God chastises Israel by sending diseases that will strike down both humans and non-human world. He did not give them enough water to drink and food to eat. All because He wanted Israel to return to him. Yet Israel refuses to return. The people would go to worship centres, like Bethel and Gilgal, and performed the rituals; they offered tithes, sacrifices and offerings and then brag about them. Their worship is superficial, not genuine. They love to show-off! So God said that destruction is at hand. The people of Israel will be carried away as captives.
Here God was particularly not happy with the religiosity of the people. Going to the church, singing choruses with guitar, giving money in terms of thousands, attending Convention/Fellowship/Conferences, Church dedication and various programmes and then bragging and make a boastful pose is what God is not pleased with. The Israelites giving tithes and then bragging is like our present day Christians giving tithes to be considered as a highest giver by the church and his name being read out in public. God hates it! Is the church perpetrating such practice, eliciting a kind of competition among church members so that maximum fund comes about for the church? God hates it! For such hypocrisy and oppression of the needy, God charges Israel in this chapter, and tells them that He, the creator of the world, is coming to bring judgment on the people.
No comments:
Post a Comment