Stay Wholehearted

 

   Stay Biblical. Stay God-centered. Stay wholehearted. While we don’t often think of it, there is a right and a wrong way to worship God. True worship involves worshipping God wholeheartedly in Spirit and in truth as He directed in Scripture. False worship occurs when we don’t worship God: we worship idols and the things of this world. We worship God in vain when we worship the God of the Bible in the wrong way, contrary to His Word. Clearly, Judges 17 shows a combination. Judges 17:1-6 says:

  “There was a man of the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Micah.  And he said to his mother, “The 1,100 pieces of silver that were taken from you, about which you uttered a curse, and also spoke it in my ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it.” And his mother said, “Blessed be my son by the Lord.”  And he restored the 1,100 pieces of silver to his mother. And his mother said, “I dedicate the silver to the Lord from my hand for my son, to make a carved image and a metal image. Now therefore I will restore it to you.”  So when he restored the money to his mother, his mother took 200 pieces of silver and gave it to the silversmith, who made it into a carved image and a metal image. And it was in the house of Micah.  And the man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and household gods, and ordained one of his sons, who became his priest.  In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”

   So, right away we see that Micah is a thief and a liar. And after returning the funds to his mother, they both commit apostasy, meaning they turn away from following God. They take a portion of the money and create an idol. It is ironic how they “dedicate the silver to the Lord” and yet violate the first and second commandment. They showed great spiritual ignorance, mixing elements of true worship with ahobrent practices. They seemingly worship God, yet they serve a mere metal statue. They thought God could be improved upon, that worship needed some changes. 

   The situation only goes downhill from there. Micah basically builds his own house of worship, which was a perversion of God’s true sanctuary. He thought he could create a place of worship as good as the one in Shiloh. He wanted to invent his own way to worship God, a way that pleased him. Micah starts to replicate items from the true sanctuary. He made his own ehpod, a garment supposed to be worn by Levitical priests. After that, he further violates Mosaic law and makes his son a priest.  Micah is not even a Levite, neither is his son. People could not randomly appoint whoever they want to be priests, God appointed the Levitical priesthood. Verse 6 sums up the situation well: In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.. Everyone did what they wanted. They did what seemed right to them. They did not seek to do what is right in God’s eyes. 

   What does this mean for us? While we do not live in Old Testament times of the Sanctuary and Levitical Priesthood, we still need to worship God rightly, with reverence and awe, surrounded by the truth of Scripture. We need to stick to the Biblical definition of worship; we need to worship the God of the Bible, not the God we want or have created in our heads or the idols of the world. We cannot be casual in God’s presence. It’s important to properly focus on Him during worship instead of thinking…hmm where should we eat lunch…I really need such and such at the store…I hope we get home in time to see the big game…etc. We cannot do what is right in our eyes or try to rewrite the definition of Biblical worship to suit our needs. The truth is, we are creatures of worship: we are always worshipping something. So, let’s commit to rightly worshipping our King, not the things of this world.