“What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the Lord; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats.” - Isaiah 1:11
Our current pandemic is bringing out the worst in people in many cases. From hoarding to civil disobedience to the apparent madness of someone who would deliberately cough or sneeze on grocery items, the unruliness and disregard of people can still astound us at times. But the irrationality has also seeped into varying religions and faiths around the world; however, I want to focus on one - the Saturday 4/11/2020 call by a Catholic Archbishop for a ‘mass of exorcism’ against the plague.
God has made it perfectly clear as to what He desires from us, and what He does not want. “Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations— I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates; they have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them.” - Isaiah 113-14. The ritual of exorcism is a man-made routine with absolutely no Biblical support.
When Jesus exorcized demons, He did so by His mere word. “Be silent, and come out of him.”- Mark 1:25. There were no quasi-magical tools used nor was there any lengthy contrived petition. Jesus merely spoke the demons out. In fact, there are only two Christian rituals that Christ Himself instituted - baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Any other rituals have come into practice by the imagination and machinations of man.
David knew what God wanted rather than ritualized sacrifice when push finally came to shove - “For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” - Psalm 51:16-17.
The prophet Jeremiah told us what God wanted - “But this command I gave them: ‘Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people. And walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.’” - Jeremiah 7:23.
God has made it clear throughout the ages what His chief passion for us is - “For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.” - Hosea 6:6.
Consider the following: if God has forbidden the worship of carved images or such images in general, and He has, why would He grant us the spiritual power to ‘bless’ or otherwise assign to these images an undeserved stature of holiness? These images are made of wood, paper, plastic, glass, metal, or stone! They have in themselves no inherent sanctity and a contrived magical ritual to make them so does not imbue them with any spiritual power.
We have not been authorized by God to manufacture ‘worship relics,’ nor are we to use them in the proper worship of our Lord. In other words, you may have an image of Jesus or a crucifix on your wall . . . you just can’t use it as a worship tool.
“Take care, lest you forget the covenant of the Lord your God, which he made with you, and make a carved image, the form of anything that the Lord your God has forbidden you. For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.” - Deuteronomy 4:23-24. And, “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me . . .” - Deuteronomy 5:8-9.
These are the things God wants from us, not rituals that could just as conceivably issue from a Santeria or voodoo ceremony, with all the bells, bangles, and feathers. We are not to bow before any totem. However, we must be careful not to assign sin to a mere representation of ‘the cross’, images of our Savior, or otherwise innocent portrayals for the mere use of viewing them, as long as we do not use them as objects of worship!
All our merciful God expects from us are a broken and contrite heart, obedience, love, and the knowledge of Himself and belief in His Son, Jesus Christ. “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” - Acts 4:12.
Ritual for deliverance? No, God isn’t interested in rituals. The greatest deliverance ritual that was ever performed was that which took place on Golgotha with the death of Jesus Christ. Therein He delivered us from condemnation and God’s righteous wrath. No greater ritual could ever be, let alone provide deliverance for us sinners.
We don’t require or need a ritualized ‘exorcism’ to divinely end our current pandemic and we are not instructed or advised by Scripture to attempt any such ‘magical ceremony.’ We have a greater hope; we have the promise of God that He will indeed grant us deliverance from our tribulations. “Now therefore mend your ways and your deeds, and obey the voice of the Lord your God, and the Lord will relent of the disaster that he has pronounced against you.” - Jeremiah 26:13.
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