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The Joy of Dancing


Some of the folks worshipping Yeshua
through dance at Kehilat Sar Shalom

Rejoice in the Dance

Did you know that recent studies regarding the Aramaic language (the language most commonly spoken in Israel during the first century) indicate that the words for "rejoice" and "dance" are identical? Did you know that there are approximately thirteen different Hebrew words that can be translated as either "dance" or "rejoice" and actually allude to dance as a form of rejoicing?

Supported throughout Scripture, the word “dance,” used synonymously with the word “rejoice,” enables us to visualize the extensive use of dance within the Hebrew culture. For example, in Judges 21:19-23, we read about young maidens of ancient Israel annually going up to Shiloh to “dance in dances” before the Lord that they might proclaim His goodness with joy:

But look, there is the annual festival of the LORD in Shiloh, to the north of Bethel, and east of the road that goes from Bethel to Shechem, and to the south of Lebonah.” So they instructed the Benjamites, saying, “Go and hide in the vineyards and watch. When the girls of Shiloh come out to join in the dancing, then rush from the vineyards and each of you seize a wife from the girls of Shiloh and go to the land of Benjamin. When their fathers or brothers complain to us, we will say to them, ‘Do us a kindness by helping them, because we did not get wives for them during the war, and you are innocent, since you did not give your daughters to them.’” So that is what the Benjamites did. While the girls were dancing, each man caught one and carried her off to be his wife. Then they returned to their inheritance and rebuilt the towns and settled in them. Judges 21:19-23

In Judges 11:34, after defeating the people of Amon, Yiftach’s (Jepthah’s) daughter comes out to meet him dancing with tambourines:

When Jephthah returned to his home in Mizpah, who should come out to meet him but his daughter, dancing to the sound of tambourines! She was an only child. Except for her he had neither son nor daughter. Judges 11:34

In Exodus l5:20, the Israelites danced in joyful celebration over their deliverance from Pharaoh and the Egyptians:

Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women followed her, with tambourines and dancing. Exodus l5:20

In 2 Samuel 6:14-16, King David danced and spun in joyful abandon before the Lord as the Ark of the Covenant was returned to its proper place:

David, wearing a linen ephod, danced before the LORD with all his might, while he and the entire house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouts and the sound of trumpets. As the ark of the LORD was entering the City of David, Michal daughter of Saul watched from a window. And…she saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD…. 2 Samuel 6:14-16

And, in Psalm 30:11-12, David tells us that Adonai, the Lord, has changed his mourning into dancing:

You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing to you and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give you thanks forever. Psalm 30:11-12

In Psalms 149:3 and 150:4, the Lord commands His people to praise His name – to praise Him with tambourines and with dancing.

Let them praise his name with dancing and make music to him with tambourine and harp. Psalms 149:3

Praise him with tambourine and dancing, praise him with the strings and flute… Psalms 150:4

And, finally, Yirmeyahu (Jeremiah) prophesied these words in connection with the restoration of Israel:

“Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance…and I will turn their mourning into joy.” Jeremiah 31:13

Even looking beyond biblical times, the characterization of rejoicing in the dance is expressed throughout Israel’s history and the history of the Jewish people. Although sacred dance, as part of the Jewish culture, was greatly suppressed as a result of the Bar Kochba rebellion against the Romans in 132 C.E., it was revived as a form of worship in the 1700’s by a movement in Poland called Hasidism.

The Hasidic movement was, and continues to this day, to be predominantly defined by its expression of joyful intimacy with God through dance. The founder of Hasidism, Baal Shem Tov, taught that to dance before the Lord would fill a person with HaShem’s joy.

Moving on through history, we find that Israel’s Six Day War of 1967 and the 1973 Yom Kippur War inspired a new generation of Jewish believers in Messiah Yeshua to identify with their Jewish roots. They chose to express their identity by adopting the title “Messianic Jews,” and this movement has become international. They identify with modern Israelis whose culture is steeped in dance. They have incorporated components of traditional Hasidic as well as Israeli and Yemenite folk dance. Indicative of this revival is the restoration of Messianic or Davidic worship involving the dance.

As God restores the body of Messiah through these same Hebraic roots, we are blessed to discover a culture rich in tradition and joy. What is so joyful about Messianic dance? Could it be that when we praise the Lord, not only with our voices but, with body, soul, and spirit, that we experience a deeper intimacy with Him, thereby increasing the joy?

Dance, as a tool of spiritual warfare, becomes a weapon against all kinds of oppression resulting in increased joy. For, according to Nehemiah 8:10 “the joy of the Lord is our strength.”

Praise, in the form of dance, results in the strength of deliverance and in the strength of healing. According to Murray Silberling, in his book Dancing for Joy, people experience healing of the heart, healing of emotions, and even physical healing when they choose to participate in dance as a form of worship.

People who struggle with fear and with a lack of confidence can find, within Messianic dance, new avenues of fellowship and ministry.

Consider the joy one might experience in ministering as a part of a Messianic dance group on an evangelistic outreach. Consider the power of witnessing the revelation of Yeshua or sharing the Gospel with an unbeliever through Messianic dance. Consider the power. Consider the joy.

We can experience joy in the dance because Scripture reveals a reason for us to dance and to dance for joy. For the Lord says in Zephaniah 3:17 that He, “The Lord your God is mighty in the midst of you; He will rejoice over you with joy; He will rest in His love; He will joy over you with singing.”

The phrase “He will joy” is actually the translation of the Hebrew word “yagil.” The word “gil,” or joy, is literally translated “to spin around in joy.” And, one of the words used for the word “dance” is “raquad” and it literally means “to skip or to leap.” Understanding this, it can then be said, that God dances with joy over us. If God dances with joy over His Messianic body of believers, how much more so should we dance before Him in praise of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? So, dance. Dance for joy!

If you want to learn Davidic dance, Kehilat Sar Shalom has beginners dance classes following our service so that you may learn to dance for joy. Click here for service times.

Kehilat Sar Shalom

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