Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev20100530.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
Amos: Heeding The Word Of The God Of The Whole World
Part VII: Our Need To Avoid Mixing Scripture Truth With False Beliefs
(Amos 4:4-5)
  1. Introduction
    1. T. A. McMahon's article, "The Avatar Gospel," reports the movie, "Avatar," promotes shamanism, "the religion of nature and spirits . . ." (The Berean Call , March 2010, p. 3)
    2. Regardless, he adds that a Christianity Today article in its supported blog site, "Her*meneutics," a site for Christian women, promotes "Avatar's' Christian character" Grace, the character Dr. Grace Augustine in the movie, and adds the qualification, "Well, Christian-ish anyway.'" (Ibid., p. 4)
    3. McMahon complained that such evangelical efforts, efforts that are abundant today, try to redeem "the paganism of a society" or at least try to "harmonize and work with all religions." (Ibid.)
    4. Amos 4:4-5 warns against such syncretistic, ecumenical efforts, supplying an important lesson for us:
  2. Our Need To Avoid Mixing Scripture Truth With False Beliefs, Amos 4:4-5.
    1. Through the prophet Amos, God called Israel in biting irony to go to Bethel and transgress the Mosaic Law, and to multiply her transgressions at Gilgal, Amos 4:4a.
    2. Actually, these places were used in Amos' era for syncretistic worship that mixed faith in the true God of Israel with paganism in violation of the Biblical directive that Israel worship God at Jerusalem:
      1. Scripture had called Israel not worship God in multiple high places as did the pagan nations, but in the one place He chose (Deut. 12:1-12), and that place had become the Jerusalem temple, 1 Kings 9:1-3.
      2. Nevertheless, when the Northern Kingdom of Israel parted from the Southern Kingdom of Judah, Israel's king, Jeroboam I, formed a false golden calf worship to keep his subjects from going to Judah and possibly failing to stay loyal to him, and he set up one of its shrines in Bethel, 1 Kings 12:26-29.
      3. Now, Gilgal had initially been the place where Israel had first worshiped God upon entering the land of Canaan in Joshua's time (Joshua 4:19), but some Hebrews had kept worshiping there in violation of Deuteronomy 12:1-12 even after God had sanctioned the Jerusalem temple site, cf. Hosea 12:11.
      4. Thus, both Bethel, where Jeroboam I had told his people its golden calf was the god that had brought her up out of Egypt (1 Kings 12:28-29), and Gilgal had become syncretistic worship centers where the worship of God was mingled together with pagan overtones or influence!
    3. God's call in Amos 4:4b ESV for Israel to bring her sacrifices every morning and in Amos 4:4c ESV to bring her tithes every three days mocks the most devout efforts to worship God in such unholy syncretism:
      1. The people were Scripturally to bring yearly sacrifices to God's Jerusalem temple (1 Samuel 1:3, 7, 21 with Exodus 23:14-17), but He mocked the effort even to multiply this deed in offering them every day in errant syncretism at Bethel and Gilgal, Amos 4:4b! ( The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, 1971, p. 833)
      2. The people were Biblically to bring tithes every 3rd year to God's temple (Deut. 14:28; 26:12), but He mocked the effort to bring them every third day in syncretism to Bethel and Gilgal, Amos 4:4c! (Ibid.)
    4. God's call in Amos 4:5a ESV to sacrifice leavened bread as a thank offering mocks Israel's effort to distort the Biblical truth with errant beliefs that He would not accept:
      1. Offerings of thanksgiving to God were Biblically to involve both unleavened loaves (Lev. 7:12) and leavened loaves (Lev. 7:13), with one loaf of each kind being given to the Lord, Lev. 7:14 NIV, ESV .
      2. However, God here mockingly complained Israel was mixing up truth with error in her worship so that her action was akin to errantly mixing leaven into all the loaves of the thank offering, thus polluting it!
    5. God's Amos 4:5b call to proclaim and publish her freewill offerings, offerings that were to be the most "sincere expression of one's religion," mocked Israel's syncretistic hypocrisy, Ibid., Wycliffe Bib. Com.
    6. Yet, God declared in Amos 4:5c that Israel loved to indulge in such unacceptable, hypocritical syncretism!
Lesson: God mocked Israel's effort to MIX Scriptural elements of the worship of God with pagan, unbiblical elements, noting it hopelessly made even her most devout efforts en route very unacceptable!

Application: May we AVOID MIXING ANYTHING of pagan, unbiblical beliefs or practices with the BIBLICAL in our Christian worship or living as it only hopelessly pollutes our most devout efforts!