Permission to Sin?

"Come to Bethel, and transgress; at Gilgal multiply transgression; and bring your sacrifices every morning, and your tithes after three years:” (Am 4:4 AV)

 

At first glance, it might appear as though the LORD is giving permission or even telling the people of God to go ahead and sin.  The very first phrase says exactly that.  Which should make the reader pause and take note.  Whenever something in scripture seems a bit off, rather than assume a mistake has been made, the diligent saint should sit up, take note, and read more carefully the context of the puzzling statement.  We know God does not accept sin.  In fact, He detests it.  Would He really tell the people of God to exercise themselves in wickedness?  The next verse gives us the answer.   “And offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven, and proclaim and publish the free offerings: for this liketh you, O ye children of Israel, saith the Lord GOD.” (Am 4:5 AV)  Again, it seems as though the LORD is encouraging them to act contrary to the law.  Leaven was not permitted as part of the offering.  Leaven was symbolic of false doctrine.  Free offerings were to be done in private.  The last phrase of verse five tells us exactly what is going on here.  The children of Israel wanted it so.

When I served as an altar boy, I saw a lot of hypocrisy.  Not that hypocrisy is exclusive to any one religion.  It is not.  It is just as rampant in the faith of my early years as it is in the faith I hold today.  But it was much more obvious in the faith of my youth.  Time and space would not permit me to tell you of all the experiences I had with ministers of churches who lived one way and proclaimed another.  It would be one thing if they were attempting to overcome their failures while still preaching righteousness.  That is the way of the gospel.  However, too many times I witnessed calloused ministers living exactly like those to whom they served with not desire to be different or set an example for others to follow.  We have all witnessed some depiction of a religious cleric who offers some religious service and then shows this person imbibing with his congregation.  I often get asked by family members if that was how it really was.  Pretty much, yes.

But this hypocrisy is just as prevalent in fundamentalism.  We stand against homosexuality while we support professional sports that celebrate it.  We stand against abortion while we do nothing about the promiscuity in our own pews.  We have the same tendencies of living in sin and covering that sin with our pride-filled sacrifices or service because we love to have it so.  We preach against mixed-gender roles all the while we quote “happy wife, happy life.”  We make our own lives and expect God to bless them.  We have gotten comfortable with a certain level of sin balanced with an equal amount of religion.  As long as the religion balances out the transgression, then we deem ourselves to be OK.  This is what Israel did.  This is what almost all religions do.  This is not acceptable.  This stinks in the nostrils of a holy God.  What is the answer?  God loves obedience and faith far more than He does sacrifice.  Trust the LORD and obey Him in all things.  That is the answer.  To do any less is to offend the One who we claim we are worshipping.