Deuteronomy 13:4 "Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him."
We see God, through Moses, telling the people repeatedly to be careful that
they are not influenced by false prophets and dreamers of dreams. Why
would there be such a need for repeated warnings?
In Chapter 12:30, the Lord warned the people not to even ask, "How did
these nations serve their gods?" Why is God so strict concerning His order
of worship and service? Is it not enough that a person is sincere, but in
error, concerning his manner of worship? Is it possible for a person to be
sincerely wrong in his attempt to approach God? The answer is a definite yes!
There was an order to be followed under the law when God's people came to
worship? There was a specific place where God placed His name for the people to
worship. At certain times of the year, they were to go to Jerusalem to offer
their sacrifices and observe the feasts ordained by God. They were not to
try to offer those sacrifices in other places.
They were not to incorporate the ways of the world in their times of worship.
God was not interested in how the other nations worshiped their gods. He
instructed His people to worship Him according to His design and His
instructions. The people were to reject plans given even if someone came and
said, "I have been given a vision and this is an alternate way by which
you can worship."
We, who are under grace, have also been instructed as to the manner we are to
worship. Jesus spoke these words to the Samaritan woman, "But the hour
cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in
spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him." (John
4:23). Worship is to be confined within the dictates of God's Word. The
spirit of worship must be in agreement with the truth of God's Word.