Posted on 09/28/2020 6:06:03 AM PDT by Pilgrim's Progress
“He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination” (Proverbs 28:9 KJV).
This verse is directed to those who willingly turn away their ears from hearing God’s Word, “But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear” (Zechariah 7:11 KJV).
God refused to hear the prayers of many in Isaiah’s day because of their disobedience: “And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood” (Isaiah 1:15 KJV).
The curse of God is upon all who turn their ears from His Word: “And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city” (Matthew 10:14-15 KJV).
All religious acts by the disobedient are obnoxious to God: “The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD” (Proverbs 15:8 KJV).
"Without faith it is impossible to please Him" (Hebrews 11:6).
Worshipping God in violation of any expressed commandment is to make void the Word of God. Worship and sacrifice and solemn assembly, without faith, becomes a “weariness” to God—it vexes His innermost soul—it disgusts Him. Who required of them such a steady stream of traffic in faithless sacrifices? Not God! They willfully forced these rituals upon Him. He loathed them. Their worship and their living were incongruous—they did not go together—because iniquity and solemn assembly are totally incompatible.
In Leviticus we see the picture of worship for God in the censer of smoke. The altar of incense both stood for the prayer of the saints and their worship (lifting up of the hands of Psalm 141:2).
“And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the LORD, which he commanded them not. And there went out fire from the LORD, and devoured them, and they died before the LORD” (Leviticus 10:1-2 KJV).
God took His word pictures in the Old Testament very seriously. God’s work, not done God’s way, will not result in God’s approval, but rather His disapproval. Nadab and Abihu learned this the hard way—and they were Aaron’s sons! If the sons of the High Priest can’t get away with a false form of worship, how do any of us think we can?
Human worship done by carnal means sickens God: “Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting” (Isaiah 1:13 KJV). And yet, through all that, God has made a way for man to bridge the divide: “Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Isaiah 1:17-18 KJV).
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