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WORSHIP IN THE OLD TESTAMENT: THE SACRIFICIAL SYSTEM
Worship in the Old Testament offers
a translucent perspective to Jewish worship. Whereas texts and documents from
the early church are clearer, a window may be open in the practice of ancient
Israel to inform Christian worship today. A primary foundation of Old-Testament
worship is its foundation of sacrifice. More than New Testament worship, the
Old Testament system was largely based on temporary sacrifice. Nevertheless, in
an all-encompassing manner, Old-Testament worship informed all of life.
Moreover, whether realized in practice or not, Old-Testament worship looked to
the cross and the Messiah.
Old-testament Worship Was Based on Temporary
Sacrifice
What little is known from the pattern of Old-Testament worship, we can be
assured of this: the practices of Israel were preeminent. Vastly disparate from
the practices of New-Testament worship, Israel’s Old-Testament worship
practices hold deeply engrained commitments to life. Said another way, Old-Testament
worship was more about offering oneself as a living sacrifice and renewing such
a sacrifice than the permanent and better solution in the New Covenant; yet, Old-Testament
worship certainly looked to the cross.
Christian worship did not include a weekly worship gathering until the Age
of Grace, but hints of the Messiah resonate through the Old-Testament
scriptures. Old-Testament worship held a basis of sacrifice but in a temporary
manner. Whereas Jesus Christ would be the ultimate sacrifice on behalf of his
people, animal sacrifice was usual under the Old Testament. The author of
Hebrews says that the sacrifices, feasts, and offerings (or tithes) of the Old
Testament foreshadowed what would come through Christ. Moreover, believers
should understand now that what persisted under the Old Covenant could not
stand in the ways of the New Covenant, which is how Christ has obtained a
better way (Heb 8:6).
A key to understanding New-Testament worship practice is understanding not
only the temporary nature of the Old Covenant but also of typological
references to the New Covenant. Old-Testament worship practice, based upon
sacrifice, feasts, and tithes, did not and could not offer a solution for the
sinful nature of humankind. Therefore, as God’s people awaited the Messiah
promised in Genesis, a temporary method of worship existed.
Unlike modern society where sacrifice involves giving up something of value
so that something more valuable may be attained and may or may not have
anything to do with a deity or God, in Old-Testament times, all of life
revolved around God so that something set aside for sacrifice was solely to
benefit a deity.[1]
For Israel, worship was life[2] so to
worship the living God was to offer all that one was given in life for his
benefit and glory without a thought of return.
Time and space were evident and used by God’s people in Old-Testament
worship practice. The specifications of the Tabernacle (and eventually) the
Temple signified God’s specific design for his people’s sacrifices. In fact,
from the wardrobe specifications to the architecture, God gave precise
instructions which, if violated, had dire consequences. It is significant that
the first person in Scripture described to be gifted with God’s Spirit as an
artist is Bezalel (Exod 31:1-4), and he is attributed with having the skill to build
the Tabernacle with its intricate specifications. “The worship space was filled with beauty
and color, gold and silver and precious stones, as is fitting for a picture of
Heaven.”[3]
Time and space plays a significant role in Old-Testament worship, perhaps even
more than that of New-Testament worship practice.[4]
In the move from the Tabernacle to the Temple, the
specifications of the space were vital. Moreover, the expansion of liturgy is
apparent.
David, himself a musician and songwriter, made provisions for
building the Temple and organizing the worship. Along with appointing Levites
to oversee the construction and to be gatekeepers, he set aside 4,000 Levites—a
little over 10% of the tribe—to be Temple musicians to “offer praise to the
LORD with the instruments that [he had] made for praise” (1 Chron. 23:5).[5]
Furthermore, nearly half of the Psalms
were written by David. Therefore, “along with the sacrificial system, the
Sabbaths and festivals, and the various ritual cleansings, music was an
important part of Old-Covenant worship.”[6]
Tabernacle practices persisted daily, weekly, and annually
through the offerings of priests and Levites on behalf of God’s people. Such
windows into the Old-Testament worship are faint at best and yet offer
believers a glimpse into the original structure God laid for his people in
Israel. To properly appreciate and abide by the parameters of the New Covenant,
the church should understand that which God ordained for his people under the
sacrificial system of the Old Covenant.
Old-Testament
Worship Looked to the Cross: A New and Better Way
The christocentric nature of the Old Testament should not be negated, for
in a forward-looking manner, the Old Covenant looks to the cross. God told the
serpent that the seed of the woman would crush his head (Gen 3:15)
foreshadowing what would come through the virgin birth of the Messiah, Jesus
Christ. Then the story of God unfolded throughout Scripture in a marvelous way
as Satan continuously made feeble attempts to thwart the plans of God and God
continued to renew and restore his covenant. While the New Testament looks back
from the cross, the Old Testament looks forward to the cross: a new and better
way.
Scripture centers around the person and work of Christ—this includes the Old-Testament
narrative. Since worship proclaims the story of God, the full narrative of the
Bible, surrounding the story of Christ, must be told. Old-Testament worship,
looked to the Messiah as the hope of Israel. Christians look to the Messiah as
the hope of the world as God’s people have been grafted in as part of his
people (Rom 11:17). Without looking to the cross, the hope of the Old Testament
is lost; without looking to Christ, the object and subject of worship is
missed; and without understanding the purpose of the law, the hope of the New
Covenant cannot be understood.
Israel held a deep hope in the coming Messiah, albeit missed as a
misunderstood version of him. New-Testament believers should be thankful that
the Lord has drawn them out of darkness and into the light of his salvation,
for without his awakening, they would be utterly lost.
Even in Old-Testament worship, typologies exist that paint a vivid image of
Christ (e.g. Jonah as he emerges from the belly of a fish as a type of
resurrection from the dead, Moses as a type of law giver, or Eve as a type of
Mary as she was a part of the fall whereas through Mary’s womb would come the
Messiah). Understanding the intentional nature of Scripture in looking to the
cross should enhance a New-Testament understanding of worship. Worship must
tell the story. Therefore, worship must realize the story of Christ in the Old
Testament.
In telling the story of God and his people, worship remembers the past. To
neglect the past is to forget. “When we forget the past, the past is dead in
our lives.”[7]
It is crucial then that the past (Old-Testament practice) inform our present (New-Testament
practice), for even Old-Covenant praxis was informed by New-Covenant truth.
Old-Testament worship practice reminds God’s people of a timeless truth:
God is unchanging. He is the same in the Old Testament as he is in the New
Testament. A God who is unchanging is a God who is equally as worthy as he ever
has been. The God who was worthy for the people of Israel to offer sacrifices
with no thought of return is the same God who is worthy for his people to offer
themselves as living sacrifices today. No longer must the people of God make
futile efforts at offering inadequate sacrifices, for Jesus Christ has paid the
ultimate sacrifice allowing God’s people to approach him boldly in the
righteousness of the Son (Heb 4:16).
Christianity does not have a God who changes with superficial variables.
God is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb 13:8). Bearing that in mind,
Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross was never plan B, the Lamb was slain from the
foundation of the world (Rev 13:8). The triune and unchanging God set out a
plan from before creation as to how he would redeem his chosen people and
implemented his plan through the mediator, the Son. Christian worship realizes
and acknowledges this truth.
God is worthy to be praised and his people should give him such praise. Old-Testament
worship does not negate New-Testament practice but rather enhances it, for
people who understand the centrality of Jesus Christ hold a vastly different
perspective than those who have not known its life-changing power.
The Psalms Display the Heart of Israel’s Worship
We have little to guide us in seeing into Israel’s worship, but the Psalms
are an excellent beginning point. Often referred to as the Hymnal of Israel,
the Psalms give an overarching view not only of worship in the Old Testament
but indeed life and prayer.[8] The
Psalms is a collection of heartfelt prayers that often would have been utilized
in both personal and liturgical contexts. Whether acknowledged or not, everyone
prays at times. “One 2004 study found that nearly thirty percent of atheists
admitted they prayed ‘sometimes,’ and another found that seventeen percent of
nonbelievers in God pray regularly.”[9] Why
would someone who claims not only to disbelieve in a higher power but often
show great animosity toward him spend time praying? Humanity is spiritual by
nature, which is why David says that the fool has said in his heart there is no
God (Ps 14:1): because even a fool, if he reasoned it in his mind, would
conclude there to be a God.
The Psalms offer a glimpse into the heart of Old-Testament worship. The
honesty and vulnerability of the Psalms should be a model for Christian worship
today. Whether in lamenting or praising, the Psalms hold the correct
perspective: God and his glory. Even in imprecatory Psalms, before a curse is
offered, there subsists a focus on the justice of God, which is the reason for
such anger.
In two distinct ways, utilizing the Psalms in corporate worship gatherings
may enhance and improve the worship experience for God’s people.
1)
Utilizing the
Psalms in worship connects believers today to the ancient family of God.
Christians are part of the same family but often miss the connection; employing
the prayers, songs, and texts used by ancient Israel allows such a connection
to be realized.
2)
The church
cannot be mistaken by employing verbatim Scripture in worship. Often,
songwriters find it difficult to write texts when an abundance of them are
readily available in the Bible. Moreover, using such texts effectively
extinguishes the possibility of theological fallacies.
The biblical Psalms, in displaying the heart of Israel’s worship and
connecting the saints of God to the people of God in the Old Testament, offer a
link between those of the Old Covenant and those of the New Covenant.
One-hundred fifty texts of manifold types and purposes offer a unique
perspective into the heart of Old-Testament worship. Thus, to better understand
the saints of the past, the Psalms should be used in corporate worship
gatherings. Since the Old Testament looks to the cross, there is no distinction
between the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament, for he
is surely the same God.
Leaders of worship and liturgists may certainly discover new and Spirit-led
ways to incorporate the Psalms in the worship gatherings. While the tendency is
to believe thinking outside of a box is the way to be creative in such
practices, I encourage leaders of worship (and especially musicians) to think
within a box, for parameters set up boundaries for creativity rather than
leaving room for a creation without any idea of direction. Leaders should
consider creative ways to involve the people of God (since worship is
participatory) in singing and reciting the Psalms. Scripture is living and
active (Heb 4:12). Therefore, worship should treat it as such.
Further, utilizing the Psalms in worship allows less opportunity for
theological inaccuracies. Verbatim text is difficult to pervert. When seeking
to convey theological ideas, there is no better way than to use the text of
Scripture. Scripture should permeate the worship gathering. Without extra
revelation, the word of God cannot be corrupt; only the work of humanity may
corrupt what God meant for good.[10]
The ministry of the word was certainly a significant part of Temple
worship. “We know, for example, that the regular reading through of the Book of
the Covenant was an essential part of the rites of the renewal of the covenant
(Deut 31:10–13).”[11] Thus,
from the authority of Scripture in the Judeo-Christian faith is nothing new. In
fact, realized as integral to the faith, the New-Testament practice to include
the entire canon of Scripture merely extends from a preexistent notion that
because God’s command is final, his word (in the text of Scripture) is final.
I submit that an overarching problem in modern Christianity is an
unrealized dismissal of biblical authority. What I mean by that is churches
often seem to (unknowingly) place the words of humankind on the same level as
the words of God. Such a practice is usually completed with a belief in extra
revelation, as if God reveals truths other than what are found in the text of
the Bible. This might be seen as given through prophecies, songs, and even the
mind’s displays.[12]
The Psalms represent the heart of Old-Testament worship, for the Psalms
represent the heart of Israel in worshiping the one true God. As such,
employing the text of the Psalms in Christian worship is right and good. Doing
so connects God’s people to ancient Israel and advances a theological and doxological
accuracy that is necessary in a modern ecclesiastical context that often goes
unchecked.
To Understand Where We Are, We Must Understand
Where We Have Been
It is no secret that the New Covenant is better, but we must understand the
practicalities of the Old Covenant to understand how what is new is better.
Said another way, the amelioration of the New Covenant is predicated on the
shortcomings of the Old Covenant. The Apostle Paul contends that the law’s
purpose is to reveal the deficiencies of humankind (even at the best) and
highlight the need for the gospel of Christ (Rom 3:20, 4:15). Humankind could
not be good enough or perform enough good deeds to approach the throne of God
in worship alone, which is why the sacrifice of Christ was necessary. The Old
Covenant, based upon in inadequate sacrificial system, could not suffice. Only
the sacrifice of a perfect God in the form of man could do so. To appreciate
the grace offered in the New Covenant requires understanding such a truth about
the Old Covenant.
Worship declares God’s story in the past, present, and future, but it is
founded upon his plan and work in the past. An appreciation for the Age of
Grace is not possible without a comprehension of the Old Covenant. Surely,
God’s people are no longer under the Old Covenant, for Christ has fulfilled the
law. An appreciation for his need to fulfill the law, however, is necessary to
fully understand the need for God’s mercy in the New Covenant.
To understand where the church is currently, God’s people must understand
from where they have come. Calvin believed that God instituted one covenant of
grace manifested in various ways (e.g. covenants) throughout Scripture. Mindful
of this fact then, it would be advantageous for believers to see God’s work in
the Old Testament as a portion of his overarching plan rather than a fragmented
and separate work altogether. Bear in mind that the cross was not a secondary
plan so to consider God’s plans as thwarted by anyone or anything less than him
would be to diminish his position as God. God’s people should understand the
marvelous acts of God in the Old Testament as a part of his plan to glorify
himself. When Christians forget the deeds of God, worship is eventually
neglected and God’s rightful place in worship is forgotten. Such neglect does
not happen in remembering the past. Even in local contexts, God’s people should
remember where they have been so that they better understand where they are.
Additionally, the past informs the present and the future. Remembering the
Old Covenant and worship of the Old Testament should put into perspective the
current position of God’s people. Without the foundations of the Old Testament,
God’s people could not realize the need to God’s grace under the New Covenant.
Further, the hope that persists for God’s people in the future cannot be
imagined (Rom 8:18). Certainly, humankind exists in a fallen world (including
God’s people) so circumstances may not be perfect. God’s plan, however,
includes certain victory for his people as they share in his glory in Christ.
Thus, Christianity builds upon the foundation of an inadequate Old Covenant and
a better New Covenant and results in perfection and glory for the people of
God. Christian worship should remember the past, acknowledge the present, and
celebrate the future.
A Glimpse into the Old-Testament Heart of Worship:
The Psalms
Surely, God’s people who lived within the realm of the Old Covenant experienced vastly disparate ways of life, spirituality, and worship practices than do the people of today. Nonetheless, there were still people who honored God.[13] The biblical Psalms present the Old-Testament heart of worship in the practices of ancient Israel. As such, the church shares a connection with the people of God in a stalwart manner. Whereas the inadequacies of the Old-Testament practices could not suffice, however, Christ has obtained a better way. To connect with the honesty of ancient Israel and the heart of worship in the Old Testament, the Psalms are an excellent starting point. Nonetheless, not to negate the exceeding benefits of the New Covenant, Christians should allow the Old-Testament practices to inform where they are and where they are going. Old-Testament worship surely is not useless, for it is a vital aspect to current Christian worship practice, for without it, the vision of God’s people is, at best, misinformed and dying.
[1] Peterson, Engaging with God: A Biblical
Theology of Worship, 36.
[2] Even in New Testament worship practice,
Christians could gain much from centering worship at the core of the local
church. Though temporal in nature, Old Testament worship symbolized a fervent
commitment to the living God for the people of Israel.
[3] Glenn Sunshine,
“Exploring Worship: Part Five, Worship in the Old
Testament.” Breakpoint. October 31, 2018,
https://breakpoint.org/exploring-worship-5-worship-in-the-old-testament/.
[4] A theological significance, where Old
Testament worship was founded upon the concept of one offering temporary
sacrifices, New Testament worship held the idea of the believer living to new
life in Christ as a living sacrifice. Thus, the space of worship does not hold
an inherent value under the new model.
[6] Sunshine, “Exploring Worship: Part Five,
Worship in the Old Testament.”
[7] Webber, Ancient-Future Worship, 43.
[8] Worship is life; worship is prayer;
therefore, prayer is life.
[9] Timothy Keller, Prayer: Experiencing Awe
and Intimacy with God (New York, NY: The Penguin Group, 2014), 36.
[10] Diodati, Pious and Learned Annotations, Prov
16:4.
[11] Hughes O. Oliphant, Worship Reformed
According to Scripture (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2002),
59.
[12]
Certainly, if God so desires, he can and will offer words and commands to God’s
people. Nonetheless, believers should be meticulously careful not to confuse the
oracles of God with the illegitimate and contradictory words of humankind. Even
the most well-intentioned words, if not inspired by the Spirit, are false and
must be avoided with haste.
[13] David is referred to as a man after God’s
heart (1 Sam 13:14). Considering the extent of mistakes that David committed,
such a reference is incredible and finds itself within good company today.
