God's Work with Planet Earth

Worship has always been an issue on Planet Earth, and God has always given instructions for humans to worship Him in certain ways.

Early on, in Genesis 4, Cain and Abel (sons of Adam and Eve) worshiped in different ways by bringing different sacrifices. Abel according to what God required, and Cain according to his own reasoning and ideas.

God accepted Abel’s offering but not Cain’s (Genesis 4:4-5), and Cain got angry and killed his brother. And we see this example played out over and over again throughout the history recorded in the Bible.

“But, as he who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now.” Galatians 4:29

• Cain killed his brother Abel in a rage (persecution over different ways of worship)
• This is still happening in the world today

Origin of the Conflict

Where does this conflict come from? There is a conflict between God and an angel He created (an anointed, covering cherub, according to Ezekiel 28:14). As we’ve covered in depth in previous posts, this angel (Lucifer, Isaiah 14:12) rebelled and was cast out of heaven to the earth (Revelation 12:9). God deserves worship, being the Creator Who wants the good of all, but Satan (the created angel) wants that worship for himself (Isaiah 14:13, Matthew 4:9).

It seems illogical for a creature to expect or desire worship due the Creator, but selfishness had already had an effect on his thinking – “You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor” (Ezekiel 28:17). And just so we’re clear who is being addressed in this passage, it is “the anointed cherub who covers” and God stated “You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created” (verse 15)

So what happened? God made perfect beings, but one of them used his God-given freedom of choice to focus on himself – Look how beautiful and powerful I am. I should be doing God’s job and receive His worship!

Then he tempted and deceived Eve in the Garden of Eden – “you were in Eden, the garden of God” (Ezekiel 28:13) This happened near the beginning of Stage 1 of the 5 Stages we are exploring in this blog.

What Idolatry really means

While it isn’t discussed much in Genesis 1-6 (Stage 1), idolatry becomes a big issue in the rest of the Old Testament (Stage 2). And we have to look closer because most OT passages describe the false gods as made of wood and stone, but there are passages that let us know those statues/images represented real beings.

“They provoked Him to jealousy with foreign gods; With abominations they provoked Him to anger. They sacrificed to demons, not to God, To gods they did not know, To new gods, new arrivals that your fathers did not fear.
Of the Rock who begot you, you are unmindful, And have forgotten the God who fathered you.” Deuteronomy 32:16-18

First of all, demons are the angels who were cast out of heaven with the dragon/serpent/Devil/Satan (Revelation 12:9). Some believe apocryphal writings (like the Book of Enoch), which claim that angels mated with human women (despite not having the plumbing to do so) (and only God can create life) which resulted in angel/human hybrid giants. And supposedly when these “Nephilim” died in the Flood, their spirits became demons. However, Genesis 6:4 is clear that the offspring of “the sons of God and daughters of men” were humans (Hebrew – “enosh”). It’s a mistake to use non-scripture to interpret scripture and it results in deception.

But what can we learn from the above passage?

• Israel adopted “foreign gods” worshiped by their neighboring nations, which, understandably, made the God who created them and freed them from Egypt jealous.
• Along with following these false gods came abominable practices
• These gods were new to the Israelites. Why? The false gods (fallen angels) had introduced themselves to the Canaanites and Amorites, but the Israelites were only aware of Egypt’s false gods. Since the beginning of the world, descendants of Adam and Noah (the whole world) knew there was only one true and real God. These pretenders came later or afterwords, so they were termed “new gods”.
• The false gods (fallen angels/demons) managed to make God’s people forget Him and what He had done for them.

“They shall no more offer their sacrifices to demons, after whom they have played the harlot. This shall be a statute forever for them throughout their generations.” Leviticus 17:7

Offering sacrifices is a form of worship, and here’s the “statute” Moses (who wrote Leviticus) was referring to:

“You shall have no other gods…”

“You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth… you shall not bow down to them nor serve them.” Exodus 20:4, 5

Could you “serve” a rock or a stick? No. Could you serve and follow the instructions of an angelic being representing themselves as a god? Yes, and this is how the nations were drawn into idolatry. No one sacrifices their children for no reason. Back then they were promised good harvests and prosperity, protection from danger and disaster. Today the lure of career success and freedom from responsibility motivates people to sacrifice their children. Different culture, same outcome.

Notice the command against images, even of something “in heaven above”. This means God didn’t even want an image representing Himself, like a crucifix. Why? History shows that humans have a habit of attributing special magical power to inanimate relics and other “holy” objects. God knew what would happen. The power comes from the Creator, not the creature.

“…the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons.” 1 Corinthians 10:20

The Apostle Paul was addressing the church he had started in Corinth, Greece in this letter. These churches were in Gentile territory, surrounded by pagan worship.

I hope this section shows clearly from the Bible that Israel and the other nations were not simple, dumb, primitive people who thought it would be cool to bow down to rocks and sticks. No, instead this was the problem:

“…your heart turns away so that you do not hear, and are drawn away, and worship other gods and serve them” Deuteronomy 30:17

“Drawn away” indicates outside forces attracting and enticing them. The Hebrew word “abad” (serve) means to be enslaved or in bondage, or to work on behalf of someone, and it can also mean a “worshipper”.

Counterfeits against the Genuine

We could also say “counterfeits against the original”, because the Devil is spreading the lie that Christianity was just copying older pagan religions, and that Yahweh was no different from other pagan gods of that time. There are two glaring reasons this is simply not true.

1. Jesus Christ started Christianity, starting with principles Christ had already taught the Hebrews/Israelites/Jews in the Old Testament times. THEN, 300 years after Jesus returned to Heaven, the church He started began to adopt pagan worship practices, so in that sense the Catholic Church did “copy” paganism. But we must understand that the true principles of Christianity go all the way back to the Garden of Eden, and there was no time before that for pagan religions to exist which could be copied. God’s way is the original.
2. What the false gods and the real God want are drastically different:
   • The real God commanded against murder – The false gods demanded human sacrifice
   • The real God commanded against sexual immorality – The false gods demanded sex rites between temple prostitutes and worshipers, and encouraged all kinds of sexual behaviors God condemned.
   • The real God is obsessed with justice all the way through the Old Testament – The false gods led their followers’ societies into lawlessness, deception, violence, injustice

God wants healthy, thriving, loving families, and the “spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12) are working very hard to destroy that blessed and happy ideal.

Some of the counterfeits are described above, but there are many more. Here are just a few examples:

One example: God created the natural phenomenon of the rainbow to symbolize His covenant promise.

“I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud;” Genesis 9:13-14

But today the rainbow is a symbol for the LGBTQ community. How did that happen? It’s been hijacked and turned into a counterfeit.

Counterfeit Trinity

Another example: The Bible describes God as three persons but still one God. In Genesis 1 God uses “us” and “our” (first person, plural pronouns) speaking of Himself.

“For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one.” 1 John 5:7

But in Revelation 16:13, there is a counterfeit trinity composed of the “dragon”, “the beast”, and “the false prophet”, which has been established by the dragon (Satan). He’s the one copying God, not the other way around.

Counterfeit Day

Something else God established at the Creation of this world was a special day to celebrate His creation of the world by resting and connecting with Him more closely.

“And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.” Genesis 2:2-3

Jesus expected His Christian followers to also observe the seventh-day Sabbath long after He ascended to heaven (referring to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD).

“And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath.” Matthew 24:20

But today, most Christians think they’re worshiping God on the first day of the week, which is actually the pagan day for sun worship. This is why it was named “Sunday”. Satan managed to inspire this change in the church during the 300s AD, over 1,600 years ago!

• God – Worship Me by sacrificing a lamb to represent Christ’s future sacrifice to redeem you
• Cain – No thanks, I’ve grown vegetables, I’ll bring those instead
• God – I want you to acknowledge Me as Creator by worshiping Me on the seventh day of the week, resting as I rested after creating you and your world
• Christians – No thanks, we’ll worship You on the first day of the week instead

Some things never change, but as the world comes to an end, this will be the sign or indicator of who people are really worshiping – the real God, or the false gods?

Worship in a practical sense

I’m a very logical, black and white thinker, and I thought worship was simply praying, singing, and Bible study, and it is. But I’ve been learning that worshiping and serving God involves our little everyday actions. Do we honor Him and follow His ways as we go about our lives?

“Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.” 1 Samuel 15:22-23

• Offering a sacrifice was worship for OT followers of God, but “to obey” is even more important to Him.
• Witchcraft and idolatry are so bad because it’s engaging with demons, God’s enemies.

Jesus summarized the Ten Commandments as “love God, and love your neighbor”, and this turns the DON’TS into a positive sense. To me, observing everything else God said and did in the Old Testament, it seems like He was saying “could you at least not kill each other and worship the demons?”

“If you love Me, keep My commandments.” John 14:15

• Jesus said this to His disciples right before promising to send the Holy Spirit. The motivation is love, not to earn salvation.
• There are other verses which also support the idea that obedience is worship

It’s also interesting that Jesus said the Jews were worshiping in vain.

“And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ ” Matthew 15:9

Did Cain come to offer a sacrifice at an altar to God? Yes he did. Did Cain bring the type of sacrifice God required? No. He was mixing God’s commands with his own ideas, as were the Jews of Jesus’ time, and as many modern churches do. When God says to worship Him with A, and someone does B, it’s not obedience and it’s worship “in vain”.

Is there more to worship than simply obeying God’s instructions?

“Give unto the LORD the glory due to His name; Worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.” Psalms 29:2 (1 Chronicles 16:29)

• This verse helps tie together the idea that giving God glory means giving credit where credit is due. Is He the Creator of us and our world? Then He deserves praise and honor. Did He put together and follow through on a plan for our salvation at great cost to Himself? Then He should receive thanks and loyalty from His created humans.

End Time Worship

Revelation talks a lot about worship, describing it as the central issue leading up to the end of the world. But before we look at that, Jesus said this about worship:

“God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” John 4:24

• God works with us in a spiritual way now (though we will see Him face to face after Jesus’ second coming, 1 John 3:2)
• Worship in spirit – Sincere and heartfelt (not just going through the motions), and led by the Holy Spirit
• Worship in truth – According to God’s Word. Humans live “…by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD.” (Deuteronomy 8:3, Matthew 4:4)

But what about worship in Revelation?

“But the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons…” Revelation 9:20

• Evidently, worshiping demons was not just an Old Testament problem, but it has also been going on for the last 2,000 years until now (Stage 3)
• The last part of the verse (not quoted above) describes idols/images being worshiped
• “the rest of mankind” in this passage are those who are committed to a course against God, and they don’t repent of what they’re doing, even when God brings calamity to wake them up or punish them

Revelation 13 describes two beasts (earthly political powers) who are able to coerce most of the world to worship them (instead of the true God), and also to worship the dragon (Satan) who gave these beasts their power. (verse 4)

“…the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed.” Revelation 13:15

It’s more important to be sure you’re worshiping the real God than to argue about who these two beasts represent in our world today (I know who they are, but some will disagree with me). If I stick with God, He will take care of me, and whatever these beasts do, Revelation describes their destruction in a lake of fire. Revelation also describes eternal life in a perfect, re-created “new earth” for those “whose names are written in the Book of Life”.

Another passage in Revelation which applies to our time right now:

“…Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.” Revelation 14:7

• “Fear God” means respect and reverence for Him by His followers, but absolute terror for those who reject Him. (Revelation 6:15-16)
• “give glory to Him” – praise and honor Him because He is bringing judgement to set all the wrong things right
• God is the Creator of everything, so He deserves worship

God wants to save everyone He can, and this is the call to the residents of Planet Earth right before the world ends. Fear God, praise Him for what He’s doing, acknowledge Him as the Creator.

Hopefully you can see that this great spiritual conflict and contest over worship has been going on for thousands of years, so it’s not a new thing, it only looks different in modern society. It’s going to be an important choice for all humans as the end of this world comes, who do we worship (who do we obey)?