In our time, many people claim that all religion have the same purpose—to serve God. They believe that since all religions are alluded
and attributed to God, hence, all services and worship are worthy and acceptable to
God. They think that religious services in
whatever form can and will become pleasing and
acceptable to God, as long as these are done
conscientiously and wholeheartedly. Is this popular belief true?06A.1
In the ancient times,
during the time of Adam and Eve, did God accept
all offerings to Him?
In Genesis 4:3-5, the
brothers Cain and Abel
brought an offering to
God:
3. At harvest time
Cain brought to the
Lord a gift of his
farm produce,
4. while Abel
brought several
choice lambs from
the best of his
flock. The Lord
accepted Abel and
his offering,
5. but he did not
accept Cain and his
offering. This
made Cain very angry
and dejected. (NLT)
The Lord accepted
Abel and his offering,
but he did not accept
Cain and his offering.
What is the reason, why
God did not accept
Cain's offering?
6. "Why are you so angry?" the Lord
asked him. "Why do you look so
dejected?
"7.
You will be
accepted if you
respond in the
right way. But
if you refuse to
respond
correctly,
then watch out!
Sin is waiting
to attack and
destroy you, and
you must subdue
it." (Gen.
4:6-7, NLT)
Cain's offering was
rejected by God
because he did not
follow God's
instructions
correctly.
06A.2
What happened to Nadab and
Abihu—sons of Aaron the brother of Moses—who did not follow
God's instructions in serving Him?
Nadab and
Abihu were among God's chosen people in the
early times:
Then Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it, put incense on it, and
offered profane fire before the Lord, which He had not commanded them. So fire went out from the Lord and devoured them, and they died before the Lord.
(Lev. 10:1-2, NKJV)
They made the grave mistake of disobeying His instructions concerning
how to worship God. Instead of waiting for the fire that would come from
God to burn their offerings, they used fire different from what
the Lord commanded them—which the Bible says as "contrary to
his command."
They followed their own way instead of the Lord's
way. Thus, not only was their worship rejected by God, they died
because of their disobedience.
06A.3
What
happened to Uzzah—who
taught it was the right
thing to do—when he put out
his hand to steady the Ark
of God?
In 2 Samuel 6:3-4 & 6-7,
this was written:
3. They placed the Ark of God on a new cart
and brought it from the hillside home of
Abinadab. Uzzah and Ahio, Abinadab's sons,
were guiding the cart
4. with the Ark of God on it, with Ahio
walking in front.
6. But when they arrived at the threshing
floor of Nacon, the oxen stumbled, and
Uzzah put out his hand to steady the Ark of
God.
7. Then the Lord's anger blazed out
against Uzzah for doing this, and God struck
him dead beside the Ark of God. (NLT)
God struck him dead
because Uzzah put his
hand to hold the Ark of
God in an attempt to
steady it, as the oxen
stumbled while they were
moving the Ark.
Why did God struck him
dead, what was wrong in
putting Uzzah hand on
the Ark of God?
When
Aaron and his
sons have
finished
covering the
sanctuary and
all the sacred
utensils, the
Kohathites will
come and carry
these things to
the next
destination. But they must
not touch the
sacred objects,
or they will
die. So
these are the
objects of the
Tabernacle that
the Kohathites
must carry.
(Numbers 4:15,
NLT)
Uzzah violated God's
strict instructions
in handling the Ark.
He touch the Ark of
God, thus making God
angry and struck him
dead
besides the Ark.
06A.4
During
the Christian era, will God
accept all services and
worship
rendered to Him
by everyone?
In Matthew 7:21-23,
the Lord Jesus Christ declared:
21.
"Not everyone
who says to Me,
`Lord, Lord,'
shall enter the
kingdom of
heaven, but he
who does the
will of My
Father in
heaven.
22. "Many
will say to Me
in that day,
`Lord, Lord,
have we not
prophesied in
Your name, cast
out demons in
Your name, and
done many
wonders in Your
name?'
23. "And then I
will declare to
them, `I never
knew you; depart
from Me, you who
practice
lawlessness!'
Clearly, not
all who render services unto God and Christ
shall enter the kingdom of heaven.
Who and why others
will not be accepted?
They are
those who will not do the will of the
Father in heaven. Christ will even
declare to them "I never knew you;
depart from Me, you who practice
lawlessness!"
_____________________
Many people
nowadays serve God their own way without ever
knowing, much less follow God's requirement. Such
a mentality is like that of Nadab and Abihu who thought that they
could use any kind of fire to burn their offerings. And Cain who
offered what he think is right and did not
follow God's instructions correctly. And, there
is Uzzah, who did not give utmost importance to
God's instruction in handling sacred objects.
All of them paid dearly for failing to follow
God's way, Nadab, Abihu and Uzzah were punished
right away and died before the Lord.
This
common belief of many religions nowadays contradicts the will of God.
Though people from different religions intend to serve and worship God,
not all are worthy and acceptable to Him because they do not follow God's
will.
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