Worthy of Our Worship
I am Yahweh; that is my name.
I will not give my glory to anyone else
or the praise I deserve to idols. – Isaiah 42:8 (Names of God version)
I went to a wonderful exhibit this weekend, Discovering the World of Jesus. There were several ossuaries including the one believed to have held the bones of James, the brother of Jesus. There’s evidence that two of the others held the bones of John the Baptist and Zechariah, his father. They were amazing, but the artifact that caught my eye was an incense shovel.
What stopped me in my tracks so I could get a good picture? Take a closer look. 
The description said the shovel was embellished with animal heads. What’s the animal? That’s a tannin.
On that day the LORD will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent,
With His fierce and great and mighty sword,
Even Leviathan the twisted serpent;
And He will kill the dragon (tannin) who lives in the sea. – Isaiah 27:1 (NASB)
Dragons (tanninim) are real – they’re dinosaurs, and man was familiar with them. This particular dinosaur was a sea serpent – a Leviathan (livyatan.) I love unexpectedly coming across creation evidence.
While my giddiness was waning, though, I took a look at the artifact displayed behind it and sobered. It’s an incense burner. These two items were used in worship, giving the glory that belonged to the one true God to another. the worshiper would use the shovel to put incense on an altar and give glory to a false god.
Yahweh is Israel’s Melek (King)and Go’el. (Redeemer)
He is Yahweh Tsebaoth. (The Lord of Hosts)This is what Yahweh says:
I am the first and the last,
and there is no Elohim except me. -Isaiah 44:6 (Names of God version)
But here’s the thing. It’s easy to see idolatry in an incense shovel and personal altar. But what about in my life? When have I taken my scoop of incense and set it on fire on my own incense burner? When have I given the glory that belongs to God to something or someone else (even, or especially, me.)
In Romans 12, Paul exhorts us to present ourselves as a living sacrifice. It’s commonly said that the problem with a living sacrifice is it can crawl off the altar. That’s my problem. When I want my own way, I crawl down off that altar, grab my incense and burn it on the altar of self.
This is my prayer:
Lord, I don’t want to be conformed to this world. I want you to transform me. May my life be a fragrant offering to you.
