Worship —our focus on Understanding Worship
So that you, the reader, might understand our worship, we will give you a review of our previous lessons that spanned for 7 weeks. We keep these lessons in our minds as we enter an attitude of pure worship.
· We previously learned that if we are Christians, that Abraham is also our ancestor father, because GOD’s promise was to make him the father of many nations.
JESUS' birth brought him down from the generations of Abraham and
when we believe in JESUS we become joint heirs together with HIM.
As Christians, we are included in the promises to Abraham
through the Spirit of Adoption when
we believed on the LORD JESUS CHRIST and became saved.
So even though we were not born Jews, we have this spiritual heritage
and can claim the promises of GOD to Abraham and Sara his wife.
We desire to learn more from this spiritual heritage
and so we attempt to learn some important words of Hebrew to help us understand.
Hebrew (עברית, ‘Ivrit) is a Semitic language
of the Afro-Asiatic language family
spoken by more than seven million people in Israel,
and by an unknown number of people in Jewish communities around the world.
The core of the Tanach (the Hebrew Bible תנ"ך) is written in Classical Hebrew,
and much of its present form is specifically the dialect of Biblical Hebrew
that scholars believe flourished around the 6th century BCE,
near the Babylonian exile.
For this reason, Hebrew has been referred to by Jews
as Leshôn Ha-Kôdesh (לשון הקודש), "The Holy Language", since ancient times.
There is much more to the history of the Hebrew language but...
a major result of literary work of the Hebrew intellectuals along the 19th century
was a lexical modernization of Hebrew.
New words and expressions were adapted as neologisms from the large corpus of Hebrew writings since the Hebrew Bible,
or borrowed from Arabic (mainly by Eliezer Ben-Yehuda) and Aramaic.
Many new words were either borrowed from or coined after European languages,
especially Russian, German, and French.
Modern Hebrew became an official language in British-ruled Palestine in 1921
(along with English and Arabic),
and then in 1948 it became an official language of the newly declared State of Israel.
Therefore,
we began our lessons with the word "praise"
and found that there are seven Hebrew terms for the word "praise."
Let's review these words and their meanings.
·
Yadah When we lift up our hands while we sing and pray we are doing yadah. It’s a sign of surrender to HIM. I GIVE MY EVERYTHING TO GOD.)
·Tehilliah It’s a song of praise that comes to you and its never been sung by anyone before, it’s a song from your heart to GOD. It could be rhythm words that don’t really mean anything but that carry a melody to GOD as praise. It can be like the Na-na-na song we sometimes sing during praise and worship. If we were to sing a tehilliah praise to JESUS, some might sing the words JESUS, some might sing Hallelujah, some might sing thank you LORD, some might just sing their own words, or hum a melody of their own. Just remember that you need to sing this new song out loud! The LORD loves it when we sing our new songs to HIM and HE especially loves it when we sing them at the same time. It shows GOD that we can work together, but still be ourselves and do what he wants us to do and that others are doing what he wants them to do all at the same time.
· Barak (baw-rak) This means to kneel or bow. It shows GOD that we honor HIM. There are many places in the Bible that tell about people who fall at JESUS feet. When JESUS comes the Bible says every knew shall bow. We shouldn’t be waiting until HE comes again to give him this honor, we should be bowing before him now.
·Halal. This word is special. It originally meant to shine, to make a show, to boast, to be foolish, to rave, to celebrate. It’s meaning today is much the same… to boast and make a big deal, to give glory, to give light, to sing, to be worthy of praise, to shine. When you combine it with Hallelujah it means Give Glory to the LORD. Celebrate by singing Halal! Sing it with meaning! Sing it to celebrate and give glory to the LORD! “Hallelujah! Praise Ye the LORD!”
·TOWDAH. (to-daw) This means to give worship by the extension of ONE hand in adoration or agreeing with what has been done or will be done. This gesture is used to give thanks or praise. Thanking God for something that I don't have yet in the natural but I am agreeing with His Word. It is a sign to show our faith in HIS Word. We are saying "Father, I thank YOU that YOUR WORD is TRUE." As we raise our hearts and hand in praise to the Lord, it involves a sacrifice, especially if one is very sick in body. The carnal mind would fight and ridicule this particular action of belief, but this gesture shows great faith in TOWDAH as praise. The lifting of the hand symbolizes agreement. The right hand symbolizes my covenant with my Father. In the scriptures, God is seen extending HIS Right Hand to me. That's the covenant! When HE extends HIS right hand to me, He's saying to me - ALL THAT I AM IS YOURS, and when I extend my right hand to Him, I am saying "All that I am is yours and I agree with what You're saying. It is the sacrifice that God honors by HIS performing of miracles. The ATTITUDE for TOWDAH is: I'm thanking God. I'm agreeing with God that it is as He says. I don't care what it looks like. I'm agreeing with what His Word says. Example: Father, I thank You that I am healed Scripture: Psalm 42:4, 50:23, Jer. 17:26
·ZAMAR (zaw-mar) This means to sing with instruments. It is to make music often accompanied by the voice. The word ZAMAR means to touch or play upon the strings, and refers to praise that involves instrumental worship as in Psalm 150. Today we associate it with making music with any instrument other than the natural voice. Zamar is usually translated "sing praises" even though it is with an instrument. This means the instrument sings praises when strummed by the one offering praise. The human voice can accompany the zamar in celebration of song and music KJV-- give praise, sing forth praises,psalms. (To give an active example of this Klyle will play his guitar in praise to GOD as the children learn the word zamar.)
· SHABACH (shaw-bakh) This means to address in a loud voice or tone, a loud sound of adoration coming from the voice, a shout! Proclaim with a loud voice, unashamed, it is when you call GLORY, TRIUMPH, POWER, MERCY, LOVE OF GOD, THANK YOU JESUS, any brief & loud word testimony, etc. This word implies that testimony is praise! The phrase "shout unto the Lord" can be understood as the action of SHABACH. It is not just being loud. It is an attitude of putting your whole being into it, an attitude of being totally uninhibited to the LORD in worship and adoration. Scripture: Psalm 117:1, 63:3-4 KJV-- commend, glory, keep in, praise, still, triumph.
...and so this ends our lessons on praise in our worship...
but it does not end our praise and worship!
Lesson 40, Cheerful Giving
Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others. 1 Peter 4:10
Character Builder: Goodness includes using what GOD gives you to help others.
It hadn't been very long since Jesus had died, risen and gone back to heaven when Jesus' followers were busy telling everyone the good news about Jesus! The news spread far away from Jerusalem to Antioch. Jewish and Gentile people were believing in Jesus and becoming members of GOD's family.
Two of Jesus' followers, Paul and Barnabas, were living and working in Antioch, teaching the believers and telling others about JESUS. One day some men came to visit them. One told ofa a sever famine that would soon spread through the land. The people of Jerusalme wouldn't have enough to eat because of the famine.
The people of Antioch could have said, "Why should we worry about that?" But they didn't. They were glad to help their Christian brothers and sisters. No matter how far away they were from each other, they were all part of GOD's family.
So believers in Antioch gave as much money as they could to help. Paul and Barnabas returned to Jerusalem witht he gift of money to help. Later they traveled farther going to many other cities and telling them about Jesus. Once Paul stopped and stayed a while in the city of Corinth. He lived there for over a year and got to know many people. When he left he kept in touch with them and wrote letters to help them. These letters bacame books in our Bibles.
In the first letter Paul asked them to save some money every week for Christians in the city of Jerusalem. The people in Corinth did just like those in Antioch. They saved money to send to help others who were in need. Back in those days traveling took a long time, so it was a long time before the Corinthians ever heard from Paul.
Paul wrote this to his Christian friends in Corinth. "I know you are very willing to take care of your brothers and sisters in GOD's family. I've told other people about your giving and it's made them want to give, too!"
Then Paul wrote, "Giving to help others in GOD's family is a lot like a farmer planting seeds, he grows a lot of plants and has a BIG harvest! GOD will always give you everything you need, so you can give generously to help others. This giving does more than just help take care of others. It will also make everyone who hears about it glad. They will praise GOD! It will show them that you are obeying and trusting GOD."
Paul took the money to the poor people in Jerusalem a long time ago, but the very same kind of giving still happens today. Helping others by sharing what GOD give us is one way to show GOD's goodness.
Lesson 38: GOD TALKS TO JOB
Character Builder:
Rely on GOD's wisdom and show patience
even when bad things that we don't understand happen
Job 1-2:10; 42
Things were going very badly for a man named Job. A terrible storm had killed all of his children, his animals had been stolen; he had become very sick. And he wondered why. In fact, Job wondered if GOD had forgotten all about him.
GOD hadn't forgotten. Even though sad, terrible things had happened, GOD still loved Job. GOD talked to Job to help him understand.
GOD kindly said, "Tell me, do you know how I made the earth? And do you know how I control the oceans and keep their waters from washing all over and flooding the entire land?"
Job must have thought about the beautiful world. He knew that GOD made the sweet smelling flowers and the roaring waterfall. He knew that GOD made the puffly clouds and the blue sky. Job knew GOD made the earth and everything in it.
But GOD wasn't finished talking to Job because Job was still sad and depressed. GOD asked, "Can you make the sun rise? Or can you make the rain fall and the grass grow?"
Job didn't know how GOD actually made the clouds or the rain. He didn't know exactly what GOD did to make it possible for grass seeds to sprout and grow. He knew he didn't make the sun and he couldn't make rain or grass grow. Only GOD can do that!
And still GOD asked more questions. "Do you know how to control the stars?" Job couldn't even count the stars. How could he control them?!
"And Job, can you give food to the birds and the lions? Can you help the mother deer teach their babies to live on their own in the forests? Do you make horses to run so fast that the ground flashed by underneath them?"
GOD continued, "Does the eagle fly at your command? Are you the one who tells him to build his next on rocky ledges high about the ground?"
Job must have thought of the stong eagles he had seen and he realized that only GOD could have made the eagle the way he did.
Finally, Job told GOD, "Now I know that you can do all things. All that you have planned will happen as you planned. Before I had heard of YOU, but I did not understand YOUR mighty power or YOUR unfailing love. Now I know all that YOU can do. I'm sorry that I did not trust YOU more.
Even though Job still had troubles, he now trusted GOD to do what was best. Even though Job did not understand all of GOD's ways, he now trusted GOD!
Well, later on, GOD gave Job twice as many sheep, cows, and donkeys as he had before. He also gave Job seven sons and three more daughters. Job lived for a long, long time, enjoying all that GOD had given him.
The most important thing that GOD did was to teach Job about HIS greatness! Job learned that he could trust GOD's love no matter what. GOD helped Job learn and gave us the story so that we can also learn the greatness of GOD.
Lesson 30, Isaac Keeps the Peace
Let the peace of CHRIST rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. Colossians 3:15
Genesis 26:1-6, 12-33
·There was a famine in the land and the rains did not come. The ground became dusty and no crops would grow. There wasn’t much drinking water because it was so dry so Isaac, Rebekah and all their family and herds were heading to a place called Gerar. (This is where Isaac’s father had lived long ago. Isaac was hoping that there was enough water there in the wells that his father, Abraham had dug to help them live.)
·But Gerar wasn’t empty. There were many people there called the Philistines. The king of the Philistines told his people to leave Isaac’s family alone and he allowed Isaac to settle his family and plant crops because there was water there. GOD blessed them and they were able to harvest 100 times what they had planted. The number of sheep and cattle they owned grew and grew because new lambs and calves were born. They were being blessed and everything was great until…
· The Philistines saw Isaac’s big harvest and all his animals. They were jealous! They wanted revenge so they filled up Abraham’s wells with dirt and the king of the Philistines told Isaac to move away.
·Isaac did what the king asked. He didn’t argue and he didn’t even try to change the king’s mind. He simply moved away and looked for a place to camp. The most important thing that they needed was water so they looked for that first. Isaac’s men found even more wells that his father, Abraham had dug. So they cleaned out the old wells and they had plenty of water again. They also dug a new well that gave cool, fresh, water… but it wasn’t long until they had unhappy visitors.
·Herdsmen from Gerar demanded them to leave and claimed that Abraham’s wells were theirs and that the land was theirs, too. So Isaac moved again and dug another well. The men from Gerar came there, too. Now Isaac’s herdsmen were getting upset because they had to pack up and leave again because they thought it wasn’t fair. They hadn’t hurt anyone, but Isaac was determined to keep the peace so he moved them again.
·They dug another well and found water again. This time they moved far enough away that no one came to fight with them over the water! They stayed there for a while but then moved even a little further. It was here that GOD talked to Isaac and reminded him of HIS promises to Isaac’s father. GOD told him to settle in this place called Beersheba and so they did. They dug another well.
·But that’s not all, the next thing that happened was that the king of the Philistines came to Beersheba. Isaac asked him why he had come there. The king said that when they saw that GOD had helped them that the Philistines decided that they should make an agreement with Isaac. They promised each other that they would never harm each other. So Isaac called for a feast for his visitors and that day, Isaac’s servants found water in the newest well that they were digging. Now they had water and they had peace!
Lesson 27 Paul Preaches in Athens
Acts 17: 16-34 (New Living Testament)
Paul preached in arious cities. When he went to Athens, he saw that the people worshipping idols there. So he went to the synagogue to the marketplace to talk to the anyone who would listen to him. A group of important men from the city who had heard him speak, got together and said, "What more will this babbler say? He is spreading lies about a strange god himself? He has been preaching about JESUS and a ressurection." So they brought Paul to a rocky hill called Areopagus, overlooking the marketplace, to explain himself there before the Greek council and some others who had gathered there. Paul stood up and and spoke:
- You men of Athens, I think you are too superstitious. When I pass through the town I see your devotions and I see the idols and I find an alter that says "TO THE UNKNOWN GOD". You ignorantly worship him and don't even know who he is. I declare to you that GOD made the world and all the things in it. HE is the LORD of heaven and earth and HE doesn't dwell in temples made with hands.
- And GOD is not worshiped with men's service as if HE needed anything. HE gives life and breath to all things and HE made the nations. He sets the times that they should seek the LORD. HE is not far away from anyone. It is in HIM that we live, and move and even exist. We are HIS offspring. We belong to HIM.
- So if we are HIS, we shouldn't think that the godhead is like gold or silver or stone images made by man's artwork in these idols. At one time GOD winked at this ignorance, but now HE commands all men everywhere to repent and turn back to HIM. GOD has appointed a day that HE will judge the world by the one that HE ordained and raised from the dead. (JESUS)
After the men heard of this resurrection, some of them made fun of it and said it wasn't true. Some of the others said we will hear more of you about this matter. So Paul left them, but a few went with him to hear more. When they listened they believed in JESUS... these men and some women, too.
