Worshiping Elohim
Worshiping Elohim
By: Irnawan Silitonga
Summary: Worship has outward forms such as rituals, creeds, religious rules, and so on. However, the essence of worship is in spirit and in truth.
Call to action: Let us enter into the essence of worship and not become trapped in the outward forms of worship to Elohim.
We will discuss briefly the meaning of worshiping Elohim. This theme is quite interesting because in the Christian world many discussions have been made about worship—various ways of worship, the condition of the heart of a worshiper, and so on. It is even emphasized that the primary purpose for which humans were created is to worship Elohim. Many Bible teachers also say that in heaven we will worship the Lord forever.
Let us begin our discussion with the Hebrew and Greek terms that are often translated as worship. In the Old Testament, the term frequently translated as ‘worship/to worship’ is ‘shachah’, which means ‘to bow down’, and also ‘to humble oneself out of reverence’. There is also another Hebrew term, ‘abad’, which means ‘to serve’, and is sometimes also translated as ‘worship’.
In the New Testament there are several Greek terms translated as ‘worship’, such as ‘latreuo’ and ‘sebomai’, but the one that appears most frequently and is translated ‘worship’ is ‘proskuneo’, which means ‘to bow down’. In the Septuagint, the Hebrew term ‘shachah’ is translated ‘proskuneo’. These two terms—‘shachah’ (Hebrew) and ‘proskuneo’ (Greek), both meaning ‘to bow down’—are what we will examine to build a true understanding of what it means to worship Elohim.
To understand the meaning of a term, we need to look at the first occurrence of that term in Scripture. In hermeneutics, this principle is called ‘the principle of first mention’. This principle asserts that the first occurrence of a term in Scripture carries a meaning that remains consistent throughout the Bible. That first meaning must not be removed; any later meanings added through subsequent occurrences may only ‘add’ to that first meaning, not erase or replace it.
The first appearance of the Hebrew term ‘shachah’ occurs in the story of Abraham offering Isaac (Genesis 22). Verse 5 states, “Then Abraham said to his young men, ‘Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go over there; we will worship (‘shachah’)….’” We know the story that follows—how Abraham carried out ‘shachah’ (worship) before Elohim. Abraham did not sing a worship song as we commonly associate with ‘worshiping the Lord’. There were no ‘worship service rituals’ he performed. What Abraham did was build an altar, arrange the wood, bind Isaac, lay him on the altar, and prepare to slaughter him with the knife in his hand. Had the Angel of the LORD not stopped him, Abraham’s ‘shachah’ would have been the offering of Isaac as a burnt offering according to God’s command.
From this first occurrence of ‘shachah’, it is clear that worshiping Elohim has nothing to do with singing or performing certain religious rituals. Rather, the meaning of ‘shachah’ (worship) is the offering of “our Isaac” in obedience to God’s command and leading.
Let us clarify this basic meaning of ‘shachah’ (worship) in the case of Abraham offering Isaac as God commanded. One of the golden rules in understanding a term is to observe how it is used in a sentence—that is, to pay close attention to the context, whether near, distant, historical, covenantal, and so on. Several facts need to be considered before we go deeper into ‘shachah’.
First, people in Abraham’s day were familiar with offering their children to the deity they worshiped, usually infants. Thus, when God asked Abraham to offer Isaac, Abraham did not experience the ‘feelings and struggles’ that fathers today would feel if commanded to sacrifice their children.
Second, this does not mean Abraham easily obeyed God’s command to offer Isaac. Hebrews 11:19 states, “He considered that Elohim was able even to raise him from the dead…” (ILT). Genesis 22:12 also says, “…for now I know that you fear Elohim, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me” (ILT). Abraham was able to offer Isaac because he had been shaped into a man who feared Elohim, possessing a knowledge of, devotion to, and faith that Elohim was able to raise Isaac from the dead. It requires grace for believers to be shaped so that they may carry out ‘shachah’—that is, offering “their Isaac.”
Third, Abraham’s act of offering Isaac was ‘a work that was born of faith’. What about James 2:21, which says, “Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar?” This seems contradictory to Paul’s statement that we are justified by faith alone. Actually, Paul and James complement one another, as seen when we understand Romans 1:17: “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith.’”
The phrase ‘from faith to faith’ (ek pisteos eis pistin) indicates something more than simple ‘faith’. Let us quote Marvin Vincent in his Word Studies: ‘the idea is that of progress in faith itself… faith is a progressive principle’ (Vol. 3, p. 14). Thus, an important understanding in the Greek phrase is that faith is progressive. Faith grows; it does not remain static but continues moving toward maturity. A faith that does not grow is a dead faith and is not the saving faith Paul speaks about.
What then causes faith to progress and grow? James explains: “…faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect” (James 2:22). It is affirmed here that faith is made perfect by works. These works are works that ‘spring from faith’, because James says, “…I will show you my faith by my works” (2:18). So they are not works outside of faith, but works born of faith that perfect faith, bringing it to maturation. Thus Paul’s and James’s teachings complement each other.
Indeed, Paul also emphasizes that faith cannot be separated from obedience. Romans 1:5 and 16:26 show the connection between faith and obedience, stating that Paul received the apostleship “to bring about the obedience of faith” (ILT). Therefore, we may conclude that faith produces obedience, and in turn, obedience perfects faith. Thus faith grows and progresses—this is biblical faith, the faith that saves. That is why James says Abraham was justified by his works, meaning works that sprang from faith.
Thus the basic meaning of ‘shachah’ is an act born of faith in offering “our Isaac” according to God’s command and leading. This is the essence of worship. If someone does not understand this essence, they will easily fall into mere forms or rituals of worship, performed outside of faith.
We have emphasized that the basic meaning of ‘shachah’ is an act of faith in offering “our Isaac,” and this is the essence of worship. In truth, ‘shachah’ is not a momentary act performed at a certain time or place. Since ‘shachah’ is an act of faith in offering “our Isaac,” and since the righteous live by faith—meaning continuously—then ‘shachah’ is in fact the lifestyle of a believer. Worship or ‘shachah’ is not outward forms or rituals but the essence of worship, which is the believer’s lifestyle.
We must carefully distinguish between the essence and the external forms of worship. Consider Paul’s prophecy about people living in the last days (2 Timothy 3:1–9). In the early verses Paul speaks of humanity in general, but the following verses clearly refer to end-time Christians who merely practice outward forms of worship while denying its essence. Verse 5 says, “having a form of godliness but denying its power…” (ILT). The Greek term ‘morphosis’, translated ‘form’, actually means ‘outward appearance’. Thus, in the last days many Christians will carry out worship only in its outward appearance.
Let us discuss briefly why many Christians practice only outward forms of worship without knowing or living out its essence. This happened because Christianity fell away as Paul prophesied—some church leaders, under attack from savage wolves, drew Christ’s disciples away from following the Holy Spirit alone and made them followers of this leader or that leader (Acts 20:28–30). These leaders who drew disciples to themselves began creating religious rules for disciples to obey—such as the requirement to attend a certain building on Sunday, pay tithes, firstfruits, faith pledges, perform certain rituals or creeds, and many other ‘musts’.
The disciples of the Lord, having been drawn by religious leaders and made followers of human leaders, became unaware that they were merely following religious rules made by leaders. They no longer followed the Holy Spirit daily as the early church did. The early church worshiped by following the Spirit’s leading day by day. But once leaders drew the disciples to themselves, the disciples began following man-made religious rules. Their focus shifted from the Spirit’s leading to the leaders’ instructions. Thus worship became merely an outward form and not its essence.
In Christian practice today 2 Timothy 3:5 has been fulfilled. Christianity consists of groups of the Lord’s disciples following their respective leaders—these are what we call denominations. In every denomination there are leaders and followers. Leaders create religious rules that followers must obey. Disciples within a denomination cannot possibly follow the Holy Spirit daily, because if they did, they would inevitably violate the religious rules created by their leaders.
In modern Christianity, worship is arranged as a service complete with music, MCs, singers, dancers, and so on. Such worship is an outward form, not the essence. But those who believe and follow the Lamb wherever He goes will live out the essence of worship—a lifestyle of offering “our Isaac” by faith.
We have discussed the first occurrence of ‘shachah’ (worship) in the case of Abraham offering Isaac. According to hermeneutical principles, we may add further insights to this initial understanding, but we may not remove it. There are about 100 occurrences of ‘shachah’ in the Old Testament, so we cannot examine each one. We will consider only several occurrences that add significant meaning to the basic understanding. The additional meanings that must be added include the prohibition against ‘shachah’ (bowing down/worshiping) other gods (Exodus 34:14; Deuteronomy 4:19; 11:16; 30:17). In the Old Testament context, worshiping other gods is called adultery and carries the punishment of death. After Moses received instructions to build the Tabernacle, ‘shachah’ was no longer to be performed anywhere. When Israel entered the Promised Land, the Ark of the Lord was placed at Shiloh, in the territory of Ephraim. That is why Elkanah and his wives Hannah and Peninnah had to go to Shiloh year after year to worship (shachah) there (1 Samuel 1:3). Later we will study how Jesus abolished this regulation of worshiping in a specific place when He told the Samaritan woman that worship must be in spirit, not tied to a location.
Next, we will look at the case of Jeroboam son of Nebat, who introduced a new form of worship (1 Kings 12). We know Solomon fell into idolatry, and thus his kingdom was divided, with Jeroboam receiving ten tribes. But because Jeroboam feared that the ten tribes might return to Jerusalem to ‘shachah’, he made two golden calves and placed them in Bethel and Dan. Consequently, the ten tribes no longer went to Jerusalem to ‘shachah’ but went to Bethel and Dan (1 Kings 12:30). This case is interesting because it shows that a leader can mislead his followers into a false ‘shachah’. We may later explore Revelation 2–3, where church leaders teaching the false doctrines of Jezebel and Balaam lead God’s people into adultery and idolatry instead of true worship.
In the Old Testament context, ‘shachah’ and offering sacrifices cannot be separated. Since the Tabernacle was built, Israel had to worship and offer sacrifices at the Sanctuary. After the golden calf incident, only the Levites could minister in the Tabernacle. The other tribes could not offer sacrifices directly. They could only perform ‘shachah’ in the courtyard and then give their offerings to the Levitical priests to present on their behalf. Thus, the further meanings of ‘shachah’ that must be added to its basic meaning are these: offering one’s “Isaac” as an act of faith to Yahweh, and also as a lifestyle of a believer.
We will continue examining the meaning of ‘shachah’ (worship) to add to its basic understanding, namely offering one’s “Isaac” as an act of faith to Yahweh and as a lifestyle of believers. Let us look at the case where the northern kingdom (the kingdom of Israel) with its capital Samaria was destroyed by Assyria in 722 BC. The king of Assyria exiled the Israelites to Assyrian territory and also brought other nations into Samaria. But the Israelites who were not exiled mixed with those nations, and these are the ones referred to in the Gospel of John as the Samaritans, with whom the Jews did not associate. An interesting event occurred when these other nations entered the land of Samaria (the Promised Land): Yahweh sent lions among them because they did not know the laws of worship in the Promised Land (2 Kings 17:24–41). After they were taught the laws of worship in the Promised Land, they rendered service to the LORD, but they also worshiped their own gods (v. 33). Yet Yahweh no longer sent lions once they worshiped the LORD, even though they also worshiped their own gods. But for the original Israelites, Yahweh’s command was strict: “… Him you shall worship (shachah) and to Him you shall offer sacrifices” (v. 36). Here we see Yahweh’s mercy toward the other nations who had ‘a divided heart’, for He did not punish them. The lesson here is this: if someone practices ‘shachah’ with a divided heart yet still receives the Lord’s mercy, that person is not counted as a true ‘Israelite’, but as one of ‘the other nations’.
Discipline for Israel, who was bound to the Mosaic Covenant and failed to ‘shachah’ Yahweh, was very strict: they would be uprooted from the Promised Land, and the Temple would also be cast out of His sight (2 Chronicles 7:19–20). Many do not realize that the matter of ‘shachah’ before the Lord is extremely serious. May we continue to obtain grace to practice and understand ‘shachah’ correctly.
Let us now observe an interesting fact in the Psalms concerning ‘shachah’. Psalm 22:27 states, “All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations will worship (shachah) before Him.” Psalm 66:4 says, “All the earth will worship (shachah) You and sing praises to You…” Psalm 86:9 says, “All nations whom You have made shall come and worship (shachah) before You, O Lord, and shall glorify Your name.” Here the psalmist affirms and prophesies that ultimately all nations, all the ends of the earth, will come and ‘shachah’ before Him. In other words, all humanity will eventually come and ‘shachah’ before the Lord. This truth aligns with what is written in the New Testament: that Jesus will draw all people to Himself (John 12:32), that the Father desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4). Many other NT passages affirm that eventually every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord.
We continue with the meaning of ‘shachah’ (worship) to add further to its basic meaning: offering one’s “Isaac” as an act of faith to Yahweh and as a believer’s lifestyle. Now we will look at the case where the prophet Jeremiah preached/prophesied to those who ‘shachah’ the LORD at the Temple. Observe Jeremiah 7:2: “Stand in the gate of the LORD’s house and proclaim there this word and say, ‘Hear the word of the LORD, all you of Judah who enter by these gates to worship (shachah) the LORD!’” If we observe the context of Jeremiah’s sermon at the Temple (Jeremiah 7:1–15), we will see that the people of Judah at that time were committing many violations: they did not practice justice, oppressed foreigners, orphans, and widows, shed innocent blood, followed other gods, burned sacrifices to Baal, and so forth, yet they came to ‘shachah’ at the Temple and felt assured that they would be saved (v. 10).
The problem was that they trusted in deceptive words that insisted, “This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD,” meaning that because the LORD dwelled there, they believed that whoever ‘shachah’ before Him there would certainly be safe. But the LORD saw that His Temple had become a den of robbers; meaning, the LORD no longer dwelled there, for in the OT context the Temple symbolized God’s presence.
This case is similar to when Jesus drove out the merchants in the Temple, when He declared that the Temple had become a den of robbers (Matthew 21:13). The scribes and Pharisees did not see the true condition of the Temple, and thus they felt accepted by Yahweh by carrying out ritual sacrifices according to the Law.
In Jeremiah 26:1–11 we see the same case, where Jeremiah prophesied to those who ‘shachah’ the LORD in the Temple. Jeremiah even declared that if they did not repent, the LORD would destroy that Temple just as He did at Shiloh where the Ark once dwelled (Jeremiah 26:6). And indeed, the people of Judah did not repent, so both the Temple and the kingdom of Judah were destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, in 586 BC.
Let us draw several conclusions regarding the meaning of ‘shachah’ before the LORD. First, in the OT context, a person’s ‘shachah’ cannot be separated from their daily behavior. If someone ‘shachah’ in the Temple but lives in a way displeasing to Yahweh, then their ‘shachah’ is not accepted by the LORD. Second, shachah, in the OT context, is not merely a ritual according to the Law. Rather, ‘shachah’ should be an outward expression (performing the ritual) that springs from a heart full of devotion to Yahweh. We see that even in the OT context, ‘shachah’ was already a matter of the inner life—how much more in the NT. Third, the people of Judah were forbidden to rely on a place (the Temple of the LORD), because what they saw concerning the Temple was not necessarily what the LORD saw. They assumed the Temple was still the dwelling place of the LORD, while God saw it as a den of robbers.
Let us now observe the case of ‘shachah’ in Ezekiel’s vision, where the glory of the LORD returned to the Temple (Ezekiel 43–46). What we must note here is that even though the Temple was filled with the glory of the LORD, the regulations of ‘shachah’ were still enforced. This is very different from the case of Abraham that we studied earlier, where there were no regulations for ‘shachah’ except the command to offer Isaac.
Let us examine some of the regulations concerning ‘shachah’ in Ezekiel’s vision of the Temple. Ezekiel 46:2,3,9 states: “The prince is to enter from outside… Meanwhile the priests shall prepare his burnt offering and peace offerings, and he shall worship (shachah)… The people of the land shall also worship (shachah) before the LORD at the entrance… But when the people of the land enter on the appointed feasts… he who enters through the north gate to worship (shachah) must go out through the south gate…” Here we see various regulations for ‘shachah’—for the prince, for the people, and also for the priests who offer sacrifices.
Many interpreters believe that Ezekiel’s vision of the Temple will be fulfilled in the age to come for Israel—the Millennial Kingdom. Whenever Ezekiel’s vision is fulfilled, one thing is certain: for Israel bound by the Mosaic Covenant, ‘shachah’ continues to have specific regulations. All regulations related to ‘shachah’ will later be abolished by the Lord Jesus, who came to give His own life, not to impose any religious regulations.
Now we will briefly discuss why the Lord Jesus abolished all regulations of ‘shachah’ for believers in the NT context. We know that Jesus came to give His Life (zoe) to believers. This ‘zoe’ life enables believers to know the Father and Jesus Christ whom He has sent (John 17:3). This ‘zoe’ life must be lived day by day so that it continues to grow and we come to know Him more deeply. There are no religious regulations for believers who live the ‘zoe’ life daily. This ‘zoe’ life leads believers daily without any prescribed rules. This ‘zoe’ life is imparted by the Holy Spirit into our inner being (1 Corinthians 15:45 — ‘life/zoe-giving Spirit’). Believers will certainly live in an orderly manner, because the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of order. But the orderliness of a believer’s life is not due to religious rules, but because they are led by the Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit of order. Thus, believers who live the ‘zoe’ life daily do not need any religious regulations whatsoever. Believers are not practicing the “Christian religion” with its religious rules; rather, they have exchanged the kind of life they live. Formerly they lived ‘their old life’, but now they live their new life—‘zoe’ life.
Paul describes what we have been discussing with the expression, “For to me, to live is Christ” (Philippians 1:21). The Christ Paul speaks of is our ‘zoe’ life. Colossians 3:4 affirms, “When Christ, who is our life (zoe), appears…” Thus, Paul lived day by day led solely by the ‘zoe’ life he lived. Paul was not governed by any religious regulations except the rule of being led by the Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit who gives ‘zoe’. That is why Paul calls himself ‘a prisoner of the Spirit’. This is how believers ought to live—governed solely by the Holy Spirit, living the ‘zoe’ life day by day.
There are many more occurrences of ‘shachah’ (worship) in the OT from which we can build an understanding of its meaning. But for this brief writing, let us draw a provisional conclusion for the meaning of ‘shachah’ in the OT. We have stated that the basic meaning of ‘shachah’ is an act that springs from faith—offering our “Isaac” according to the Lord’s command and leading. And since the righteous live by faith, the act of offering our “Isaac” is not a once-in-a-lifetime act, but a daily lifestyle of believers. This is the true essence of ‘shachah’.
The next meaning that we must add to this basic understanding is that ‘shachah’ took “outward forms” for Israel as symbols, prophecies, and shadows, because that is the nature of the OT. The outward forms of ‘shachah’ for Israel were that ‘shachah’ could not be performed just anywhere—it had to be done in the place chosen by Yahweh. And ‘shachah’ could not be separated from offering sacrifices. Therefore, both ‘shachah’ and the offering of sacrifices—what we commonly call OT worship—were regulated in great detail by the Law.
Now we move into the understanding of ‘shachah’ in the NT. We have noted that the Hebrew term ‘shachah’ in the Septuagint is translated ‘proskuneo’ (verb). The term ‘proskuneo’ or ‘proskyneo’ occurs 60 times in the NT. Let us go directly to a famous verse about worship in the Gospel of John, John 4:23: “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship (proskuneo) the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father seeks such worshipers.”
What is the meaning of the phrase “in spirit and truth”? Let us quote Marvin R. Vincent, DD, from Word Studies in the New Testament, vol. 2, p. 121: “The phrase ‘in spirit and in truth’ describes the two essential characteristics of true worship: ‘in spirit’, as distinguished from place or form or other sensual limitations (v. 21); ‘in truth’, as distinguished from the false conceptions resulting from imperfect knowledge” (v. 22). Thus there are two essential characteristics of true worship:
(1) In spirit — meaning worship is not about place, form, rituals, or other outward elements, as stated in v. 21: “neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.”
(2) In truth — meaning worship must be carried out with a correct knowledge of the Father, the object of worship. True worship cannot be offered with erroneous conceptions, as stated in v. 22, where the Samaritans worshiped what they did not know. The Samaritans accepted only the Pentateuch, so their knowledge of Yahweh was incomplete and even erroneous. They did not understand the prophetic and wisdom writings that lead to the true knowledge of the Father.
Thus, worshiping ‘in spirit and truth’ is not about place, ritual, or the forms of worship commonly practiced or ‘required’ in Christianity. Indeed, worship ‘in spirit and truth’ requires His grace so that we may have the right knowledge of the Father in heaven.
Let us continue with the meaning of ‘in spirit and truth’. The term ‘truth’ translates the Greek word ‘aletheia’, which also means ‘reality’. Many think that ‘reality’ means actuality, or some think it means practice. But Jesus refers to Himself as ‘aletheia’, not only truth but also reality (John 14:6). Reality is a Person—the Person of Christ.
Let us compare this meaning of ‘reality’ with what is written in Colossians 2:17: “These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance is Christ.” The substance, or reality, of all the symbols, prophecies, and shadows in the OT is Christ. And Christ is a Person. The Christ Paul refers to in Colossians is not primarily Christ Jesus seated at the right hand of the Father. Consider these verses: “… Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:17, LITV). Colossians 3:4 affirms: “When Christ, our life (zoe), appears…” Thus, the Christ Paul refers to in Colossians is the Christ within our inner being, our ‘zoe’ life. Christ is our life dwelling within, and this is the reality of all the symbols, prophecies, and shadows in the OT.
If so, how do we worship ‘in spirit and in reality’? Worshiping in ‘reality’ means following the leading of Christ as our Life day by day. We no longer worship Him through symbols, prophecies, and shadows as believers did in the OT. We worship and serve in reality.
This is also why the early church in the book of Acts worshiped and served according to the leading of the Holy Spirit day by day. There are around 70 occurrences of phrases such as ‘led by the Spirit’, ‘the Spirit said’, ‘the Holy Spirit forbade’, ‘filled with the Spirit’, and so on, in the 28 chapters of Acts. This means that the believers of the early church moved, worshiped, ministered, evangelized, prayed, gave, and lived their daily lives under the leading of the Holy Spirit. Paul too called himself ‘a prisoner of the Spirit’. There were no religious regulations practiced by the early church.
They met spontaneously, evangelized spontaneously, and gave spontaneously—they were entirely moved by the energy of the Holy Spirit. All members of the church acted as servants. The leaders were not “managers” who carried out planning, organizing, managerial leadership, and establishing control systems as we see in the Christian world today. The leaders of the early church truly acted as servants to the Lord and His church. They only equipped the saints, who in turn built up the Body of Christ. In short, they worshiped and adored God ‘in spirit and in truth’.
After the fall of the early church, leaders began to function as “managers” who organized the church’s worship. They began creating religious rules for church members to follow. The focus of worship shifted—originally directed toward God, it became centered around the leaders. Here began worship and devotion that consisted merely of ‘forms’, ‘outward appearances’, ‘rituals’, and ‘creeds’, thereby losing the essence of worship itself, which is to follow the inward leading of Christ day by day.
We have affirmed that the essence of worship is in spirit and in truth. These are the worshipers the Father seeks (John 4:23). Jesus and His apostles never taught outward forms of worship. Why? Because the outward forms of worship (found in the Jewish religion, Old Testament) were perfectly fulfilled in the Person of Christ (Colossians 2:17).
Teachings within Christianity that emphasize outward forms of worship are a consequence of the church’s decline, in which some leaders, threatened by savage wolves, drew the Lord’s disciples to themselves through false teachings, and therefore needed “religious rules” to bind those disciples to themselves (Acts 20:28–30). For, Christian religious leaders cannot bind their followers except by religious regulations. If the rule is ‘must be led by the Holy Spirit’, how could they possibly bind their followers? The religious rules created by these Christian leaders include the requirement to come on Sunday to a certain building, perform certain rituals, and give certain offerings such as tithes, firstfruits, faith pledges, and so on. Every denomination has its own set of rules—organizational rules, Old Testament rules brought into the New Testament, or rules determined by its senior leaders.
All the worship systems created by Christian religious leaders cause the Lord’s disciples to fall into outward forms of worship while denying the essence of worship. This has already been prophesied by Paul in 2 Timothy 3:1–9, especially verse 5: “holding to a form of godliness but denying its power; and from such people turn away” (LITV). The ‘form of godliness’ (Gk: ‘morphosis eusebeia’) refers to devotion (worship) that consists only of outward forms (creeds, liturgies, religious rules, etc.) while ‘denying the power of the Holy Spirit’ that comes from worship ‘in spirit and in truth’. Thus, because Christian leaders create religious rules, the Lord’s disciples fall into outward forms of worship and reject the ‘essence of worship that brings the ‘power of the Holy Spirit’.
Let us consider the vision of the apostle John on the island of Patmos regarding the condition of the church (symbolized as a woman) that worships in spirit and in truth. Notice Revelation 12:1: “A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and a crown of twelve stars on her head.” This woman is obviously a sign/symbol, for no physical woman could be so near the sun without being consumed. The sun, moon, and stars are symbols—the woman is a symbol representing the church.
The true Sun is Christ (Malachi 4:2). The moon reflects the sunlight, symbolizing the “reflection” of Christ as reality/essence. The twelve stars represent the leadership (symbol of 12) of the sons of God (symbolized as stars in Revelation). Thus, this woman is the church that fully follows Christ day by day and has “subdued” all outward forms of worship, being led by the sons of God.
This is the church “in heaven” (invisible to the physical eye), whose worship is led inwardly by Christ day by day. This church stands in contrast with the church of Revelation 17–18, which we are not discussing now. So, although the visible Christian world is filled with religious rules, there exists an unseen church (“in heaven”) that worships and serves God in spirit and in truth, as taught by the Lord Jesus and His apostles.
Let us now examine the term ‘proskuneo’, which appears most frequently in the book of Revelation—24 times out of its 60 New Testament occurrences. This certainly carries a specific significance. One important meaning of ‘proskuneo’ appears in Revelation 11:1, where those who practice ‘proskuneo’ in the temple are measured by the ‘measuring rod’: “Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told, ‘Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship (proskuneo) there’” (NASB).
In Revelation, the term ‘proskuneo’ appears about ten times referring to people who worship other gods besides Elohim. In Revelation 9:20; 13:4; 13:8; 13:12; 14:9; 14:11; 16:2; 19:20, there are people who worship demons, the dragon, the beast, and its image. We must remember that Revelation is the unveiling of Jesus Christ, and naturally also of His church, given to the apostle John (Revelation 1:1). Revelation is not primarily a prophecy about worldly events, worldly kingdoms, the Antichrist, or anything else apart from Jesus Christ and His church. Therefore, our focus must be on “deviant worship” practiced by believers within the church.
The church will be “measured” or evaluated in terms of its worship. Does the church truly worship Elohim, or does it worship other gods? Remember that the false teachings of Jezebel, Balaam, and Nicolaitans within the church caused the Lord’s disciples to commit idolatry and immorality (Revelation 2–3). As we have discussed, worshiping in spirit and in truth also means worshiping the true Elohim. Worship in the church is not merely about singing, but more importantly, whether the church’s worship is directed to the true God.
Let us consider John 17:3: “And this is eternal life (zoe), that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (LITV). From this verse it is clear that we can truly know Elohim and Jesus Christ only if we live the ‘zoe’ life daily. The ‘zoe’ life we receive when we believe and are born again must grow until it abounds (John 10:10). This means that as the ‘zoe’
life within us grows, we can know God and Jesus Christ more truly. Growing in the knowledge of God is not a matter of coming on certain days, performing certain rituals, certain worship services, or giving certain offerings. Growing in knowing God happens only when we live the ‘zoe’ life daily. We learn to be led by the ‘zoe’ life day by day. This is truly worship in spirit and in truth, as we have discussed.
Returning to the book of Revelation: the church will one day be “measured” before Christ. In Christianity it is commonly believed that we will worship God forever in heaven. But the question is: even now, is the church’s worship genuinely directed to the true God, or to other gods?
Now let us conclude the meaning of ‘shachah’ (OT) and ‘proskuneo’ (NT). We have affirmed that the fundamental meaning of ‘shachah’ is an act born of faith in offering our “Isaac” according to the Lord’s command and leading. Since the righteous live by faith, the act of offering our “Isaac” is not a one-time action but a lifestyle practiced daily by believers. This is the ‘essence’ of ‘shachah’. Another meaning added to this is that ‘shachah’ had outward forms for Israel as symbols, prophecies, and shadows, as is the nature of the OT. These outward forms included that ‘shachah’ could not be done just anywhere—it had to be in the place chosen by Yahweh. And ‘shachah’ could not be separated from offering sacrifices. Therefore, both ‘shachah’ and the offering of sacrifices—what we call OT worship—were regulated in great detail under the Law of Moses.
Meanwhile, the essence of ‘proskuneo’ in the NT has two characteristics: ‘in spirit’—meaning worship is not about place, forms, or outward matters—and ‘in truth’—meaning worship must be based on a true knowledge of the Father, the object of worship.
Thus, the essence of worshiping Elohim is a daily lifestyle of offering our “Isaac” according to God’s leading, and possessing a true knowledge of the One we worship. A Christian who worships God in ‘essence’ does not need to sing, play music, go to a certain place, or practice any outward forms of worship. The essence of worship is inward, and the Christian lives it day by day.
As we conclude this writing, we should offer a comment on something widely believed in Christianity: that we will praise and worship God forever in heaven. Is this truly so? Let us look at the purpose for which humans were created in Genesis 1:26–28. Humans were created in the image and likeness of Elohim. The Hebrew word translated ‘image’ is ‘tselem’, meaning ‘a representative figure’, like a “photograph” of God. The word for ‘likeness’ is ‘demuth’, meaning resemblance to God in creativity and multiplication—the ability to be fruitful and multiply. Thus, humans placed on earth by God are to be His representative ‘image’ (His photograph).
We know the primary purpose of a photograph is not to worship the person it represents. The main purpose of a photograph is to represent that person in a particular place. Thus, humanity’s primary purpose is not to worship God, but to represent God on earth. Humanity’s main task is to subdue the earth and bring it toward the new earth and the new heavens. That is why, even in the age of the New Heaven and New Earth, humans continue offering the water of life freely to creation so that creation may be fully restored (Revelation 22:17). Amen.