WORTHLESS, UNACCEPTED WORSHIP

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“Do not rejoice, Israel; do not be jubilant like the other nations. For you have been unfaithful to your God; you love the wages of a prostitute at every threshing floor. Threshing floors and winepresses will not feed the people; the new wine will fail them. They will not remain in the Lord’s land; Ephraim will return to Egypt and eat unclean food in Assyria. They will not pour out wine offerings to the Lord, nor will their sacrifices please him. Such sacrifices will be to them like the bread of mourners; all who eat them will be unclean. This food will be for themselves; it will not come into the temple of the Lord. What will you do on the day of your appointed festivals, on the feast days of the Lord? Even if they escape from destruction, Egypt will gather them, and Memphis will bury them. Their treasures of silver will be taken over by briers, and thorns will overrun their tents.”

Hosea 9:1-6

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

The people of God thought they could have it both ways.

On one hand, they had chosen to give their devotion to false gods and idols, adopting the worship practices of pagan nations.

On the other hand, they still tried to worship God, following the traditions of their ancestors in regard to prescribed sacrifices and festivals.

How did God respond to what amounted to a spiritual double standard, especially since God had commanded His people to have no other gods before Him?

We find the answer in the opening verses of Hosea, Chapter 9:

“Do not rejoice, Israel; do not be jubilant like the other nations. For you have been unfaithful to your God; you love the wages of a prostitute at every threshing floor. Threshing floors and winepresses will not feed the people; the new wine will fail them. They will not remain in the Lord’s land; Ephraim will return to Egypt and eat unclean food in Assyria. They will not pour out wine offerings to the Lord, nor will their sacrifices please him. Such sacrifices will be to them like the bread of mourners; all who eat them will be unclean. This food will be for themselves; it will not come into the temple of the Lord. What will you do on the day of your appointed festivals, on the feast days of the Lord? Even if they escape from destruction, Egypt will gather them, and Memphis will bury them. Their treasures of silver will be taken over by briers, and thorns will overrun their tents.”  Hosea 9:1-6

Right away, we find God putting an end to any celebratory feelings the Israelites may have had. There was to be no rejoicing because they had been “unfaithful to God” through their wicked idolatrous rituals. Essentially, the people of God had abandoned Him, His will, and His way to chase after their own desires.

And yet, we see from these verses that the Israelites had not completely deserted the worship practices they were supposed to carry out. They still had ambition when it came to providing offerings and sacrifices to God but note that He was not going to have it. Nothing the people of God could do in worship would please Him as long as they remained immersed in their sinful idolatry. Any food offered up to the Lord would not be received but rather only be for the people themselves. There would be no significance to the offerings of God’s people because those offerings were given by those with wicked and evil hearts, hearts that embraced iniquity more than righteousness. Any actions on the appointed festivals or feast days of the Lord would be fruitless for God would not be interested in any attempts to honor or revere Him.

This is because the only way the Israelites could truly honor and glorify God was by being uncompromisingly obedient to Him in every aspect of their lives and that was definitely not the case here in Hosea.

And so God did what He had to do, bring judgment upon a people who chose to disregard and disrespect Him so blatantly. He was their God but they didn’t give Him the same consideration. So since the Israelites wanted to dedicate themselves to other gods from other nations, God would let them go and live in those nations, separated from Him and their homeland. Destruction would come at the hands of the Assyrians and Babylonians, destruction that would displace the people of God for seventy years, seventy years to consider the wrongs of their ways, seventy years to think about just how much they had to have God in every aspect of their lives.

Friends, God’s word is giving us clear direction today regarding what God expects and what will happen if we fail to meet those expectations.

First of all, God expects us to be fully devoted to Him and Him alone. He is to get all of our worship, not just some of it. And not just some of the time but rather all of the time. He is to get all our glory, honor, and praise.

If we choose to not do this and opt for spiritual unfaithfulness in the way we live our lives, then expect that any worship we try and bring to God will not be accepted but rather be viewed as worthless and not pleasing in His sight.

Amen

In Christ,

Mark
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