Worshipping Satan

​During the wilderness temptations, the devil said to Jesus as they looked out upon the nations of the earth, "All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me" (Matt 4:9). Now, that temptation seems ridiculous, right?  Why would Jesus worship Satan?  Explicit worshippers of Satan notwithstanding, who would ever think it's a good idea to worship the devil?

But the situation isn't that simple. Moses writes, "[The nations] stirred [Israel] to jealousy with strange gods; with abominations they provoked him to anger. They sacrificed to demons that were no gods, to gods they had never known, to new gods that had come recently, whom your fathers had never dreaded" (Deut. 32:16-17). This passage associates pagan gods with demons and warns God’s people not to be involved with idolatry. To worship false gods is to worship the devil and his demons. Paul takes up this idea in 1st Corinthians when discussing the sacrifices the pagans of his day made to false gods. "I imply what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons" (1 Cor. 10:20).

Worship of Satan and demons can be quite subtle. Any worship directed toward something other than the true God is akin to worshipping the devil.  When we take heed to voices in this world that run counter to what God's Word says, we are in danger of a sort of false worship, a worship of demons.

One way to think about this is to consider Luther's explanation to the first commandment.  He says, "We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things." Satan would rather you fear, love, and trust in anything other than God. Do you fear illness, your death, the death of a loved one, loneliness, persecution, or hard times more than God?  Do you love your family, pleasure, free time, money, or safety more than God?  Do you trust your politicians, doctor, financial planner, internet "wisdom", or yourself more than God?  Satan wants you put any or all of these above God, and in so doing deny the true God.  We all fall into such traps and succumb to such temptations. But unlike Satan's attitude toward us, we have a God who is loving, compassionate, and forgiving.  We have Jesus who did not worship the devil, but followed only the will of His Father. And Jesus forgives our false allegiances and false worship to all who turn to Him in repentance.  Thanks be to God.