Stoned-Campbell Disciple

From Genesis to Malachi (and Tobit to 4 Maccabees if we throw in the Apocrypha) the fundamental truth proclaimed is Yahweh Creates and Yahweh Saves. To put it succinctly, the Hebrew Bible proclaims as loudly as can be proclaimed this Hesed based message:

– Exodus Comes Before Sinai

– Grace/Hesed Comes before Faith (worship)

– It Always Has … It Always Will

This beloved, is proclaimed on every line in the Torah, the Prophets and the Psalms.

Worship in the “Old Testament” is the response of joy and gratitude for what Yahweh has done. Israel did not worship trying to earn atonement (forgiveness). Such thinking is a gross misunderstanding.

Israel was saved in the Exodus. Israel was saved before she ever entered into the Mosaic covenant. For 20 chapters the Book of Exodus narrates the mighty acts of God’s Hesed to redeem Israel. A redemption which Israel did nothing and did not deserve.

The first “worship service” recorded in the Bible literally comes right after the great moment of salvation, on the very shores of the Red Sea. The prophet Moses and the prophet Miriam lead the newly saved by grace slaves in the worship of the redeemer Yahweh. They sing. They praise. They dance.

Exodus 15 is the response of joy to salvation by grace/hesed. Israel certainly did not try to worship to get atonement.

On the contrary, the text tells us the Israelites had zero faith. They wanted to string Moses up on the very shores of the sea. Yahweh tells the people to “shut up and watch the salvation of their God” (paraphrase of 14.13-18,

“Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground. I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them. And I will gain glory through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen. The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I gain glory through Pharaoh, his chariots and his horsemen.”

Read all of Exodus 14 then chapter 15. Israel “contributed” nothing. They certainly were not doing anything to get/earn Yahweh’s love for them. Israel was saved because Yahweh already loved them (Deuteronomy 7.7-9, 12, NIV. It is a “covenant of love“). We should actually read that text,

“The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath he swore to your ancestors that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments …”

At the head of the festivals – worship – of Israel are the Sabbath and Passover. Sabbath is commanded in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5. Sabbath is response to God’s Act. In Exodus 20, Israel “remembers” the Sabbath because of the Hesed/Grace of creation. In Deuteronomy 5, Israel “remembers” the Sabbath because Yahweh redeemed her by grace. There is not a Jew on the planet that tries to earn “atonement” or “forgiveness” through Sabbath observance. Sabbath preaches God’s prior grace. God created the world out of Hesed. God saved Israel out of Hesed (see Psalm 136 which captures both poles of the Sabbath. Remembering is about Joy.

The Passover, which extends that Deuteronomy 5 part of the Sabbath, is the central annual festival/worship of Israel. Passover and Sabbath are intertwined. Directions for worship in the Passover are in fact given in Exodus 12, embedded in the very narrative of redemption by Hesed. Passover, like the Sabbath every week, preaches God loved Israel before Israel was born. It preaches that Yahweh saved Israel, Israel did not save herself. It preaches while Israel had no faith, Hesed triumphed!

Everyone of the festivals of Israel, Passover, Weeks/Pentecost, Tabernacles, all proclaim the the prior mighty act of Hesed of Yahweh. The most common thing associated with these festivals is gratitude or JOY. Yahweh (thru Moses) tells Israel she is always to “rejoice before the LORD” (Deuteronomy 12.7,12,18; 14.26; 26.11; 27.7; etc, etc).

Worship in Israel was the response of joyful thanksgiving to Yahweh’s mighty act of Hesed in creating the world and his mighty act of Hesed in redeeming Israel. It is difficult to read the Psalms (all about worship) and imagine Israel thought they were coming to earn salvation, coming to Yahweh to get God to love them.

“Let the redeemed of the LORD say so …” (Psalm 107.2, NRSV)

A good exercise as we close the thoughts of this post is go read the the rest of Psalm 107 just quoted. Read Psalm 100. And read – out loud – Psalm 136.

Exodus Comes Before Sinai

Hesed Comes Before … it is the ground of … Worship

Worship – like faith itself – is response to Yahweh’s Grace.

This is exactly the same as the “New Testament. “

See Also

The Worship of God: Insight from the Apocrypha

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 11th, 2024 at 1:56 pm and is filed under Church, Exodus, Patternism, Salvation, Worship. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.