Dan’s Continual Folly of Worship

An Abstract by Matthew Phenix

Throughout the nation of Israel’s history their worship practice has always played a major role as to define who the nation of Israel existed as a people. They originated as a group of people beginning with Abram being called by God to a new land. Isaac was then chosen over his brother Esau to receive the blessings of the covenant that God had made with Abram, and Isaac’s son Jacob became the father of the twelve nations of Israel. The proper way to worship was passed down from generation to generation. The establishment of the people of Israel’s formal worship centered originally in the Tabernacle and eventually the temple. However, throughout Israel’s history, the city of Dan, settled by the tribe of Dan, has continually rejected the worship commands that were handed down to them and decided to worship in their own way. This can be clearly seen in Judges 17 & 18 with an idol created by Micah and stolen by the tribe of Dan and 1 Kings 12 where Jeroboam I set up high places to worship a golden calf. This paper will show that Dan perverted the worship of God intentionally by analyzing the central locality of worship, the priesthood, the function of the priesthood, the sacrificial system, and the object(s) used in worship.

The preceding was an abstract of a research paper written by Matt Phenix as a part of MUMIN 7513 Research in Worship History: Old Testament, a Ph.D. Seminar in Worship at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. If this topic interests you, feel free to click the author’s name above and request a copy of the research paper.