Ecclesiastes 5:1 says, “Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil.”
The sacrifice of fools in the house of God is nothing new. In the days when Hannah cried out to the Lord for a son, there was evil in the house of the Lord. Eli the priest had two sons that knew not the Lord (I Samuel 2:12). God was not pleased, and sent an evangelist (the place of the evangelist in our churches today has sadly faded away), a man of God, with a strong message: “Wherefore kick ye at my sacrifice and at mine offering, which I have commanded in my habitation; and honourest thy sons above me, to make yourselves fat with the chiefest of all the offerings of Israel my people?” (I Samuel 2:29).
Along with the message was a sign: “And this shall be a sign unto thee, that shall come upon thy two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas; in one day they shall die both of them” (vs. 34). You may wonder how little Samuel, serving as a child in this environment, turned out to be a great man of God. It started with his mother, Hannah. She not only dedicated him to the Lord, and turned him over to God, but continued to visit him year after year with a little coat. A few words of a Godly parent go a long way in shaping the destiny of a child.
Early, God began to speak to Samuel. Even above the sexual sins of Eli’s two sons, was the sin over the sacrifice. They wanted the forbidden fat from the meat sacrifice. Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 5:1 that the fools sacrificing in God’s house don’t even think that they are doing evil.
God will take care of evil in His house. Solomon advised to, “Keep thy foot… and to be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools.” In the next verse he says, “Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter anything before God…let thy words be few.”
Samuel heard God speak. His answer was, “Speak; for thy servant heareth” (I Samuel 3:10).
Today our nation is falling apart because the church has ceased to be the house of God. We are still called by His name, but instead of going out to the world and leading them to Christ, we open our doors and invite them in. Then we don’t want to offend them, so we are very careful how we talk about sin—if we mention it at all. We are just happy they are there. Now we have the world in the church and they influence us more than we them. Sports and secular music, jesting and joking drown out the voice of God. Instead of few words, we all have our say—we don’t hear God speaking. They finally win us over and we love the world, and the things of the world.
I John 2:15-17 states, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof; but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever.”
John 1:10 states, “He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.”
The true church changes the world; it is not changed by it. It is time to humble ourselves, pray, seek His face, and turn from wickedness (II Chronicles 7:14).
“Is Thy Heart Right with God?” (Elisha A. Hoffman)
Good morning to you. Thank you so much for this post. Really spot on for these times of testing. One of your best.