Monday, December 28
Read Isaiah 1:10. Why do you think he was using the imagery of Sodom and Gomorrah? What point was the Lord making?
Read Isaiah 1:11-15. What is the Lord telling the people there? Why did the Lord reject the worship that His people were offering Him?
The same hands that offered sacrifices and were lifted up in prayer were “full of blood”; that is, guilty of violence and oppression of others (Isaiah 1:15; Isaiah 58:3, 4). By mistreating other members of the covenant community, they were showing contempt for the Protector of all Israelites. Sins against other people were sins against the Lord.
Of course, God Himself had instituted the ritual worship system (Leviticus 1-16) and designated the Jerusalem temple as the appropriate place for it (1 Kings 8:10, 11). But the rituals were intended to function within the context of the covenant God had made with these people. It was God’s covenant with Israel that made it possible for Him to dwell among them at the sanctuary/temple. So, rituals and prayers performed there were valid only if they expressed faithfulness to Him and His covenant. People who offered sacrifices without repenting from unjust actions toward other members of the covenant community were performing ritual lies. Thus, their sacrifices were not only invalid—they were sins! Their ritual actions said they were loyal, but their behavior proved they had broken the covenant.
Read Isaiah 1:16, 17. What is the Lord commanding that His people do? How do these verses, in this context, parallel what Jesus said in Matthew 23:23-28? What message can we find for ourselves today in these texts and in the context in which they are given?
