MARCH 2024

God has always wanted His people to worship Him according to His Word and His Way. When God gave Moses instructions on the construction of the Tabernacle, God made sure that the people tasked with building the Tabernacle were also empowered to be faithful to His instructions.

Exodus 35:30-35, 30 Moses then said to the Israelites: “Look, the Lord has ap-pointed by name Bezalel son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. 31 He has filled him with God’s Spirit, with wisdom, un-derstanding, and ability in every kind of craft 32 to design artistic works in gold, silver, and bronze, 33 to cut gemstones for mounting, and to carve wood for work in every kind of artistic craft. 34 He has also given both him and Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, the ability to teach others. 35 He has filled them with skill to do all the work of a gem cutter; a designer; an embroiderer in blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine linen; and a weaver. They can do every kind of craft and design artistic designs.” The transcendent knowledge and skill were given by God to Bezalel and Oholiab for the purpose of constructing the Tabernacle according to His plans. God will not call His people to a task and then leave them ill-equipped to accomplish that task. Acquiring the equipping, however, takes consistent effort on our part!

If God wants His worship done a certain way, then we should expect Satan and his demons to obstruct and obscure God’s prescribed instructions. Likewise, we should expect Satan and his demons to strive to win the hearts of people and turn them to himself. Satan craves “worship” that belongs to God. Unlike God, however, Satan seeks to destroy his worshippers. Therefore, Satan’s worship practices must be based purely on deception. Satan’s deceptive practices should not surprise us since the Apostle Paul tells us that he disguises himself as an angel of light in 2 Corinthians 11:14. The nahash was certainly not a disguising snake, originally. In fact, the nahash, according to the meaning of its name, was a beautiful, shining angelic being. Interestingly, Eve was not frightened as she conversed with the shining one. Perhaps, because she was at least aware of other angelic beings and maybe even used to conversing with them. We know Adam and Eve communed with God prior to the deception and fall. Adam and Eve failed to discern the nahash’s evil intent before it was too late. How could they be so deceived? More likely, it was a mixture of the magnificent, deceptive beauty of the shining one and their own selfish desires. As we worship God and strive to live for Him in our lives, we must be aware of Satan’s deceptive tactics. We do not need to live in fear of them, but we do need to be aware of them. Furthermore, we need to learn to spot them by constant training in the Word of God. As Jesus prayed for His disciples in His High Priestly prayer in John 17:17, He said, Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth. Furthermore, David said in Psalm 119:11, I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. The more we study God’s Word the less likely we will be enamored by deceptive, destructive, devilish shiny things! -

-Pastor Clint Miller