Category: Sacrifice

The Abominable Sacrificers - Proverbs 21:27

7/25/2012

The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination, How much more when he brings it with evil intent! Proverbs 21:27

When I first read this passage I thought to myself, "Why would the wicked even want to sacrifice?" Then as I meditated on the passage and read through John Gill's commentary on it I began to see the reasons why this would happen. This will be a very eye-opening proverb if you had the same question as I did - because at the core of the wicked man's sacrifice is his own self-deception in regard to God and the true purpose of religion and religious observances.

The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to God becasue the wicked think they can do an end run around God's law by offering it. They walk through religious actions thinking that it pacifies God - yet allows them to continue to walk in a way that ignores His glory and disobeys His law. One of the ways that this was done in the former (and in some places it continues to this day) days of the church was through the practice of confession and penance. The religious person would go to a priest and confess their sins to him. Then the priest would give them some kind of religious punishment - to recite some religious writing or saying so many times. This would be their penance - or payment for their sinful actions. The religious person would then recite the required things - pay the required price - do the required works - and then go on their way. The problem was that often the religious person had no intention of stopping the actions they confessed as sin - they were just paying up to the point of the past week - so that they could soothe their guilty conscience before going out to another week of sinful choices and behaviors.

Two problems exist with this view. First, is there is no REpentance going on in their life. God requires repentance for His people. They are to come sorrowing for their sins - but also with a desire to turn from them and do them no more. The second problem is even greater - becasue no amount of human effort will ever pay for sin. Only the blood of Jesus can do that. Even having repentance won't work - without faith in Jesus Christ and what He did to pay for our sins by the blood He shed on the cross. We do not need some kind of continuous religious rite to come to God at the start of each week - we need the full on gospel! We need to turn from sin in repentance and turn to Jesus Christ as the ONLY way that our sin can be forgiven. Then we go away from our time with God with a new heart and a new spirit - one that is not going back to its old ways like a dog to its vomit, but rather one that embraces God's ways - as they are now written on his heart. This new man in Christ is different - and walks in the power of God and the regeneration of God to change and walk in godly paths.

The second half of this passage goes even further in what the first half says. The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to God. But there is even a greater wickedness, which is when they bring it with an evil intent as well. What this speaks of is the deceived one who brings his sacrifice - but does so thinking he is deceiving even God - and can trick God into doing evil for him because of it. We have a biblical example of this very thing in the Old Testament.

In the book of Numbers we run into two characters that baffle many of us. The first is a man called Balaam, who was a seer - a sooth-sayer of sorts. There was also a king named Balak who desired to hire Balaam to get God to curse Israel so that he could defeat them in battle and keep them from taking his kingdom from him. Balak sent important people to Balaam - and eventually got him to come to him. Balaam was a wicked man who thought God's Ok to go (after God said He would NOT curse Israel) was also an OK to make a lot of money from Balak by using a sacrifice to God to get God to do evil to His people. After a rebuke from a donkey who acted to save his life - Balaam listened to God a little closer - and was warned to only say what God said - or what God put into Balaam's mouth to speak. Three times Balaam offered the sacrifice of the wicked to God - hoping against hope that he would be able to do what Balak wanted - and make a fortune in the process. Three times the sacrifice of the wicked - offered with evil intent - was turned against Balak and Balaam in order to bless Israel. In the end, Balaam tried to destroy Israel with his wicked counsel - by getting the women in Balak's kingdom to go and commit adultery and fornication with the men of Israel. Fortunately the godly son of Aaron, Phinehas, brought God's judgment to an ungodly Israeli man who was about to have an adulterous relationship with one of the daughters of Moab - and delivered Israel from their insanity.

There are still those like Balaam and Balak who think that they can pay God off to do what they want Him to do. They will try every kind of religious game and exercise possible to do this. But the end will always be the same - that God - who hates their sacrifices - will not be bought off or deceived to do things after their will. He will instead look at their offerings as abominations - and will curse rather than bless them. The fact is this - God is ultimate and supreme - He is sovereign and the One Whose will will be done. It is wisdom to shun the sacrifices of the wicked - to shun the idea that we can pay God off by some religious offering. The wisdom of God is this - to come to God as He has designated. We are to come through the gospel of Jesus Christ. We come not to get our own way - but rather to be transformed by an intimate relationship with God and do His will for His glory.

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What Kind of Sacrificial Living? Proverbs 21:3

4/21/2010

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To do righteousness and justice Is desired by the LORD more than sacrifice. Proverbs 21:3

This proverb reminds me of the story of Saul and the Amalekites. Saul was commanded by the Lord to destroy and utterly wipe out the Amalekites. They are a picture of our flesh - and we are reminded that our flesh can in no way be compatible with the working of God's Spirit within us. Therefore we need to learn to do what God desires. We need two things. We need to embrace righteousness - which is simply viewing what God says as right as right - and justice - which means that we believe that God's judgments on things are true and just. Saul decided rather than doing what God said (what is right) and executing God's judgment on the Amalekites (what is just) - he would have his own self-styled obedience. He got rid of everything despised and bad in his own eyes among the Amalekites - but kept all the good stuff (at least what his flesh thought was good) alive. When caught in this sin by Samuel, Saul said that he kept it so that he could sacrifice it to the Lord. Samuel's statement to Saul was that God desires obedience rather than sacrifice.

What the Lord desires is our obedience to His righteousness - and His righteous commands - rather than any kind of self-styled 10 commandments we would write out for ourselves. The Lord is the wise One and He knows what is right. Our own hearts and wicked and desperately sick - so how can we honestly even know what is right without His revelation to us? The Lord also desires justice. He knows what is just - and calls us to call 'em like He sees 'em. This is what he wants - rather than our pretended sacrifice.

Most sacrifices that are done with no real thought for righteousness and justice in God's sight are done for show rather than for true sacrifice. The nature of our flesh is just like Saul's actions. We will gladly label what WE think is wrong and bad and dispose of it. We'll pick the really bad looking stuff - and be rid of it - while the deeper most insidious corruptions of the flesh remain untouched. This is why we need the Spirit of God to work in the process of sanctification. Without His work in our soul we will avoid the real deeper issues of purity and godliness. But when He works to reveal what is right and just in us - He will guide us in a true sacrifice of self to the Lord. This will be the kind of choices and the kind of lifestyle that will truly please the Lord - and - the one that most reflects the righteousness and justice the Lord desires in us.

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This High, Exalted, Costly Thing Called Wisdom . . . Proverbs 24:7

3/24/2010

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Wisdom is too exalted for a fool, He does not open his mouth in the gate. Proverbs 24:7

Wisdom is costly - and it is something that requires commitment to have in our lives. Those who have gained any wisdom knows this. Wisdom requires an investment of time and effort. One who desires wisdom must gather wisdom by reading, studying, memorizing, and meditating upon God's Word. One who desires wisdom also will desire to be in the presence of God and godly men who will speak wisdom as they listen intently. Wisdom also requires an investment of life or living. One who has wisdom - true wisdom - lives it out each and every day. The wise man bucks the world when the world tells him to go his own way. The wise man does not run with the worldly crowd when the run headlong into a pursuit of their own lusts and desires. The wise man will make difficult choices that will of necessity require him to die to self. He will walk contrary to the fools who gather and approve each others foolishness. He will speak and live wisdom when it is in season - but more importantly when it is not.

This is why wisdom is too high for the fool. He will not open his mouth in the gate. The gate was the place of decision making - the place where the elders gathered and offered their wisdom for the good of the city. Blessed is that land - that city whose gate is filled with men of wisdom. Blessed are they because the fool will not open his mouth there - for the very reason that wisdom prevails in that place. Very unfortunate is that city - that state - that people who have surrounded themselves first with their own foolishness - and ultimately with fools who sit in the gate. Theirs will be a land that multiplies foolishness - and pays for it dearly in their captivity to their own lusts and desires - and in the future - captivity to others who exploit their foolishness to gain the ascendency over them. It is better for us that the fools of our society not have the freedom to open their mouths in the gate -and that foolishness is seen for exactly what it is - foolish.

Keil and Delitzsch make a wonderful comment about this when they say, "Wisdom is to the fool too high; the way to wisdom is to him too long and too steep, the price too costly." For this reason the fool is unwilling to make the climb, pay the price, or make the sacrifice necessary to gain wisdom. The wise man does not see the cost - but the jewel. He does not see the climb - but the panoramic view. He does not see the sacrifice - but the victory in the end. Wisdom is indeed exalted, high, and pricey - but is worth every penny, every sacifice, and every labor to attain.

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Proverb A DAy

The Abominable Sacrificers - Proverbs 21:27

What Kind of Sacrificial Living? Proverbs 21:3

This High, Exalted, Costly Thing Called Wisdom . . . Proverbs 24:7

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The Abominable Sacrificers - Proverbs 21:27

What Kind of Sacrificial Living? Proverbs 21:3

This High, Exalted, Costly Thing Called Wisdom . . . Proverbs 24:7

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