Worship

Part 12 - Contemporary Worship, Part Two

The people of Israel worshipped the Lord after passing through the Red Sea in thanksgiving for their deliverance (Exodus 15:1-21). Such thanksgiving was satisfactory for the time and situation. Such praise and worship, however, was inadequate for the ongoing existence of the people. God delivered the people from bondage (Exodus 1-18) and formed them into covenant community (Exodus 19-24). This was not enough. God also gave the people standards for worship (Exodus 25-40).

Exodus 25:8 set the stage. "Let them construct a sanctuary for Me, that I may dwell among them." God commands the people to build a sanctuary. God promises He will dwell in this sanctuary. With this command God establishes a distinction between spontaneous praise and worship and worship in the sanctuary. One is informal. God formally institutes the other.

Exodus 25:9 continues the directions. The people may not construct a sanctuary according to their own desires and plans. God directs Moses to tell the people to construct the sanctuary "according to all that I am going to show you, as the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furniture, just so you shall construct it (Exodus 25:9). The writer to the Hebrews characterizes these words as a warning, and for good reason.

The priests in the sanctuary "offer the gifts according to the Law." God gives them strict instructions for their service. Why? They "serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, just as Moses was warned by God when he was about to erect the tabernacle; for, 'See,' He says, 'that you make all things according to the pattern which was shown you on the mountain'" (Hebrews 8:4-5). Service in the sanctuary is sacred. It is a copy and shadow of heavenly things. For this reason God also commands, "You shall keep My Sabbaths and reverence My sanctuary; I am the Lord" (Leviticus 26:2). God commands the building of the sanctuary and reverence for the sanctuary.

The present-day sanctuary and dwelling place of God is the assembly of God's people. Amazingly, God commands His people, you and me, to construct this sanctuary for Him. He promises to dwell therein and to meet with us. This sanctuary is to reflect heaven. His presence is the essential ingredient. We must therefore construct this sanctuary, this worshipping body, according to the pattern God reveals to us. God does not permit us to worship Him, in this formal sense, in ways we determine. As we shall see, the Bible outlines certain elements of worship. We must include these elements in our worship and not add others. We must observe God's guidelines for formal worship within His church. When we do so, we respect God's sanctuary, His worshipping assembly.

Leviticus 26:2 also connects the Sabbath and the sanctuary. The weekly Sabbath is the first of God's appointed times for "holy convocation" (Leviticus 23:1-3). God calls His people to come together in a holy or sanctified assembly set apart from the world and reflective of heaven. Contemporary informal worship services on weeknights seek to give people an alternative. There is adaptation in the time and the form of worship. Adaptation to the world and the culture is decidedly not the will of God with regard to Sabbath worship. When we come to worship it is therefore not more of the contemporary culture and more of the world we should seek. We should come to seek the face of God and to gain a taste of heaven. When we do so, we are following God's directions, "Let them construct a sanctuary for Me, that I may dwell among them."