Week 2: The Unwelcome Sacrifice

Isaiah 1:10-15 English Standard Version (ESV)

10 Hear the word of the Lord,
you rulers of Sodom!
Give ear to the teaching of our God,
you people of Gomorrah!11 “What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices?
says the Lord;
I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams
and the fat of well-fed beasts;
I do not delight in the blood of bulls,
or of lambs, or of goats.
12 “When you come to appear before me,
who has required of you
this trampling of my courts?
13 Bring no more vain offerings;
incense is an abomination to me.
New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations—
I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly.
14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts
my soul hates;
they have become a burden to me;
I am weary of bearing them.
15 When you spread out your hands,
I will hide my eyes from you;
even though you make many prayers,
I will not listen;
your hands are full of blood.



Christ himself spoke with similar conviction towards those who would reject the ones sent out by Him, saying the judgment of Sodom would be more bearable than the judgment of those who reject,being given words that were greater than those of Abraham or Moses.
And then to hear that God takes no delight in and wants nothing to do with the sacrifices of His people should have been a mighty blow to those whom Isaiah was addressing. He never asked for them for the joy in the blood or the burnt flesh. He was looking for obedience from love, not tradition. As Paul says to the Corinthians, we are but clanging gongs, we are nothing, and gain nothing without love. He wants the sacrifice of our love, for us to crawl upon the alter ourselves. The delight was not in the blood, but that we are willing and do our best to obey.
Appearing before Him gathered together on sacred days and with special feasts became burdensome. They were not for God, but for man to raised in the eyes of others. Therefore when called upon He looks and listens not. The hands full of blood is what happens when we offer sacrifice as a show. That blood is upon our hands because it was not done wanting to be purified in the eyes of God, but to look holy in the eyes of man.

Oh Lord, thank you that you still use these words of your prophet to speak to us today. I don't want that to be me, but I know that my heart resembles a hardened Judah more often than not. Please help me to avail myself of the blood you gave and not the blood of empty sacrifice.

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