Ritualistic Religion Kills Animals
An all-creatures Bible Message

Ritualistic Religion Kills Animals
 
A Sermon Delivered to
The Compassion Internet Church
 
26 August 2018
 
Frank L. Hoffman, Pastor

Scripture References

Genesis 1:29
1 Kings 8:1-21
Ephesians 6:10-20

Ritualistic religion kills animals, because it is based upon the rituals of the religion and not the love, compassion, and empathy of God, which was set in motion when God created the heavens and the earth, but most people chose to follow the devil and his minion instead of God.
 
We see this almost every day on the news in the warring madness that plagues this world with its terrorism, and causes millions of human beings and billions of animals to suffer and die every year, and a lot of this is being done in the name of religion (Satan worship).
 
When churches hold fund raisers that feature the roasted remains of once living animals, they are saying that it’s okay to torture and kill animals for our food, which is totally the opposite from the original commandment that God gave to humans in Genesis 1:29…

29. Then God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you;
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The term, “it shall be”, means that this is a commandment and not a suggestion; the animals whom God created as living souls, just like us, were to be our companions and not our possessions or our food, so when humans began eating animal products they were rebelling against God.
 
In 1 Kings 8:1-21, we are given an example of how ritualistic religion kills animals…

1. Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers' households of the sons of Israel, to King Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD from the city of David, which is Zion.
 
2. And all the men of Israel assembled themselves to King Solomon at the feast, in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month.
 
3. Then all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark.

In this Bible passage we are being told about the rituals of their religion, the same kind of religion we are talking about and where ritualistic religion kills animals.

4. And they brought up the ark of the LORD and the tent of meeting and all the holy utensils, which were in the tent, and the priests and the Levites brought them up.
 
5. And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, who were assembled to him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and oxen they could not be counted or numbered.

From the beginning God wanted obedience and not sacrifice, but as we are being told, they are not following the edicts of the Lord; instead they are following their corrupted religion, just as most people are doing to this very day, and as a result more animals than they can count are suffering and dying for the sake of their religion and their gluttony.

6. Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the LORD to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the house, to the most holy place, under the wings of the cherubim.
 
7. For the cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim made a covering over the ark and its poles from above.

We hope that we all see that their religion was dominated by their rituals and not the heavenly will of God.

8. But the poles were so long that the ends of the poles could be seen from the holy place before the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen outside; they are there to this day.

This was in the day that this account was recorded in the book of 1 Kings.

9. There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets of stone which Moses put there at Horeb, where the LORD made a covenant with the sons of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt.
 
10. And it came about when the priests came from the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the LORD,
 
11. so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD.

Did the Lord do this to end the sacrificing, and to try to get them to turn away from their rituals, which they mistakenly made more important than God, instead of worshiping the Lord who was in their presence?
 
We strongly believe that is what He did.

12. Then Solomon said,
"The LORD has said that He would dwell in the thick cloud.

Solomon does seem to know the truth, but…

13. "I have surely built Thee a lofty house,
A place for Thy dwelling forever."

Solomon is so caught up in his own pride than to realize what the Lord wanted him to do, and we need to remember not to do that; we are to stay focused upon the Lord and His heavenly will.

14. Then the king faced about and blessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel was standing.
 
15. And he said, "Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who spoke with His mouth to my father David and has fulfilled it with His hand, saying,
 
16. 'Since the day that I brought My people Israel from Egypt, I did not choose a city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house that My name might be there, but I chose David to be over My people Israel.'
 
17. "Now it was in the heart of my father David to build a house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel.
 
18. But the LORD said to my father David, 'Because it was in your heart to build a house for My name, you did well that it was in your heart.
 
19. 'Nevertheless you shall not build the house, but your son who shall be born to you, he shall build the house for My name.'

What Solomon is not mentioning here, is that God also said David could not build the temple because there was too much blood on his hands, from all the killing he did and caused, and remember that Solomon had caused more animals than could be numbered to suffer and die in this ritualistic religious dedication.
 
Ritualistic religion kills animals, and it continues to this very day.

20. "Now the LORD has fulfilled His word which He spoke; for I have risen in place of my father David and sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised, and have built the house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel.
 
21. And there I have set a place for the ark, in which is the covenant of the LORD, which He made with our fathers when He brought them from the land of Egypt."
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We need to remember that this is still a ritualistic religion rather than a spiritualistic religion that worships the Lord our God, and lives according to His heavenly will.
 
Paul spent a lot of time discussing how the Gentiles eating meat didn’t mean that they weren’t saved, but we have disagreed with a lot of what he said, or didn’t say about it, because the killing and eating of animals hardens the heart so that the people who do this no longer have any empathy for the animals, and God wants us to have soft hearts, but here in Ephesians 6:10-20, Paul is clarifying his previous statements, not about meat, but speaking about standing firm in the heavenly will of God.

10. Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His might.

Above all, we need to remember that the Lord is stronger than we are, and stronger than anything or any situation upon this earth, and in this remembrance we are to stand firm against all the worldly situations around us.

11. Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.

This is a reminder that everything that isn’t in the heavenly will of God is not of God, but from the devil and those who follow him.

12. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.

Or, we could say that every evil thing comes from the spiritual realm of those who have turned against God.
 
As an example, hell is in this evil spiritual realm.

13. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.

Fear is the opposite of perfect heavenly love, and we fear when we turn away from focusing on God’s heavenly will, but this does not mean that we are to be foolish such as not looking when we cross a busy street.

14. Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,

Truth and righteousness are in the heavenly will of God, where we are to be, and if we are there, then this spiritual armor lets us recognize all lies and deflect them from harming us, and the same is true about the breastplate, for it deflects all unrighteousness away from us.
 
An example of this is the killing and eating of animals and their by-products, which is not in the heavenly will of God, and the lies that are said about it, such as “humane” meat, which is an oxymoron, for there is always fear and pain for the animals that are exploited.

15. and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

The gospel of peace brings peace to every other living being, and through them to the environment we all live in.
 
Anything that doesn’t bring true peace in this way is not from God, but from the devil.

16. in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming missiles of the evil one.

The shield of faith is that inner faith that tells us that we can make a positive difference in this world for the benefit of every other human being, and for every other animal, and for the environment we all live in, and by doing this we deflect the evil around us away so it no longer affects us.

17. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
 
18. With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints,
 
19. and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel,
 
20. for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.
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Paul wanted prayer for himself, and each of us needs it too, but so does the world around us.
 
Most churches teach these verses, but they limit its application to help ourselves, which we don’t believe is God’s or Paul’s intent.
 
This is happening because churches have ritualized their services and teaching to the point that they don’t extend the application of God’s word to the whole of creation.
 
Ritualistic religion kills animals, and we have to show the people the difference by putting on the full armor of God, and taking a firm stand against all the evil practices in the world around.
 
We can help free creation from its present corruption.
 
We can!
 
Amen.

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