The RAVYN Blog

What is worship?

If we want to identify the Triune God in Scripture, the best case scenario is to understand how the Hebrews worshiped God. To fully understand this, we need to study how worship was done in the Ancient Near East. 

If I wanted to define God, I would have to look at how the Hebrews understood God, how they defined worship.

How We Define Worship

Is worship about recognition, or is it deeper than that? According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, worship as a noun means: 

• Reverence offered a divine being or supernatural power [an act of expressing such reverence]
• A form of religious practice with its creed and ritual
• Extravagant respect or admiration for or devotion to an object of esteem
• The word worship can also be a verb, as in ‘to worship’, meaning:
• To honor or show reverence for as a divine being or supernatural power
• To regard with great or extravagant respect, honor, or devotion

The word ‘worship’ comes from the Middle English word ‘wurðscip’ or ‘worschip’, which means honor or esteem.

The Ancient Understanding of Worship

Ancient Near Eastern culture had a very particular definition of worship. Worship typically involved some sort of sacrifice, mainly animals or grain. Some cultures even practiced human sacrifice (which, honestly, I’m grateful I wasn’t born into). 

We’re not used to sacrificing animals or visiting temples, so it can be hard to grasp how these cultures incorporated worship into their daily lives. Our concept of worship is framed through Western thinking. In fact, we define worship through singing, dancing, and going to church. 

But to understand God, we have to understand worship through the lens of the Hebrews. 

If God is reverenced in a particular manner throughout Scripture, then we can frame the doctrine of the Trinity in a context that directs us to its Biblical evidence.

The Worship of YHWH

The Hebrews’ patron deity, YHWH, was worshiped in various ways seen throughout Scripture. There are five ways that are displayed in the Old Testament Scripture: 

• The keeping of the three festivals
• The keeping of the Sabbaths and Holy Days
• The various sacrifices
• Bowing, kneeling, or serving
• Prayer, praise, and psalms

The Bible indicates that the various ways to demonstrate worship were often corrupted and used ritualistically rather than as genuine expressions of obedience. In other words, God Himself desired full submission and a surrendering of the heart from which the act of worship could flow. 

Regardless, one thing is clear throughout the Old Testament: the Hebrews were to show reverence only to YHWH, and no one else. 

Yet, throughout their journey, they struggled with this. Most times, they abandoned the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to pursue idols and foreign gods. The Israelites did this because they wanted to fit in with their surrounding neighbors. 

The Bible affirms the reality of these foreign spiritual entities, but it never asserts that they shared the same nature as YHWH. In fact, throughout the Bible, YHWH is acknowledged as the only God. 

If this is true, how can we be certain that the Bible supports the Trinitarian Doctrine?

YHWH, the Only God to Be Worshiped

As a part of His covenant with the newly-birthed nation of Israel, YHWH establishes Himself as the only God who brought the Hebrews out of Egypt. 

While we know these covenant sayings as the Ten Commandments, they were actually a contract established between the Israelites and God, who had previously delivered the Hebrews from Egyptian captivity. 

To fully understand the Trinitarian doctrine, we must consider that YHWH establishes Himself as the true and living God, and the ONLY God to be worshiped. 

Among the earliest statements made within the covenant at Mount Sinai was this:

‘Have no other gods before Me’.

Exodus 20:3

In fact, the first eleven verses of Exodus 20 are dedicated to establishing God as the one and only God and how the Israelites were to worship and reverence Him. 

From the onset, the Israelites readily understood this covenant between God and themselves.

The Complex Oneness of God

When it comes to worship, the Old Testament seems to indicate the unique nature of God. There is no argument against the fact that the Israelites worshiped one God. 

However, if we emphasize a Trinitarian God, we affirm that there are three persons within the Godhead. 

We see God speak through the prophet Isaiah, stating:

I am the Lord, and there is no other, besides me, there is no God. 

Isaiah 45:5 ESV

***

“To whom will you liken Me and make Me equal, and compare Me, that we may be alike?

Isaiah 46:5 ESV

***

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.” 

Deuteronomy 6:4 ESV

***

“‘See now that I, even I, am He, and there is no god beside Me.” 

Deuteronomy 32:39

***

That all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God; there is no other.

1 Kings 8:60 ESV

***

While it’s easy to attach our own thoughts and opinions to Scripture, we need to allow the Scripture to speak for itself—even if what it’s saying is a difficult pill to swallow. 

Does the Bible Contradict Itself?

For a while, I tried to piece together why the Bible affirms God’s oneness, yet in other areas, seems to indicate the complex personhood of God. Does Scripture contradict itself?

I’ve come to realize that there was something deeper than what I was reading at the surface level. Our culture, vocabulary, and thought processes don’t allow us to see the complexity of one. In fact, we rarely ever use ‘one’ to mean ‘unity’. 

These verses highlight a unique nature shared by the Father, Son, and Spirit, and the ancient Hebrews understood this. 

God and the Complex One

Our Western worldview considers ‘God’ as a personal name, and because of this, we conflate ‘God’ with ‘one person’. While the New Testament uses the word ‘God’ as the primary title for the Father, this isn’t how the word was always used in the Old Testament. 

Instead, there is a reasonable possibility that the unique identifier ‘God’ referred to three persons sharing the same divine nature, even in the Old Testament. 

The first occurrence of the complex and plural personhood of God can be seen in Genesis 1:27:

“Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” 

Genesis 1:27

While some might argue that this ‘us’ refers to God and the angels, we know for certain that we’re not made in the image of angels. Instead, God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image and in our likeness,’ indicating that there is a complex and unified personhood within God. 

Seeing God Through Worship

Worship is important to how we understand God and His nature. More importantly, it explains how we can incorporate the idea of worship into our daily lives. 

Worship is more than just music and singing; it is the self-sacrificial lifestyle that we live when we surrender to God. Most importantly, it is seen in our obedience to His Word.

The message of grace aligns with God’s nature: the threefold nature of God, that is. Jesus was sent by the Father, who in turn sent the Spirit. 

When we worship God, we must remember that our worship ought to be pure and genuine, coming from a place of surrender to God’s will. Our obedience, our lifestyle, and our attitude reflect the nature of God—this is worship.

Continuing the Journey: The Trinity Doctrine Explained

As you continue in this series, I hope that clarity and the strengthening of your faith will be at the forefront of your spiritual growth.

Signed, 

---

Want to learn more about the Trinity? Follow my mini-study series, The Trinity Doctrine Explained, right here on The Ravyn Blog. Sign up to get all your questions answered as you dive deeper into God. 

• Facebook
• Instagram
• X
• TikTok
• YouTube
• Tumblr