. Their religion was all a pious
farce, by J. R. Miller. Go to Bethel and sin. Go to Gilgal and sin yet more. Bring your sacrifices every morning,
your tithes every three years. Burn leavened bread as a thank-offering
and brag about your freewill offerings. Boast about them,
you Israelites, for this is what you love to do, declares the
Sovereign Lord. Amos 4, 5 and 6. Go to Bethel and sin, cried the
prophet. Bethel was their place of worship,
but every time they came there, they sinned because their worship
was sin. Instead of bowing before the
true God and adoring Him, they bowed before idols and gave them
the honor which belonged to God alone. The more devout they were,
therefore the more they dishonored the Lord. Their great zeal, as
shown in their sacrifices and tithes and freewill offerings,
only multiplied their sin and heaped up sore a judgment against
them. Their religion was all a pious
farce, and the more there was of it, the more of an abomination
it was unto God. God cannot be pleased with mere
forms of worship and with ceremonials. The more we multiply these, the
more do we grieve Him if our heart is not in them. We may
say that we have no idols now in our churches, but are we sure
of this? Do we truly worship God in our
church services? When we sing the hymns, are our
hearts fixed upon God? When we pray, are we really talking
to God? When we confess sins, is the
confession sincere? When we sit in God's house, are
we truly in God's presence, breathing out our heart's love and worship
to Him? If not, what or whom are we adoring,
praising, worshiping? Empty religious forms must have
some idol at the heart of them. The prophet told them very plainly
what was in their hearts. This is what you love to do.
You love this. You love to make a great display
in your religion. This display of piety is just
to your taste. You like to cover up your sins
with forms of worship, appearing as saints before the world, though
in secret, cherishing and practicing all manner of wickedness. This
is God's own picture of these ancient worshippers. We need
to look honestly at it to see if it is our picture. God looks
at the heart. No external appearances are of
any value unless they are genuine expressions of what is in the
heart. Pirate ships carry reputable
flags to cover their dishonorable character. Religious hypocrisy
often puts at its masthead the colors of devout saintliness,
but God cannot be deceived.