Continuity Between Prophetic Worship and the New Testament: A Puritan’s Doorway to Traditional Liturgy (Part 3)
In this post I’d like to dig right into some really good stuff. As we look at these parallels in a little more detail we can see clearly how the New Covenant worship is to be a fuller realization of the Old, rather than a disconnect. So what can we find by way of continuity?
Sanctus
In Isaiah the prophet is given a view into heaven. He sees YHWH sitting on a throne above all the earth, his robe filling the temple. Interesting that the temple is seen by Isaiah to be in heaven, not in Jerusalem. Or is it both? That might be an interesting idea to explore later. It is quite possible that YHWH is in the Jerusalem temple here, as the seraphim are standing above Him. In any case, his robe is in the Temple, and fills it. The worship of the seraphim is responsive:
And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”
~Isaiah 6:3
So YHWH is present in the Temple on earth while the angels glorify Him above. Does this remind us of any scene of the New Covenant? It should. In Revelation the apostle John sees a similar sight. Or is it identical?
At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne . . . And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say,
“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” ~Rev. 4:2-8
From this we may see that the way God is to be worshiped, at least in heaven, has not changed from the time of Isaiah to Revelation. It is no accident that the Jewish Synagogue worship included the Sanctus of Isaiah in their Sabbath liturgy. They understood that the way God is worshiped in heaven is the way we are to worship him on earth.
It is also likely that while the Sanctus was sung in the synagogue, it originated in the service of the Temple before the time of Christ. And it was not long before the Christian Church followed suit, incorporating the Sanctus into the liturgy of the Eucharist.
Hosanna and Benedictus
Closely related to the Sanctus in both Jewish and Christian liturgy is the Hosanna. In Hebrew it means “save us!” and is drawn from Psalm 118.
Save us, we pray, O Lord! O Lord, we pray, give us success! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! We bless you from the house of the Lord.
~Psalm 118:25-26
The people of Israel in the day of Christ understood that this was to be used to inaugurate the coming of the Messiah. They sang this Psalm as Jesus entered the city of Jerusalem riding on a donkey, waving palm branches and spreading their garments at his feet.
(Matt. 21:9, John 12:13)
The Hosanna also has connections to the book of Revelation. There is a part in the vision that alludes directly to the triumphal entry, with all people of all tribes of all nations standing before the Lord with palm branches, just as the people of Israel did on Palm Sunday.
There is one marked difference, the contrast of which actually highlights a thematic continuity in the narrative of redemption. Since Christ has conquered and is victorious, the Church now may say Hosanna (save us, Lord), but also says “salvation belongs to the Lord our God,” to which the angels reply in unison, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.” (Rev. 7:9-12)
Hallelujah (Alleluia)
Looking at the Hosanna will bring us directly to another parallel between Old Covenant and New. The Psalms were written specifically to enhance and fill the worship of the Tabernacle and Temple. What we find in the Psalms, if found in parallel in the New Testament, should tell us a great deal about how worship is to be done under the New Covenant.
One series of Psalms—the Hallel Psalms—is particularly striking. Notice how often is repeated the call to “Praise YHWH” (Psalm 106:1, 111:1, 112:1, 113:1, 117:1, 135:1, 146:1, 147:1, 148:1, 149:1, 150:1). A total of eleven Psalms begin with “Hallelujah!” Clearly the call to Praise the Lord was a pervasive and integral part of the Old Covenant Temple worship. By now we should not be surprised that we find the same liturgical call in the New Testament.
For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,
“Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles,
and sing to your name.”And again it is said, “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.”
And again, “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples extol him.” ~Romans 15:8-11
Clearly, Hallelujah is not only for Israel.
After this I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying out, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God . . .
Once more they cried out, “Hallelujah! The smoke from her goes up forever and ever.”
And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who was seated on the throne, saying, “Amen. Hallelujah!”
And from the throne came a voice saying, “Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, small and great.”
Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns.
~Rev. 19:1, 3-6
Commentary
The people of God said and sang Hallelujah in God’s Temple under the Davidic litugical reforms, the Gentiles say Hallelujah as salvation comes from Israel and floods the nations. The elders in heaven continually say Hallelujah before the throne of Christ. They sing Hosanna—save us in the highest—as well as the acclamation celebrating that salvation, waving palms to welcome the king. The seraphim say Sanctus—”Holy, Holy, Holy”—continually before the throne of God, glorifying the Three-in-One.
What’s more, in each description they do it very much in the same way throughout history, employing the same kind of language, with the same reverence and with the same manner of call and response between officiant(s) and congregation. I find it hard to understand how Christians can read these descriptions of worship in both Old and New Covenant and then say we ought not to do it that way because it is not explicitly commanded.
But it is explicitly commanded! The liturgy is the invasion of Heaven into Earth. This is God’s glory breaking in upon our world and the worship of His person joining all the saints through out history in the past, present, and future, into a united divine service. We cannot say “thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven” and then refuse to do not only what is done in heaven now and forever shall be in the future, but was already done in Israel for a thousand years. There is no justification for a hiatus from reverent and vibrant liturgical worship.
The elements of the liturgy in the New Testament book of Revelation are not merely something to look forward to in eternity. It is a description of how worship is to be done now, deeply rooted in an awareness of how worship was done then. And we haven’t even touched on how incense, posture, musical instruments, and food are used in both Old Covenant worship and in the New.
As Reformed and Evangelical Christians, it is no credit to us that we look at the rite of the Roman Mass or the Orthodox Divine Liturgy and say,
“Oh, that’s rote. We don’t do that” and then discard not only the corruptions but also the Scriptural elements of liturgy as “mere traditions of men.” Or, even if we think the tradition is itself okay, we askew Biblical worship in order to avoid guilt by association. After all, we wouldn’t want to look Catholic . . .
Methinks as Protestants we sometimes protest the wrong things, and far too loudly. As far as I can see, the Reformed Regulative Principle not only permits us to employ a rich and engaging liturgy to worship God. Rather, it demands it.
Next time: Keeping Time
Tags: cherubim, communion, Eucharist, heaven, Liturgy, Lord's Prayer, Lord's Supper, Moses, Orthodoxy, Reformation, Reformed, Regulative Principle, Revelation, Roman Catholicism, seraphim, tabernacle, temple, worship
History, Liturgy, Theology | Christopher Kou | 
June 5, 2009 8:29 PM
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Quick note. If you visit the original post page all Bible references are "hot." Rolling over them will pop up the text.http://chriskou.com/2009/06/05/continuity-between-prophetic-worship-and-the-new-testament-a-puritans-doorway-to-traditional-liturgy-part-3/
yes, good stuff. tho i do believe ancient and near universal church tradition is not merely descriptive but prescriptive.
Hehe. Yeah, well. I didn't even talk about tradition, if you notice. All of this is straight from the Bible. I think tradition may be helpful when we begin to work out HOW to do these things, as far as specifics are concerned.
Thanks for writing these! I just discovered them this morning. Also, we love Sanctus!!!When you said, "There is no justification for a hiatus from reverent and vibrant liturgical worship." it rang so true for me, I had to shout, "Hallelujah"!
….. Oh, wait.I grew up, 1st Lutheran, and then my parents got involved with some independent charismatic groups. The worship was vibrant, although disorderly at times, but "Hallelujahs" did ring out. As I read this today, it made me look forward to the Church, by God's grace, beginning to understand true worship (not that I think I understand it, or know what it will look like). I feel so blessed to be in our church in Carbondale, IL, where we are trying to implement some of these things.How are these “Hallelujahs” to sound? Are we to emit emotion while worshipping? The "E" word is scary to some. I'm not talking about disorder, but, vibrant. As frail humans how can we enter the presence of an Almighty God, and not fall prostrate??
Tradition is not prescriptive (that's really giving up the Reformation IMO) , but it is helpful.
Christopher,Though there is some fishy stuff in the mix, you might appreciate Barkers work on this topic: http://www.margaretbarker.com/Papers/TempleRootsofChristianLiturgy.pdf
Let me qualify my tradition bit. I'd be willing to give certain features a "normative" status, though I wouldn't rest liturgical validity upon that. Still, I'd be very skeptical as the claims of "ancient" and "near universal." We actually don't have much of anything that meets those requirements (that would be much more like Jewish Christianity), except for those components that ever major denomination still retains (not usually what folks are getting at, though).
Thanks, Steven. I do have a couple of Barker's books, including that one. It's rather helpful. Gotta watch out for her odd Christology, yeah.For reference on the myth of universality of liturgy, Paul Bradshaw's "Search For the Origins of Christian Worship" is a great book.
it took teh church till the 4th or 5th centuries to figure out what exactly to do. by that time we have a fairly consistent liturgy and sacramental practice both east and west.none of the early christians looked at the new testament to try to figure out how they were to worship … they read the new testament in light of how they already worshiped.
Christopher,The Bradshaw recommendation is a good one, though I think I'm less skeptical than he is in that book. Still good info though.The point of connection is with the Jews and Temple and Synagogue stuff. Unfortunately the AnteNicene church tended to over separate from the Jews, losing a good deal, as well as bringing in a little bit of fishy stuff to fill the gap. 4th-5th is way too late. You've already got major schisms by that point and almost a wholesale loss of Hebrew conversationalists.
>>>After all, we wouldn’t want to look Catholic . . .<<<That is one of the most damaging Protestant ideas floating around right now. It pops up all over the place.