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Leviticus 17:5 - How did that goat demon sneak into worship?

Good morning fellow soldiers,

Still working on catching up.  I hope that the frequent Leviticus passages encourage you to keep going in your reading.  God was teaching Israel how to live as a nation.  The principles show us God's zeal for his own worship.

Blessings,

Jeff

Thoughts about "acceptable sacrifice".  Since the sacrificing to goat demons was a common practice by ancient Israel, God has to put an end to it.  Animal sacrifice was not unique to Judaism.  Some cultures also practice human sacrifice.  What made Israel's sacrifices acceptable to God were that they were done in the God's approved location in God's approved way.  

Well that's all very nice, but we don't do animal sacrifice any more.  However, the principle remains valid.  Since God was so particular with his own people, all the pagan worship was beyond the pale.  An Israelite sacrificing to a goat demon was unacceptable to God.  Therefore, no matter how sincere a pagan was about his worship, it was not acceptable to God.  YHWH, Yahweh, The LORD is very particular about how he is worshipped.  He was then and he still is today.  The worship of the most devout Jew or the most devout Muslim is unacceptable to God because it is not to the Father, through the Son and by the Spirit.

Instruction - what God expects - Worship is due to God alone and to each of the persons of the Godhead.  Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  God has always demanded exclusive worship.  Objecting to "Jesus as the only way" really shows that the person has not read the Bible.

Confession - Trinitarian worship is not easy.  Just throwing in "in Jesus name", O Lord, etc doesn't make prayer trinitarian.  It is easy to be sloppy in words and thoughts.

Petition - Our worship would truly be a pleasing aroma to the LORD, 

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