Obedienve: A Prerequisite to Worship

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The book of Leviticus is chiefly about the holiness of God and how, through an obedient relationship with Him, sinful people like ourselves can approach Him in worship (Lev. 20:7, 8).

  The book of Deuteronomy, like Leviticus, also contains detailed in­formation concerning worship. During the Levitical period, God gave in­struction to Israel’s leaders, and later to the people, on how to worship. However, a study of these two books today demonstrates a fundamental principle of worship to modern Christians—that we worship God accord­ing to His instructions (Lev. 9:6, 7, 16).

In Exodus 28:36, God instructed the high priest to engrave on the plate of the crown the words Holiness to the Lord. “This engraving gave to the people the highest conception of religion and pointed to its supreme objec­tive (Lev. 11:44, 45; Heb. 12:14; 1 Peter 1:15, 16). It was a constant reminder that, without this essential [holiness], all the exercises of worship would in God’s sight be mockery (see Isa. 1:11–17). As to the high priest, it instructed him that his ministration was not to become a mere form, but that its objec­tive was the consecration of his own life and the lives of the people.”1 

   As the priests and the people of Israel worshiped according to God’s instructions, it should have become evident to them that submitting to His loving will is the essence of worship. This is what true worship should be based upon. 

   Once our own opinions override what the Bible has clearly revealed, we make the worship of God into something He cannot accept. In Revelation 14:1–13, we see that loving, obedient worship of our Creator God will be the test for God’s people during the time of the end. “Led cap­tive by Satan’s delusions, the world will bow to the beast and its image, and carry out its dictates and decrees. . . . 

The saints, on the other hand, refuse to comply with its demands. They keep the commandments of God. The special point controverted will be the fourth of the Ten Commandments.”2

REACT

It is clear that God requires a distinction between holy and common things. List the protocols in today’s church that are holy. In what ways do we treat them as common?

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1. The SDA Bible Commentary, 2nd ed., vol. 1, p. 650.

2. The SDA Bible Commentary, 2nd ed., vol. 7, pp. 832, 833.

Written by Kenneth Boachie, Laurel, Maryland, U.S.A.