AP

Deuteronomy 17:1   Do not sacrifice to the LORD your God an ox or a sheep that has any defect or flaw in it, for that would be detestable to him.  

The LORD wanted to imptress on his chosen people, Israel, through his faithful servant, Moses, just how important (and essential) it was that their commitment to him was wholehearted in everything.  The first Commandment was “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3).  The Hebrew expression translated ‘before me’ literally means ‘in my presence’, so he was not saying, “It’s OK to worship, or give allegiance to, whatever other gods you might find helpful, comforting or convenient, as long as you put me first in the pecking order”. No, with the God who had rescued them from slavery in Egypt it was all or nothing.  Anything short of all would not just be unsatisfactory, it would be detestable to him.

The sacrifices they were to bring to him as an expression of their devotion, and an acknowledgement of his amazing grace, in accepting an animal’s death in their place as atonement for their sin, were to be from the very best of their flock.  Moses had already made this principle clear earlier in Deuteromomy (6:5) when he commanded them: “Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”.

In the light of this, it is sad to read of their practice, when they entered the Promised Land, of trying to convince themselves that they were worshipping God faithfully while they didn’t want to upset the gods of Canaan by removing their ‘high places’, and were comfortable with embracing many of their more sensually attractive ‘worship’ practices.  It is encouraging to read, in the light of all this, of King David saying to Araunah  when he was offered, as a gift,the threshing floor of the Jebusite ‘to build an altar to the LORD’: “No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the LORD my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing” (2 Samuel 24:24).

But, let us reflect deeply and honestly on all this in our own post-Cross, NT, context, now that our ‘perfect’, ‘without blemish’, ‘flawless’ Saviour, Jesus, has offered up his life in our place, as our perfect sacrifice, for our sin, and let us consider where commitment to him stands in relation to the allocating of our time, money, abilities, reading matter, visual intake (TV), employment of our brain cells, energy, etc, etc.

Am I only offering to my loving God and Heavenly Father less than the verybest of what I have? … just the ‘left overs’ of my life?

– Bruce Christian