Last week I suggested that the establishment of the Jewish sacrificial system, tabernacle, and priesthood was a codification of worship elements that had been instituted in the Creation/Fall events. However, what the tabernacle also reveals is that these essential worship elements were not simply instituted at Creation, but are in fact representations of the essence… Continue Reading
Discernment is a biblically informed judgment whether certain extra-biblical moral actions are good or evil. Last week, we looked at discernment in Eph 5:7-11 and pushed forward our argument that discernment is a crucial element of New Testament ethics. This argument is sound (and I am not the first to make it), and it is… Continue Reading
The theology of worship from the book of Hebrews is that Christian worship is drawing near to God through Jesus Christ by faith, and therefore it cannot be touched; not that there will be no physical involvement in earthly worship, for there is no such thing as disembodied worship. But the physical involvement or feeling is… Continue Reading
Throughout the history of the Church, Christians have always been tempted to follow after more physical, more sensory forms of worship because of a misunderstanding of this discontinuity, and this is perhaps no more true than it is in the 21st century Church. When people worship, they strongly desire to feel something; they want to… Continue Reading
What becomes apparent when studying worship in Hebrews, as exemplified by this central idea of faith, is that all of these continuities between OT and NT worship exist because they are metaphysical realities. Worship’s focus, consequences for refusing it, its attitude, and faith are all metaphysical in nature both in OT and NT worship. This… Continue Reading
Faith (πίστιϚ) stands in Hebrews as the supreme continuity between OT and NT worship since it functions as an essential link between the physical and metaphysical. The author of Hebrews defines faith as “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (11:1). Two modifiers in the author’s definition of faith reveal… Continue Reading
Significant discontinuities exist between OT and NT worship, and it is important to note that each of these cases of discontinuity stems from the author of Hebrews’ primary discontinuity, that of the physical vs. the metaphysical. Human prophets, a mediator, priests, animal sacrifices, and a Temple each represent physical realties that Hebrew worshipers could see,… Continue Reading
Hebrews 12:18-29 is structured around a discontinuity of the location of worship, and the rest of the book reflects this emphasis. In Hebrews 12:18, Sinai stands as a representative for worship under the Law, and thus the location of this worship is first the Tabernacle and later the Temple. In contrast, worship for a Christian… Continue Reading
Hebrews 12:18-29 provide an important summary of the book’s argument concerning worship. The author’s descriptions of these two contrasting mountains are instructive and important to his argument, highlighted by the emphatic position of the negative term οὐ (“not”) in verse 18 and the strongly negative term ἀλλά (“on the contrary”) in verse 22. Lane summarizes,… Continue Reading
God required OT saints to offer sacrifices with him as means of temporary forgiveness. These sacrifices themselves were imperfect, and they did nothing to change the heart of the one offering the sacrifice. They did not provide full atonement (10:4, 11), but rather a temporary, legal satisfaction of immediate wrath.1 They could not cleanse sin, but… Continue Reading
Worship emerges in Hebrews as a major theme when on considers the overall structure of the book. Jones argues that two minor climaxes in the literary structure that lead to the climax of 12:18-29 reveal that the primary theme of the entire book is a call to “come near and worship.”1 The first climax is found… Continue Reading
Synthesizing a theology of worship in the New Testament has been a struggle for Christians since the early church. In particular, how Christ’s coming, life, death, and resurrection altered and in some cases revolutionized the worship of OT Judaism has been the subject of considerable debate, and missteps in this matter have led to various—sometimes… Continue Reading