Is Ancestor Worship Right in the Eyes of God?

Who Are Ancestors and Why Do People Worship Them?

Ancestors are people who have passed away and those whom one is related to. It is common especially in South Africa that when people miss their family and relatives who passed away, they speak to them by sprinkling snuff on the altar usually by a tree in the yard which is encircled by bricks or at the ancestors grave. After having sprinkled the snuff, they talk to their ancestors calling out their name and asking for blessings.

The reason people worship their ancestors is that they believe that their ancestors have gained power after death and are wise especially if the family or relative was a senior citizen like a grandfather or a grandmother. They believe by worshiping them, their doors will open and everything will go well in their lives.  This is why they always urge others saying “you must respect your ancestors.”

Then, is snuff the only way that people worship their ancestors? Let us see.

How Do People Worship Their Ancestors?

Those who worship ancestors do not only do ancestral worship by sprinkling snuff, they also sometimes offer sacrifices to their ancestors before or after a significant event occurs. For example, if someone in the family is about to get married, before the wedding comes, a goat is slaughtered and its blood is poured on the altar as a means of asking for blessings from their ancestors.

If someone in the family passes away, usually 10 days after the burial a goat is slaughtered and its blood is poured on the altar and this time the name of the person who passed away is called and in this way that person also becomes an ancestor. After this ceremony is done, the skin of the goat is torn off and cut into wrist bands which the family wear till the skin tears itself off.

In other cases such as when a family member or relative cannot find a job, cannot find marriage, cannot have children, or if a child struggles to pass at school etc. Those who trust in their ancestors  go to consult with a sangoma that is a person who is believed to have the power to communicate with ancestors directly and the outcome is usually that the ancestors are not happy that is why things are not going well. Following this, the sangoma suggests that the family needs to do a ritual either by buying a chicken or a goat and slaughtering it, pouring out the blood on the altar and asking for forgiveness from the ancestors.

Whose Blood Must Be Poured Out to Grant Us Blessings and the Forgiveness of Sins?

Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace

Here it says “In him we have redemption.” Whom does “him” refer to? It refers to Jesus Christ. This shows us that through the blood of Jesus Christ, we can receive the forgiveness of sins.

Luke 22:20 In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.

As Christ’s blood is the only way for us to receive the forgiveness of sins, He said His blood is poured out for us. Let us confirm this fact again in the book of Matthew and Hebrews.

Matthew 26:28 This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

Hebrews 9:12 He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption.

Hebrews 10:4 It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

All the above verses confirm that it is God’s blood that was poured out that grants us the forgiveness of sins and eternal redemption.

Ancestor worship practices are highly common in South Africa and often when the people of the Church of God preach and encounter them, they immediately reject and say “I believe in my ancestors.” Then, the question is, does God approve of ancestral worship? Let us find out.

Is It Right in the Eyes of God to Worship Ancestors?

In order to find the answer to the above question, we need to know what commands God gave us regarding who we should worship and whom we should not worship.

Exodus 20:1-4 And God spoke all these words: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.

God made the first commandment to be “you shall have no other gods before me” and the second commandment to be “you shall not make an image in the form of anything. ”  God already warned us  that we must not worship any other god except Him and neither must we make an image. Is ancestor worship not breaking these two commands of God? It absolutely is.

Ancestor worship although it is made to look innocent as though it is just an act done when one misses their loved ones who passed away, it is in reality an act of breaking God’s first commandment by worshiping other gods and breaking God’s second commandment by making an image such as the animal skin wrist band for sacrifices. The fact that people rely on their ancestors asking them for blessings and protection shows that they consider their ancestors as “gods.”

Isaiah 8:19 When someone tells you to consult mediums and spiritists, who whisper and mutter, should not a people inquire of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living?

Does God approve of ancestor worship, that is the worship of the dead and asking blessings from them? Absolutely not! This is why God warned us not to consult mediums and spiritists. In South African terms these are sangomas. Why did God warn us not to consult them? It is because they are consulting the dead on behalf of those who are living. How can the dead do anything for those who are living? This is why God hates it when people go to the graveyard and worship their ancestors by the graves.

Isaiah 65:3-4 a people who continually provoke me to my very face, offering sacrifices in gardens and burning incense on altars of brick; who sit among the graves and spend their nights keeping secret vigil; who eat the flesh of pigs, and whose pots hold broth of impure meat…

God is provoked to anger when people offer sacrifices to ancestors whether on the altar or consulting them by the graves, God detests it. It is because God already warned us through the first commandment that since God is the only one who can save us, we must not worship other gods. In actuality, who are people worshiping when they worship ancestors even offering food sacrifices to them?

1 Corinthians 10:18-20 Consider the people of Israel: Do not those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar? Do I mean then that food sacrificed to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons.

When people offer food sacrifices on the altar to worship their ancestors, ultimately to whom are these sacrifices offered to? They are offered to demons. God does not receive those offerings neither do their ancestors receive those offerings but who receives them? It is the demons. The scary reality is that those who worship ancestors ultimately worship satan. This is why God said the following:

Deuteronomy 30:19 This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live

God gave us an option to choose between life and death. If we choose to keep God’s commandments such as the Passover, we will receive blessings. However, if we choose to keep the custom of ancestor worship, we will receive curses. Whom must we worship then?

Psalms 79:9 Help us, God our Savior, for the glory of your name; deliver us and forgive our sins for your name’s sake.

Only God is our Savior, the one who redeems our soul and grants us the forgiveness of sins. Therefore, we must worship God only and utterly reject idolatry.