Worship in Ancient Israel

I recently read an introspective post from a fellow Christian blogger that really got me thinking about how we approach the LORD during times of praise, worship, and prayer. It left me pondering the following questions:

• Are our modern practices of worshiping God, like raising our hands, something relatively new to the Christian faith or are these practices something that has been handed down from one generation of the Church to the next with their traces going back to ancient Israel & the time of Jesus?

• Is there Scriptural evidence for the practice of raising one's hands in praise, worship, and prayer?

My goal is to give you an overview of what worship and prayer looked like during the time of Jesus, as well as solid biblical understanding regarding the ancient practice of raising hands to God during prayer & worship. 🙌🏻

In regards to the blog post I previously mentioned, I totally respect where the author is coming from in her personal convictions on how she worships God. I also admire her desire to serve and worship the LORD wholeheartedly. For context, she explains that she made times of corporate worship into an emotional experience that was all about HER and was not glorifying to the LORD. Her "charismatic" approach to worship, as she defined it, included "...raising my hands, closing my eyes, and falling into emotional worship." She goes on to say, "I think I had always assigned strong “faith” to people who willingly looked foolish in worship. I just assumed that they had their faith on the right path because they were worshiping God expressively. But this experience showed me that there was NO correlation between someone’s style of worship and how “sold out” for Jesus they truly were." At the end of her post, she comes to the conclusion that the true meaning of worship is "truly [LIVING] a Christian life, day in and day out, fighting against sin and becoming transformed to be like Christ." I wholeheartedly agree with her conviction of not wanting worship to become solely an emotional experience based on our feelings & needs and instead be about glorifying God in our daily lives.

She, then, reveals that she made a personal commitment with God to never make worship an outward show again. Since this commitment, she has never raised her hands during worship. She explains, "I have learned that outward shows during worship is a stumbling block in my faith. It fluffs up my PRIDE, and it makes me think about myself, not God."

If you would like to read her entire blog post, click here.

Okay, with all that being said, her conclusion of never again raising her hands or having any outward display of emotion during corporate worship makes me a little sad (although I totally respect her conviction and agree with her Christian liberty to keep herself free from sin and pride). However, I am saddened because she most likely came to this conclusion due to the modern Church not teaching enough on these topics from a Scriptural basis, while also frequently misusing certain practices to make the emphasis of worship more of an outward show than an inner devotion to God. I also agree with Caitlin that worship music is increasingly becoming ultra-emotionalized and primarily focused on the needs & desires of the believers instead of magnifying God. However, this age-old adage comes to mind - "Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater" meaning don't eliminate something good in an attempt to get rid of something bad.

The purpose of this post is to go back to the origin of how the ancient Israelites praised, worshiped, & prayed to God since our most holy faith was passed down from them through the apostles of Jesus Christ, the Messiah of Israel. I pray this edifies your faith, deepens your devotion to God, and brings biblical evidence to our modern worship experiences. Jeremiah 17:10 says, "I the LORD search the heart and test the mind..."

So, let's begin with a fundamental truth - many ancient Jewish and early Christian sources mention raising the hands in the context of worship. We can find many examples of this in the Bible, but archaeology has also uncovered many artifacts also bearing witness. One of the most interesting of these artifacts is buried deep below Rome in the catacombs. These underground burial places date from the second to fifth centuries (not long after the death and resurrection of Christ). Troves of artistic, cultural, and religious treasures are buried amidst these dark, damp passageways. One of these treasures is a posed figure titled "orante" which was an early Christian symbol of a praying figure whose soul lives in divine peace. It is evidence of the early Christian practice of praying with raised hands. As you’ll see below, this same pose is actually found in thousands of figures found in the catacombs which was a popular burial place for Christians during the time of Christian persecution in Rome. Below, you will find just two of the many examples found in the Roman catacombs. Notice the raised, outstretched hands.

Now that we have discussed some of the historical evidence of early Christian worship practices, let's turn to the biblical evidence.

In an article written by David M. Calabro, a scholar who has a doctoral degree in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, I learned that there are six Hebrew idioms found in the Old Testament which were used to describe the gesture of raising both hands during prayer:

1. nāśāʾ yādayim - "lift up the hands"

2. nāśāʾ kappayim - "lift up the hands"

3. pāraś kappayim - "spread or stretch out the hands"

4. pēraś (bə)yādayim - "spread or stretch forth the hands"

5. pēraś kappayim - "spread forth the hands"

6. mōʿal yādayim - "lifting up hands"

According to Dr. Calabro, these inscriptions “show that the prayer gesture essentially consisted of raising both hands with the palms facing outward. There was also a dynamic element, however, in the degree to which the hands were extended upward.”

He also explains that the verb nāśāʾ meaning “to raise” indicates that the hands were most likely held high, perhaps at the level of the face or higher. Also, the phrase "spread forth the hands” implies that the hands are held apart from each other, held open, or both.

Interestingly, the Greek phrase, cheiras epairō - “lift up the hands," found in 1 Timothy 2:8 has an equivalent meaning to the Hebrew, nāśāʾ yādayim - "lift up the hands." Scholars know this because cheiras epairō was used to translate the Hebrew phrase, nāśāʾ yādayim, in the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament).

I know that all of these Greek and Hebrew phrases may be mildly confusing. The point I'm trying to make is that the raising of hands in the Old Testament during prayer and times of corporate worship was extremely prevalent.

The corporate worship of God by His people, Israel, was centered around the Tabernacle and, later on, the Temple in Jerusalem. King David's heart fervently burned to build God a permanent dwelling place among His people which his son, Solomon, later built. However, before the Temple ever stood, God hand-delivered specific instructions to His servant Moses regarding the dimensions, items, furnishings, and layout of the Tabernacle He was tasking Israel to construct as a meeting place to worship Him (Exodus 25-31).

"And make a sanctuary for Me, and I will dwell in the midst of them, according to all that I show you—the pattern of the Tabernacle and the pattern of all its equipment—and so you will do." -Exodus 25:8

In Exodus 40:34 we learn, "Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle." When King Solomon, David's son, finally completes the Temple in Jerusalem, we find that the LORD's Presence also fills that Temple.

"When Solomon finished praying, fire flashed down from Heaven and burned up the burnt offerings and sacrifices, and the glorious Presence of the Lord filled the Temple. The priests could not enter the Temple of the Lord because the glorious Presence of the Lord filled it." -2 Chronicles 7:1-2

During Solomon's prayer of dedication, he stood in front of the Altar of the LORD before the entire community of Israel who were gathered together in worship. The Bible says that King Solomon "lifted his hands in prayer" (2 Chronicles 6:12). The Bible reiterates a little further in the passage that, "he stood on the platform, and then knelt in front of the entire community of Israel and lifted his hands toward Heaven" (2 Chronicles 6:14). Towards the end of his prayer he says, "...and if Your people Israel pray about their troubles or sorrow, raising their hands toward this Temple, then hear from Heaven where You live, and forgive. Give Your people what their actions deserve, for You alone know each human heart. Then they will fear You and walk in Your ways as long as they live in the land You gave to our ancestors (2 Chronicles 6:29-31). Then, fire fell from Heaven which consumed the burnt offerings & sacrifices and God's tangible Presence filled the Temple.

Lifting one's hands in corporate worship & prayer didn't just begin during the days of the Temple. All the way back in the time of the Exodus, we have examples of both Moses & Aaron lifting their hands in prayer. In Leviticus 9:22, Aaron lifted up his hands towards the people of Israel and spoke a blessing over them. In Exodus 17:11, the nation of Israel gains the upper-hand in battle against the Amalekites when Moses has his hands lifted to Heaven. When he put his hands down, the enemy prevailed. Lifting the hands isn't just for the leaders, priests, and kings of Israel either. We have an example in Nehemiah 8:6 where the congregation of Israel lifts their hands in prayer, "Then Ezra blessed the Lord the great God. And all the people answered, “Amen, Amen!” while lifting up their hands; then they bowed low and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.” There are numerous examples in the psalms as well. Here are a few of them:

Psalm 63:4 - "So I will bless You as long as I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name."

Psalm 28:2 - "Hear the voice of my supplications when I cry to You for help, When I lift up my hands toward Your holy Sanctuary."

Psalm 141:2 - "May my prayer be counted as incense before You; The lifting up of my hands as the evening offering."

Psalm 134:2 - "Lift up your hands to the Sanctuary and bless the Lord."

Lamentations 3:41 - "We lift up our heart and hands toward God in Heaven..."

In Luke 24:50, Jesus lifted up His hands and blessed His disciples before He ascended to the Father in Heaven. Also, Apostle Paul teaches in 1 Timothy 2:8, “Therefore, I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands, without anger and dispute.” In summary, lifting the hands in praise, worship, and prayer is a biblically-sound practice with many verses to defend it both in the Old & New Testament. It is a symbol of one's heart (the inner man) surrendered and humbled before God. Many of the Old Testament verses that reference the lifting of hands also mention "toward God in Heaven" or "His holy Sanctuary" (dwelling place), so I think the physical act of lifting our hands serves as a visual reminder to us of God's exalted position which is high above the heavens.

Lifting the hands isn't the only expression of worship in the Bible. Here’s a list of some others:

• Shouting for joy - Psalm 100

• Singing with joyful songs - Psalm 95, Psalm 145

• Bowing down in worship - Psalm 95

• Kneeling before the LORD - Psalm 95

• Giving thanks to Him/Entering with thanksgiving - Psalm 95, Psalm 100

• Praising His name - Psalm 145

• Proclaiming His great deeds - Psalm 145

• Meditating on His love & wonderful works - Psalm 145, Isaiah 26

• Exalting the LORD - Psalm 145

• Extolling the LORD (excessive praise) - Psalm 34, Psalm 95

As I wrap up this post, I leave you with the example of King David who was known by God as a "man after His own heart." In 2 Samuel 6:14-22, we discover that "David danced before the Lord with all his might, wearing a priestly garment. So David and all the people of Israel brought up the Ark of the LORD with shouts of joy and the blowing of rams’ horns." However, everyone wasn't as thrilled with King David's very expressive, exuberant display of worship to God. His wife, Michal (King Saul's daughter), was humiliated & embarrassed by David's unabashed worship before the LORD. When she looked down from her window, "...she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she was filled with contempt for him.” Contempt is an ugly word. It means feeling that a person is beneath consideration and deserving of scorn. After King David had finished dedicating the Ark of the Covenant and placing it inside the special tent he made for it, he returned home to bless his own family (including his wife, Michal). When he returned, "She said in disgust, 'How distinguished the King of Israel looked today, shamelessly exposing himself to the servant girls like any vulgar person might do!' David retorted to Michal, "I was dancing before the Lord, who chose me above your father and all his family! He appointed me as the leader of Israel, the people of the Lord, so I celebrated before the Lord. Yes, and I am willing to look even more foolish than this, even to be humiliated in my own eyes!..."

David understood the tremendous grace the Lord had extended to him by choosing him to be the King of Israel and giving him the promise of an everlasting dynasty. He was so overcome with thanksgiving and gratitude that he couldn’t help but outwardly show his worship and admiration for God. He saw the relocation of the Ark as a great time of celebration and worship. He wanted to lavish his praise and love onto the LORD and he didn't care who saw him doing it.

{Oh, how we have wonderful things to thank God for just as David did! Through Jesus, our Savior, we received abundant life in place of death! We have been made righteous in the sight of God! We have peace with God! We have provision for everything pertaining unto life and godliness! We have the ministry of the Holy Spirit! We are the temples of the Holy Spirit! And more…So much to be thankful for.}

On the other hand, Michal was overcome by envy & jealously. She reprimanded David from a place of insecurity because she thought he was acting improper as King, as well as gaining the attraction of the servant girls. The consequence for her rebuke resulted in her remaining childless throughout her entire life (2 Samuel 6:23). I'm not sure if this means that David no longer had sexual relations with her or if it means that she became barren, but she was the one admonished for her attitude towards David's display of worship to the Lord.

In conclusion, the true heart behind praise, worship, and prayer is your devotion and love for the LORD. Whether you choose to close your eyes or keep them open, raise your hands or keep them at your side, whether you prefer classic hymns or modern worship songs, standing, kneeling, bowing, or sitting, whether you sway to the music, dance, jump for joy, or stand still, whether you shout, clap, sing, hum, or stay silent...it is the LORD who searches the heart and tests the mind. As Apostle Paul teaches in Colossians 3:17, "Whatever you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father."

I want to end this post with something profound that I read in Caitlin's post regarding the unity of the Body of Christ: "Now, when I get the opportunity to worship with others, I join together with them, enjoying the unity of the Bride of Christ, not comparing our faiths by outward markers, or honestly even comparing our faith at all."

Let's worship the LORD with hearts full of pure devotion, thanksgiving, and praise to the King of kings & the Lord of lords. He is worthy, friend!

Warmly,

-Kate

References:

Mrs. Midwest Blog - https://www.mrsmidwest.com/post/why-i-no-longer-raise-my-hands-during-church-worship

Gestures of Praise - Dr. David M. Calabro - https://rsc.byu.edu/ascending-mountain-lord/gestures-praise-lifting-spreading-hands-biblical-prayer

Roman Catacombs - http://www.joyfulheart.com/scholar/hands.html