Isaiah 1:10-15

Read Isaiah 1:10-15

"You rulers of Sodom...[y]ou people of Gomorrah..."

1) Recognize that this is a very serious indictment towards those who call themselves the people of God. These cities mentioned are well known and infamous for the behavior they exhibited. Their sin, indeed, let to their complete destruction from the face of the earth. And to such are they compared...to such are they equated.

2) Recall the words of verse 9, "unless the Lord of hosts had left to us a very small remnant, we would have become like Sodom...and Gomorrah." Is their sin any less severe? No! But by the grace and mercy of God are they spared the wrath of God which He visited upon those cities of old. It is not their more honorable behavior that has earned them their mercy, it has been solely the kindness of the Lord.

3) Just as the people of Judah are being called to taks most severely by Isaiah, being slapped in the face and presented with their sin, so do we need to be upfront with a lost world. Repentance cannot come without an understanding of a need for salvation...for from what are people saved? And so it is that Isaiah airs the dirty laundry of the nation; just as we must be willing to confront the reality of sin to our own world. Pastor Jim has rightly said that if all we do is try to reform the behavior of people without showing them the more important need they have of salvation, then all we have done is made people more comfortable on their way to hell. As C.H. Spurgeon said, if to hell they must go, let it be over our bodies as we strive to make known to them the only escape possible!

Notice now in verse 11 that Isaiah returns to speaking the Word of God to the people. The authority by which he brings words of judgment to the people is established by the phrase "says the Lord." It is no great joy for Isaiah to speak so harshly to the people. Indeed it is only His great love for the glory of God that compels him!

And so Isaiah now makes known to the people the great displeasure of God, in His own words! The Law as given by Moses has made clear what manner of sacrifices they are to observe; it has made clear the proper worship of the Holy One. And yet, in observing the letter of the Law, the people have forgotten the spirit of the Law. They have forgotten that the sacrifices were to be a manifestation of adoration and not some kind of ritual to appease God. They were not dealing here with petty and false gods like those of the people around them! No! They are the chosen people of the One True God, the Living God!

And from this Sovereign come the words of codemnation guaranteed to shame any of the people who still possess even a shred of their love for Him...

"To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me?"

"I have had enough of burn offerings of rams and the fat of fed cattle. I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats"

Again, what the people have done is make a mockery of what was to be worship and adoration. They have turned the act of loving God into a legalistic ritual! They have forgotten that the sacrifices were not the destination itself but only the road! What I mean by this is that all these things were to be acts of piety; they were tools to help them draw closer to their God...a symbolic act that mirrored the actuality. Instead, the symbol...the tool...the road...they became the entire focus! "Oh look at us" they may have thought! "Look how holy we are that we sacrifice to Jehovah!" And all the while they forgot that he wanted His voice obeyed rather than sacrifices (1 Samuel 15:22). And because of this their sacrifice became empty and useless, nay worthless! Rather than a sweet aroma it became a stench to God. This is what hypocrisy does.

Ultimately, the Lord is asking: what is the point? They cannot appease Him by offering Him sacrifices when their lives are lived in open rebellion against His Word!

But what about us? How do we compare? Is it not painful to ponder how often we've been the cause of a stench? Oh may God forgive us for the times our reverence has been born of something other than pure love of and delight in the Lord!

"When you come to appear before Me, who has required this from your hand, to trample My courts?"

So often the prophets have had to bring this question to the people on behalf of God! (see Malachi 1:6-8 & 3:8-10 as examples)

The question is a refutation of false worship! God certainly has not asked them to bring this mockery of worship! He certainly has not commanded them to trample His courts through their hypocrisy! Think about it: when we hear of a rogue cop, one who abuses his authority and even uses his position to break the law himself...why is this such a horror when it happens? Is it not because it brings dishonor to the authority he represents? Likewise, the false worshipper dishonors God.

So, yes, this very question serves to rebuke the one who would divorce true piety from sacrifice. For the one is an expression of the other!

Re: verses 13-14)

These verses drive home the point that mere ceremonial ritual without a true attitude of worship is hypocritical and false. It is a perversion of the purpose for which they were given. Notice, indeed, that the Lord hates their feasts, they trouble Him and He is tired of having to put up with them!

Re: verse 15)

"When you spead our your hands [when they pray in other words], I will hide My eyes from you"

The Lord hears the prayers of His people...but those who do not belong to Him have no special right to call upon Him in anything other than repentance! Here in the spreading of the hands we see another symbolic act of worship being turned into mere ritual. We see even that the constant use of prayer will not help them. Neither their false practice nor their lying words will move the heart of God because absent from all of this is a true love for God and for His majesty.

And so He tells them that their "hands are full of blood."

God may well be referring to some who have actual blood on their hands, but it also includes all those whom He is rebuking. The hands of bloodshed are manifested by those who would use their hands for the holy (again, the spreading of the hands) while also using them for what is an abomination. In other words, in their daily lives. Did they cheat their neighbor? Did they make money in an immoral manner? Whatever the case may be, it is clear that throughout this whole passage God has brought up the fact that all the sacrifices they bring are rejected because it is the total extent of their devotion to Him! In other words, they could live lives of immense immorality but thought that their sacrifices were sufficient proof of their holiness.