The Stench of Unholy Smoke: The Hypocrite's Altar Text: Proverbs 21:27
Introduction: The Grammar of Worship
We live in an age that has forgotten the grammar of worship. Like a man who wants to write poetry but refuses to learn his letters, modern evangelicals want the feeling of worship without the substance of it. We have confounded praise and worship, thinking them to be synonyms. Praise is the adoration we offer to God, but worship is the obedient service we render to Him. Worship is the offering of ourselves as living sacrifices. Praise is what we do after we have first placed ourselves on the altar. As the Psalmist says, "praise is comely for the upright" (Ps. 33:1). It looks good on them. It does not look good on everyone else.
Our text today from Proverbs is a bucket of ice water thrown on the sentimental, praise-band driven, "it's all about what's in my heart" approach to God. It forces us to confront a terrifying possibility: that our acts of worship, the very things we do to draw near to God, might be the very things that drive Him away. It teaches us that it is possible to sing hymns and be a stench in God's nostrils. It is possible to put money in the plate and have God see it as a bribe. It is possible to come to church, to go through all the motions, and for the entire affair to be an abomination to the God we claim to serve.
This is not a popular message. We prefer to think that God is obligated to accept any religious token we toss in His direction, so long as we are "sincere." But sincerity is not the test. A man can be sincerely wrong. A man can sincerely believe he is honoring God while he is in fact insulting Him to His face. The Scriptures are clear: God sets the terms of worship. He defines what is holy and what is profane. He looks not just at the offering, but at the offerer. And when the worshiper is wicked, the worship itself becomes wicked. This proverb is a diagnostic tool. It is a spiritual MRI, designed to reveal the tumors of hypocrisy that can grow in the heart of any man, in any church, in any age.
We must understand that God does not grade on a curve. He is not interested in our religious play-acting. He desires truth in the inward parts. And this verse warns us, in the starkest possible terms, what happens when we try to substitute the smoke of sacrifice for the substance of obedience.
The Text
The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination,
How much more when he brings it with a wicked scheme!
(Proverbs 21:27 LSB)
An Abominable Offering (v. 27a)
The first clause lays down a foundational principle of true religion.
"The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination..." (Proverbs 21:27a)
The word "abomination" is a strong one. It is not simply "unpleasant" or "unacceptable." It is a word used for idolatry, for gross sexual immorality, for things that are utterly detestable and loathsome to God. And here, it is applied to a religious act. The sacrifice itself, the animal, the grain, the wine, might be formally correct according to the Levitical code. The ritual might be performed with precision. But God looks past the hand placing the offering on the altar and directly into the heart of the one who brought it.
Who are "the wicked"? In Proverbs, the wicked are not simply the irreligious. They are often profoundly religious. The wicked are those who refuse to "do judgment" (Prov. 21:7). They do not recognize any standard of justice or righteousness that stands outside of their own appetites. Their lives are governed by their lusts, their greed, and their pride. They live in active, unrepentant rebellion against the plain commands of God. And yet, they still bring their sacrifices.
Why would a wicked man bring a sacrifice? For the same reasons men have always engaged in false religion. He does it to quiet his conscience. He does it to maintain a respectable reputation in the community. He does it to bribe God, to treat the Almighty like a corrupt cosmic official who can be bought off with a few religious trinkets. He thinks he can live like the devil all week, then come to the temple on the Sabbath, offer a lamb, and wipe the slate clean, all without any intention of changing his ways. This is the essence of hypocrisy. It is an attempt to use God's own ordinances as a shield for sin.
The prophet Samuel confronted this very attitude in King Saul. Saul disobeyed a direct command from God but kept the best of the Amalekite livestock to "sacrifice to the LORD." Samuel's reply cuts to the heart of the matter: "Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams" (1 Samuel 15:22). God is not a celestial vending machine where we insert religious duties and get blessings in return. He is a holy Father who desires the loving obedience of His children. Without that, our worship is not just empty; it is offensive.
Compounding the Crime (v. 27b)
As if the first part were not severe enough, the proverb adds a layer of intensity. It gets worse.
"How much more when he brings it with a wicked scheme!" (Proverbs 21:27b)
The Hebrew here literally says "with a wicked purpose" or "in wickedness." This is not just a wicked man going through the motions. This is a wicked man who is actively weaponizing his worship. He is using his religious observance as a tool to accomplish some further evil. His sacrifice is not just a routine act of hypocrisy; it is a premeditated strategy.
Think of Absalom. When he was plotting his treasonous coup against his father, King David, what did he do? He went to David and said, "Please let me go and pay my vow which I have vowed to the LORD in Hebron" (2 Samuel 15:7). He used a public act of piety as a cover for sedition. His worship was a cloak for his rebellion. This is the height of profane audacity. It is using the things of God to advance the cause of Satan.
We see this in the Pharisees, who Christ condemned in the harshest terms. They made long prayers for a show, while at the same time they were devouring widows' houses (Mark 12:40). Their public piety was a marketing scheme for their private rapacity. They used their reputation for holiness to make them more effective predators.
In our own day, this principle is alive and well. The politician who wraps himself in the flag and quotes Scripture to get elected, while having no intention of governing according to God's law, is bringing a sacrifice with a wicked scheme. The businessman who makes a large, public donation to the church building fund to distract from his shady and exploitative business practices is bringing a sacrifice with a wicked scheme. The man who serves as an elder in the church to gain a platform of trust from which he can abuse others is bringing the most abominable sacrifice of all.
This is the ultimate perversion of worship. It is taking the very means God has appointed for communion with Him and turning it into an instrument of sin. It is a calculated, cynical, and blasphemous act. And God says it is an abomination squared.
The Only Acceptable Sacrifice
This proverb drives us to a crucial question. If the sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination, what then is an acceptable sacrifice? The Old Testament itself gives us the answer, pointing forward to the reality that would be fulfilled in Christ.
The sacrifices God desires are not ultimately bulls and goats. David, after his terrible sin with Bathsheba, understood this perfectly. He wrote, "For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You are not pleased with burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise" (Psalm 51:16-17).
The first and necessary sacrifice is the sacrifice of our pride. It is coming to God with nothing in our hands, confessing our wickedness, and admitting that all our righteous deeds are as filthy rags. It is the tax collector in the parable, beating his breast and saying, "God, be merciful to me, the sinner!" (Luke 18:13). That is the only posture in which any of us can begin to approach a holy God.
But even a broken heart is not enough to atone for sin. The Old Testament sacrificial system was always a pointer, a shadow of the one true sacrifice to come. Every lamb slain on a Jewish altar was a promissory note, a symbol pointing to the Lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world (John 1:29).
Jesus Christ is the only man who ever offered a truly acceptable sacrifice, because He is the only truly righteous worshiper. His entire life was an act of perfect obedience, a life laid on the altar. And on the cross, He, the sinless priest, offered Himself, the spotless lamb, to satisfy the wrath of a holy God against our sin. His was the one sacrifice that was not an abomination. It was a sweet-smelling aroma to the Father (Ephesians 5:2).
Conclusion: Worship in Spirit and Truth
So what does this mean for us, as we gather for worship on the Lord's Day? It means that our first act must be to cling to Christ. We do not dare to approach God on the basis of our own righteousness. We come clothed in the righteousness of Jesus. Our acceptance before God is based entirely on His perfect sacrifice, not our flawed ones.
When we come to worship, we must come with hearts that are prepared to obey. Our worship service itself follows the pattern of sacrifice. We are called into His presence. We confess our sins, acknowledging our unworthiness. We consecrate ourselves to Him, offering our bodies as living sacrifices, which is our spiritual worship (Romans 12:1). We have communion with Him at His table. And then we are commissioned to go out and live lives of obedience.
This proverb warns us against bifurcating our lives. We cannot have a sacred life on Sunday and a secular life the rest of the week. We cannot sing praises to God in this building and then go out and cheat on our taxes, slander our neighbor, or indulge in secret sin. To do so is to make our worship an abomination.
The call is to integrity. It is the call for our public worship and our private lives to be seamlessly integrated under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. It is the call to ensure that when we bring our sacrifice, the sacrifice of praise, the fruit of our lips, we are not doing so with a wicked scheme, but with a broken and contrite heart, trusting in the finished work of our Savior. For it is only in Him, and through Him, that our flawed and feeble worship can be made acceptable to a holy God.