by The Old Testament is the first part of the Bible, and so we must turn to this in order to understand the role of dance in Jewish culture. There are twenty-two references to dance in the Old Testament, mostly in a positive way, but in a few cases in a negative way. There is a Hebrew word chag, which means circle, and the word for feast in Hebrew is chagag, which depicts dancing/moving in a circle (e.g. Exodus 5:1, Exodus 12:14, Leviticus 23:41, Numbers 29:12, Deuteronomy 16:15). Jewish people still do this dance circle today at weddings and at Sukkot (Tabernacles), Pesach (Passover) and Shavuot (Pentecost).
After the great victory at the Red Sea after Passover we are told that the women danced in celebration:
Above paragraph taken from here.
I have always looked at the studies in the Word as spherical, circular. When one takes this a little further, you find that each study is circular, they end where they began. But then something else happens. They interweave with one another. This take us to Ezekiel. The wheels inside of wheels. Or circles inside of circles. When we come to these circles inside of circles, we find God riding within.
Now, true worship is to search out the deep things of God. Or, to journey within the circles. The same as a feast unto the Lord is Worship, or in the case of the above paragraph, “A circle dance before the Lord.” This circle dance can be seen in the Heavens of our own solar system declaring the Glory of God, in it’s own circle dance of worship before Him. I have always felt as if I was dancing through the Word in my studies of circles inside of circles. Now I know why.
In looking for a descriptive picture, I found the one above. Notice how the circles have their own points of connecting, yet all have a singular focal point. This is the way it is with Scripture. One Singular focal point (GOD) while interacting in other areas.
Remember to dance before the Lord today.