Worship God Truly
Opening Prayer
Holy God, I long to worship You from a true and sincere heart in the way that pleases You.
Read DEUTERONOMY 18:9-22
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
[9] When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. [10] Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, [11] or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. [12] Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD; because of these same detestable practices the LORD your God will drive out those nations before you. [13] You must be blameless before the LORD your God. [14] The nations you will dispossess listen to those who practice sorcery or divination. But as for you, the LORD your God has not permitted you to do so. [15] The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him. [16] For this is what you asked of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, “Let us not hear the voice of the LORD our God nor see this great fire anymore, or we will die.” [17] The LORD said to me: “What they say is good. [18] I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him. [19] I myself will call to account anyone who does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name. [20] But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, is to be put to death.” [21] You may say to yourselves, “How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the LORD?” [22] If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the LORD does not take place or come true, that is a message the LORD has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously, so do not be alarmed. Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
Who is the prophet who was to come?At a time when the people were to be exposed to aggressive difference, Moses teaches with great firmness. There are some issues over which there can be no compromise for the people of God–and first among these is worship (9-13). What we worship matters terribly, because this becomes the thing of ultimate worth to us. The object and manner of our worship defines us as people. Moses insists that we need to worship the true God in a true way, and he warns the people not to be seduced by the various Canaanite practices which are called out.To help the people in this, God provides a mouthpiece–a prophet, just as Moses has been (15). History would prove the importance of this. There were outstanding prophets to come, but false prophets would also plague the life of Israel. Most of them didn’t teach about false gods but taught false things about the true God. Dangerous indeed! Good prophets both respect God’s Word and consistently teach it, such that its truth is proved in the experience of the people. Don’t settle for anything less.
Apply
With multiple voices clamoring for your attention in our culture, ask God for the wisdom to discern what is true and what is false.
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