Hos 4:13 | KingComments | STEP | In the law, God warns His people to completely destroy all those places where the people practice idolatry ( ). Then He tells how He wants it to be done ( ). God has chosen Jerusalem as the only place of worship. Israel, the ten tribes, turned their backs on that place after the tearing. As a replacement, Jeroboam I invented Bethel and Dan, with the golden calves as objects of worship. But it did not stop there. In other places too they have, according to the pagan model, introduced idolatrous rituals of sacrifice. With the introduction of pagan practices, they also dragged their daughters into their harlotry. The people find it pleasant to abide there. It feels like a protective shadow against the hot rays of the sun. It is pleasant, because the conscience is kept out of reach; pleasant, because in a self-conceived worship service you can control everything to your own liking; pleasant, because it makes you feel good. In a more refined form we can observe all this, in all sorts of variations, on the Christian area. Christianity is imbued with the feeling of ‘every man for himself and God for us all’. This may sound nice, but this view is contrary to God’s will. No one has the right to devise a worship service of their own. Also, it is not right to simply join an already existing worship service, but one conceived by people, because he feels most comfortable with it, where “their shade is pleasant”. In Deuteronomy 12 the LORD urges the Israelite to look for the place where He dwells ( ). Later it turns out to be Jerusalem. In the New Testament there is also a place of which the Lord Jesus said: “For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst” ( ). From the context in which this verse is written it is clear that it is about the gathering of the local church. There the sacrifices of praise and thanks may be brought. There the shade of the Beloved can be experienced, as the bride says in Song of Songs ( ). God desires to come together with His own, not in any place, but in the place where He can dwell. That is, in the place where He rests because one submits to Him. If He and His Word are not the norm, but the service is adapted to the taste of man, the negative result should come as no surprise: “Therefore your daughters play the harlot And your brides commit adultery.” A worship service that contains many elements that caress the flesh will have the effect that our children will live for nothing but the flesh.

‏ Hosea 4:13

Sacrificial Places

In the law, God warns His people to completely destroy all those places where the people practice idolatry (Deu 12:2). Then He tells how He wants it to be done (Deu 12:5-6). God has chosen Jerusalem as the only place of worship. Israel, the ten tribes, turned their backs on that place after the tearing. As a replacement, Jeroboam I invented Bethel and Dan, with the golden calves as objects of worship. But it did not stop there. In other places too they have, according to the pagan model, introduced idolatrous rituals of sacrifice. With the introduction of pagan practices, they also dragged their daughters into their harlotry.

The people find it pleasant to abide there. It feels like a protective shadow against the hot rays of the sun. It is pleasant, because the conscience is kept out of reach; pleasant, because in a self-conceived worship service you can control everything to your own liking; pleasant, because it makes you feel good. In a more refined form we can observe all this, in all sorts of variations, on the Christian area.

Christianity is imbued with the feeling of ‘every man for himself and God for us all’. This may sound nice, but this view is contrary to God’s will. No one has the right to devise a worship service of their own. Also, it is not right to simply join an already existing worship service, but one conceived by people, because he feels most comfortable with it, where “their shade is pleasant”.

In Deuteronomy 12 the LORD urges the Israelite to look for the place where He dwells (Deu 12:5-7 ; 10-14 ; 26). Later it turns out to be Jerusalem. In the New Testament there is also a place of which the Lord Jesus said: “For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst” (Mt 18:20). From the context in which this verse is written it is clear that it is about the gathering of the local church. There the sacrifices of praise and thanks may be brought. There the shade of the Beloved can be experienced, as the bride says in Song of Songs (Song 2:3).

God desires to come together with His own, not in any place, but in the place where He can dwell. That is, in the place where He rests because one submits to Him. If He and His Word are not the norm, but the service is adapted to the taste of man, the negative result should come as no surprise: “Therefore your daughters play the harlot And your brides commit adultery.” A worship service that contains many elements that caress the flesh will have the effect that our children will live for nothing but the flesh.