Ancestor Worship

Definition

The practice (ceremonially or otherwise) of honor, veneration and worship of dead ancestors, either individually or collectively, in the belief that they are conscious in an invisible realm and can assist or hinder and are therefore to be kept appeased. A false practice.

Origin

Of non-Biblical origin. A pagan, heathenish practice.

Due Respect for Living Parents Proper

Deuteronomy 5:16 “Honor thy father and thy mother, as Jehovah thy God commanded thee; that thy days may be long, and that it may go well with thee, in the land which Jehovah thy God gives thee.”

Luke 18:18-20 “A certain ruler questioned him, saying: ‘Good Teacher, by doing what shall I inherit everlasting life?’ Jesus said to him:’…You know the commandments: “. . . Honor your father and mother.” ‘ “

Proverbs 23:22 “Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and de­spise not thy mother when she is old.”

Exodus 21:17 “And he that curses his father or his mother, shall surely be put to death.”

Also: Leviticus 20:9; Deuteronomy 27:16; Proverbs 1:8, 9; 19:26; 20:20; Jeremiah 35:6-8, 18; 1 Timothy 5:8.

Obedience to God Before That to Parents

Ephesians 6:1-4 “Children, be obe­dient to your parents in union with the Lord, for this is right­eous: ‘Honor your father and mother’; which is the first com­mand with a promise: ‘That it may go well with you and you may endure a long time on the earth.’ And you, fathers, do not be irritating your children, but go on bringing them up in the discipline and authoritative ad­vice of Jehovah.”

Acts 5:29 “We must obey God as ruler rather than men.”

Matthew 10:35 “I came to cause division, with a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a young wife against her mother-in-law.”

Matthew 19:29 “Everyone that has left… father or mother … for the sake of My name will receive many times more and will in­herit everlasting life.”

Ancestors Not Conscious, Unable to Help

Psalm 49:10, 17-19 “Wise men die; the fool and the brutish alike perish, and leave their wealth to others. For when he dies he shall carry nothing away; his glory shall not descend after him. Though while he lived he blessed his soul (and men praise thee, when thou doest well to thyself). He shall go to the generation of his fathers; they shall never see the light.”

John 3:13 “No man has as­cended into heaven but He that descended from heaven, the Son of man.”

Acts 2:29, 34 “It is allowable to speak with freeness of speech to you concerning the family head David, that he both deceased and was buried and his tomb is among us to this day. Actually David did not ascend to the heavens.”

Ecclesiastes 9:5, 10 “For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not anything,… for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in sheol [“the grave”], whither thou go.”

Job 14:1, 2, 21 “Man, that is born of a woman, is of few days, and full of trouble. He comes forth like a flower, and is cut down: he flees also as a shad­ow, and continues not. His sons come to honor, and he knows it not; and they are brought low, but he perceives it not of them.”

Condemned as Creature Worship

Romans 1:25 “Who exchanged the truth of God for the lie and venerated and rendered sacred service to the creation rather than the One who created, who is blessed forever.”

Matthew 10:37 “He that has greater affection for father or mother than for Me is not worthy of Me.”

Worship Due to Jehovah

Matthew 4:10 “For it is written, ‘It is Jehovah your God you must worship, and it is to Him alone you must render sacred service.’ “

John 4:23, 24 “The hour is coming, and it is now, when the genuine worshipers will worship the Father with spirit and truth, for, indeed, the Father is looking for such kind to worship Him. God is a Spirit, and those wor­shiping Him must worship with spirit and truth.

 

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