Over this world of unrighteous human society and its kingdoms, God’s adversary, Satan the Devil, exercises rulership, in fact has made himself the “god” of such world. (Matt. 4:8, 9; John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11; compare 2 Corinthians 4:4.) God did not produce such unrighteous world; it owes its development to his chief Opposer, in whose power “the whole world is lying.” (1 John 4:4, 5; 5:18, 19) Satan and his “wicked spirit forces in the heavenly places” act as the invisible “world rulers [or “cosmocrats”; Gr., ko·smo·kraʹto·ras]” over the world alienated from God.—Eph. 6:11, 12.

Not simply humanity, of which Jesus’ disciples were a part, but the whole organized human society that exists outside the true Christian congregation is meant in such texts. Otherwise Christians could not cease to be a “part of the world” without dying and ceasing to live in the flesh. (John 17:6; 15:19) Though unavoidably living within that society of worldly persons, including those engaging in fornication, idolatry, extortion, and similar practices (1 Cor. 5:9-13), such Christians must keep themselves clean and unspotted by that world’s corruption and defilement, not entering into friendly relations with it, lest they be condemned with it. (1 Cor. 11:32; Jas. 1:27; 4:4; 2 Pet. 1:4; 2:20; compare 1 Peter 4:3-6.) They cannot be guided by worldly wisdom, which is foolishness in God’s sight, nor ‘breathe in’ the “spirit of the world,” that is, its selfish and sinful dominant feeling and activating force. (1 Cor. 1:21; 2:12; 3:19; 2 Cor. 1:12; Titus 2:12; compare John 14:16, 17; Ephesians 2:1, 2; 1 John 2:15-17; see SPIRIT [Dominant Feeling or Activating Force].) Thus, through their faith they ‘conquer the world’ of unrighteous human society, even as did God’s Son. (John 16:33; 1 John 2:17; 4:4; 5:4, 5) That unrighteous human society is due to pass away by divine destruction (1 John 2:17), even as the ungodly pre-Flood world perished.—2 Pet. 3:6.

Ungodly world ends; world of humankind preserved

Thus, the koʹsmos for which Jesus died must mean the world of mankind viewed simply as the human family, all human flesh. (John 3:16, 17) As to the world in the sense of human society alienated from God and in actual enmity toward God, Jesus did not pray on behalf of such world but only for those who came out of that world and put faith in him. (John 17:8, 9) Even as human flesh survived the destruction of the ungodly human society or world in the Deluge, so Jesus showed that human flesh is to survive the great tribulation that he likened to that Flood. (Matt. 24:21, 22, 36-39; compare Revelation 7:9-17.) The “kingdom of the world” (evidently meaning of humankind) is, in fact, promised to become “the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ,” and those reigning with Christ in his heavenly kingdom are due to “rule as kings over the earth,” hence over humankind apart from the deceased ungodly human society dominated by Satan.—Rev. 11:15; 5:9, 10.

WORM

Any of a great variety of slender crawling or creeping animals, usually having soft bodies and being legless or virtually so. In Scripture, ‘worm’ often appears to denote the larval stage of insects, particularly maggots. (Ex. 16:20, 24; Isa. 14:11; 66:24) At other times the reference is not to maggots but to worms that feed on vegetation.—Deut. 28:39; Jonah 4:7.

The term “worm” also appears in an illustrative setting. Bildad disparagingly spoke of man as a worm (Job 25:6), and the Messiah was foretold to be viewed as being a reproach and despicable, a worm. (Ps. 22:6) Jehovah God referred to Israel as a worm, a lowly, helpless creature, seemingly at the mercy of anyone passing by. But Jehovah assured the Israelites of his help and encouraged them not to be afraid.—Isa. 41:14.

WORMWOOD

This designates many, frequently somewhat woody plants having an intensely bitter taste and a strong aromatic odor. Several varieties of wormwood are found in Palestine, particularly in desert areas. In Scripture, wormwood is compared with the aftereffects of immorality (Prov. 5:4) and the bitter experience that was to come and did come upon Judah and Jerusalem at the hands of the Babylonians. (Jer. 9:15; 23:15; Lam. 3:15, 19) It also represents injustice and unrighteousness (Amos 5:7; 6:12) and is used with reference to apostates. (Deut. 29:18) At Revelation 8:11, wormwood denotes a bitter and poisonous substance.

WORSHIP

The rendering of reverent honor or homage. True worship of the Creator embraces every phase of an individual’s life. The apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians: “Whether you are eating or drinking or doing anything else, do all things for God’s glory.”—1 Cor. 10:31.

When Jehovah God created Adam, he did not prescribe a particular ceremony or a means by which perfect man might approach him in worship. Nevertheless, Adam was able to serve or worship his Creator by faithfully doing the will of his heavenly Father. Later, to the nation of Israel, Jehovah did outline a certain way of approach in worship, including sacrifice, a priesthood and a material sanctuary. (See APPROACH TO GOD.) This, however, had only “a shadow of the good things to come, but not the very substance of the things.” (Heb. 10:1) The primary emphasis has always been on exercising faith, doing the will of Jehovah God, and not on ceremony or ritual.—Matt. 7:21; Jas. 2:17-26.

As the prophet Micah put it: “With what shall I confront Jehovah? With what shall I bow myself to God on high? Shall I confront him with whole burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will Jehovah be pleased with thousands of rams, with tens of thousands of torrents of oil? Shall I give my first-born son for my revolt, the fruitage of my belly for the sin of my soul? He has told you, O earthling man, what is good. And what is Jehovah asking back from you but to exercise justice and to love kindness and to be modest in walking with your God?”—Mic. 6:6-8; compare Psalm 50:8-15, 23.

Most of the original-language words that can denote worship can also be applied to acts other than worship. However, the context determines in what way the respective words are to be understood.

One of the Hebrew words conveying the idea of worship (ʽa·vadhʹ) basically means ‘to serve.’ (Gen. 14:4; 15:13; 29:15) Serving or worshiping Jehovah required obedience to all of his commands, doing his will as one exclusively devoted to him. (Ex. 19:5; Deut. 30:15-20; Josh. 24:14, 15) Therefore, for an individual to engage in any ritual or act of devotion toward any other gods signified his abandoning true worship.—Deut. 11:13-17; Judg. 3:6, 7.

Another Hebrew term that can denote worship is sha·hhahʹ, which primarily means “to bow down” (Prov. 12:25) or to do obeisance. (See OBEISANCE.) Whereas such bowing could at times simply be an act of respect or of courteous regard toward another person (Gen. 19:1, 2; 33:1-6; 37:9, 10), it could also be an expression of worship, indicating one’s reverence and gratitude to God and submission to his will. When used with reference to the true God or false deities, the word sha·hhahʹ is at times associated with sacrifice and prayer. (Gen. 22:5-7; 24:26, 27; Isa. 44:17) This would indicate that it was common to bow down when praying or offering sacrifice.—See PRAYER.

The Hebrew root sa·ghadhʹ (Isa. 44:15, 17, 19; 46:6) basically signifies ‘to prostrate oneself’; a related Aramaic word is s^eghidhʹ. Though usually associated with worship (Dan. 3:5-7, 10-15, 18, 28), s^eghidhʹ is used at Daniel 2:46 to refer to King Nebuchadnezzar’s paying homage to Daniel, prostrating himself before the prophet.