Worship: Approaching God on His Terms

A lot has changed in worship between now and the Old Testament. We no longer offer sacrifices to God. We worship in many different places spread out all over the world. Yet we worship the same God that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob did so many years ago. Is there anything we can learn about worship from the Old Testament? I believe that there are principals from the Old Testament that can be carried over to today.

Exodus 20:1–11 (ESV)

¹ And God spoke all these words, saying, ² “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. ³ “You shall have no other gods before me. ⁴ “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. ⁵ You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, ⁶ but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. ⁷ “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. ⁸ “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. ⁹ Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, ¹⁰ but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. ¹¹ For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

First, God is speaking to the Israelites. He has just brought them out of Egypt. He is laying down the covenant between himself and them. This is very similar to other covenants in the Ancient Near East in which a conquering king would lay out what he had done for the vassal state and then set up the rules for their relationship. In fact, the whole book of Deuteronomy has been seen by some as this kind of contract. God has the right to set law.

The first Law was one that would seem very strange to the Israelites, since they were surrounded by polytheists. They were not to worship any other god besides their God, Yahweh. There are other spirit beings out there, but they were not to worship them. God is the only Spirit who is Divine. He alone is worthy of worship. We can easily worship other things. We can put money, or family, or fame, or anything in front of God in our lives. Be careful! What are you worshiping?

The second Law would also seem strange to the Israelites. They were not to worship God as those around them worshiped their gods. They were not to try and represent God in any image. In ancient times, idols were seen as conduits to the god. Anything done in their presence would be done to the god himself. Some even saw the gods as being able to do anything but feed themselves. Therefore, if the people would sacrifice to them the god would be obligated to do good things for them. God would not be manipulated that way. God also would not be equated with creation. He is above his creation and cannot be likened to anything in it to where he can be accurately represented by some created thing. I think that we too can sometimes try to manipulate God. We may think that God will do something for us if we do something for him. God is not obligated to us except for his own self-obligation through his promises. Don't try to manipulate God, it won't work.

The third law deals with God's name. It was not to be used in vain. In this time, people would verify their truthfulness by swearing by a god. God was telling them to not use his name lightly. They should not swear by it especially if they are not going to keep their promise. This would also cover using God's name lightly. We tend to do this all the time in our culture. Use God's name rightly and reverently.

The fourth law deals with the Sabbath. This one is different for Christians than it was for Israel. The seventh day is Saturday. As you know, Christians worship together on Sunday since that is the day that Christ rose from the dead. Why then is there the disconnect? This was something for this covenant with Israel and it is not repeated in the New Testament but is in fact given as a point of freedom. Paul wrote:

Colossians 2:16 (ESV)

¹⁶ Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath.

Some would celebrate the Sabbath, but Paul said they should not judge those who do not. Likewise, those who do not celebrate the Sabbath should not judge those who do. What can we as Christians learn from this? We need to take time to worship. We must find time in our busy schedules to worship God together with other believers. Secondly, we must rest. God gave the Sabbath to give man rest. We need rest.

In conclusion, what do these four laws teach us about worship? We must worship only God and no one or no thing else. We must not manipulate God trying to get him to do what we want him to. We must have a reverence for God's name and who he is. Finally, we must take time to worship and rest.

The youtube of this sermon is available if you are interested here