Leviticus 22:17 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 20 .... "whatsoever hath a blemish, that shall ye not offer: for it shall not be acceptable for you. 21 And whosoever offereth a sacrifice of peace offerings" ..... "or a freewill offering" .... "it shall be perfect to be accepted; there shall be no blemish therein. 22 Blind, or broken, or maimed, or having a wen, or scurvy, or scabbed, ye shall not offer these unto the Lord, nor make an offering by fire of them upon the altar unto the Lord. 24 Ye shall not offer unto the Lord that which is bruised, or crushed, or broken, or cut; neither shall ye make any offering thereof in your land.
This passage of scripture issues a graphic warning against offering a lame sacrifice unto God. The passage mentions some of those offerings that are forbidden to be brought to God, such as bruised animals, or those with sicknesses and broken bones amongst others. The reason for this injunction is because we serve a Great King, and nothing but the very best should be used in His service. When an inferior or blemished offering is brought to Him, we thereby show that our concepts of His Greatness are compromised, and if we harbor incorrect ideas of who God is, our actions and service to Him and to others will reflect our thinking.
Even though in our day we do not offer live animals anymore, yet the same principle applies to all that we do in connection with the service of God. For example we should not bring any monetary offerings into the Lord's house that have been procured by forbidden means, such as drug dealing, prostitution, or gambling. As a matter of fact we should not even return tithes and offerings on lotto money, for the methods employed for financial gain has a direct bearing on the acceptance or rejection of our offerings.
When the godly principles given in the scriptures are violated for purposes of pecuniary gain, then any offerings which are derived from those proceeds become null and void as far as God is concerned, because we employed an evil method to do something that is good, and this mode of operation should never ever be exercised by the Christian. When we walk contrary to the specific commands of God, to bring offerings and sacrifices to Him, we thereby incur a curse and not a blessing, and The Lord utterly rejects all such offerings and gifts. Let's read:
Deuteronomy 23:17 There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel. 18 Thou shalt not bring the hire of a whore, or the price of a dog, into the house of the Lord thy God for any vow: for even both these are abomination unto the Lord thy God.
In some instances, large corporations take their businesses to foreign countries where the standards of living are much lower than in the western world, and where cruelty and injustice to the workers from these poorer countries are countenanced because of the very dire situation many of them live in. And because the poorer classes are glad to get any job, they are then employed by some of these multinational corporations at starvation prices, which sometimes manifest little or no regard for the safety and well-being of their employees. Yet many of these CEO's, and those in high administrative offices are to be found in the front pews of their local churches and singing in the choir, whilst some others make large charitable contributions to religious organizations with the money they have procured by the unjust practices exercised towards those in their employ.
The same God who has prohibited lame offerings in ages past is now saying that He has not changed, and therefore any type of oppression for monetary gain, must not result in offerings to His cause for any reason, for as stated before, all of these are an abomination to Him. In addition to the injunction against such lame offerings, God also states that the oppression of workers by their employers will one day be visited with stern judgments, because divine justice must be meted out in fairness to everyone. Let's read:
James 5:Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. 3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. 4 Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth. 5 Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter. 6 Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you.
In all that we return unto God in tithes and offerings, let there be not any proceeds from forbidden sources or methods, but let them be acceptable in the sight of a Holy God, who takes delight in both the spirit and the letter of all offerings made to Him. We therefore end with a passage of scripture that cautions us against lame offerings and sacrifices of any sort, for God is a Spirit and we must worship him in sincerity and honesty of heart. Let's read:
Matthew 23:23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
May God bless His words to our hearts today and forever. God bless!