“And they leaped upon the altar…and they cried aloud, and cut themselves…” (1 Kings 18 26,28)
This verse sounds like much of what goes on today under the name of worship. Do you wonder about the Israelites and how quickly they left the true and living God for the false gods of their day? Why were they so attracted to them? Here may be some reasons – do they sound strangely familuar?
- They were living in prosperity: David and Solomon had built the kingdom of Israel until “milk and honey.” flowed in the streets. Their temple was awesome, their enemies were subdued – wealth and prosperity ruled the streets of Jerusalem and every other city.
- Their leader tied himself to “strange women.” Solomon looked around and wasn’t satisfied with his own people – he wanted the world and made alliances with the heathen nations through marriage.
- The people followed the crowd. Everyone was doing it. There were 450 prophets of Baal and one Elijah. (Stay tuned: the next blog may be called “Lone Soldier Girl”!)
Satan’s Counterfeit is everywhere, but it is most dangerous when it comes into the house of God! It is loud and unruly. It is popular. It is new and different. It attracts a crowd and feels good – at least to the flesh – so good that the flesh now rules everything we do! We hear what the flesh likes, wear what the flesh feels like wearing, look at what excites the flesh and end up doing all to the glory of the flesh in the name of God!
“…but the LORD was not in the wind…but the LORD was not in the earthquake…but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.” (1 Kings 19:10-11)
I recently watched a video clip where a very sincere young man was teaching “Wonderful Grace of Jesus” to the congregation. Many did not know it, but he told them that it was probably one of grandma’s favorites. After they had learned the song from the piano, he pounded out a driving beat and in came the drums and electric guitar. It was a travesty! (something which fails to represent the values and qualities that it is intended to represent, in a way that is shocking or offensive)
When my husband worked as a manager for a large bank in New Jersey, part of his training was to know a counterfeit bill when it crossed his hands. The training included a lot of time handling the real thing. He knew a counterfeit because he knew the real deal.
Watch out for the counterfeit: “And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.” 2Co 11:14 Think about what that means! Beware of four little words: “but I like it!” The score was 450 to one, but whose side would you have wanted to be on that day atop Mount Carmel?
Beyond Common Sense 