I was reading a Hebrew word study this morning (courtesy of an email from Chaim Ben Torah ministries), which was looking at the word translated into English as ‘gift’ with reference to the Wisemen or Magi who visited the baby Jesus.
What really caught my attention however was a side comment he made about offerings and sacrifices and what makes them acceptable or unacceptable to God.
Bear with me for a moment, as we need to dig through the original meaning of a few ancient words for this to make sense.
According to Chaim,
“The Aramaic word used for gift is qorbana.
But this word being rendered as a ‘gift’ is very misleading. It comes from the word corban, the word Jesus used in Matthew 15:6 where he rebukes the Pharisees for calling their offering a corban.
A corban is literally an offering or sacrifice to God. It could be an animal sacrifice or an incense offering.
The word corban comes from a Semitic root which has its origins in the Akkadian word QRB which means to draw close to someone.
It evolved into the meaning of offering or gift as the intent of the offering or gift is to bring you closer to the receiver. Thus, the purpose of the incense offering was to bring you closer to God.”
(Chaim Ben Torah Dec. 25, 2024 Aramaic Word Study – The Gift of the Magi – Qorbaga’ Magisha’)
This is the complete opposite of what we often do.
Worship is symbolized in the Old Testament as an incense offering. When we offer worship, if we are to do it the way the incense offering was intended, it would be with the motive only of moving closer toward God in relationship.
How often have we approached worship as a way to bring God closer to us? Rather than us closer to Him? To summon His presence into the room.
And then we ask for things.
I started thinking about what makes the difference between the two approaches to worship, and I think, like many things, it comes down to motive.
The ancient Hebrews lost sight of the relationship with Jehovah and instead, like us, went through the same process, the same rituals but with the wrong motive – worship God so He will come and listen to me and do this thing I need help with.
Jesus told the Pharisees, that kind of offering / worship / incense can’t be called ‘corban’ which means given with the intent to draw closer to the receiver. (as per Chaim’s comments above)
“… These people honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” Matthew 15:8 NLT
So, the reminder for me today is to come with no agenda. Just a desire to be closer to God and know Him better. Nobody enjoys a friend who is only a taker, not a giver.
If you have been struggling to connect with God or to feel like He’s listening to you when you’re praying, consider if you’ve been coming with a list of requests to bring up after you worship or if you just came to worship, to draw closer to him. Period.
Didn’t Jesus tell us, “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need.” Matthew 6:33
Have you been a giver or a taker in your relationship with God?
