2 Tim 2:15 "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."
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RELIGIOSITY IS A DIFFERENT KIND OF RELIGION
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7
Isaiah 58:1-14
Psalm 34:1-10
"I will bless the LORD
at all times…"
RELIGIOSITY IS A DIFFERENT KIND OF RELIGION
From idolatry, the prophet turned to a more deadly sin that plagued God’s people: the hypocrisy of religiosity. What religiosity? That of feint-fasting (Isa 58:1-12) and sabbath desecrating (Isa 58:13-14).
Fasting was practised in the Old Testament. The Day of Atonement was a Fast Day in which "ye shall afflict your souls" (Lev 23:27). Occasions when Israel fasted as a nation before the Exile to Babylon are recorded in Judges 20:26, 1 Samuel 7:6, 1 Kings 21:12, Jeremiah 36:9. After the Fall of Jerusalem, those who were taken to Babylon began to observe certain Fast Days to commemorate the disasters the nation went through (Zech 7:3-5; 8:19). These Fasts were instituted by man, not by God.
Whatever Fast the prophet was denouncing in Isaiah 58, it was the insincerity of their observance that was denounced, i.e. the hypocrisy of their religiosity. If a fast is to be kept pleasing to the Lord, that vertical line of devotion must be complemented by the horizontal line of caring for the poor and needy. Read James 1:27. Or as Shakespeare has it: "My words fly up, my thoughts remain below; Words without thoughts never to heaven go" (Hamlet, Act III, Scene 3). Religiosity is a different kind of religion.
The Sabbath is here mentioned a second time, which shows how much this Day of Holy Rest had been desecrated. Resting from our work and pleasure to go to church on the Lord’s Day, which is the Christian Sabbath, cheerfully and not wearily, is a good test of our love for God. If we love Him indeed, we will love His day. Let it be emphasized that the whole of the Lord’s Day, from 6 am to 6 pm by Jewish reckoning, should be spent for Him and His Cause alone. We should refrain from "all needless works, words, and thoughts, about our worldly enployments and recreations."
THOUGHT: (Read Hebrews 10:25.)
PRAYER: I love Thee, Lord. May I love Thy Day as well.
Posted in Adult RPG
Isaiah 58:1-14
Psalm 34:1-10
"I will bless the LORD
at all times…"
RELIGIOSITY IS A DIFFERENT KIND OF RELIGION
From idolatry, the prophet turned to a more deadly sin that plagued God’s people: the hypocrisy of religiosity. What religiosity? That of feint-fasting (Isa 58:1-12) and sabbath desecrating (Isa 58:13-14).
Fasting was practised in the Old Testament. The Day of Atonement was a Fast Day in which "ye shall afflict your souls" (Lev 23:27). Occasions when Israel fasted as a nation before the Exile to Babylon are recorded in Judges 20:26, 1 Samuel 7:6, 1 Kings 21:12, Jeremiah 36:9. After the Fall of Jerusalem, those who were taken to Babylon began to observe certain Fast Days to commemorate the disasters the nation went through (Zech 7:3-5; 8:19). These Fasts were instituted by man, not by God.
Whatever Fast the prophet was denouncing in Isaiah 58, it was the insincerity of their observance that was denounced, i.e. the hypocrisy of their religiosity. If a fast is to be kept pleasing to the Lord, that vertical line of devotion must be complemented by the horizontal line of caring for the poor and needy. Read James 1:27. Or as Shakespeare has it: "My words fly up, my thoughts remain below; Words without thoughts never to heaven go" (Hamlet, Act III, Scene 3). Religiosity is a different kind of religion.
The Sabbath is here mentioned a second time, which shows how much this Day of Holy Rest had been desecrated. Resting from our work and pleasure to go to church on the Lord’s Day, which is the Christian Sabbath, cheerfully and not wearily, is a good test of our love for God. If we love Him indeed, we will love His day. Let it be emphasized that the whole of the Lord’s Day, from 6 am to 6 pm by Jewish reckoning, should be spent for Him and His Cause alone. We should refrain from "all needless works, words, and thoughts, about our worldly enployments and recreations."
THOUGHT: (Read Hebrews 10:25.)
PRAYER: I love Thee, Lord. May I love Thy Day as well.
Posted in Adult RPG