In my first post on this topic I said I would write more, and here it is. Today I'd like to think about the Jewish pattern of worship, which has served as a model and basis for Christian church services. Let me say up front that there are a number of things that are different. The gifts of the Spirit were not widely distributed until the Pentecost after the Ascension. Whereas Tongues, Healings, Prophecy and so forth may be regular features of a Christian service today, they were extremely rare in the days before Jesus came. Secondly, whereas Communion is frequently celebrated in Christian churches today, Passover was a feast that occurred once a year. More could be said, but you get the point: the synagogue and Temple services are not identical with the church service.
But let's think about the similarities. Those who have attended a Christian church service can boil down the common format to a couple of categories: worship in the form of singing, reading from the Bible, commentary (sermon/homily) on the passage(s) read, prayers, communion. A number of these features were already established in Jesus' day. If you read the account of Jesus' visit to the Nazareth synagogue in Luke 4, you will find that a Bible passage is read (Isaiah 61:1-2) and Jesus comments on this passage He has just read - i.e. he gives a sermon. From the first God was concerned that His people should know His Word, so He decreed in the Mosaic Law that the Torah should be read to the Israelites every seven years at the Feast of Tabernacles (Deuteronomy 31:9-13).
As for prayers and singing, they were features not only of the synagogue, but also of the Temple, where people made private prayer (Luke 18:9-14) and the Levites sang in formal worship (1 Chronicles 25). Public prayer has long been a feature of Judaism, a beautiful example being Solomon's prayer at the dedication of the Temple, found at 1 Kings 8 and 2 Chronicles 6.
As I've said before, the first Christians were Jews. When they met together, at times after being expelled from their synagogue, they brought some of their patterns and habits with them. This is not to deny that their ways were changed by the teachings of Jesus as passed on by His commissioned Apostles. It is the New Covenant, after all. But this New Covenant is built upon the Old. The Old was, like John the Baptist, the forerunner for Jesus; he prepared the way for the Christ. When you graduate from school to enter the big wide world of experience, you notice the difference between the freedom of this new place compared with the restraint and supervision of your school days. But you don't forget the lessons you learnt there - after all, you were taught these things so you could use them to live well.
Let us be thankful that God used the Jewish people to prepare the way for Messiah and serve as an example for the Church to learn from. 'For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.' (Romans 15:4, NIV.) But if He began our blessing with them, He will also bring it to its conclusion, its maturity, with them. For it is written, 'For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?'
Praise God He is at work among His people Israel. He has broken down the middle wall of separation and made Jew and Gentile one in Yeshua HaMashiach, Jesus the Christ.
Shalom al-Yisrael; shalom al-Yerushalaim.
God bless.
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