False Worship
Read Matthew 4:8, 9. What was Jesus’ third temptation in the wilderness?
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With pride and arrogance, Satan declared himself to be the rightful
ruler of the world, the owner of all its riches and glory, claiming the
honor and respect of all who live in it, as if he had created the world.
What an insult to God, the Creator. Satan revealed that he knows
exactly what worship is about: it is to give honor and respect to the
rightful owner of the universe.
Compare the experience of the three Hebrew friends in Daniel 3
(especially verses 8–18) with that of the believers who will face the
end-time power of Revelation 13:4 and 14:9–11. What is at stake at
the time of the end? What is the core issue in both accounts?
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From Cain and Abel, to the three Hebrew boys in Babylon, to final
events regarding “the mark of the beast” (Rev. 16:2), Satan seeks to establish
a false system of worship, one that takes people away from the true
God and, even if subtly, direct worship toward himself. After all, even from
before the Fall, he wanted to be like God (Isa. 14:14). It’s no coincidence
that just as the three young men faced the threat of death unless they were
to worship an “image,” in the last days God’s faithful people will face the
threat of death unless they will worship an “image,” as well. Why worship
any “image” when we are called to worship the true God instead?
“Important are the lessons to be learned from the experience of the
Hebrew youth on the plain of Dura. . . .
“The season of distress before God’s people will call for a faith that will
not falter. His children must make it manifest that He is the only object
of their worship, and that no consideration, not even that of life itself, can
induce them to make the least concession to false worship. To the loyal heart
the commands of sinful, finite men will sink into insignificance beside the
word of the eternal God. Truth will be obeyed though the result be imprisonment
or exile or death.”—Ellen G. White, Prophets and Kings, pp. 512, 513.
What are different ways, even now, that we can be tempted into
worshiping anyone else other than the only Being worthy of our
worship? How might false worship be a more subtle threat than
we realize? What are some things that we might even now be
tempted to worship?
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