Worship is not singing!

[Bob corrigan]

As is the case in almost every single church building, "Christian" book or article, podcast, blog, etc., most of what is taught is based on the "Traditions of Men," rather than what Scripture teaches. There are many reasons for this. One of the biggest problems is the English translations of the original texts of Scripture, which allows for pastors to twist, alter or change the original meaning and proper context of what was written down. Culture determines word meanings. When people, who speak and read English, read an English translation of Scripture they automatically associate and connect the English words with their cultural understanding of the English words. So, what they read places Scripture in the setting of their current culture. And their understanding of what Scripture means is based on their culture rather than the reality of the culture that the writings came from. And this practice leads to misunderstanding and false teaching.
Many centuries ago, starting as early as the 2nd century, there was a movement that was started by those who controlled what the Gentiles were taught and told to believe that the Jews, all Jews, were the enemies of God, they alone killed Jesus, were cursed, practiced witchcraft and sorcery, drank human blood and were actually pagan.
I could relate much more on this subject, but the point is that from almost the beginning of Gentiles being reached in the proclamation of the gospel, there has been a concerted effort to separate and keep separate Jews from Gentiles and a "Jewish faith" from the "Gentile faith." The movement even attempted to exclude the Jews from having any bearing on the New Testament. To the point that Gentile believers need only focus on the New Testament and deem the Old Testament as Jewish history and the only part of the Old Testament that Gentiles need to pay attention to is prophecy, especially prophecy about Jesus and the end times. There is still a movement to remove the Old Testament from the Bible, a movement which goes back thousands of years. There are "pastors" today who refuse to teach anything out of the Old Testament.
And this is tragic and wrong! The fact is that the entire bible is a Jewish book, written by Jewish men, who grew up in Jewish culture and taught from the Old Testament! The books of the New Testament didn't begin or weren't written down for at least 60 years after the resurrection! If you have some knowledge and understanding of the Old Testament, it is so easy to see that the New Testament's main focus is teaching and explaining the Old Testament along with debunking false teaching. The New Testament is not written as a Gentile book aimed at getting "Gentiles saved!"
There are 230 direct quotations from the Old Testament in the New Testament. When you include all allusions or references to the Old Testament found in the New Testament, the number is over a thousand times the New Testament directs us back to the Old Testament!
The following verses are all speaking of the Old Testament writings:
Mat 5:17
Luke 16:27-31
Rom 15:4
Gal 3:24
Heb 11:1
2Tim 3:16 All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for doctrine, for correcting false teaching, for correction, for instruction in how to live a righteous life. What Scripture is Paul speaking of? That which is found in the Old Testament. The theology that was written in the Old Testament still applies to believers today. From the Old Testament we learn doctrine, we learn what is false teaching, we learn how to correct other believers and we learn how to live righteous. Righteousness is simply living a life doing the right things, livin, believing and obeying what Scripture teaches. Vs 17 explains that it is from the Old Testament that a person who is a believer becomes equiped to do good.
Acts 17:11, From what source was Paul teaching and where did the listeners search the Scripture daily to see if these things were so? From the Old Testament.
In John 3:3-10, Jesus is teaching Nicodemus about how through the work of the Holy Spirit and the word of God, (water) that people are saved. Nicodemus asked, "How can these things be?" Jesus said to him, "Are you not one of the masters of teaching of Israel, and you don't know these things? What was Nicodemus supposed to have learned and mastered? The Old Testament! This teaching, said Jesus, is found in the Old Testament! It is not a "new teaching" introduced for the first time in the New Testament. In fact the only "new" teaching that is introduced in the New Testament and not found in the Old Testament is Paul's teaching on when a believer is married to a non-believer, 1 Cor 7:12-16. Everything else taught in the New Testament has it's roots in the Old Testament. The New Testament was not written to only show the fulfillment of the prophecies in the Old Testament, it was also written to show believers what the Old Testament taught and to direct all believers, Jews and Gentiles back to the Old Testament!
These verses use the word "scripture:"
Mk 12:10, 15:28
Luke 4:21
Jn 2:22, 7:38,42, 10:35, 13:18, 17:12, 19:24,28,36-37, 20:9
Acts 1:16, 8:32,35
Rm 4:3, 9:17, 10:11, 11:2
Gal 3:8,22, 4:30
1Tim 5:18
2Tim 3:16
James 2:8,23, 4:5
1Pet 2:6
2Pet 1:20
These verses use the word ;"scriptures."
Mt 21:42, 22:29, 26:54, 26:56
Mk 12:24, 14:49
Lk 24:27,32,45
Jn 5:39
Acts 17:2,11, 18:24,28
Rm 1:2, 15:4, 16:26
1Cor 15:3-4
2Tim 3:15
2Pet 3:16
Scripture means writing, or the writing. Whenever you come across the word "scripture(s)" in the New Testament, look at it as to mean, "what is already written in the Old Testament."
In John 4:22, Jesus said, "Salvation comes from/through the Jews." What did he mean since we know that only God saves, not the Jews? It means that God established that the way of salvation through what He set up in the Old Testament, true Judiasm, which He established through the Jewish faith, the one true faith. It is not that the Jews have to seek salvation through what Gentiles believe. It is, and always has been that both Jews and Gentiles come to knowledge of the truth through true Judiasm.
God established His true Judaism through the nation of Israel.
Deut 4:32-38, 7:6-7
Neh 9:13-15
Eze 20:11-12
Acts 3:18-25
Rom 3:1-2, 9:4
Heb 1:1
Paul said in Rom 1;16, "... because it is the power of God unto salvation for every one that believes, first to the Jews, and then to Greeks. The message of salvation was given to the Jews first. In Rom 11:5-25 Paul makes it clear that Gentile believers, as wild olives, are grafted into the root of the Olive Tree, (a symbol of Israel and true Judasim) Many of the Gentile believers had a feeling of superiorty over the Jews and Paul warned them to knock it off. There is no doubt that many preachers and pew warmers today carry this same attitude.
I have said all of this to point out that anything read in the New Testament must be read with the question, "What is the Jewish meaning?"
What we have in church buildings is not worship. What we have is what Paul called "will-worship" in Col 2:23, a phrase most have never heard of and something definetly not taught about in the church buildings. What is will worship? Thayer's says that will worship is "worship which one devises and prescribes for himself, contrary to the true nature of faith. In other words, men decided what worship means and designed how they think worship should be done, thus another Tradition of Man. I realize that you can search for the meaning of worship on the net and you will be told many wonderful lies. One of the most common is to show the etyomlogy of the English word "worship" and have it pointed out that it means to give "worth to something." Some even use the stupid, made up word, "worthship." SIGH!
Col 2:23 first says, " man made things have the apperance of looking good."
To the church world, the main, number one definition of worship is "singing and music." From that developed such terms as "Worship service," "Worship leader," and "Praise and Worship band." None of these are found in Scripture and are unbiblical. Neither is worship someone standing up, head thrown back, eyes closed, singing some unbiblical song with their hands lifted high, Acts 17:24-25, God...dwelleth not in temples made with hands; Neither is worshipped with men's hands..... Worship is not connected to praise. These words have different meanings. You will never find the phrase "praise and worship" in Scripture.
Here are all of the Hebrew and Greek words translated into the English word "worship." The number in parentheses is the number of times the Hebrew or Greek word is used in the original text.
Cegid-to prostrate oneself (8)
Atsab- to fabricate or fashion (1)
shachah- to prostrate in homage (54)
doxa-glory, brilliance (1)
ethelothreskeia- voluntary piety (1)
eusebeo- to put religion into practice (1)
latreuo- to minister(serve) to God (3)
proskuneo- to prostrate oneself (34)
sebommai- to revere (3)
Hmm, not one word defined as to mean "singing" or "music." So scratch that off your list. Putting yourself into a trance-like state is not worship. While there are different shades of meaning, what, to the Jews, was the main, dominate meaning of worship? From the list above, in both the Hebrew and Greek, the dominate, most used definition is to "prostrate onself." This has two meanings, a physical action that shows your inferior status to the one you are bowing down to or prostrating yourself. It was common practice in those days to bow down to kings, queens and nobility if you appeared as a guest before one of these. But people only prostrated themselves to the the ruler they served and lived in that kingdom. You have to humble yourself to prostrate yourself before another person. In the New Testament, there were times when people either bowed down to Jesus or prostrated themselves; Mat 20:20, Mk 5:6,22,33, 7:25, Lk 5:8,12 17:16 John 11:32. But there is more to prostrating oneself than just the physical act. By your act, you acknowledge that your king has authority over you and you, as an obedient subject will obey and live your life in service to your king. The Greek word latreuo, translated into "worship" three times is also translated as "serve." Mat 4:10, Lk 1:74, 4:8, Acts 7:7,27:23, Rom 1:9, 2Tim 1:3, Heb 8:5, 9:14, 12:28, 13:10, Rev 7:15, 22:3.
Psalm 95:6 Come! Let us worship and bow down! Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.
Rom 12:1 I appeal to you brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
Let's look at John 4:23,..." for the Father is seeking such as these who worship Him. The Greek word for "worship" is proskuneo- to prostrate oneself. So, is the Father seeking those who:
sing to Him?
play music to Him?
adore Him?
serve Him?
Obiviously, God is seeking those who serve Him. Only believers serve God. Any kind of pagan, reprobate or unbeliever can sing to God or play an instrument, the churches are filled with such. To the Jews, the main meaning of how to worship God was to serve Him.

 

[jacks]

Technically I'm sure you're correct. However, sometimes I feel closer to God while singing or listening to worship songs. So it may not be "worshiping" but it can definitely be a spiritual and uplifting experience.

 

[Servant78]

Do we love and serve others as much as we love and serve our bellies?

 

[Semper-Fi]

The Hebrew Bible—the Psalms in particular—shows that
music is vital in the proper worship of our Creator.

It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD,
And to sing praises unto thy name, O most High:

Where Did Music Come From?

The Bible reveals that God sings (Zephaniah 3:17).
There was Music Before Man (Job 38:4, 7). When God created
innate musical ability in the Angeles, the chief of this
angelic (and musical) creation was the archangel Lucifer.

Did you know that music was built into this physical realm?
Quantum Harmonies: Modern Physics and Music

(Psalm 19:1-4) The word for line in verse 4 can mean rope or
musical string. The Apostle Paul in Romans used a Greek word
for “line” that actually translates into “musical sound.”

The Hebrews have long understood the idea of the “harmony of
the spheres. Science has also discovered “heavenly music
bellowed out by the sun’s atmosphere”. By flying through space,
celestial bodies emit sound. Study of the heavens indicates that
those sounds are working together much like a musical composition.
-
1 Chronicles 16:33 “the trees of the wood sing out at the presence
of the Lord.” Isaiah 44:23 reads: “Sing, O ye heavens … shout,
ye lower parts of the earth: break forth into singing, ye mountains,
O forest, and every tree therein ….”

Isaiah 55:12 “The mountains and the hills shall break forth before you
into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.”

God created sound waves to emanate from all creation in an organized
fashion, some certain music—perceptible at least some only to Him.
Another natural music would be that of the animals, which also sing
(Song of Solomon 2:12; Ecclesiastes 12:4; Psalm 104:12).
-

(Psalm 92)
“A Psalm or Song for the sabbath day.” The title occurs in the Jewish
Targum as “A Psalm and song which Adam uttered[sang] on the Sabbath day.”

It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD,
And to sing praises unto thy name, O most High:
To shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning,
And thy faithfulness every night,
Upon an instrument of ten strings, and upon the psaltery;
Upon the harp with a solemn sound.
For thou, LORD, hast made me glad through thy work:
I will triumph in the works of thy hands.

Musical instruments are named in this ancient psalm.
Was there Music in the originally garden of Eden, could be.
We see King Davids use of knowledge in instruments and song,
who God in the bible said was after his own heart.

Isaiah 51 How the world will look upon the Messiah’s return in power
and glory: “For the Lord shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her
waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert
like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness shall be found therein,
thanksgiving, and the voice of melody”

This verse is about Earth being restored to the way things were in Eden.
Mankind was given the ability to understand, appreciate, enjoy and
produce music. Mankind can partake of something with an eternal past
—and to worship our Creator with help of music from our heart.

 

[mama2one]

“Shout for joy in the Lord, O you righteous! Praise befits the upright. Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre; make melody to him with the harp of ten strings! Sing to him a new song; play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.” -Psalm 33:1-3 ESV


All told, the Bible contains over four hundred references to singing and fifty direct commands to sing. The longest book of the Bible, the Psalms , is a book of songs. And in the New Testament we’re commanded not once, but twice, to sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to one another when we meet (Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16).


The Bible simply says, “Sing!” dozens of times: “Sing to the Lord,” “Sing praises,” “Sing joyfully,” “Sing a new song,” and “Come into God’s presence with singing.”

 

[Sheila Davis]

As is the case in almost every single church building, "Christian" book or article, podcast, blog, etc., most of what is taught is based on the "Traditions of Men," rather than what Scripture teaches. There are many reasons for this. One of the biggest problems is the English translations of the original texts of Scripture, which allows for pastors to twist, alter or change the original meaning and proper context of what was written down. Culture determines word meanings. When people, who speak and read English, read an English translation of Scripture they automatically associate and connect the English words with their cultural understanding of the English words. So, what they read places Scripture in the setting of their current culture. And their understanding of what Scripture means is based on their culture rather than the reality of the culture that the writings came from. And this practice leads to misunderstanding and false teaching.
Many centuries ago, starting as early as the 2nd century, there was a movement that was started by those who controlled what the Gentiles were taught and told to believe that the Jews, all Jews, were the enemies of God, they alone killed Jesus, were cursed, practiced witchcraft and sorcery, drank human blood and were actually pagan.
I could relate much more on this subject, but the point is that from almost the beginning of Gentiles being reached in the proclamation of the gospel, there has been a concerted effort to separate and keep separate Jews from Gentiles and a "Jewish faith" from the "Gentile faith." The movement even attempted to exclude the Jews from having any bearing on the New Testament. To the point that Gentile believers need only focus on the New Testament and deem the Old Testament as Jewish history and the only part of the Old Testament that Gentiles need to pay attention to is prophecy, especially prophecy about Jesus and the end times. There is still a movement to remove the Old Testament from the Bible, a movement which goes back thousands of years. There are "pastors" today who refuse to teach anything out of the Old Testament.
And this is tragic and wrong! The fact is that the entire bible is a Jewish book, written by Jewish men, who grew up in Jewish culture and taught from the Old Testament! The books of the New Testament didn't begin or weren't written down for at least 60 years after the resurrection! If you have some knowledge and understanding of the Old Testament, it is so easy to see that the New Testament's main focus is teaching and explaining the Old Testament along with debunking false teaching. The New Testament is not written as a Gentile book aimed at getting "Gentiles saved!"
There are 230 direct quotations from the Old Testament in the New Testament. When you include all allusions or references to the Old Testament found in the New Testament, the number is over a thousand times the New Testament directs us back to the Old Testament!
The following verses are all speaking of the Old Testament writings:
Mat 5:17
Luke 16:27-31
Rom 15:4
Gal 3:24
Heb 11:1
2Tim 3:16 All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for doctrine, for correcting false teaching, for correction, for instruction in how to live a righteous life. What Scripture is Paul speaking of? That which is found in the Old Testament. The theology that was written in the Old Testament still applies to believers today. From the Old Testament we learn doctrine, we learn what is false teaching, we learn how to correct other believers and we learn how to live righteous. Righteousness is simply living a life doing the right things, livin, believing and obeying what Scripture teaches. Vs 17 explains that it is from the Old Testament that a person who is a believer becomes equiped to do good.
Acts 17:11, From what source was Paul teaching and where did the listeners search the Scripture daily to see if these things were so? From the Old Testament.
In John 3:3-10, Jesus is teaching Nicodemus about how through the work of the Holy Spirit and the word of God, (water) that people are saved. Nicodemus asked, "How can these things be?" Jesus said to him, "Are you not one of the masters of teaching of Israel, and you don't know these things? What was Nicodemus supposed to have learned and mastered? The Old Testament! This teaching, said Jesus, is found in the Old Testament! It is not a "new teaching" introduced for the first time in the New Testament. In fact the only "new" teaching that is introduced in the New Testament and not found in the Old Testament is Paul's teaching on when a believer is married to a non-believer, 1 Cor 7:12-16. Everything else taught in the New Testament has it's roots in the Old Testament. The New Testament was not written to only show the fulfillment of the prophecies in the Old Testament, it was also written to show believers what the Old Testament taught and to direct all believers, Jews and Gentiles back to the Old Testament!
These verses use the word "scripture:"
Mk 12:10, 15:28
Luke 4:21
Jn 2:22, 7:38,42, 10:35, 13:18, 17:12, 19:24,28,36-37, 20:9
Acts 1:16, 8:32,35
Rm 4:3, 9:17, 10:11, 11:2
Gal 3:8,22, 4:30
1Tim 5:18
2Tim 3:16
James 2:8,23, 4:5
1Pet 2:6
2Pet 1:20
These verses use the word ;"scriptures."
Mt 21:42, 22:29, 26:54, 26:56
Mk 12:24, 14:49
Lk 24:27,32,45
Jn 5:39
Acts 17:2,11, 18:24,28
Rm 1:2, 15:4, 16:26
1Cor 15:3-4
2Tim 3:15
2Pet 3:16
Scripture means writing, or the writing. Whenever you come across the word "scripture(s)" in the New Testament, look at it as to mean, "what is already written in the Old Testament."
In John 4:22, Jesus said, "Salvation comes from/through the Jews." What did he mean since we know that only God saves, not the Jews? It means that God established that the way of salvation through what He set up in the Old Testament, true Judiasm, which He established through the Jewish faith, the one true faith. It is not that the Jews have to seek salvation through what Gentiles believe. It is, and always has been that both Jews and Gentiles come to knowledge of the truth through true Judiasm.
God established His true Judaism through the nation of Israel.
Deut 4:32-38, 7:6-7
Neh 9:13-15
Eze 20:11-12
Acts 3:18-25
Rom 3:1-2, 9:4
Heb 1:1
Paul said in Rom 1;16, "... because it is the power of God unto salvation for every one that believes, first to the Jews, and then to Greeks. The message of salvation was given to the Jews first. In Rom 11:5-25 Paul makes it clear that Gentile believers, as wild olives, are grafted into the root of the Olive Tree, (a symbol of Israel and true Judasim) Many of the Gentile believers had a feeling of superiorty over the Jews and Paul warned them to knock it off. There is no doubt that many preachers and pew warmers today carry this same attitude.
I have said all of this to point out that anything read in the New Testament must be read with the question, "What is the Jewish meaning?"
What we have in church buildings is not worship. What we have is what Paul called "will-worship" in Col 2:23, a phrase most have never heard of and something definetly not taught about in the church buildings. What is will worship? Thayer's says that will worship is "worship which one devises and prescribes for himself, contrary to the true nature of faith. In other words, men decided what worship means and designed how they think worship should be done, thus another Tradition of Man. I realize that you can search for the meaning of worship on the net and you will be told many wonderful lies. One of the most common is to show the etyomlogy of the English word "worship" and have it pointed out that it means to give "worth to something." Some even use the stupid, made up word, "worthship." SIGH!
Col 2:23 first says, " man made things have the apperance of looking good."
To the church world, the main, number one definition of worship is "singing and music." From that developed such terms as "Worship service," "Worship leader," and "Praise and Worship band." None of these are found in Scripture and are unbiblical. Neither is worship someone standing up, head thrown back, eyes closed, singing some unbiblical song with their hands lifted high, Acts 17:24-25, God...dwelleth not in temples made with hands; Neither is worshipped with men's hands..... Worship is not connected to praise. These words have different meanings. You will never find the phrase "praise and worship" in Scripture.
Here are all of the Hebrew and Greek words translated into the English word "worship." The number in parentheses is the number of times the Hebrew or Greek word is used in the original text.
Cegid-to prostrate oneself (8)
Atsab- to fabricate or fashion (1)
shachah- to prostrate in homage (54)
doxa-glory, brilliance (1)
ethelothreskeia- voluntary piety (1)
eusebeo- to put religion into practice (1)
latreuo- to minister(serve) to God (3)
proskuneo- to prostrate oneself (34)
sebommai- to revere (3)
Hmm, not one word defined as to mean "singing" or "music." So scratch that off your list. Putting yourself into a trance-like state is not worship. While there are different shades of meaning, what, to the Jews, was the main, dominate meaning of worship? From the list above, in both the Hebrew and Greek, the dominate, most used definition is to "prostrate onself." This has two meanings, a physical action that shows your inferior status to the one you are bowing down to or prostrating yourself. It was common practice in those days to bow down to kings, queens and nobility if you appeared as a guest before one of these. But people only prostrated themselves to the the ruler they served and lived in that kingdom. You have to humble yourself to prostrate yourself before another person. In the New Testament, there were times when people either bowed down to Jesus or prostrated themselves; Mat 20:20, Mk 5:6,22,33, 7:25, Lk 5:8,12 17:16 John 11:32. But there is more to prostrating oneself than just the physical act. By your act, you acknowledge that your king has authority over you and you, as an obedient subject will obey and live your life in service to your king. The Greek word latreuo, translated into "worship" three times is also translated as "serve." Mat 4:10, Lk 1:74, 4:8, Acts 7:7,27:23, Rom 1:9, 2Tim 1:3, Heb 8:5, 9:14, 12:28, 13:10, Rev 7:15, 22:3.
Psalm 95:6 Come! Let us worship and bow down! Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.
Rom 12:1 I appeal to you brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
Let's look at John 4:23,..." for the Father is seeking such as these who worship Him. The Greek word for "worship" is proskuneo- to prostrate oneself. So, is the Father seeking those who:
sing to Him?
play music to Him?
adore Him?
serve Him?
Obiviously, God is seeking those who serve Him. Only believers serve God. Any kind of pagan, reprobate or unbeliever can sing to God or play an instrument, the churches are filled with such. To the Jews, the main meaning of how to worship God was to serve Him.

Churches in the Houston area terms it *praise and worship.* The singing is the praise and the worship comes from the inner self

 

[tturt]

"God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." John 4

Worshipping God in spirit isnt singing but it can lead to worship. Thanksgiving and praise is how we enter into His courts (Psa 100). So acknowledging God's goodness and greatness are vital components.. We praise God with our souls but we worship Him with our spirits.

Worship is an attitude of bowing down - even our human spirits bowing down before God and acknowledging His holiness. Spirit to spirit and spirit to Spirit communication. An awareness of His presence even if very brief. (Zech 2:13, Psa 95:6, 96:9, 99:5).

 

[mama2one]

https://www.lincolndiocese.org/op-ed/bishop-s-column/3363-he-who-sings-prays-twice



"Sung prayer expresses the joy of the heart, the happiness resulting from one who has encountered Jesus Christ and experienced his love. Sung prayer reminds us of the choirs of heaven, with whom we are called to praise God eternally in heaven.

Sung prayer reaches its high point in the sacred liturgy, the public worship of the Church. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is made more beautiful by the singing of every Catholic, who is called to active participation—through sung prayer, especially—in the Mass."

 

[Strong in Him]

Not all singing is worship.
Worship involves more than singing. Someone can sing hymns and not even know God.
But we can certainly worship God as we sing his praises.

I would take time to engage more with the OP, but as he has already written one long thread, which has become 11 pages long and which he has not returned to, I'm not sure how much he wants a discussion on these things.

 

[Carl Emerson]

2 Chronicles 29:27-29
New American Standard Bible

27 Then Hezekiah gave the order to offer the burnt offering on the altar. When the burnt offering began, the song to the Lord also began with the trumpets, accompanied by the instruments of David, king of Israel. 28 While the whole assembly worshiped, the singers also sang and the trumpets sounded; all this continued until the burnt offering was finished.

29 Now at the completion of the burnt offerings, the king and all who were present with him bowed down and worshiped.

 

[prodromos]

As is the case in almost every single church building, "Christian" book or article, podcast, blog, etc., most of what is taught is based on the "Traditions of Men," rather than what Scripture teaches. There are many reasons for this. One of the biggest problems is the English translations of the original texts of Scripture, which allows for pastors to twist, alter or change the original meaning and proper context of what was written down. Culture determines word meanings. When people, who speak and read English, read an English translation of Scripture they automatically associate and connect the English words with their cultural understanding of the English words. So, what they read places Scripture in the setting of their current culture. And their understanding of what Scripture means is based on their culture rather than the reality of the culture that the writings came from. And this practice leads to misunderstanding and false teaching.
Many centuries ago, starting as early as the 2nd century, there was a movement that was started by those who controlled what the Gentiles were taught and told to believe that the Jews, all Jews, were the enemies of God, they alone killed Jesus, were cursed, practiced witchcraft and sorcery, drank human blood and were actually pagan.
I could relate much more on this subject, but the point is that from almost the beginning of Gentiles being reached in the proclamation of the gospel, there has been a concerted effort to separate and keep separate Jews from Gentiles and a "Jewish faith" from the "Gentile faith." The movement even attempted to exclude the Jews from having any bearing on the New Testament. To the point that Gentile believers need only focus on the New Testament and deem the Old Testament as Jewish history and the only part of the Old Testament that Gentiles need to pay attention to is prophecy, especially prophecy about Jesus and the end times. There is still a movement to remove the Old Testament from the Bible, a movement which goes back thousands of years. There are "pastors" today who refuse to teach anything out of the Old Testament.
And this is tragic and wrong! The fact is that the entire bible is a Jewish book, written by Jewish men, who grew up in Jewish culture and taught from the Old Testament! The books of the New Testament didn't begin or weren't written down for at least 60 years after the resurrection! If you have some knowledge and understanding of the Old Testament, it is so easy to see that the New Testament's main focus is teaching and explaining the Old Testament along with debunking false teaching. The New Testament is not written as a Gentile book aimed at getting "Gentiles saved!"
There are 230 direct quotations from the Old Testament in the New Testament. When you include all allusions or references to the Old Testament found in the New Testament, the number is over a thousand times the New Testament directs us back to the Old Testament!
The following verses are all speaking of the Old Testament writings:
Mat 5:17
Luke 16:27-31
Rom 15:4
Gal 3:24
Heb 11:1
2Tim 3:16 All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for doctrine, for correcting false teaching, for correction, for instruction in how to live a righteous life. What Scripture is Paul speaking of? That which is found in the Old Testament. The theology that was written in the Old Testament still applies to believers today. From the Old Testament we learn doctrine, we learn what is false teaching, we learn how to correct other believers and we learn how to live righteous. Righteousness is simply living a life doing the right things, livin, believing and obeying what Scripture teaches. Vs 17 explains that it is from the Old Testament that a person who is a believer becomes equiped to do good.
Acts 17:11, From what source was Paul teaching and where did the listeners search the Scripture daily to see if these things were so? From the Old Testament.
In John 3:3-10, Jesus is teaching Nicodemus about how through the work of the Holy Spirit and the word of God, (water) that people are saved. Nicodemus asked, "How can these things be?" Jesus said to him, "Are you not one of the masters of teaching of Israel, and you don't know these things? What was Nicodemus supposed to have learned and mastered? The Old Testament! This teaching, said Jesus, is found in the Old Testament! It is not a "new teaching" introduced for the first time in the New Testament. In fact the only "new" teaching that is introduced in the New Testament and not found in the Old Testament is Paul's teaching on when a believer is married to a non-believer, 1 Cor 7:12-16. Everything else taught in the New Testament has it's roots in the Old Testament. The New Testament was not written to only show the fulfillment of the prophecies in the Old Testament, it was also written to show believers what the Old Testament taught and to direct all believers, Jews and Gentiles back to the Old Testament!
These verses use the word "scripture:"
Mk 12:10, 15:28
Luke 4:21
Jn 2:22, 7:38,42, 10:35, 13:18, 17:12, 19:24,28,36-37, 20:9
Acts 1:16, 8:32,35
Rm 4:3, 9:17, 10:11, 11:2
Gal 3:8,22, 4:30
1Tim 5:18
2Tim 3:16
James 2:8,23, 4:5
1Pet 2:6
2Pet 1:20
These verses use the word ;"scriptures."
Mt 21:42, 22:29, 26:54, 26:56
Mk 12:24, 14:49
Lk 24:27,32,45
Jn 5:39
Acts 17:2,11, 18:24,28
Rm 1:2, 15:4, 16:26
1Cor 15:3-4
2Tim 3:15
2Pet 3:16
Scripture means writing, or the writing. Whenever you come across the word "scripture(s)" in the New Testament, look at it as to mean, "what is already written in the Old Testament."
In John 4:22, Jesus said, "Salvation comes from/through the Jews." What did he mean since we know that only God saves, not the Jews? It means that God established that the way of salvation through what He set up in the Old Testament, true Judiasm, which He established through the Jewish faith, the one true faith. It is not that the Jews have to seek salvation through what Gentiles believe. It is, and always has been that both Jews and Gentiles come to knowledge of the truth through true Judiasm.
God established His true Judaism through the nation of Israel.
Deut 4:32-38, 7:6-7
Neh 9:13-15
Eze 20:11-12
Acts 3:18-25
Rom 3:1-2, 9:4
Heb 1:1
Paul said in Rom 1;16, "... because it is the power of God unto salvation for every one that believes, first to the Jews, and then to Greeks. The message of salvation was given to the Jews first. In Rom 11:5-25 Paul makes it clear that Gentile believers, as wild olives, are grafted into the root of the Olive Tree, (a symbol of Israel and true Judasim) Many of the Gentile believers had a feeling of superiorty over the Jews and Paul warned them to knock it off. There is no doubt that many preachers and pew warmers today carry this same attitude.
I have said all of this to point out that anything read in the New Testament must be read with the question, "What is the Jewish meaning?"
What we have in church buildings is not worship. What we have is what Paul called "will-worship" in Col 2:23, a phrase most have never heard of and something definetly not taught about in the church buildings. What is will worship? Thayer's says that will worship is "worship which one devises and prescribes for himself, contrary to the true nature of faith. In other words, men decided what worship means and designed how they think worship should be done, thus another Tradition of Man. I realize that you can search for the meaning of worship on the net and you will be told many wonderful lies. One of the most common is to show the etyomlogy of the English word "worship" and have it pointed out that it means to give "worth to something." Some even use the stupid, made up word, "worthship." SIGH!
Col 2:23 first says, " man made things have the apperance of looking good."
To the church world, the main, number one definition of worship is "singing and music." From that developed such terms as "Worship service," "Worship leader," and "Praise and Worship band." None of these are found in Scripture and are unbiblical. Neither is worship someone standing up, head thrown back, eyes closed, singing some unbiblical song with their hands lifted high, Acts 17:24-25, God...dwelleth not in temples made with hands; Neither is worshipped with men's hands..... Worship is not connected to praise. These words have different meanings. You will never find the phrase "praise and worship" in Scripture.
Here are all of the Hebrew and Greek words translated into the English word "worship." The number in parentheses is the number of times the Hebrew or Greek word is used in the original text.
Cegid-to prostrate oneself (8)
Atsab- to fabricate or fashion (1)
shachah- to prostrate in homage (54)
doxa-glory, brilliance (1)
ethelothreskeia- voluntary piety (1)
eusebeo- to put religion into practice (1)
latreuo- to minister(serve) to God (3)
proskuneo- to prostrate oneself (34)
sebommai- to revere (3)
Hmm, not one word defined as to mean "singing" or "music." So scratch that off your list. Putting yourself into a trance-like state is not worship. While there are different shades of meaning, what, to the Jews, was the main, dominate meaning of worship? From the list above, in both the Hebrew and Greek, the dominate, most used definition is to "prostrate onself." This has two meanings, a physical action that shows your inferior status to the one you are bowing down to or prostrating yourself. It was common practice in those days to bow down to kings, queens and nobility if you appeared as a guest before one of these. But people only prostrated themselves to the the ruler they served and lived in that kingdom. You have to humble yourself to prostrate yourself before another person. In the New Testament, there were times when people either bowed down to Jesus or prostrated themselves; Mat 20:20, Mk 5:6,22,33, 7:25, Lk 5:8,12 17:16 John 11:32. But there is more to prostrating oneself than just the physical act. By your act, you acknowledge that your king has authority over you and you, as an obedient subject will obey and live your life in service to your king. The Greek word latreuo, translated into "worship" three times is also translated as "serve." Mat 4:10, Lk 1:74, 4:8, Acts 7:7,27:23, Rom 1:9, 2Tim 1:3, Heb 8:5, 9:14, 12:28, 13:10, Rev 7:15, 22:3.
Psalm 95:6 Come! Let us worship and bow down! Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.
Rom 12:1 I appeal to you brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
Let's look at John 4:23,..." for the Father is seeking such as these who worship Him. The Greek word for "worship" is proskuneo- to prostrate oneself. So, is the Father seeking those who:
sing to Him?
play music to Him?
adore Him?
serve Him?
Obiviously, God is seeking those who serve Him. Only believers serve God. Any kind of pagan, reprobate or unbeliever can sing to God or play an instrument, the churches are filled with such. To the Jews, the main meaning of how to worship God was to serve Him.

Another drive by posting?

 

[tturt]

Worship isn't singing

It's a subject that's generally not understood.

 

[Clare73]

As is the case in almost every single church building, "Christian" book or article, podcast, blog, etc., most of what is taught is based on the "Traditions of Men," rather than what Scripture teaches. There are many reasons for this. One of the biggest problems is the English translations of the original texts of Scripture, which allows for pastors to twist, alter or change the original meaning and proper context of what was written down. Culture determines word meanings. When people, who speak and read English, read an English translation of Scripture they automatically associate and connect the English words with their cultural understanding of the English words. So, what they read places Scripture in the setting of their current culture.

And their understanding of what Scripture means is based on their culture rather than the reality of the culture that the writings came from. And this practice leads to misunderstanding and false teaching.

False premise for setting up the impossibility of truly understanding the meaning of Scripture.

That issue is resolved by any understanding of a text having to agree with all Scripture, written over a period of about 1500 years by about 40 different people , and all in agreement with itself! I can't think of a better guarantee of getting it right. So that all that remains for securing its correct meaning is demonstration of either agreement or disagreement with the rest of Scripture, a do-able task for the intellectually honest.

Many centuries ago, starting as early as the 2nd century, there was a movement that was started by those who controlled what the Gentiles were taught and told to believe that the Jews, all Jews, were the enemies of God, they alone killed Jesus, were cursed,
practiced witchcraft and sorcery, drank human blood and were actually pagan.

Any of it supported by Scripture? If not, it is irrelevant.

I could relate much more on this subject, but the point is that from almost the beginning of Gentiles being reached in the proclamation of the gospel, there has been a concerted effort to separate and keep separate Jews from Gentiles and a "Jewish faith" from the "Gentile faith." The movement even attempted to exclude the Jews from having any bearing on the New Testament. To the point that Gentile believers need only focus on the New Testament and deem the Old Testament as Jewish history and the only part of the Old Testament that Gentiles need to pay attention to is prophecy, especially prophecy about Jesus and the end times. There is still a movement to remove the Old Testament from the Bible, a movement which goes back thousands of years. There are "pastors" today who refuse to teach anything out of the Old Testament.
And this is tragic and wrong! The fact is that the entire bible is a Jewish book, written by Jewish men, who grew up in Jewish culture and taught from the Old Testament!

The books of the New Testament didn't begin or weren't written down for at least 60 years after the resurrection!

Not quite. . .most, but not all, were written in the 60's A.D. which is 30 years after the resurrection,
a few being written in the 50's A.D.

If you have some knowledge and understanding of the Old Testament, it is so easy to see that the New Testament's main focus is teaching and explaining the Old Testament along with debunking false teaching.The
New Testament is not written as a Gentile book aimed at getting "Gentiles saved!"

Are you sure about that?

All of the epistles, except Hebrews, are written to the Gentile churches, in some of which were Jews.

There are 230 direct quotations from the Old Testament in the New Testament. When you include all allusions or references to the Old Testament found in the New Testament, the number is
over a thousand times the New Testament directs us back to the Old Testament!

Because the NT is the fulfillment of OT, which those verses are to show.

The following verses are all speaking of the Old Testament writings:
Mat 5:17
Luke 16:27-31
Rom 15:4
Gal 3:24
Heb 11:1

2Tim 3:16 All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for doctrine, for correcting false teaching, for correction, for instruction in how to live a righteous life. What Scripture is Paul speaking of? That which is found in the Old Testament.
The theology that was written in the Old Testament still applies to believers today.

Only when understood in the light of the NT which gives its meaning; e.g.,
Sin is not forgiven by faith in animal sacrifice. (Romans 6:10; Hebrews 7:27, Hebrews 9:12, 26, Hebrews 10:10; 1 Peter 3:18)
Righteousness is not by law-keeping. (Romans 3:21-22, Romans 3:28)
The commandments are fulfilled in loving. (Romans 13:8-10)

From the Old Testament we learn doctrine, we learn what is false teaching, we learn how to correct other believers and we learn how to live righteous. Righteousness is simply living a life doing the right things, livin, believing and obeying what Scripture teaches.
Vs 17 explains that it is from the Old Testament that a person who is a believer becomes equiped to do good.

From 2 Timothy 3:16-17 we learn that all Scripture, not just the OT, is God-breathed and equips a believer to do good.

Acts 17:11, From what source was Paul teaching and where did the listeners search the Scripture daily to see if these things were so? From the Old Testament.
In John 3:3-10, Jesus is teaching Nicodemus about how through the work of the Holy Spirit and the word of God, (water) that people are saved. Nicodemus asked, "How can these things be?" Jesus said to him, "Are you not one of the masters of teaching of Israel, and you don't know these things? What was Nicodemus supposed to have learned and mastered? The Old Testament! This teaching, said Jesus, is found in the Old Testament! It is not a "new teaching" introduced for the first time in the New Testament. In fact the only "new" teaching that is introduced in the New Testament and not found in the Old Testament is Paul's teaching on when a believer is married to a non-believer, 1 Cor 7:12-16. Everything else taught in the New Testament has it's roots in the Old Testament.

The New Testament was not written to only show the fulfillment of the prophecies in the Old Testament, it was also written to show believers what the Old Testament taught and
to direct all believers, Jews and Gentiles back to the Old Testament!

The doctrine of the bride of Christ which is the body of Christ (Ephesians 5:31-32), the church (Colossians 1:24), does not direct us back to the OT.
The condemnation of all men at birth by the guilt of Adam (Romans 5:18) is not found in the OT.
The law being given to reveal sin rather than to make righteous (Romans 3:20) is not found in the OT.
The law. . ." and whatever other commandment there may be". . . being fulfilled simply in loving our neighbor (Romans 13:8-10) is not found in the OT.

These verses use the word "scripture:"
Mk 12:10, 15:28
Luke 4:21
Jn 2:22, 7:38,42, 10:35, 13:18, 17:12, 19:24,28,36-37, 20:9
Acts 1:16, 8:32,35
Rm 4:3, 9:17, 10:11, 11:2
Gal 3:8,22, 4:30
1Tim 5:18
2Tim 3:16
James 2:8,23, 4:5
1Pet 2:6
2Pet 1:20
These verses use the word ;"scriptures."
Mt 21:42, 22:29, 26:54, 26:56
Mk 12:24, 14:49
Lk 24:27,32,45
Jn 5:39
Acts 17:2,11, 18:24,28
Rm 1:2, 15:4, 16:26
1Cor 15:3-4
2Tim 3:15
2Pet 3:16
Scripture means writing, or the writing. Whenever you come across the word "scripture(s)" in the New Testament, look at it as to mean, "what is already written in the Old Testament."

In John 4:22, Jesus said, "Salvation comes from/through the Jews." What did he mean since we know that only God saves, not the Jews? It means that God established that
the way of salvation through what He set up in the Old Testament, true Judiasm, which He established through the Jewish faith, the one true faith.

Not quite. . .

It means that the knowledge of the way to salvation comes from the Jews;
i.e., faith in the Promise (Jesus Christ).

It is not that the Jews have to seek salvation through what Gentiles believe.
It is, and always has been that both Jews and Gentiles come to knowledge of the truth through true Judiasm.

Not quite. . .

Knowledge of the promise of Messiah comes through OT revelation.
Receiving and believing that Jesus of Nazareth is the promise comes through NT revelation.

God established His true Judaism through the nation of Israel.

"True Judaism" is for leading to Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah of the NT.

Deut 4:32-38, 7:6-7
Neh 9:13-15
Eze 20:11-12
Acts 3:18-25
Rom 3:1-2, 9:4
Heb 1:1
Paul said in Rom 1;16, "... because it is the power of God unto salvation for every one that believes, first to the Jews, and then to Greeks.

The message of salvation was given to the Jews first. In Rom 11:5-25 Paul makes it clear that Gentile believers, as wild olives, are grafted into the root of the Olive Tree, (a symbol of Israel and true Judasim)

You forgot the part about Israel being cut off from the one olive tree, the church of Jew and Gentile . .and remaining cut off as long as they persist in unbelief.
You forgot the part about God hardening the hearts of most of them (Romans 11:17-25), which has been for 2,000 years and counting now.

As I pointed out at the beginning of this, the problem is not misunderstanding because of cultural changes in the language, the problem, as seen here, is simply (deliberately) ignoring the text of Romans 11:17-25!

Many of the Gentile believers had a feeling of superiorty over the Jews and Paul warned them to knock it off. There is no doubt that many preachers and pew warmers today carry this same attitude.
I have said all of this to point out that anything read in the New Testament must be read with the question, "What is the Jewish meaning?"

Actually, you've got that exactly backwards!
The OT is the NT concealed, the NT is the OT revealed.

What we have in church buildings is not worship. What we have is what Paul called "will-worship" in Col 2:23, a phrase most have never heard of and something definetly not taught about in the church buildings. What is will worship? Thayer's says that will worship is "worship which one devises and prescribes for himself, contrary to the true nature of faith. In other words, men decided what worship means and designed how they think worship should be done, thus another Tradition of Man. I realize that you can search for the meaning of worship on the net and you will be told many wonderful lies. One of the most common is to show the etyomlogy of the English word "worship" and have it pointed out that it means to give "worth to something." Some even use the stupid, made up word, "worthship." SIGH!
Col 2:23 first says, " man made things have the apperance of looking good."
To the church world, the main, number one definition of worship is "singing and music." From that developed such terms as "Worship service," "Worship leader," and "Praise and Worship band." None of these are found in Scripture and are unbiblical. Neither is worship someone standing up, head thrown back, eyes closed, singing some unbiblical song with their hands lifted high, Acts 17:24-25, God...dwelleth not in temples made with hands; Neither is worshipped with men's hands..... Worship is not connected to praise. These words have different meanings. You will never find the phrase "praise and worship" in Scripture.

Here are all of the Hebrew and Greek words translated into the English word "worship." The number in parentheses is the number of times the Hebrew or Greek word is used in the original text.
Cegid-to prostrate oneself (8)
Atsab- to fabricate or fashion (1)
shachah- to prostrate in homage (54)
doxa-glory, brilliance (1)
ethelothreskeia- voluntary piety (1)
eusebeo- to put religion into practice (1)
latreuo- to minister(serve) to God (3)
sebommai- to revere (3
proskuneo- to prostrate oneself (34)

pros-kuneo = pros, towards, and kuneo, to kiss; i.e., to do reverence to:
an act of homage to God, to Christ (Matthew 4:10; Revelation 4:10; Matthew 2:2; John 9:38),
to a man (Matthew 18:26),
to the Dragon by men (Revelation 13:4),
to the Beast, his human instrument (Revelation 13:8, 12, 14:9, 11),
to the image of the Beast (Revelation 13:15, 14:11, 16:2),
to demons (Revelation 9:20),
to idols (Acts 7:43)

Hmm, not one word defined as to mean "singing" or "music." So scratch that off your list. Putting yourself into a trance-like state is not worship. While there are different shades of meaning, what, to the Jews, was the main, dominate meaning of worship? From the list above, in both the Hebrew and Greek, the dominate, most used definition is to "prostrate onself."

Actually, literally it is "to kiss," meaning to do reverence to, an act of homage.

This has two meanings, a physical action that shows your inferior status to the one you are bowing down to or prostrating yourself. It was common practice in those days to bow down to kings, queens and nobility if you appeared as a guest before one of these. But people only prostrated themselves to the the ruler they served and lived in that kingdom. You have to humble yourself to prostrate yourself before another person. In the New Testament, there were times when people either bowed down to Jesus or prostrated themselves; Mat 20:20, Mk 5:6,22,33, 7:25, Lk 5:8,12 17:16 John 11:32. But there is more to prostrating oneself than just the physical act. By your act, you acknowledge that your king has authority over you and you, as an obedient subject will obey and live your life in service to your king.

The Greek word latreuo, translated into "worship" three times is also translated as "serve." Mat 4:10, Lk 1:74, 4:8, Acts 7:7,27:23, Rom 1:9, 2Tim 1:3, Heb 8:5, 9:14, 12:28, 13:10, Rev 7:15, 22:3.
Psalm 95:6 Come! Let us worship and bow down! Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.
Rom 12:1 I appeal to you brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. sing to Him? play music to Him? adore Him? serve Him?

The Greek word for worship is pros-kuneo, "to kiss," meaning "to do reverence to;" i.e., to sing praises to, to adore, to submit to, to obey. . .

Obiviously, God is seeking those who serve Him. Only believers serve God. Any kind of pagan, reprobate or unbeliever can sing to God or play an instrument, the churches are filled with such. To the Jews, the main meaning of how to worship God was to serve Him.

The main meaning is not the same as the only meaning.
The meaning of will-worship is the practice of that which is not a NT ordinance (baptism, Lord's Supper, laying on of hands); e.g., the practice of Seder at Passover time.

And, finally, as previously shown, the problem in not correctly understanding Scripture is not due to a cultural change in language, it is due simply to not knowing the Scriptures.

 

[Mr. M]

Scripture means writing, or the writing. Whenever you come across the word "scripture(s)" in the New Testament, look at it as to mean, "what is already written in the Old Testament."

WOW! Quite the revelation you have received here!
How can I summarize my reaction to threads such as
these without taking up too much of anyone's time?

Proverbs 18:1 A man who isolates himself seeks
his own desire;
He rages against all wise judgment.

(That is in the Old Testament)

 

[Der Alte]

To the OP. This ain't worship?
Oh How I love Jesus , Oh How I love Jesus, Because He first loved me.

 

[com7fy8]

"making melody in your heart to the Lord" > this is included in worship, I would say > in Ephesians 5:19.

 

[tturt]

What is the difference in praise and worship?

"And when all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the Lord upon the house, they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement, and worshipped, and praised the Lord, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever." II Chron 7

"I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name." Psa 138

As already posted by Carl Emerson post #10
"Moreover Hezekiah the king and the princes commanded the Levites to sing praise unto the Lord with the words of David, and of Asaph the seer. And they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed their heads and worshipped." "II Chron 29

 

[prodromos]

To the OP. This ain't worship?
Oh How I love Jesus , Oh How I love Jesus, Because He first loved me.

The OP does not appear to be remotely interested in anyone else's opinion

 

[Jamdoc]

Singing, dancing, and playing instruments for praise is one form of worship: adoration, celebration. You love God and want to express it.
Thanksgiving and putting faith in requests is another form of worship: appreciation, supplication. You know where your blessings come from and give thanks, you have faith that who you ask of, is capable of fulfilling, and good natured enough to grant it.
Learning and teaching/preaching about God is another form of worship: edification, exhortation. You seek to know God with every tool available, and increase your intimacy and relationship with Him, and teach others to do the same.
Obedience is however the primary form of worship: recognition, application. You know that He is God and deserves to be obeyed, and you seek to do His purpose for you.

 

[jamiec]

As is the case in almost every single church building, "Christian" book or article, podcast, blog, etc., most of what is taught is based on the "Traditions of Men," rather than what Scripture teaches. There are many reasons for this. One of the biggest problems is the English translations of the original texts of Scripture, which allows for pastors to twist, alter or change the original meaning and proper context of what was written down. Culture determines word meanings. When people, who speak and read English, read an English translation of Scripture they automatically associate and connect the English words with their cultural understanding of the English words. So, what they read places Scripture in the setting of their current culture. And their understanding of what Scripture means is based on their culture rather than the reality of the culture that the writings came from. And this practice leads to misunderstanding and false teaching.
Many centuries ago, starting as early as the 2nd century, there was a movement that was started by those who controlled what the Gentiles were taught and told to believe that the Jews, all Jews, were the enemies of God, they alone killed Jesus, were cursed, practiced witchcraft and sorcery, drank human blood and were actually pagan.
I could relate much more on this subject, but the point is that from almost the beginning of Gentiles being reached in the proclamation of the gospel, there has been a concerted effort to separate and keep separate Jews from Gentiles and a "Jewish faith" from the "Gentile faith." The movement even attempted to exclude the Jews from having any bearing on the New Testament. To the point that Gentile believers need only focus on the New Testament and deem the Old Testament as Jewish history and the only part of the Old Testament that Gentiles need to pay attention to is prophecy, especially prophecy about Jesus and the end times. There is still a movement to remove the Old Testament from the Bible, a movement which goes back thousands of years. There are "pastors" today who refuse to teach anything out of the Old Testament.
And this is tragic and wrong! The fact is that the entire bible is a Jewish book, written by Jewish men, who grew up in Jewish culture and taught from the Old Testament! The books of the New Testament didn't begin or weren't written down for at least 60 years after the resurrection! If you have some knowledge and understanding of the Old Testament, it is so easy to see that the New Testament's main focus is teaching and explaining the Old Testament along with debunking false teaching. The New Testament is not written as a Gentile book aimed at getting "Gentiles saved!"
There are 230 direct quotations from the Old Testament in the New Testament. When you include all allusions or references to the Old Testament found in the New Testament, the number is over a thousand times the New Testament directs us back to the Old Testament!
The following verses are all speaking of the Old Testament writings:
Mat 5:17
Luke 16:27-31
Rom 15:4
Gal 3:24
Heb 11:1
2Tim 3:16 All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for doctrine, for correcting false teaching, for correction, for instruction in how to live a righteous life. What Scripture is Paul speaking of? That which is found in the Old Testament. The theology that was written in the Old Testament still applies to believers today. From the Old Testament we learn doctrine, we learn what is false teaching, we learn how to correct other believers and we learn how to live righteous. Righteousness is simply living a life doing the right things, livin, believing and obeying what Scripture teaches. Vs 17 explains that it is from the Old Testament that a person who is a believer becomes equiped to do good.
Acts 17:11, From what source was Paul teaching and where did the listeners search the Scripture daily to see if these things were so? From the Old Testament.
In John 3:3-10, Jesus is teaching Nicodemus about how through the work of the Holy Spirit and the word of God, (water) that people are saved. Nicodemus asked, "How can these things be?" Jesus said to him, "Are you not one of the masters of teaching of Israel, and you don't know these things? What was Nicodemus supposed to have learned and mastered? The Old Testament! This teaching, said Jesus, is found in the Old Testament! It is not a "new teaching" introduced for the first time in the New Testament. In fact the only "new" teaching that is introduced in the New Testament and not found in the Old Testament is Paul's teaching on when a believer is married to a non-believer, 1 Cor 7:12-16. Everything else taught in the New Testament has it's roots in the Old Testament. The New Testament was not written to only show the fulfillment of the prophecies in the Old Testament, it was also written to show believers what the Old Testament taught and to direct all believers, Jews and Gentiles back to the Old Testament!
These verses use the word "scripture:"
Mk 12:10, 15:28
Luke 4:21
Jn 2:22, 7:38,42, 10:35, 13:18, 17:12, 19:24,28,36-37, 20:9
Acts 1:16, 8:32,35
Rm 4:3, 9:17, 10:11, 11:2
Gal 3:8,22, 4:30
1Tim 5:18
2Tim 3:16
James 2:8,23, 4:5
1Pet 2:6
2Pet 1:20
These verses use the word ;"scriptures."
Mt 21:42, 22:29, 26:54, 26:56
Mk 12:24, 14:49
Lk 24:27,32,45
Jn 5:39
Acts 17:2,11, 18:24,28
Rm 1:2, 15:4, 16:26
1Cor 15:3-4
2Tim 3:15
2Pet 3:16
Scripture means writing, or the writing. Whenever you come across the word "scripture(s)" in the New Testament, look at it as to mean, "what is already written in the Old Testament."
In John 4:22, Jesus said, "Salvation comes from/through the Jews." What did he mean since we know that only God saves, not the Jews? It means that God established that the way of salvation through what He set up in the Old Testament, true Judiasm, which He established through the Jewish faith, the one true faith. It is not that the Jews have to seek salvation through what Gentiles believe. It is, and always has been that both Jews and Gentiles come to knowledge of the truth through true Judiasm.
God established His true Judaism through the nation of Israel.
Deut 4:32-38, 7:6-7
Neh 9:13-15
Eze 20:11-12
Acts 3:18-25
Rom 3:1-2, 9:4
Heb 1:1
Paul said in Rom 1;16, "... because it is the power of God unto salvation for every one that believes, first to the Jews, and then to Greeks. The message of salvation was given to the Jews first. In Rom 11:5-25 Paul makes it clear that Gentile believers, as wild olives, are grafted into the root of the Olive Tree, (a symbol of Israel and true Judasim) Many of the Gentile believers had a feeling of superiorty over the Jews and Paul warned them to knock it off. There is no doubt that many preachers and pew warmers today carry this same attitude.
I have said all of this to point out that anything read in the New Testament must be read with the question, "What is the Jewish meaning?"
What we have in church buildings is not worship. What we have is what Paul called "will-worship" in Col 2:23, a phrase most have never heard of and something definetly not taught about in the church buildings. What is will worship? Thayer's says that will worship is "worship which one devises and prescribes for himself, contrary to the true nature of faith. In other words, men decided what worship means and designed how they think worship should be done, thus another Tradition of Man. I realize that you can search for the meaning of worship on the net and you will be told many wonderful lies. One of the most common is to show the etyomlogy of the English word "worship" and have it pointed out that it means to give "worth to something." Some even use the stupid, made up word, "worthship." SIGH!
Col 2:23 first says, " man made things have the apperance of looking good."
To the church world, the main, number one definition of worship is "singing and music." From that developed such terms as "Worship service," "Worship leader," and "Praise and Worship band." None of these are found in Scripture and are unbiblical. Neither is worship someone standing up, head thrown back, eyes closed, singing some unbiblical song with their hands lifted high, Acts 17:24-25, God...dwelleth not in temples made with hands; Neither is worshipped with men's hands..... Worship is not connected to praise. These words have different meanings. You will never find the phrase "praise and worship" in Scripture.
Here are all of the Hebrew and Greek words translated into the English word "worship." The number in parentheses is the number of times the Hebrew or Greek word is used in the original text.
Cegid-to prostrate oneself (8)
Atsab- to fabricate or fashion (1)
shachah- to prostrate in homage (54)
doxa-glory, brilliance (1)
ethelothreskeia- voluntary piety (1)
eusebeo- to put religion into practice (1)
latreuo- to minister(serve) to God (3)
proskuneo- to prostrate oneself (34)
sebommai- to revere (3)
Hmm, not one word defined as to mean "singing" or "music." So scratch that off your list. Putting yourself into a trance-like state is not worship. While there are different shades of meaning, what, to the Jews, was the main, dominate meaning of worship? From the list above, in both the Hebrew and Greek, the dominate, most used definition is to "prostrate onself." This has two meanings, a physical action that shows your inferior status to the one you are bowing down to or prostrating yourself. It was common practice in those days to bow down to kings, queens and nobility if you appeared as a guest before one of these. But people only prostrated themselves to the the ruler they served and lived in that kingdom. You have to humble yourself to prostrate yourself before another person. In the New Testament, there were times when people either bowed down to Jesus or prostrated themselves; Mat 20:20, Mk 5:6,22,33, 7:25, Lk 5:8,12 17:16 John 11:32. But there is more to prostrating oneself than just the physical act. By your act, you acknowledge that your king has authority over you and you, as an obedient subject will obey and live your life in service to your king. The Greek word latreuo, translated into "worship" three times is also translated as "serve." Mat 4:10, Lk 1:74, 4:8, Acts 7:7,27:23, Rom 1:9, 2Tim 1:3, Heb 8:5, 9:14, 12:28, 13:10, Rev 7:15, 22:3.
Psalm 95:6 Come! Let us worship and bow down! Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.
Rom 12:1 I appeal to you brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
Let's look at John 4:23,..." for the Father is seeking such as these who worship Him. The Greek word for "worship" is proskuneo- to prostrate oneself. Only believers serve God. Any kind of pagan, reprobate or unbeliever can sing to God or play an instrument, the churches are filled with such. To the Jews, the main meaning of how to worship God was to serve Him.

As to this:

"To the church world, the main, number one definition of worship is "singing and music."

That is news to me. That is not a definition of worship at all.

"So, is the Father seeking those who:
sing to Him?
play music to Him?
adore Him?
serve Him?
Obiviously, God is seeking those who serve Him."

You forgot: "those who pray to Him". Jesus, in His words to the Samaritan woman in St John 4, says not a word about "praying to the Father". He speaks instead of "worshipping the Father". So by the logic of your argument, prayer to the Father - at least from human beings - is wrong and unBiblical.

The fact of the matter is, that the quotation totally misses the point. Jesus is

(a) not talking to a Christian

(b) not giving directions on Christian worship.

The passage:

19 The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jewssay that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.”

21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, forsalvation is of the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spiritand truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. 24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Bible Gateway passage: John 4 - New King James Version

One cannot simply take any words from any passage in any Biblical book & apply them to any subject - and then expect them to make sense.