Our questions include, how did we arrive at our doctrines? Does the Bible really teach what we think it teaches? Why do churches do what they do? What is the biblical basis of church leadership structure? Why do certain traditions get entrenched?
It's easy to be spoon fed the conventional wisdom, but it's an entirely separate thing to search these things out for one's self. In the past we have read the Bible with these unexamined understandings and interpreted what we read through those lenses. We were lazy about our Bible study, assuming that pastors and theologians were telling us the truth, but we rarely checked it out for ourselves.
Therefore, these Rethinks are our attempt to remedy the situation.
We should note that we are not Bible scholars, but we believe that one doesn't need to be in order to understand the Word of God.
Introduction
It almost seems strange that certain Christians would object to lifting of hands. The Bible is replete with references to doing this, so much so that we would wonder about any church that prohibited or discouraged the practice.
Hands in general seems to receive a lot of attention in the Bible. Besides the lifting of hands, we find the laying on of hands (Mt. 19:13, Ac. 6:6, He. 6:2, 1Ti. 5:22), the work of one's hands (1Co. 4:12, Ep. 4:28, 1Th. 4:11), repentance (La. 3:41-42), the evil done by hands (Mi. 7:3, Zec. 8:9, Mt. 17:12, Lk. 10:30, Lk. 24:7), and the hand of God (Is. 65:2, Je. 18:6, He. 10:31).
Hands can entreat, serve, and cause sin. Hands can comfort, kill, heal, and ensnare. Hands represent the product of labor, the power of God, the vehicle of sin, and the praise, repentance, and prayer of man to God.
Hands are important.
Celebration
The Hebrew people were and still are demonstrative and celebratory. Whether it’s a festival, a wedding, or worship, nothing seems to dissuade them. Demonstrative expression is part of their culture.
And in actual fact, it’s part of our culture too. We shout when Green Bay is winning. We shout when we down that elk with a perfect shot. We might even shout when our child crosses the podium at graduation. Celebration is something we do.It's in this context, the Hebrew mindset, that the Bible explains worship to us. Does Father deserve less? Should we cheer for a man running with a ball but not cheer for the God who saved us? Should we lift our hands at a rock concert but not in the presence of the King? Carl Boberg, the man who wrote “How Great Thou Art,” understood this. Verse four begins, “When He shall come with shout of acclamation…” There's going to be dancing, shouting, and praising in heaven and earth when the King of Kings returns.
The Psalmist writes,
Ps. 27:6 Then my head will be exalted above the enemies who surround me; at his tabernacle will I sacrifice with shouts of joy; I will sing and make music to the LORD.
Ps. 33:3 Sing to him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy.
Ps. 47:1 Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy.
Ps. 47:5 God has ascended amid shouts of joy, the LORD amid the sounding of trumpets.
Ps. 20:5 We will shout for joy when you are victorious and will lift up our banners in the name of our God.
Shout for joy. Sing. Play skillfully. Cry out in joy. Clap.
And, lift up banners. We also wave flags at football games. We have those big foam hands. We even paint our faces. We do know how to celebrate. So what’s wrong with celebrating Father the same way?
We will discuss banners a bit later, but first the OT.
The OT
The Old Testament contains several references to the raising of hands. These examples include:
- To pray: 1 Kings 8:22–23, 54-55; Psalm 28:2; Lamentations 2:19; Habakkuk 3:10.
- To bless others: Leviticus 9:22; Psalm 63:4; 134:2; 141:2; Luke 24:50 is probably a NT example.
- To swear: Genesis 14:22; Exodus 6:8; Nehemiah 8:6; See Revelation 10:5–6 for a NT equivalent.
- To set about to accomplish some important matter, like fulfilling a vow: Genesis 41:44; Psalm 10:12. See Hebrews 12:12 for a NT equivalent.
1. 1Kg. 8:22-23 Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in front of the whole assembly of Israel, spread out his hands towards heaven 23 and said: “O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below — you who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way.
So Solomon prayed by first expressing worship. At the end of His prayer we read this:
1Kg. 8:54 When Solomon had finished all these prayers and supplications to the LORD, he rose from before the altar of the LORD, where he had been kneeling with his hands spread out towards heaven.
Solomon was kneeling (kara, to bow down very low) before the altar with raised hands the whole time. He was worshiping. Entreating. Praising.
Ps. 28:2 Hear my cry for mercy as I call to you for help, as I lift up my hands towards your Most Holy Place....
Here David begins by praying for God to intercede, then he writes...
Ps. 28:6-8 Praise be to the LORD, for he has heard my cry for mercy. 7 The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song. 8 The LORD is the strength of his people, a fortress of salvation for his anointed one.
...so he turns to worship God as he prays.
2. Ps. 63:2-5 I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. 3 Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. 4 I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. 5 My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you.
Again, David is worshiping. And if it isn't clear enough:
Ps. 134:2 Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and praise the LORD.
Here is the specific command. In the house of God, we are instructed to lift our hands in prayer.
Ps. 141:2 May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.
The sacrifice is inextricably linked to worship and prayer, especially since the psalms are sung prayers.
Ps. 119:48 I lift up my hands to your commands, which I love, and I meditate on your decrees.
We lift hands to God because His commands are worthy of doing so.
Moses on the Hill
Ex. 17:9-13, 15-16 Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands.”
10 So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. 11 As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning.
12 When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up — one on one side, one on the other — so that his hands remained steady till sunset. 13 So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword....
15 Moses built an altar and called it The LORD is my Banner. 16 He said, “For hands were lifted up to the throne of the LORD. The LORD will be at war against the Amalekites from generation to generation.”
What was Moses doing by lifting his hands on top of the mount as the battle raged below him? We think he was worshiping. He raised his hands and the Israelites would start winning. He let them fall, and the Amalekites would begin to win. And when he couldn’t worship any more, people helped him worship some more. And Israel prevailed.
We think there is warfare in worship. Banners are symbols of warfare. They were advertisements of identity and power. The banner had the name of your tribe on it. When a banner was raised, it was a call to war. Then the trumpet sounded, and that was the “go” signal:
Is. 18:3 All you people of the world, you who live on the earth, when a banner is raised on the mountains, you will see it, and when a trumpet sounds, you will hear it.
We think there was a link between hands being lifted up and banners. We think the lifting hands is representative to the lifting of banners. Remember the verse:
Ex. 17:15 Moses built an altar and called it The LORD is my Banner.
Moses did not call the altar “The LORD lifts my hands.” He didn’t call the altar, “The LORD has helped us in battle.” No, he called it The LORD is my Banner. In other words, the raising of his hands is likened to a banner.
The lifting of hands is warfare. Praise is warfare. Flag waving, the dance, the bowing down, the singing of His praises, is warring in spiritual realms. We are serving notice to the enemies of God. Because we belong to Him, we are proclaiming the glory of God in His great victory over the powers and principalities and forces of darkness.
Ps. 20:5 We will shout for joy when you are victorious and will lift up our banners in the name of our God.
Last point about this. Remember, Moses built an altar there on the top of the mountain, and called it The LORD is my Banner. What is an altar? It’s where sacrifices are made, isn’t it? It seems like all over the OT there are altars being built at memorable events where an encounter with the living God occurred.
Technically, we have an altar in our churches, where we offer to the Lord. Our sacrifice is worship:
- Noah built an altar in Ge. 8:20 when they came out of the ark.
- Abram built an altar in Ge. 12:7 after Yahweh said, “To your offspring I will give this land.”
- Isaac and Jacob built altars.
- Gideon built an altar. Samuel. So did David. Elijah. And Uriah.
Ps. 43:4 Then will I go to the altar of God, to God, my joy and my delight. I will praise you with the harp, O God, my God.
He. 13:15 Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise — the fruit of lips that confess his name.
Holy Hands in Prayer
1 Timothy 2:8 says,
I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling” (ESV).
Some have said that only men should lift their hands, and this happens in church. However, "in every place" is not just in the church. 1 Timothy 2:8 specifically states:
- Who should raise hands—”men”
- When they should raise hands—in prayer
- What their hands should be like—”holy”
- What should not characterize their praying—”without anger or quarreling”
- Men should pray "in every place"
And the instruction to raise hands in prayer does not exclude raising hands for other reasons. But what about the issue of men (andras)? Should only they raise their hands in prayer?
Let's consider some other Scriptures which specifically reference men:
Ephesians 4:13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man [andras], to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.
So, is maturity only available to men?
James 1:12 Blessed is the man [andras] who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.
So, do only persevering men get a crown of life?
The answer would be "no" to both questions, of course. We would suggest, then, that 1 Timothy 2:8 likewise should be understood differently. In light of other Scriptures using the same word where it does not mean "men only," there is no requirement for us to think Paul is referring only men here.
Some would presume that Paul was instructing Timothy about church order. This interpretation of the passage has been the traditional one, but it is incorrect. Not only is the verse not referring to what should happen in church, it is not referring to men only. Remember, in every place.
This problem descends from the incorrect idea that 1 & 2 Timothy are "pastoral" letters, which colors one's approach to the text. However, if we divorce ourselves from the idea that Timothy was the pastor, much misconception also falls to the wayside.
Timothy wasn't the pastor, he was an associate of Paul on assignment to this church. Timothy had been sent to do a job. His purpose was to set things right until Paul came (3:15, 4:13). He was there to address problems (1:3), which means first, Paul was encouraging Timothy to stay true to the faith. Second, Paul was providing guidance on the general conduct of Christians. Third, he was instructing Timothy on how to handle situations in this church. We mustn't confuse the three things.
Paul was giving him personal instruction and exhortation (1:18, 4:11), he noted what actions he had taken against certain blasphemers (1:20), he teaches doctrine (4:13), and he structures the leadership of the church (chapter 3).
So, if these two letters are not "pastoral" letters, then Paul was not giving "pastoral" direction.
And, we do not find any Scripture anywhere regarding Timothy taking pastorship of the church. In fact, there was no such thing back then.
We therefore have to examine context to determine what the topics are. The topic in chapter 2 is regarding instructions about the general behavior of men and women, not men and women in the church setting. There is no hint that Paul was writing to Timothy about church order until Paul specifically and directly turns to the topic in chapter 3, as we mentioned above. The word ekklesia does not appear until chapter 3.
This is a simple concept that escapes the attention of many Christians. Both when we pray and when we worship with music, we are addressing God directly. Any prayer can be worship, and any worship song can be regarded as prayer.
We have created artificial distinctions in the gathering of the saints, and compartmentalized the activities of a church service. Worship is the direct interaction with God, whether spoken, sung, or even silence.
In Ac. 4:24-30, Peter and John were just released from prison. The church raised their voices together in prayer, and began with an articulation of worship:
Ac. 4:24 When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything in them."
We don't know if they were singing together or praying together, but regardless, they were worshiping. Prayer is not simply asking God for things. And neither prayer nor worship exclusive to each other, and neither are restricted only to the church setting.
Ac. 16:25-26 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken.
Both worship and prayer have the potential to shake foundations in the spiritual realm.
Conclusion
The lifting of hands ought not be controversial in a Bible-believing church. Neither should, shouting, dancing, or the waving of flags. And finally, we do not find a command anywhere that prohibits lifting hands in worship.
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