In a previous post, I mentioned about the history of "worship" such as referring to temple worship next to the forms of "worship" we see today. During the B.C.E times, all the nations were involved in the worship of the lower entities; Baal being the most predominate. During Israel, the only kings who remained faithful were David and few others. All the kings of the ten tribe kingdom of Israel including Jehu were involved in idolatry by never getting rid of the two golden calf's that were set up in Bethel and Dan. The ten tribe kingdom had a bad start which went all the way back when the ten brothers tried to murder Joseph, instead they sold him and then lied to Jacob that Joseph was dead, which the behavior was based from becoming jealous.

Even if a person doesn't believe that the stories of the bible are true, the point is what can we learn from them. Identifying in which way did King David remain faithful to the Divine should be a person's focus in their study. To understand the story of David, a person has to closely study the story of King Saul. King Saul did not get involved with idolatry nor was he giving "worship" to other "gods". King Saul even observed all the festivals regarding the passover. Closely studying the account of King Saul you will notice that Saul became arrogant, selfish, he was impatient, would not listen, and proved to be irresponsible. Then on top of all this King Saul allowed himself to become jealous of David to the point of trying to hunt him down and murder him. These are the very qualities that Moses taught to avoid, although it takes deep study to be able to see this in the writings of Moses. Christianity and Judaism only point to 1 Samuel 13:9-14 and forget the rest regarding King Saul.

In 1 Samuel chapter 14, we can see that Jonathan was blessed to win the battle against the Philistines at that time. King Saul put a oath upon the people, verse 28, which proved to be a curse. Jonathan didn't hear the oath and he eats honey. After the battle the people are so exhausted that they darted, or pounced and plundered the cattle, and they ate the meat with the blood, instead of taking time to drain the blood out. King Saul turns around, puts the blame on the people, when in fact it was his responsibility, because he spoke out and put this ridiculous oath upon the people which caused the people to eat the blood along with the meat. The lesson is about taking responsibility for yourself and don't put the blame on others. We can see then King Saul "acted" righteous before the eyes of others by draining the blood from the animals, for the people, and setting up an alter. First time he ever set up an alter. This teaches the lesson regarding outward appearance, and acting before the eyes of others.

Chapter 29 gets even more interesting. We see that Samuel tells Saul to destroy the Amalekites because of what they did to the Israelites when traveling through the desert. Samuel told Saul to kill everyone and everything, the Hebrew on this denotes to "devote to destruction" So King Saul "acting according to what is good in his eyes" not only keeps the best of the flock but also the king. Everything that was good or of "Value" he kept which is a sign of greed. On top of all this Saul set up monument to "himself" in Carmel in verse 12. Saul was concerned for his own honer and glory, which points to the ego, selfishness and greed. Again Saul preformed an "outward appearance" by sacrificing the animals he "saved", thus Samuel aptly said in verse 22-23

"Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD ?
To obey is better than sacrifice,
and to heed is better than the fat of rams.

For rebellion is like the sin of divination,
and arrogance like the evil of idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the LORD,
he has rejected you as king."

Arrogance is like idolatry which breaks the second commandment.

Applying the lessons to our day, a person can go to church all they want, give to "charity", or even fast for a whole day. Do those behaviors mean anything? What can learn from what is taught?

A person that is manifesting the qualities mentioned above arrogance, selfishness, and greed, a person can not have a relationship with the Divine. A person that performs ritual worshiping activities-such as church-needs to understand that society has been doing this from day one, and that "sacrifice" does not mean a thing if the qualities in the likeness of the light are not manifested from the heart. When qualities are manifested; you will learn that you will not even need a church. Being focused upon oneself in the eye of others is a form of deception.

This whole world is being deceived including every religion. In the dogma of each religion, resides deep layers of falsehood. Every religion does attain some truth, very little truth, although each religion on this face of the earth teaches falsehood which is one of the foundations of the deception of the world.

A person can have a form of faith and spiritualtiy, but can prove false to its power; a lack of never changing "circumcising" the heart and transcending the ego-never being able to manifest the qualities of light and love in action and not just word.