Ezekiel 44:6-8 (ESV)
And say to the rebellious house, to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: O house of Israel, enough of all your abominations, in admitting foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and flesh, to be in my sanctuary, profaning my temple, when you offer to me my food, the fat and the blood. You have broken my covenant, in addition to all your abominations. And you have not kept charge of my holy things, but you have set others to keep my charge for you in my sanctuary.
In this section of Ezekiel we a have a lot of orders about how the priest, the princes, the temple and the worship is to take place. In many of the verses in this section we read about God actually laying out the ground work for some precise commands to Ezekiel, about the Temple and how the Levites are to maintain the work of worship there. However, God is also about to lay out punishment for some of the Levites. The reason? The above verses. Instead of keeping the Temple pure and making sure only true Levites did the work in the Temple, the above words outline their failure. They allowed strangers, foreigners and anyone, other than those God allowed, to enter the Temple. In our world of thinking this might seem so strange. They are being punished for just allowing someone to come into God’s sanctuary. Why? Because in all the instructions about the worship of Yahweh in the Torah, the current leadership of the Levites were not following those instructions. These instructions are God’s Word. They disobeyed God’s Word. That calls for discipline. It doesn’t matter that it is the Old or New Testament, obeying God’s Word matters. The Levites were allowing people to enter the Temple who had no heart for worship of Yahweh. They were to be disciplined as a result. In the New Testament, in Acts 5, we read of a couple coming to worship by offering a gift to God, via the church. Yet, their hearts were full of lying. What happened to them?
Acts 5:1-11 (ESV)
Ananias and Sapphira
But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, and with his wife’s knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles’ feet. But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.” When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard of it. The young men rose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him.
After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. And Peter said to her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for so much.” And she said, “Yes, for so much.” But Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.” Immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. When the young men came in they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things.
False worship is not tolerated by God!!!
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