God and Worship

Introduction:

What does it mean to worship God?

Does it include knowing Him? If so, what kind of God is He?

Must it be in only one place?

Are objects and places sacred to Him?

God wants to be known.

He has revealed himself to aid our fallen infirmities of mind.

To worship Him without knowing Him is mere ritual.

Engaging in the rituals of worship does not constitute worship.

God’s presence has been one of Stephen’s themes:

He first discussed it in Acts 7:7.

It was important in his discussion of Moses.

God’s Witness to Himself

For Israel, God provided the “tent of witness.”

This terminology appears in the LXX in Num. 1:50.

It attested to His presence with Israel.

Stephen establishes a contrast, or the texts naturally do, between the models used to worship those gods and the tent of the witness that Jehovah alone brought Israel out of Egypt.

Note the terminology in Acts 7:43-44.

Exodus 25:9 “Exactly as I show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle, and of all its furniture, so you shall make it.”

The presence of the tabernacle links together Stephen’s earlier account with what comes after it.

Something that manifested itself in the form of blatant idolatry, defying the evidence of the tabernacle, continued after the death of David.

Solomon constructed a house for Israel to use in the worship of Jehovah.

God, however, does not live in handmade places.

Stephen returns to this idea first associated with the golden calf.

The Temple should be viewed as a continuation of the same for of rebellion against God as the making of the golden calves.

Perhaps a more careful, and generous, reading of Stephen’s words would be to see it as part of broader prophetic criticism in Jeremiah and according to Jesus.

How Israel Rejected that Witness

2 Samuel 7

Note Solomon’s words in 1 Kings 8:26-29

Note how consistent Isaiah 66:1-6 are with Solomon’s acknowledgement.

The harshest way of thinking about Stephen’s words are, perhaps, the most natural.

Introduction (Part 2):

Understanding God’s transcendence is vital to knowing Him.

He is not aloof from our concerns, but we cannot think of Him as limited to geographical boundaries or to single buildings.

We also must realize how distinct He is from a pagan deity.

Ritual does not satisfy him.

We should begin by considering Isaiah 66:1-4.

Isaiah borrows from 1 Kings 8 presenting the similar ideas as God’s own characterization of Himself.

God does not need a handcrafted temple as a place to live or rest.

Whatever degree might is by His grace and choice.

His universal claim enables Him to look for those who are humble, and that includes outside of Israel (see at the end of the chapter).

He finds ritual sacrifice from idolatrous people abhorrent.

The Temple became something else in the thinking of Israel and the later Jews.

Isaiah 1

Jeremiah 7:1-11

Lk. 19:45

Note the wording of Mark 14:58 “ὅτι ἡμεῖς ἠκούσαμεν αὐτοῦ λέγοντος ὅτι ἐγὼ καταλύσω τὸν ναὸν τοῦτον τὸν χειροποίητον καὶ διὰ τριῶν ἡμερῶν ἄλλον ἀχειροποίητον οἰκοδομήσω.”

What is worthy of thought here:

How do we conceive of God? It is not enough that we worship Him.

The acts, the rituals do not satisfy Him. He wants us to think of Him correctly so that we may recognize His glory.

He wants us to obey Him as part of our recognition of His glory. Obedience is also vital to worshipping Him properly.

We should not conceive of Him as a patron/guardian deity.

He is so much more.