Yet
a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will
worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth (John
4,23a).
Another
symbol used in worship dance is the vessel. This reminds us to
capture the presence of God, to be cleansed and become a fragrant
offering for Him as Christ became a fragrant offering for God through
His sacrifice (Eph. 5,2). The frankincense is a symbol for cleansing,
prayer, worship and fragrance.
The
apostle John had the following heavenly visions related to the golden
bowl full of incense: Then
the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down in front of the
Lamb. Each one had a harp. They were holding golden bowls full of
incense, which stand for the prayers of God's people. Here is the new
song they sang. “You are worthy to take the scroll and break open
its seals. You are worthy because you were put to death. With your
blood you bought people for God. They come from every tribe,
language, people and nation. You have made them members of a royal
family. You have made them priests to serve our God. They will rule
on the earth.”
(Rev.
5,8-10)
Another
angel, who had a golden
censer,
came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with
the prayers
of all God’s people, on the golden
altar
in front of the throne. The smoke of the incense, together with the
prayers of God’s people, went up before God from the angel’s hand
(Rev. 8,3-4).
The
letters of the Hebrew alphabet are holy signs of God, that announce
His works and His praise. In psalm 119, 89 we read: “Your
word, Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens.” The
3rd
letter of the Hebrew alphabet is Gimel
(g),
that resembles
a camel.
According
to the traditional Jewish view camels represents nations. The camel
is an
animal
of the desert; it wanders the desert from one oasis to another
seeking continuously after water. The water represents the truth. The
Bride of Christ, who
is fulfilled with living water, that flows from the throne of God to
us, and praises God in Spirit and in Truth, is as pure as “a
spring enclosed, a sealed fountain” (Song 4,12b).
In Isaiah 60,6 it is written, that herds of camels from foreign
countries will come to Israel. They will carry
gold
and incense
and they will proclaim the praise
of
the Lord. Gold symbolizes faith refined in fire, and it is a symbol
for kingship. Frankincense represents prayers, worship and
symbolizes priesthood. We are a kingly
priesthood.
In the Song of Songs we find that the bride is coming up from the
desert (wilderness) leaning on her beloved (Song 8,5). She is a
„garden
locked up“
for her bridegroom and she says: “Awake,
north wind, and come, south wind! Blow on my garden, that its
fragrance may spread everywhere.” (SOS
4:16). This
is a call for
the Spirit of God. What was
dry
will
be refreshed by the north wind and brought to life. The north wind
has the power of resurrection and possesses the force to give
revelation. The south wind enables us to express what we have
received
from God.
As
the fire of the Holy Spirit
fell on the disciples, they preached with boldness and with the fire
of the first love. Both winds must come together to enable us to
smell the fragrance of love, which
flows
out of our hearts for our bridegroom Jesus. As well as the Holy
Spirit carries the fragrance of love through the north wind and the
south wind towards
us, similarly, he
carries it
back out of our garden to Him. When the Spirit of God blows through
our personality and our garden, then we live, move and have our being
in him
(Acts 17,28). This happens also when
we
dance for him.
The Bible gives us examples which
encourage us to express our praise, our
offering of
frankincense also
through
movements: “May
my prayer be set before you like incense; may the
lifting up of my hands be
like the evening sacrifice” (Ps. 141,2). In
Revelation 4 we read how the twenty-four elders fell
down before him
who
sits on the throne. In the Hebrew language Gimel (g) can also mean
“lift up”. And the Hebrew picture
for
garden “gan” means to
lift up life.
In the Garden of Eden God lifted up the man to life. In the Garden
Tomb Jesus was raised/lifted up
to
life. Who comes back to the first love and overcomes, to him Jesus
will give to eat from the tree of life, that exists in the Paradise
(Garden of Eden) of God (Rev 2,7). We should lift up life as
the gardens
of God. Jesus is the life and we should lift him
up. Flags and staffs
used in worship dance are symbols for lifting up.
In
worship dance the symbolism of the colours
has a crucial meaning. White
symbolizes purity, holiness, the
bride of Jesus,
light and victory. White
is also
the colour
of frankincense. Gold
symbolizes the presence of God, his
glory
and majesty. He overlays his
bride, his
congregation with glory and clothes her in
gold
(Psalm 45, 10 and 14). We should be vessels of the glory and of the
presence of God and be an offering of frankincense, a fragrance for
him
with
all our being.
