A Study
I thought I
might take this time just to help some of you who DO have difficulty figuring
out what to study, how to study it, and how to make sense of what you are
studying, how "I" typically study. Some of you study the Bible
(or topics) differently, and probably more efficiently and effectively...but
this is more for those who have problems figuring out how and what to do.
This morning,
I wanted to continue in my research on a subject I was presented at the
Crossroad Church back on Friday, the 24th of June. "What?", you
say, "You went to ANOTHER church?". Absolutely.....although not
very often, Socorro and I DO attend other church services...after all, it is
not YOUR church that is the ONLY church in the world, and besides, church is
where people are, any people, who are worshipping the Lord. And, besides,
our son-in-law was getting baptized that evening, and we not only wanted to
show our support, but also to participate in the event of someone deciding to
follow Christ. Anyway, the subject that was being taught was "The
Four Postures of Worship". The terms were taught as Hebraic words
(along with the symbols) depicting various bodily postures one might use when
praising God--PRAISE being the main idea of each of the words. The four
words were: Shabak, Barak, Yadah and Todah. The first one one in a
kneeling (opposition with head bowed and hands, palms upward, below the face a
few inches, depicting complete submission to God, not even being worthy enough
to look 'up' at Him. This first position could alos have been in a prone,
face down position---again, depicting complete subservience to the Lord. The
second term was still in a kneeling position, but now you were looking up in
the air as if to find God, with your hands, palms up again, out to the side or
part way to the front, and basically meant that "You are God, and I am
not"---type of praising. Third term for praising, and represented a
third posture, was Yadah This meant that you would be standing, looking
up, hands out to the side or partially to the front, and palms up
again. In this bodily posture of praising, you meant that you are hopeful
that God will continue to love you and give you your place in
Heaven. The last term had you still standing, arms raised over your
head, head tilted upward, and was the final phase of praising God. This
term also included, not silent thoughts as in the first three, but verbal singing
of praise to God.
The preacher
that evening presented this lesson along with excruciatingly long repetitive
songs......excruciating to ME, that is.....others might like standing with arms
over your head for 8 minutes, repeating "God is love, we love God",
or whatever the actual words were. (Even though I repeated them several
times, I STILL forgot them today.) The preacher asked us to perform these
four bodily postures (even though we were in a tight area in auditorium style
seats), starting with the kneeling ones (which was somewhat difficult to do in
the cramped places), all the way through Todah.
Well, let me
tell you....at first I was impressed with his 'knowledge' of biblical Hebrew
terms in the OT. Most, but not all, of the 4 or 5 hundred people there
did actually, along with Me, Socorro and our daughter and son-in-law, get into
those postures for the repeated rendition of "God is Love..(or
whatever)". I was moved to have learned the ways people supposedly
worshipped (praised) God during OT times. That is, until I got home, and
started to study these words myself.
An Internet
(don't ya just LOVE it?) search revealed a very similar lesson, but with 7
terms, not 4. I noted the website was done by a group of "motorcycle
Christians"....check it out at forgivenbiker.homestead.com/PRAISE.html . I also discovered
other sites that discussed these terms in forms of worship--like http://www.firstbaptistraytown.com/discipleship/adults/journey/Lesson27_Seven%20Hebrew%20Words%20for%20PraiseNLT.pdf#search='barak%20todah'
and http://w3.byuh.edu/academics/religion/muhlestk/postures.htm.
But then,
not necessarily trusting the 'ol Internet', I decided to try to locate these
terms myself, from reputable sources. I used several concordances, an
Expeditionary Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, an "Ancient
Hebrew Dictionary" and portions of the Torah.
Even though
I have only begun to scratch the surface as to the actual meanings of these
words (IF they even existed in the OT), I am sort of doubtful as to the
authenticity and accuracy of the production that was presented to us on that
evening of worship. I was able to find yadah (Strong's #3034) which did
mean to praise, or confess or acknowledge (depending upon in which passage it
was used). I could not find any reputable reference which used this term
in a description of bodily postures for worship. However, the word
'barak', which I did locate as well, DID mean to praise, in a kneeling
position. Again, I found 'todah' -- and it does mean to praise, but more
of a thanksgiving way, and was used to refer to a thanksgiving choir or
procession (Nehemiah 12:31, 38). I could find no mention of bodily
positions during my search of the word todah. I did find rhillah, which
meant to praise or glorify, or to sing in praise to God, but that word also did
not indicate any particular body position. (The preacher did not mentioned this
term, but I found IT, and others which also referred to styles of praise, not
not bodily postures.) For example, halal was a term used to indicate joyous
shouting for the Lord, but didn't say hands were outstretched, dances were
done, or anything like that.. And the last term used that evening which I
have not addressed yet was Shabak. I have yet to find any meaning of that
word (other than from the Internet), but I am still searching...I am not done
yet with my study/research.
That evening
was a very lively (even if repetitive in song lyrics) 2-hour event. I
went away from there pleased to have learned something new. However, I
now feel that the evening was more of a production, than a worship. I
don't want to 'bash' that church, as I believe they have several well-meaning
leaders. However, sometimes truths get extended somewhat to make a
point. I don't believe that is necessary with God. The gospel
(truth) tells it all. I am not getting hung up on bodily postures, or
ancient Hebraic terms, or even motorcycles for God. Oh oh, time is just
about up, and I have not even BEGUN to tell you how I do studies. Oh
well, I guess I will continue this email some time in the future. But for
a quick summary, I like to research what is taught, and NOT just using the
Bible. There are excellent resources out there---go BUY them!!!!
How many of you own anything with the word STRONGS in it? How
about any Bible Dictionaries? What about Greek and Hebrew
references to biblical words, passages or sayings?
How about
a GOOD (and BIG) concordance. If not, I highly suggest you
Gotta
go---see you at Church.
Mac