“I hate, I reject your festivals, nor do I delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer up to Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them; and I will not even look at the peace offerings of your fatlings. Take away from Me the noise of your songs; I will not even listen to the sound of your harps. But let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream” (Amos 5:21-24).
These words from God may sound shocking to many people today. Why would God not accept worship that was being offered to Him?
The rebuke above was directed to the nation of Israel. The reason why God refused to accept their worship was because of their sin: “For I know your transgressions are many and your sins are great…” (Amos 5:12). Offering sacrifices to God did not excuse them of disregarding His law and doing things that were contrary to His will.
Other passages describe various kinds of gifts which were offered to God, but He did not accept them. In this article, we are going to consider some unacceptable gifts we may offer to God, lest we find ourselves guilty of offering something that He would “hate” or “reject.”
Gifts Offered without Cost
“Araunah said to David, ‘Let my lord the king take and offer up what is good in his sight. Look, the oxen for the burnt offering, the threshing sledges and the yokes of the oxen for the wood. Everything, O king, Araunah gives to the king.’ And Araunah said to the king, ‘May the Lord your God accept you.’ However, the king said to Araunah, ‘No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price, for I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God which cost me nothing.’ So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. David built there an altar to the Lord and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. Thus the Lord was moved by prayer for the land, and the plague was held back from Israel” (2 Samuel 24:22-25).
When David sinned by taking the census, God sent a pestilence as punishment (2 Samuel 24:1-2, 15). To rectify the situation, the prophet Gad told David, “Go up, erect an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite” (2 Samuel 24:18). David immediately went to do this (2 Samuel 24:19). When he arrived, Araunah freely offered everything David needed to make the sacrifice. Yet David insisted that he pay for it, lest he be guilty of offering something to God that “cost [him] nothing.”
God has called us to make sacrifices to Him. We are “as living stones…being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:5). Do we offer such sacrifices willingly? Or do we only give something to God when it is convenient?
We have a responsibility on “the first day of every week…to put aside and save, as [we] may prosper” (1 Corinthians 16:2). This refers to the contributions made to the collection of the church [and we will consider this more in a few moments]. While the New Testament does not specify an amount or percentage we must give, this principle of sacrificial giving indicates that we are to offer more than whatever may be “left over” at the end of the week. We give something that could realistically be used for other purposes, but we choose to offer it for the Lord’s cause. And not just with our giving on the first day of the week. Every day of our lives, we offer ourselves as a sacrifice to God: “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship” (Romans 12:1). This will cost us something, and we must “count the cost” (Luke 14:28, ESV) as we decide to devote our lives to the Lord.
Gifts Offered Dishonestly
“But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, and kept back some of the price for himself, with his wife’s full knowledge, and bringing a portion of it, he laid it at the apostles’ feet. But Peter said, ‘Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back some of the price of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not under your control? Why is it that you have conceived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.’ And as he heard these words, Ananias fell down and breathed his last; and great fear came over all who heard of it. The young men got up and covered him up, and after carrying him out, they buried him” (Acts 5:1-6).
Ananias and Sapphira sold a piece of property and brought a portion of the money to the church. They were struck down by the Lord, not for keeping back part of the money (as Peter explained, they were free to do with it what they chose), but for lying about what they brought.
Any gift we give to God is of our free will. As the psalmist wrote, “Willingly I will sacrifice to You…” (Psalm 54:6). God does not force us to offer anything [we will discuss this more in the next point]. We may deceive others about what we offer to God, but that is meaningless; we will not fool Him. As the Hebrew writer said, “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do” (Hebrews 4:12-13).
Gifts Offered Grudgingly
“Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:6-7).
After giving these brethren instructions in his first epistle about giving (1 Corinthians 16:1-2), he encouraged them in the second epistle to give with the proper attitude. He said we are not to give “grudgingly,” but cheerfully as we have purposed to do.
Again, any gift we offer is of our own free will, but we must want to give, not reluctantly choose to give. Consider the example of the Israelites as they offered gifts for the temple: “Then the rulers of the fathers’ households, and the princes of the tribes of Israel, and the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, with the overseers over the king’s work, offered willingly; and for the service for the house of God they gave 5,000 talents and 10,000 darics of gold, and 10,000 talents of silver, and 18,000 talents of brass, and 100,000 talents of iron. Whoever possessed precious stones gave them to the treasury of the house of the Lord, in care of Jehiel the Gershonite. Then the people rejoiced because they had offered so willingly, for they made their offering to the Lord with a whole heart, and King David also rejoiced greatly” (1 Chronicles 29:6-9). They abundantly offered these gifts for the house of the Lord “willingly” and “with a whole heart.” In the same way, we must offer sacrifices in service to God wholeheartedly, not because we have to but because we want to.
Gifts Offered That He Never Asked For
“Now it came about when the king lived in his house, and the Lord had given him rest on every side from all his enemies, that the king said to Nathan the prophet, ‘See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells within tent curtains.’ Nathan said to the king, ‘Go, do all that is in your mind, for the Lord is with you.’ But in the same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan, saying, ‘Go and say to My servant David, Thus says the Lord, “Are you the one who should build Me a house to dwell in? For I have not dwelt in a house since the day I brought up the sons of Israel from Egypt, even to this day; but I have been moving about in a tent, even in a tabernacle. Wherever I have gone with all the sons of Israel, did I speak a word with one of the tribes of Israel, which I commanded to shepherd My people Israel, saying, ‘Why have you not built Me a house of cedar?’”’” (2 Samuel 7:1-7).
David thought it would be a good idea to build a house for God. By human reasoning, it made sense, and Nathan initially encouraged him to do it. However, the Lord told Nathan to inform David that he was not to do this. Why? God never spoke a word about wanting it. He never asked David to build Him a house. Therefore, despite the king’s good intentions and his willingness to sacrifice time and resources for the project, it was not according to God’s will for him to do this.
It is good to ask what we can do to serve God, but we should never answer with our assumptions. Jesus spoke of those who claimed to do many things in His name, yet were guilty of practicing “lawlessness” (Matthew 7:22-23). In other words, they did things that God never instructed or authorized them to do.
We instead need to search the Scriptures to find out what is pleasing to God. Paul told Timothy, “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17). The word that God revealed to us fully equips us with everything we need to engage in good works. This means that if we want to do something “in the name of the Lord,” but there is no command or authority for it in His word, then we cannot label it as a good work. Despite our good intentions, we would not be honoring God by offering such a sacrifice to Him.
Gifts Offered Inconsistently with His Requirements
“Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took their respective firepans, and after putting fire in them, placed incense on it and offered strange fire before the Lord, which He had not commanded them. And fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord. Then Moses said to Aaron, ‘It is what the Lord spoke, saying, “By those who come near Me I will be treated as holy, And before all the people I will be honored.”’ So Aaron, therefore, kept silent” (Leviticus 10:1-3).
Nadab and Abihu offered “strange fire” and were punished by God. It was called “strange” because it was different from what God commanded.
When we offer worship to God, we must do so “in spirit and truth” (John 4:24). To go along with the previous point, this means we offer worship to Him by His authority. Paul wrote, “Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father” (Colossians 3:17). Everything in our worship – from singing, to praying, to partaking of the Lord’s Supper, and so on – must be done in harmony with His will. We cannot offer something different (or “strange,” as Nadab and Abihu did) and expect to please the Lord.
Conclusion
The desire to offer gifts to God is good, including our time, money, effort, and worship. However, we need to be careful that the gifts we offer are acceptable to Him. Otherwise, they are worthless.
