Some things belong to God…alone!

Scripture Read: Judges 6:18-21: “Please do not depart from here, until I come back to You, and bring out my offering and lay it before You.” And He said, “I will remain until you return.” Then Gideon went in and prepared a young goat and unleavened bread from an ephah of flour; he put the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot, and brought them out to him under the oak and presented them. The angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread and lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” And he did so. Then the angel of the Lord put out the end of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened bread; and fire sprang up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. Then the angel of the Lord vanished from his sight.

Application: This is where we clearly see Who the Angel of the Lord is. Gideon is struggling in his faith, but asks the Angel of the Lord to allow him to make an offering to Him and He allows it!

No angel of God…in fact, no one that represents God would ever allow themselves to be worshiped. Worship is for God and God alone. This is made extremely clear in the Word of God. Beginning with idols and false gods, where God, after being very patient,  finally drew a line and said no more. Judgment was sent in various forms, but it was never pleasant. What is dangerous though is that many in the church today still worship things that are not God, they seem good, so we think what is the harm? The Scriptures have examples of even “good” things being abused. Notice what the reaction is by those that represent God. Paul and Barnabas did some miracles in one city and the people there began to treat them as gods:

“And they began calling Barnabas, Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. ¹³ The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates, and wanted to offer sacrifice with the crowds. ¹⁴ But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their robes and rushed out into the crowd, crying out ¹⁵ and saying, “Men, why are you doing these things? We are also men of the same nature as you, and preach the gospel to you that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them.” 
Acts 14:12–15

Two of God’s human servants refused to allow this to happen. Greater still is the example in Revelation by angelic representatives of our Lord. The apostle John was being shown the glories of the future by an angel and his reaction was one of worship, but each time it was rebuked: 

“Then I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “Do not do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and your brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus; worship God. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”  Revelation 19:10

“ I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed me these things. But he said to me, “Do not do that. I am a fellow servant of yours and of your brethren the prophets and of those who heed the words of this book. Worship God.”  Revelation 22:8–9

The enemy always desires to confuse us. When he cannot do it with obvious idolatry…gods made from wood or stone…he will try to use things that appear to be godly, but in reality they are false spirits that intend to usurp glory from the real and only God. People pray and show homage to angels, the apostles or “saints”, praying to statues or believing in “sacred places”. Only God and what He does is sacred. No one else or no thing should receive worship, prayers or honor in that way. Refuse to give to the enemy that which belongs to God and God alone!

Meditation Questions: What things in your life have the potential of grabbing your attention? Is it possible you might give more devotion and time to these things than to God? When we love something more than anything else, isn’t that worshipping it? What areas in your life are not fully surrendered to God? Who or what are they surrendered to? So what place are you giving them in your heart? Is worship a position of the body, or an attitude of the heart?