as He
desires, with genuinely devoted hearts and uncompromising allegiance to His
immutable word.
–Kevin
L. Moore
Originally
appearing in The Voice of Truth International (49:92-94)
and republished in The Summit Chronicle 5:1 (December 2007):
1-2, http://www.churchofchrist.org.nz/assets/summitchronicle/Summit_Chronicle_Issue5.pdf
Image credit: http://www.newlifechristianassembly.net/MinistryPages/Worship/Pictures/Worship_Background_7.jpg
No comments:
Post a Comment