Hypocritical Worship - Isaiah 1:10-15

Isaiah 1:10-15

I.                    Vs. 10

a.       Sodom – Jerusalem is now spiritually the same as the city of Sodom.

                                                              i.      Jer. 23:14 – the prophets are immoral and have turned their back on God

                                                            ii.      Ez. 16:46ff – sister of Sodom and Samaria

                                                          iii.      Rev. 11:8 – Rom.(?) is compared to Egypt and Samaria for killing the prophets of God

b.      Gomorrah – parallelism to drive the point home

II.                 Vs. 11

a.       Our expectation about the sin of these cities is turned on its head. The outward sacrifices of those in Jerusalem is a central problem, but why?

                                                              i.      Sacrifice was intended to be an external display of an inward change.

                                                            ii.      Cf. Amos 5:21-24; Ps. 51; Hos. 6:6; Jer. 6:20

b.      In the ancient world, sacrifice was often used by people in a conditional way to control God. The thought went something like this: if I do this physical act, then a spiritual reality will occur, this spiritual reality will force God to act in a certain way (here forgiveness), which will then result in a physical reality.

c.       God is explicitly dealing with this conditional, and pagan, attitude towards sacrifice.  

d.      The details of sacrifice for God’s people before Christ come in Leviticus 1-7. Although sacrifice is dealt with in the covenant before this, it is dealt with in only a general way.    

                                                              i.      Sacrifice is intended to be a practice for dealing with the unintentional acts of sin (see Oswalt)

                                                            ii.      This type of sacrifice was never meant to be permanent, rather it was God’s way of using culture to reach His people

1.      God uses culture but changes it to meet people where they are at certain times

2.      When a cultural artifact no longer has use in bringing people close to God, or people abuse it by trying to control God, that artifact is abandoned.

                                                          iii.      Religious cultural artifacts can be a tool to knowing God, but they are not intended to replace the inner change God wants from His people

III.              Vs. 12

a.       To appear before Me – at this time the temple still held the Ark of the Covenant which had the Shekinah glory of God

b.      The people were supposed to have special access to God in the midst of Jerusalem, and yet they were neglecting their duties to justice and heartfelt worship

c.       What does it mean to trample God’s courts?

                                                              i.      Ex. 23:17 did require the men to appear before God three times a year

                                                            ii.      The trampling is in the hypocritical nature of their worship

d.      The hypocritical nature of the worship is in the fact of how people are being treated. Why does this treatment matter when it is not explicit? We must remember the reference to Sodom and Gomorrah where the primary sin was the mistreatment of strangers. If we abuse people who are vulnerable, even by neglect and callous uncaring, we are guilty of hypocritical worship if we engage in religious acts without changing our hearts and actions towards these realities.

IV.              Vs. 13

a.       The offerings continue to be useless to God. Although the last verse referred to the live animal offerings, this verse specifically mentions the dry offerings of incense and other gifts that would have been brought to the temple (cf. Mal. 1:10).

b.      Religious ritual and calendar are also condemned when only done to either control God or out of habit (cf. Num. 10:10 & 1 Chron. 23:31)

c.       Sabbaths referred to both the weekly observance and the special observance at festivals (Lev. 23:24-39).

d.      It seems no coincidence that the death of the Christ happens during the most important feast of all, Passover. The significance of inward and outward realities being changed by an obedient Messiah who was moved with compassion for the people should not be lost on us today.

V.                Vs. 14

a.       The very feasts and festivals God had set up to bring His people closer to Him are now a burden. 

b.      For some of us, it is not hard to imagine a holiday being a burden. Where once there was joy, there is now pain, friction, and division in families and relationships. In a similar way, God has been alienated from those He most wants to have a relationship with, but these same people only gather out of obligation or wanting something from God.

VI.              Vs. 15

a.       It was a regular practice to pray with hands lifted toward heaven (ex. 1 Kgs. 8:22), but God rejects the symbolism as fake.

b.      The prayers are now rejected because of hypocrisy (cf. Prov. 1:28; Jer. 7:16; Ezk. 8:18; Am. 5:23; Zech. 7:13).

c.       Intentionally, the hands of blood end this section on false worship.

                                                              i.      Sacrifice would have left the people’s hands covered in blood.

                                                            ii.      However, the blood God sees on the hands of these false worshippers is the hands of the innocent and abused.

                                                          iii.      It is this spiritual hypocrisy and reality which causes God to reject the prayers and religious affectations of these false worshippers.

Final thoughts:

1.      Culture, especially as relating to religious activity, can be a powerful force for good or evil. God chooses to use it at certain times when people are receptive to Him. However, when people try to use religious activity as a way to oblige God to act in certain towards them, that activity is rejected as false.

a.       In particular, the church is not the activities in which she engages in: Sunday attendance, tithing, prayer, preaching, etc.

b.      In order for our community and activities to be relevant to God we must:

                                                                                                                                      i.      Know God

                                                                                                                                    ii.      Treat other justly, looking out for the vulnerable

                                                                                                                                  iii.      Have inward change, hearts and wills changed by the Holy Spirit

2.      Reflection is a necessary part of spiritual change. In a culture filled with hurry and entertainment, this is an often-neglected step in modern worship.

3.      The Holy Spirit must be in our midst. There are times when individuals and churches were clearly under judgment in the New Testament, not unlike God turning His face away from temple worship (cf. 1 Cor 5:1ff; Jude 20-23; Matt. 18:15-17). Although it is not clear the Holy Spirit was removed from these people, if they were saved, it is also not clear that their lives were full of the Holy Spirit. Is this somewhat of a gray area? Probably, at least for me in that I am not exactly sure how all this works. The clarity comes not from reason, but from obedience to the Spirit.

4.      What sins am I ignoring that God considers a big deal while simultaneously focusing on other sin as if that was the point (re. – Sodom and Gomorrah in the passage)?

a.       Seeking justice must be a big deal to God’s people because it is a big deal to God.

b.      Justice must first come in the way I treat people.

c.       The church must be looking to care for those who are most vulnerable, not just in a reactionary way, but in a way central to our practices which flow from changed hearts and lives.

d.      How can the church seek justice if we are no different in terms of our consumption, desire for entertainment, or lack of compassion and reflection?