Worship

 This word is very important for our understanding of the Book of Revelation.  When people read this word, they immediately get the idea of kneeling before someone or some thing and bowing with a visible sign of deep reverence.  This is a reasonable conclusion, because the word for “worship” indeed comes from a root that means “to bow down,” in Hebrew or “to kiss the hand” in Greek, and in general this is how it is used in Scripture.

It does not only refer to outward signs of reverence, however.  We read, “And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, ‘If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand…” (Rev 14:9)  We know that men do not generally “worship” kingdoms or organizations, but they give allegiance to them, and pledge themselves to be servants of the principles they espouse.  In this sense, to “worship” a system means to become identified in philosophy with such a system, to come into a state of agreement.  Idolaters “worship the work of their own hands” (Isa 2:8) not because they think their hands have any special power, but because they are in agreement with the power that their image supposedly represents.