The Spirit of Worship — Leonard Ravenhill

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God's Ways and the Call to Worship

...seven chapters that are 243 verses describing the making of the tabernacle. I would have preferred the Lord had taken the world in one chapter about the tabernacle. I gave up years ago trying to get God to see things my way.

You ever tried that? Somebody nods their head, well they're a tourist, foolish enough anyhow. And he won't see things my way, I have to see things his way. Lots of things I wish the Lord had done my way.

One of them particularly, the resurrection morning, I wish that... ...immediately Jesus had risen from the dead, he'd gone into the bedroom of Pontius Pilate... ...and tapped him on the cheek and said, now what?

And then I wish he'd gone down the street and gone into the home of the high priest... ...and done the same thing and said, now what are you going to do? But he didn't do it that way. And so again, God's ways are not our ways and his thoughts are not our thoughts.

Now I don't have that much time this morning, but I want to deal with a subject, not with a text. And it's a subject of worship, because I believe it's the least understood... ...and the least practised of all the holy exercises that God gives us the opportunity to do.

Worship Discovered in Suffering and Ministry

I'll tell you how this started, it was 1951, I was lying in a hospital in Chicago. I jumped out of a burning building and I broke my back, my legs, my feet. Seven major breaks. Being strict till I didn't go beyond the perfect number.

Just from seven of them. And as I lay there in hospital, one night particularly was rough... ...and I reached for my New Testament and it opened at this. Thou gavest me no water, thou gavest me no oil, thou gavest me no kiss.

And I suddenly realised that dead or not hospital bed, while my body was shattered... ...my program of going round the world to preach was shattered. But there was one thing that I could do just as well lying on my back...

...as I could do anywhere else. And that was worship God. The second occasion, which was really the third, but I'll make it the second. I was preaching at a conference of preachers, and I mentioned worship.

The very fine pastor of one of the great churches in Florida... ...invited Martha and I to dinner and over dinner he said this... I read the Bible in Hebrew, I read Greek. I have all kinds of diplomas, I have degrees, doctorates.

But I don't know a thing about worship. And so I can't teach what I don't know. The third and most astounding thing was going into Dr Tozer's office one day... ...and he said the usual thing, latch the door, let your hair down.

And then he pointed to a rug. You know, you've seen these rugs from India, you know, about 6 feet long... ...and 30 inches wide and they cost about $6 ,000. Well this was a very precious rug, it cost 69 cents in Kresge's.

Well that's what he told me. And he pointed to that rug and said this astounding thing. I think one of the most amazing occurrences I've ever heard in my life. He said Len, I often come in my office at 8 o 'clock in the morning...

...bowed down, not with a burden of the problems of the church or the world... ...but bowed down with adoration and worship. And so I call my secretary in the other office and say you may go home today...

...no dictation, no letters, no interviews, put a notice on the office door. And he said I get down on that rug at 8 o 'clock in the morning... ...and I'm there till 11, 12, 1 o 'clock, in other words 3, 4, 5 hours...

...and I never say a word of prayer and I don't say a word of praise, I worship. You see prayer really is preoccupation with our needs. Praise is preoccupation with our blessings. Worship is preoccupation with God himself.

There's a beautiful hymn where the hymn writer says my goal is God himself. Not joy, not peace, not even blessing. But be my God. I remember Dr. Tolls writing this, he said Len, let others do as they like.

You and I will worship God face downward. You see we tend to sing and we kneel to pray and we prostrate ourselves to worship. You'll have to go through the scriptures and discover how often this was done.

Worship in Spirit, Truth, and Holiness

And he said I get there and you see now we've got an imitation of this. The devil's take off is again this religion which is religion. There are 2000 gurus in America today. They're evangelistic for their evil cause as we are for our godly cause.

And they're getting people who are tired of turmoil and pressure and everything... to relax and leave their minds open which is very dangerous. So worship is adoration and contemplation and concentration.

And we're told to worship God in spirit and in truth and in the very beauty of holiness. There is a beautiful book, I don't see it on your bookstore. If you get it, it will stay with you all your life.

It was not composed, it was put together by Dr. Tolson. He had gathered the cream out of all the great hymns. You know hymnology is something we need to know. I noticed a preacher said not long ago in one of the great churches of this country, Charismatic Church, the Lord has told us not to sing any more choruses.

That was an astounding thing. And go back to the old hymns and he startled me by saying we've just discovered a hymn that says, Oh for a thousand tongues to sing my great Redeemer's praise. The glories of my God and King, the triumphs of his grace.

All that the world might taste and see the riches of his grace. The arms of love that compass me would all mankind embrace. And he said we've suddenly discovered the majesty. You know if you don't know those old hymns, well you've an awful lot to learn.

Find an old Methodist hymn book. You'll discover some of the great treasures of the church there. Dr. Tolson put together in the Christian's book of, what is it, Christian's book of mystical verse, all the wonderful poems of Madame Delamont Gayon.

The thing he loved the most, the writer he loved the most, F .W. Faber. And he said Len I just gazed upon the King and his beauty. I express it like this, how beautiful, how beautiful the sight of thee must be.

Thine endless wisdom, awesome power and awful purity. Oh Jesus, Jesus dearest Lord. Forgive me if I say for very love thy sacred name a thousand times a day. Burn, burn within me love of God. Burn fiercely night and day till all the dross of earthly love is burned and burned away.

He said I gazed upon his holiness, his faithfulness, his majesty. Until at times I don't know whether I'm in the body or out of the body. Could you, could I stay in his presence an hour without prayer, without prayers.

Gazing on his holiness. In the old economy a man in his youth was allowed to be a soldier when he was twenty years of age. Because then and now you don't need brains to kill anybody. So you could be a soldier when you were twenty.

You could not be a priest until you were twenty five. You could not be a high priest until you were thirty. Moses did not minister until he was forty. His life is divided very beautifully into three quarters.

The first forty went to the universities of Egypt. Read the seventh of Acts, he was brilliant, knowledgeable. A powerful statesman, he wasn't an orator. But he made laws before he had the ten commandments.

In the first forty years he was a majestic Moses. He learned a lot. The second forty years he learned a lot more, lived with his mother-in-law. And then when he was eighty years of age he took over the leadership of a nation.

But he did not come to authority until he was forty. Jesus did not minister until he was more than thirty. Neither did John Baptist, neither did Joshua. Neither did any, I don't know why. And so a man could be a soldier at twenty.

He could not be a priest until he was twenty five. He could not be a high priest until he was thirty. Now, there was an outer court. And then there was the holy place. And then there was the holy of holies.

The minister in the outer court had daylight. The minister in the inner court had candlelight. The minister in the holy place had no light. It was total darkness. Until the glory of God came. But she came and glory in God.

We quote it often don't we. God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. Can you imagine that place. You see the first thing that God said about that tabernacle. The first dimensions that he made.

That he gave to Moses were these. That they should build. That they should make a mercy seat of pure gold. Two and a half cubits should be the length of it. And a cubit thereof and the breadth. And verse 22 of Exodus 25 says.

And there will I meet with thee. The first thing God desires in your life. Is not that you work yourself to death serving him. You get out of balance. You become ragged. The secret of all Christian life is worship.

It is more important than prayer. Because you can pray without worshipping. But you will never worship without praying. You can get overburdened with anxieties. Become almost neurotic. But oh when we worship him.

And we see God in the beauty of his holiness. In the majesty of his glory. Isn't it wonderful that after the church was persecuted. And they tried to beat those men up in the acts of the apostles. Even the wolves said they took notice that they had been with Jesus.

Holy Anointing and the Limits of Human Strength

I don't have time to explore this all. But let me remind you that there were certain oils. That were made for the lights in the sanctuary. And then in the 30th chapter of Exodus. You have some oil made just for the sanctification.

Of the vessels that were in the tabernacle. And then there is a special oil. It gives you all the ingredients. And they are fascinating if you take them separately. There was an oil that was used for inanimate things.

Then there was an oil that was used for the priests. And that priestly oil. Thou shalt anoint Aaron and his sons. And consecrate them that they may minister to me. Now you can rescue the perishing and care for the dying.

And that's great and wonderful. But don't fail to give God his ministry. Because that's ministry to people still. We must worship him. We must adore him. We must magnify him. The holy oil that was to be put upon the priest.

It says verse 32 of the 30th chapter of Exodus. Upon man's flesh shall it not be poured. You remember that in the psalmist he says. That the brethren dwell together in unity. And it's like the holy oil.

That was put upon the head of the priest. And ran down his face. No no it didn't. It ran down his beard. It ran onto his garments. It rang from his garments onto the floor. It never touched the flesh.

Why because God never sanctifies flesh. That's right. He wants a man's flesh. I hear people say that man has a wonderful personality. And he's such a colossal man. And he has a marvellous vocabulary. If God could only get hold of that and use it.

Oh brother he doesn't do that. He takes the opposite. He takes the things that are not. To bring to naught the things that are. We hate humility as much as we talk about it. What's that hymn that they've just altered in a modern hymn book.

Alas and did my saviour bleed and did my sovereign die. Would he devote that sacred head for such a worm as I. A worm in double knit. A worm evangelist in alligator shoes and his hair teased. And nine diamonds on his finger.

And a gold watch to show you. A worm. Oh that's offensive and so we've changed it. They've changed it. Would he devote that sacred head for such a worm as I. It's not nice. And yet Psalm 22 speaks of Jesus as a worm and not man.

And God changed the total personality of a man by the name of Jacob. But in the forty first of Isaiah he not only calls him a prince. He says fear not my worm Jacob. So next time you write letter Bob write dear Bob worm Weiner.

That's a strange thing isn't it. Fear not my worm Jacob. And the context says thou shalt thresh a mountain. Well is there anything more silly in your whole world than a worm threshing a mountain. You think an elephant might kick it over.

But listen a worm is the only thing that can go in one side of a mountain and come out of the other side. So God wasn't wrong anyhow. And when the worm has wormed its way in. Pardon me. When the worm has made a hole right through the mountain.

Then the wind goes through and drives the soil and the other wind comes and blows it away. And that's exactly what God says. Fear not thou worm Jacob. That because the wind will come you thresh the mountains.

Then the wind will come and the wind will scatter the mountain. But you've got to be a worm. The holy oil was put upon the head of the priest. There is no substitute for it. God says if you make a substitute I'll curse you.

And very often listen. Very often we try and work up atmosphere. Now you don't have to work up atmosphere if you've prayed it through. We can work people up soulishly and it's very dangerous. Because if you get worked up soulishly.

Immediately get out you collapse. Down you go. There's no atmosphere. No supporting atmosphere. That is worship if it's something in the spirit. We are to worship God in spirit and in truth. You know we are very heavy on the spirit today.

But very light on the truth in many areas. The truth needs to be balanced. And it must be in the spirit. And so the priest has to be anointed. With the holy oil and it shall be put upon him. And there is no substitute for it.

And there is no limitation. So the priest must go into the holy place. Oh it's an elaborate sermon. And he ought to put it in and take the whole weekend talking about it. Before he goes into that holy place.

Somebody has to wash him. And you know it doesn't matter how good you are or virtuous. I was a perfect Methodist before I was saved. I was a marvellous guy. But anyhow. You know I had to come to a place where I needed salvation.

And I couldn't wash myself. Somebody else had to wash me and that was Jesus. And then they put a garment upon him. And then they put a crown upon his head. And do you know what the crown was? It was a crown of holiness.

There is going to be a day in the millennium when you ride down the street on your horse. God is going to clear up all this dirty automobile business. They are all going to be kicked in the ocean. They are all going to ride horses.

And they are going to have that lovely panoply on them. Lovely skirts round them. You know like you see them sometimes in medieval English. And there is going to be a sign on the side of the horses. Holiness unto the Lord.

And the ladies are going to work in the kitchen. And the pots and pans are going to have holiness on them. Wouldn't that be tremendous? It would look miserable but anyhow it will. So the priest has to be washed.

And then he has to be anointed. And then he goes. Can you imagine him listen, listen, listen to the amazing thing. That one man went once a year for one mission into the holy place. And people stood and watched him in terror.

Lest God should not accept the sacrifice. And he goes stumbling into that dark place. No sunshine, no candlesticks. He goes feeling his way in the darkness and suddenly the glory of God fills the temple.

And only one man did that once a year for one mission. And now you can do it every hour in the day if you want to do it. Enter into his holy presence without shedding blood, without building a mosque, without seeking a priest.

Because once in the end of the age somebody by the name of Jesus appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. The unblemished lamb of God. And through him we have right of access. And he has made us kings and priests unto God.

The Woman Who Worshiped Jesus Sacrificially

The next thing I want to take here leaping over into the New Testament is a story that is told four times by each of the evangelists of the woman. That brought an alabaster box of ointments. Well this man had got the prize of the year.

He had got this distinguished miracle working prophet to come and eat in his house. And I think he made a list of people he wanted and crossed them out and put them in and finally got everybody he wanted.

He got the right folk there. And then he got the right food there. And he got the flowers and he got a nice aesthetic atmosphere. And everything was ready for the banquet. I think he woke up that morning saying this is going to be the greatest day of my life.

It's going to be a day I shall never want to forget. And it became a day he never wanted to remember. Did you ever have a day like that? When everything went wrong and all he did was say oh I'll be glad when this day is over.

And so the day brought the disaster. Everything went wrong. He said people are going to come to this banquet and they are going to go away talking about my extravagance. Instead of that they left it talking about not his generosity but his stupidity.

He was busy welcoming somebody at the door. One of the millionaires or the mayor of the city or a manufacturer or some famous man. And then one of his servants said the boss comes in and says what's this about?

He said sir you know that certain woman. If that woman comes near here turn the dogs on her. Well sir she is already here. She is in the kitchen. I don't think Jesus went in at the front door. I think he went at the back door.

A servant's form he wore. And in his body bore our dreadful curse on Calvary. Don't you wish he had come the first time like he is coming the next time. People talk about rapture but it also says he is coming with ten thousand of his saints to execute judgment.

Man when you see him coming down the skies in a chariot that he lies to enter heaven in may be. And he steps out in all the blinding glory of his majesty. What a sight. The man looks round the door and he sees the woman there.

And he says ha I made a mess. He is no prophet if he was he would know what she is. He would have recognized right away the wretched state of the woman. She is a leper she shouldn't be allowed. And Jesus knew his thoughts and he said Simon I want to tell you something a minute.

Listen a certain man had two creditors. One owed him five hundred pence the other owed him fifty. When they had nothing to pay he frankly forgave them both. Which of them would love him most. And Simon said I suppose that he to whom he forgave most.

And he said thou hast rightly judged. See a savage woman. I entered into thine house. You were so busy putting your arms and hugging this person and kissing the other and washing the feet of somebody.

I entered thine house. Thou gavest me no water. Thou gavest me no oil. Thou gavest me no kiss. Does God ever say that about your service in life. You were busy today. You were travelling today. You talked to somebody.

You gave them a track. You want a person to cry. And you left me out of it all together. You gave me no kiss. No worship. No adoration. Thou gavest me no water. No oil. But this woman. All that little.

Do you know what she did. She went to worship. How do I know. Well number one she took a present. Number two she never said a word. Number three she was the antagonist. She had no right to be there. It was a stag party.

I can almost see her dress leaving like this. She says well I guess I should leave. But I am going there. Six days afterwards everybody was standing weeping at the cross. There was only one woman happy at the cross.

And that was a woman that said I am glad I did it last week. Those feet that are bleeding were in my hands. Jesus says to the woman Thou gavest me no water. She said I wouldn't wash those holy feet with water.

And so she washed them with the tears. She should have taken a nice towel. She said not those feet. She pulled the pins out of her hair. And took his feet. Oh it must have felt lovely. That silken hair drying the feet of the son of God.

She should have anointed his head. She anointed his feet. She should have anointed him with oil. She anointed him with the most costly thing she had. She saved it for a burial. And if she was a sister of Lazarus.

She didn't love Lazarus enough to pour it on him anyhow. She was saving up for a good funeral. Well are you saving up for one? If she was going to have a real good funeral. And she was going to be anointed in death.

And instead of doing the cheapest thing. She did the most expensive thing. And then what did she do? Well I will tell you what she did. She poured that ointment on his feet. And then the second time she nailed to his feet.

And she dried his feet with the hair of her head. Now we say that that ointment was pungent. It was so powerful it filled the whole house with the fragrance. And she poured that fragrance upon his feet.

And then she took her hair and wiped his feet with the hair of her head. Therefore the fragrance she poured out on him came back on her. That's why we need to stay meditative. That's why we need to contemplate and concentrate on his holiness and majesty.

What I poured out on him will come back on me. Well if you read the four versions of that story they are magnificent. Do you know what happened? She took one pound of ointment and it tells you how much it was worth.

Three hundred pence. And a while after that some men were going up the side of a hill. And between them they were carrying a hundred pounds of that same ointment. Worth maybe a million dollars. For what?

To pour on Jesus who was dead. They brought gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh when he was a child, a babe. And he couldn't appreciate that. And they brought it when he was dead. A hundred pounds worth, worth a million dollars maybe.

What's the good of bringing a sacrifice to him when he's dead? I hear people say, well I've got some money and when I die I'm going to tie it. My relatives are not going to get it so they can get drunk and do this that and the other.

I'm going to leave my money for mission. You know what, if you leave a million dollars to missions, God won't give you ten cents for it at the judgment seat. He won't give you ten cents for it. Why not?

All it says, the Lord love us what? A what? Alright, here's a millionaire. He's a Texan. He's buried in a solid gold casket. And he's left ten million dollars to missions. Now just before we drop the lid, we've said everything about his goodness.

Just before we drop the lid, I want you to come and have a look at him. Because he's left ten million dollars to missions. I want you to see him in his casket. The Lord love us what? He doesn't look too cheerful to me.

He's given ten million dollars, he doesn't look very cheerful. No, no, no, he didn't give it. He gave it because death snatched it out of his hands. If he was living he'd still have it. So an American wrote this, not Shakespeare.

An American wrote this. Do your giving while you're living. Then you're knowing where it's going. Not very great poetry, but it's pretty smart. Do your giving while you're living. Then you're knowing where it's going.

But the point is that she took the treasure thing. A woman's hair is a glory. Most of you have lost it, you ladies. My dear wife has long hair. I still like to see women with long hair. I think it's beautiful.

Long skirts too. Long skirts and long hair. Can you imagine how Jesus felt when that woman washed his feet with tears? Not with water, with tears. Dry his feet, not with a towel, but with a hair on her head.

A sign of humility. And even the glory she had she put on his feet. And then pouring out that little treasure that she'd had so long. And what she'd poured out she got back. Frieda Hendry Allen wrote a poem some years ago.

Contemplation, Holiness, and the Secret Place

It goes like this. Within the veil. That's in the secret place where you're worshipping. When you shut the door, the world is outside. You've no music. And you're still in his holy presence, gazing upon the king eternal.

She wrote this. Within the veil be this beloved thy portion. Within the secret of thy lord to dwell. Beholding him until thy face is glory. Thy life is love. Thy lips is praise foretold. Within the veil for only as thou gazest upon the matchless beauty of his face.

Canst thou become a living revelation of his great heart of love. His untold grace. Within the veil his fragrance poured upon thee. Without the veil that fragrance shed aboard. Within the veil his hand shall tune the music.

Which sounds on earth the praises of thy God. Within the veil thy spirit deeply anchored. Thou walkest calm above a world of strife. Within the veil thy soul with him united. Shall live on earth. The resurrection life.

This is an area that needs to be rediscovered by all of us. How to worship him. Not serve him first of all. But worship him and worship him in spirit and worship him in truth. And worship him in the very beauty of holiness.

Gazing upon his beauty. Gazing upon his holiness. Meditating on his power. Oh we very very seldom contemplate the attributes and majesty of God. I think that's why we are so shrunken. I think that's why so often we need soulish stimulants to stir us up to activity.

Because there is not that deep passionate love and adoration. Because you see this woman gives us a type. What she did she sacrificed. She risked everybody else's opinion. I think she contemplated it but she didn't imitate anyone else.

And she came and she worshipped him in spirit and in truth. Let me leap over to another section here in order to leapfrog this morning. A marvellous chapter. Revelation chapter 5. The book of the revelation to me is a book of majesty.

And it's a book of mystery. And it's a book of misery. Because I see the final doom of lost men. Revelation 5 .1 says this. I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book. Written within and on the back side sealed with seven seals.

And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice. He is ready to open the book and to loose the seals thereof. Now listen. And no man in heaven or earth or under the earth is able to open the book thereof.

Open the book thereof. Neither to look there not even look upon the book. And then he says I worked much. This is not a man weeping because his finger is broken. It's a man weeping because his heart is broken.

There's no man in heaven. Call on Moses if you like. Call on Joshua if you like. Call on Jeremiah if you like. Call on the Apostle Paul if you want to come down to our dear recently. John Calvin, John Wesley.

There is no man in heaven. Or on earth. Or under the earth. It's the most awesome moment in eternity. There are billions and billions and billions of saints. Martyrs. People who died at the stake. People this morning worship God.

And all night they've been lying in their own urine there in the Gulag archipelago. And living in a hell hole in China. And maybe God will get more worship out of them today than out of us. We're so busy.

We're so feverishly active. We're so programmed. We've got all this tied up. Oh God almighty can't get in some of our lives. We've programmed it for the next year. God takes every great man he's going to use.

And if you haven't had it you've got it coming. He takes every man to the university. A lady asked me one day what university I went to. Well I finished school in the 8th grade. I went to a high school.

It was on top of a hill. But that's the only high school I went to. And I didn't go to college. I went to a little bible school for a few months. And what I've learned, I've learned on my knees. Dr. Tozer finished in the 8th.

That's about the only common ground I have with Tozer. He was a giant and I'm not. John says I wept much. This man is not again weeping because his finger is broken. His heart is broken. I say it's the most awesome moment in eternity.

It says that there's a book in the right hand of him that sat on the throne. This book is the title deeds of a forfeited inheritance. The title deeds of the universe were lost when Adam sinned. God intended Adam to rule.

And he gave him authority and he lost the title deeds. And the last thing Jesus is going to do here in this office anyhow is to take the deeds out of the hand of him that sat upon the throne. Nobody else can do it.

Joshua can't do it. Moses can't do it. If not a colossal character in history could ever do it. That's why I say we need to take time and gaze. When did you last think about the judgment seat of Christ?

When you as a believer stand on a dais before a thousand billion people and the apostles and saints and martyrs and all the warriors of faith are going to be watching while your little life is replayed on videotape and the tape of every word you ever said since you were redeemed and every penny you ever had in your life is all going to be read out when the great books are opened in eternity.

Harnett the philosopher said that Christianity is a very simple but a very sublime thing to live in time for eternity under the eye of God and by his help. But tell me this, are we eternity conscious people?

Do you get up every morning in the light of eternity? Do you live in eternity? Do you pray in eternity? Do you think in eternity? Do you pray prayer sermons in eternity? We're not eternity conscious. We're position conscious, possession conscious, power conscious, personality conscious.

If we're going to move this generation to God we've got to get out of time into eternity become eternity conscious men. Live and move and have our being in a dimension this world doesn't know a thing about.

And modern theology doesn't know a thing about. We need to taste the powers of the world to come. Remember all is enjoyable. And John says I wept much because no man was found worthy to take the title deed out of the hand of the one on the throne.

I wept. You know that word only occurs once again in the New Testament. It's that awesome experience Jesus had when he had a triumphant entry into Jerusalem. It wasn't a triumphant entry to me, it was a tearful exit.

He turned his back on the nation and he wept. And he weeps with grief you poor stupid wicked diabolical people you've had Jeremiah and Isaiah and the greatest men that ever lived and you won't listen.

And he's saying to them and now you've got the greatest being you'll ever see the son of God himself and you won't accept him. My God have mercy on you. And he turned his back on Jerusalem and they've had no profits for 2000 years.

And unless they will know that God almighty God will do that to America before long he'll spew it out of his mouth. And let us go into captivity. Maybe it's the only thing that will straighten us out from greed, covetousness, selfishness, self interest, self glory.

I wept much he said. Because no man was found worthy to take the book out of the hand of him that sat on the throne. No man in heaven or earth or under the earth was found worthy and I wept much. And then one of the elders said unto me weep not.

Behold the land of the tribe of Judah the root of David has preferred to take the book out of the hands. And lo I beheld in verse 6 in the midst of the throne there were four beasts and in the midst of the elders stood a lamb as it had been slain having seven eyes and seven horns and seven eyes which are the seven spirits of God sent forth into all the world.

And he came and took the book. Wait a minute, wait a minute. It says there was a lamb that had been slain. That word lamb occurs only once in the New Testament. Do you remember what Jesus said to Peter?

Feed my lamb, feed my sheep, feed my sheep, feed my lambs. That's the only time it occurs. Do you remember in the Old Testament economy that before a lamb was taken for sacrifice they kept it in the house for four days.