There is a reason we follow recipes, to make something that is good and palatable, and also mostly because certain ingredients do not mix. One may change the type of cheese, or use almond milk instead of cow milk in a recipe. Because some ingredients may be different, they do not ruin the final product. It just gives it a different flavor. However, you may not replace the flower in pancakes with baking soda, because you would not end up with pancakes.
In the same way we must ensure we do not mix in outside worship of idols with the true worship of God. “Well”, one might add, “I only worship God”. Yes, by everything you understand you would believe that, but here lies my point. The worship of idols can sneak into the worship of God without it being obvious to us. Idols don’t always look like little brass statues that you can place on the mantle, though some of them might stick on the car window.
An idol that stands out is easily defeated, but one that slowly works its way in becomes natural and part of a culture. The mixing of idol worship and the worship of God may not seem distasteful to us, but is grossly unpalatable to God. This is where we come to the story of Balaam and Balak. In the book of numbers we find Balak, who was king over Moab, in fear of the Jews. He sends after Balaam knowing that “he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed”(Numbers 22:6). However, God warns Balaam to only speak what he is told. This does not go over well with Balak since Balaam ends up blessing Israel three times. Chapter 24 ends with Balaam telling what was to happen in the days to come and then vs. 25 of chapter 24 says “Then Balaam arose and departed and returned to his place, and Balak also went his way”.
The next chapter begins with the Israelites playing the harlot with the daughters of Moab, feasting on food sacrificed to idols and bowing to them as well. So the question is what happened? Here was a mighty nation moving along and following God’s plan and all of sudden they are joined to Baal of Peor. We find the rest of the story of Balak and Balaam in Revelation 2:12-17.
Balaam could not curse the people; however at some point he taught Balak how to trip them up. The verse says to place a “stumbling block” in front of them. Balak placed food sacrificed to idols in front of them to eat and enticed them to commit acts of immorality. This false worship and immorality led to Numbers chapter 25 in which the Lord became angry with Israel.
So why did Israel not reject the food and worship of Baal? Simply put, the food looked good and the women were pretty. “And if all I have to do is bow, then I get hot food and hot ladies… I mean this is their culture and I want to be seen as relevant, besides I still observe the Sabbath”. These things don’t seem so wrong, at least after the 3rd and 4th time. The word for “stumbling block” could also mean “snare”. Those that hunt and fish know you don’t catch prey if the bait doesn’t look enticing and the snare or stumbling block is visible. One trips over the “block” because their eyes are focused somewhere else; they don’t see it for what it is.
So what does this mean for us? We are smart people and we have access to more information than a bunch of folks running around in the desert. But knowledge is not as valuable as wisdom. Knowledge knows what it is we do, and where we go, and where we spend our time and money. Wisdom tells us why we do it. Godly wisdom is the key in understanding which items in our lives are idols and which are true worship and which ones need to be prayed about further.
So now we come to the Church in America, which is more accurately the American Church. So what is it, you might ask, that I am getting at? That the idols have crept into the church, which means there are those of us that worship things other than or along with God. The problem is the idols are different for each of us. (James 1:14) We can worship our sexuality, our “cause” be it pro or anti this and that, or even our politics. A person running for office often becomes our savior if we are not careful. “He/she will fix everything, if we can just get them elected.” We can even begin to praise our government, singing its praises in a worship service. We sacrifice our Saturdays to give honor to our favorite sports teams, and spend our weekday nights at ball parks in service to sports.
Now is it wrong to be pro or anti this and that? Is it wrong to want good leaders? Is it wrong to watch sports and let your kids play them? Depends on what you are searching for. You see the problem is not with the meat. All things are made clean and we know that there are no other gods. However, our desire to have those “meats” drives us to compromise and worship the idols that are associated with them. There is nothing wrong with a child playing baseball; it is when the game becomes the desire of our heart, or when we praise our nation as though it is our savior. It is when we miss where the meat comes from that we are led astray. We believe that the idol provides the meat we desire, whether it be peace, justice, happiness, or protection. These things are to be sought from God. Dead idols can do nothing for us.
This brings us back to us, the church. When we are enticed by the things of the world, we must be careful that they do not become the object of our affection. Because when they do, we will mix them in our true worship. The idols will compete with our worship of God and if not thrown down we will bow our knee to them and give Sunday lip service to the one true God.
Mahala
What’s up colleagues, its wonderful paragraph about tutoringand entirely explained, keep it up all the time.
Patrina
Hi there, I discovered your web site by way of
Google whilst looking for a comparable matter, your site came up,
it looks great. I’ve bookmarked it in my google bookmarks.
Hello there, just turned into aware of your weblog through Google, and located that it’s truly informative.
I am going to be careful for brussels. I will be grateful in the event you proceed this in future.
Numerous other folks will likely be benefited from your writing.
Cheers!
Elvis
Hey there this is kind of of off topic but I was wanting to know if blogs use
WYSIWYG editors or if you have to manually code with HTML.
I’m starting a blog soon but have no coding experience so I wanted to get advice from someone with experience.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Violeta
Just desire to say your article is as amazing. The clarity
for your submit is simply nice and i can assume
you’re an expert on this subject. Fine with your permission allow me to grab your RSS feed to keep up to
date with coming near near post. Thanks a million and
please continue the enjoyable work.
Ida
These are truly wonderful ideas in concerning blogging.
You have touched some good things here. Any way keep up wrinting.
Kaydi
Greate pieces. Keep writing such kind of information on your blog.
Im really impressed by it.
Hello there, You’ve done an excellent job. I’ll
certainly digg it and in my opinion suggest
to my friends. I’m confident they will be benefited from this website.
Roland
I really like your blog.. very nice colors & theme.
Did you make this website yourself or did you hire someone to do it for you?
Plz answer back as I’m looking to design my own blog and would like
to find out where u got this from. thanks a lot
Charese
certainly like your web-site however you have to check the spelling
on several of your posts. Several of them are rife with spelling problems and I
find it very bothersome to inform the truth then again I’ll certainly come back again.
Beverly
It is perfect time to make some plans for the longer term and it’s time to
be happy. I have read this put up and if
I may just I wish to recommend you few interesting things or suggestions.
Maybe you can write subsequent articles regarding this article.
I desire to read even more things approximately it!
Celicia
It’s awesome in support of me to have a website, which is
beneficial in support of my knowledge. thanks admin
Kiriaki
This website was… how do I say it? Relevant!!
Finally I have found something that helped me.
Kudos!
Cassidie
Greetings! Very helpful advice within this article! It’s the little changes that make the biggest changes.
Many thanks for sharing!
Cheree
I always used to study paragraph in news papers
but now as I am a user of net thus from now I am using net for articles or reviews, thanks to web.
Leeann
Thank you for sharing your info. I truly appreciate
your efforts and I will be waiting for your next post thank you
once again.
Carlen
I go to see every day a few blogs and sites to read
articles, however this website offers feature based writing.
Jaquan
It is the best time to make some plans for the future and it
is time to be happy. I have read this post and if I could I wish to suggest you some interesting things or suggestions.
Perhaps you could write next articles referring to this article.
I wish to read even more things about it!
Brandyce
I always emailed this website post page to all my associates, for the reason that if
like to read it then my friends will too.
Deniece
I’m not that much of a internet reader to be honest
but your blogs really nice, keep it up! I’ll go ahead and bookmark your website to come back
in the future. Many thanks
Taureon
You ought to be a part of a contest for one of the most
useful sites on the web. I am going to highly recommend this web site!
Jamaur
You should take part in a contest for one of the best websites on the
internet. I most certainly will highly recommend this website!
Deliah
Thank you for the auspicious writeup. It actually was a entertainment account it.
Glance complex to far introduced agreeable from you!
However, how can we keep up a correspondence?
Arnisha
Hi this is somewhat of off topic but I was wanting to know if blogs use WYSIWYG editors or if you have to manually code with HTML.
I’m starting a blog soon but have no coding know-how so I wanted to get guidance from someone with experience.
Any help would be enormously appreciated!
Jenniger
Greetings! I’ve been reading your site for a long time now
and finally got the courage to go ahead and give you
a shout out from Lubbock Tx! Just wanted to say keep up the
good job!
Janetta
This is my first time go to see at here and i am really happy to read everthing at alone place.
Sherylann
You’re so interesting! I do not suppose I have read anything like this before.
So great to discover another person with some unique thoughts on this topic.
Seriously.. many thanks for starting this up. This web site is something that is needed
on the internet, someone with a bit of originality!
Channie
Hi, I want to subscribe for this weblog to obtain newest updates,
therefore where can i do it please help out.
Tarynn
I love what you guys tend to be up too. This kind of clever work and coverage!
Keep up the good works guys I’ve included you guys to my
personal blogroll.
Quanisha
Having read this I thought it was rather enlightening. I appreciate
you finding the time and energy to put this information together.
I once again find myself personally spending a lot of time both reading and posting comments.
But so what, it was still worthwhile!
Hang
You could definitely see your skills in the article
you write. The sector hopes for even more passionate writers such
as you who aren’t afraid to mention how they believe. Always
follow your heart.
Jamarion
I’m gone to inform my little brother, that
he should also pay a quick visit this website on regular basis to get updated from most recent news.
Larysa
Heya i’m for the primary time here. I found this board and
I find It really useful & it helped me out a lot. I hope to provide
something again and aid others like you aided me.
Jennilee
Fascinating blog! Is your theme custom made or did you download it from
somewhere? A design like yours with a few simple tweeks would
really make my blog shine. Please let me know where you got
your theme. Appreciate it
Trevis
hey there and thank you for your information – I have certainly picked up something new from right here.
I did however expertise several technical issues using this web
site, since I experienced to reload the site a lot of times previous to I could
get it to load properly. I had been wondering if your web hosting is OK?
Not that I am complaining, but slow loading instances times will often affect your placement in google and could damage your high-quality score
if ads and marketing with Adwords. Well I am
adding this RSS to my email and can look out for much more of your respective exciting content.
Ensure that you update this again very soon.
Victoriana
I’d like to thank you for the efforts you have put
in writing this blog. I am hoping to check out the same high-grade blog posts by you later on as well.
In fact, your creative writing abilities has encouraged me to get my own website
now 😉
Shaida
Peculiar article, totally what I was looking for.
Griselda
Keep on working, great job!
Eran
Thanks for your personal marvelous posting!
I definitely enjoyed reading it, you may be a great author.I will be sure to bookmark your blog and will often come back later on. I want to encourage you continue your great posts, have a nice weekend!
Serene
It’s wonderful that you are getting ideas from this paragraph
as well as from our dialogue made here.
Sissy
I was wondering if you ever considered changing the structure of your website?
Its very well written; I love what youve got to say.
But maybe you could a little more in the way of content
so people could connect with it better. Youve got an awful lot of text for only having 1 or 2 pictures.
Maybe you could space it out better?
Kealy
It’s not my first time to pay a quick visit this web page,
i am visiting this web page dailly and get fastidious information from here all the
time.
Leia
It’s truly a nice and useful piece of info. I’m satisfied that you
just shared this useful information with us.
Please stay us informed like this. Thank you for
sharing.
Jonika
It’s an awesome article in support of all the web viewers; they will get advantage from it I am
sure.
naga169
Hello, I wish for to subscribe for this weblog to get
latest updates, therefore where can i do it please help.
Qsejsq
hydroquinone ca – cerazette 0.075 mg tablet buy dydrogesterone 10 mg generic
Jakara
These are really impressive ideas in regarding blogging.
You have touched some nice things here. Any way keep up wrinting.
pornoya ciwanan
xnxx
bitcoin
Filmizlesene ile hızlı film izleme fırsatını yakala, en yeni ve iyi filmleri Full HD 1080p kalitesiyle online ve bedava izle. Jewell Girman
dom_biMn
Преимущества строительства дома из бруса 9х12 | Подбор проекта для дома из бруса 9х12 | Выбор кровельных материалов для дома из бруса 9х12 | Секреты уютного интерьера в доме из бруса 9х12 | Выбор материалов для теплоизоляции и вентиляции в доме из бруса 9х12 | Выбор фундамента для дома из бруса 9х12 | Новинки в строительстве домов из бруса 9х12 | Топ-5 мебельных трендов для дома из бруса 9х12 | Для комфортного отдыха: зона lounge в доме из бруса 9х12 | Расходы на строительство дома из бруса 9х12
дом из бруса 9х12 https://domizbrusa-9x12spb.ru/ .
Oqsxdl
bactrim price – tobra 10mg usa tobramycin 10mg ca
SeanGer
Например, комбинация 7¦ более шести¦ 3¦ (трех карточная комбинация 7, 4, 3) лучше комбинации 8¦ 3¦ 2¦ Т¦ (трех карточная комбинация 8, 2, https://www.telefonospam.es/662994627 Т).