Four Demonstrations of Worship

 Read Numbers 33. 

Google Maps never did a better job than this.  Forty years of travel stops in 49 verses. 

When God decimated the Egyptians in Exodus and then in 33:51-53 He gave the command to drive out the inhabitants of Canaan, the underlying motive must be remembered.  God was executing judgment on the sin of His enemies.  It was not Israel against them, but them against God.  This was spiritual warfare. 

33:4b-"On their gods also the LORD executed judgments."

33:52b-"destroy all their figured stones and destroy all their metal images and demolish all their high places." 

The spiritual purification of the land was crucial to their future as a nation.  God warned them about this at the end of the chapter.  As Creator and Owner of all things, He will not allow the people He created to ignore Him, to be lured by the unbelieving world around them, nor to devote their lives to man-made things. 

Exodus 20:3-"You shall have no other gods before me.  You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.  You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God..." 

Again, in Exodus 34:12-14-"Take care, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land to which you go, lest it become a snare in your midst.  You shall tear down their altars and break their pillars and cut down their Asherim (for you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name in Jealous, is a jealous God)". 

The LORD has given each of us four ways to demonstrate our acknowledgement of His ownership and our worship of Him.

1. Temple-The human body is a stewardship from God.  The way we treat the one He gave us is a demonstration, in part, of our response to Him.

"Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?  If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him.  For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple." (1Corinthians 3:16-17) 

2. Time-Each minute, each hour, each day, each year, and each life is a gift from God to us.  We are steward's and accountable for how we use that gift.

"So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom." (Psalm 90:12) 

3. Talent-The Holy Spirit has given to everyone of us the ability to serve the LORD for the good of others.  Different from natural skill, this ability is called a spiritual gift.

"Now there are a varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone.  To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good." (1 Corinthians 12:4-7) 

4. Treasure-By far, the Bible has more to say about this one than all the others combined.

"You shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth..." (Deuteronomy 8:18)

"Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce." (Proverbs 3:9)

"Bring the full tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house.  And thereby put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.  I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the LORD of hosts."  Malachi 3:10-11) 

Don't miss God's intention of us honoring Him in this way.  The promised results, in part, become a basis of our witness to the unbelieving world around us.  "Then all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight says the LORD of hosts." (Malachi 3:12)