Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 1:10
Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.
10. rulers of Sodom people of Gomorrah ] Note the singularly effective transition from the last words of Isa 1:9. The word for “ruler” is the same as the Arabic kadi (found again in Isa 3:6, Isa 22:3) and means strictly “decider,” i.e. judge.
law of our God ] Parallel to word of the Lord, as in Isa 2:3. The reference is not to the Mosaic Law, but to the prophetic revelation which follows (cf. Isa 5:24, Isa 8:16, Isa 30:9). The word Trh (primarily “direction,” then “instruction” or “teaching”) was perhaps originally employed of the oral directions given by the priests on points of ritual or ethics (see esp. Hag 2:11; Jer 2:8; Jer 8:8; Jer 18:18; Eze 7:26); but is frequently used of the prophetic teaching (Jer 31:33; Isa 42:4, &c.). It appears always to denote religious instruction, even in such cases as Pro 1:8; Pro 3:1; Pro 13:14, &c. Of the Mosaic Law, Deu 1:5; Deu 4:8, and very often.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
10 17. “The false and the true way of seeking God’s favour” (Dillmann). The threatening aspect of public affairs had probably led to an unwonted display of zeal in the performance of the Temple ritual. Although the underlying thought of the people is that the bond between them and their God is maintained by sacrifice, &c., there is no reason to suppose that they are here conceived as consciously entering this plea in arrest of judgment. It is not till Isa 1:18 that Jehovah calls the nation to answer His indictment. It is to be noted that in these verses there is a progression from the cruder and more external to the more spiritual expressions of religious homage: sacrifice, solemn assemblies, prayer. This shews that what the prophet repudiates is not cultus as such, but the unholy combination of ritual worship with immoral conduct.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Hear the word of the Lord – The message of God. Having stated the calamities under which the nation was groaning, the prophet proceeds to address the rulers, and to state the cause of all these woes.
Ye rulers of Sodom – The incidental mention Sodom in the previous verse gives occasion for this beautiful transition, and abrupt and spirited address. Their character and destiny were almost like those of Sodom, and the prophet therefore openly addresses the rulers as being called to preside over a people like those in Sodom. There could have been no more severe or cutting reproof of their wickedness than to address them as resembling the people whom God overthrew for their enormous crimes.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Isa 1:10
Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom
The true prophet deals with the needs of the present
It is a very miserable thing for a preacher when he lives wholly either in the past or in the future, and so allows either the one or the other to divert him from the duty he owes to God in the present.
What is more pitiful, more unlike the idea of a true prophet, than to find one whose work is to preach to men of the twentieth century occupying his time in discoursing of the sins of the Jews centuries before Christ, or even of those sinners of Jerusalem who crucified the Lord, unless his first care be to warn them lest they fall after the same example of unbelief? And Isaiah would have done a very poor service to the Jews at that time if, instead of holding out to them light for their present guidance and wisdom to direct them in the emergencies of the terrible crisis through which they were passing, he had simply been forever inviting them to contemplate the glories of a future into which they would never enter. He was there to tell men what Gods will was in relation to themselves, to deal with their own difficulties, to answer the problems by which their hearts were agitated, to cheer them under the reverses by which they were disheartened, to rebuke them for the evil which was separating them from God, and warn them of the judgment which God would bring upon them; but, at the same time, to assure them of His infinite pity and compassion. (J. G. Rogers, B. A.)
Plain speaking
This is plain speaking; but God never sends velvet-tongued men as His messengers. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Corrupt rulers
The fish stinks first at the head. (Turkish proverb.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 10. Ye rulers of Sodom – “Ye princes of Sodom”] The incidental mention of Sodom and Gomorrah in the preceding verse suggested to the prophet this spirited address to the rulers and inhabitants of Jerusalem, under the character of princes of Sodom and people of Gomorrah. Two examples of a sort of elegant turn of the like kind may be observed in St. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, Ro 15:4-5; Ro 15:12-13. See Locke on the place; and see Isa 1:29; Isa 1:30, of this chapter, which gives another example of the same.
AND – like unto Gomorrah. – The vau is added by thirty-one of Kennicott’s MSS., twenty-nine of De Rossi’s and one, very ancient, of my own. See on Isa 1:6.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Hear the word of the Lord; I speak not my own fancies or passions, but the message of your Lord and Governor, to whom you owe all reverence and obedience.
Rulers of Sodom; so called for their resemblance of them in wickedness: compare Deu 32:32; Eze 16:46,48.
The law; or, doctrine, as this word is commonly used; the message which I am now to deliver to you from God, your great Lawgiver, which ought to have the force of a law, with you.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
10. Sodomspiritually (Gen 19:24;Jer 23:14; Eze 16:46;Rev 11:8).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom,…. Not literally, but mystically, meaning the governors of Judea; they and their people having sinned in like manner, and as openly, as the rulers of Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof; see Isa 3:9 and so the Targum paraphrases the words,
“receive the word of the Lord, ye governors, whose works are evil like the governors of Sodom.”
These are called to attend to the word of the Lord; either the Scriptures, which should be the rule of faith and practice, from which they had swerved; or to the word which now came to them by the prophet, and is contained in the following verses; or rather to the Gospel preached to them by John the Baptist, Christ, and his apostles, see Isa 2:3 which being rejected by them as it was, it is declared that it would be more tolerable for the land of Sodom, in the day of judgment, than for them, Mt 11:24
give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah; the inhabitants of Judea; for as were both the civil and ecclesiastical rulers, so were the people both in Isaiah’s time, and in the times of Christ and his apostles. The Targum is,
“hearken to the law of our God, ye people whose works are like to the people of Gomorrah.”
And by “the law of our God” is meant, not so much the law of Moses, which these people had not hearkened to, but had broken it, and cast it away from them, as the doctrine of the grace of God, the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is our God; which was first sent and preached to this wicked people, for the sake of the small remnant, according to the election of grace left among them; see Isa 2:3.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The prophet’s address has here reached a resting-place. The fact that it is divided at this point into two separate sections, is indicated in the text by the space left between Isa 1:9 and Isa 1:10. This mode of marking larger or smaller sections, either by leaving spaces of by breaking off the line, is older than the vowel points and accents, and rests upon a tradition of the highest antiquity (Hupfeld, Gram. p. 86ff.). The space is called pizka ; the section indicated by such a space, a closed parashah ( sethumah ); and the section indicated by breaking off the line, an open parashah ( petuchah ). The prophet stops as soon as he has affirmed, that nothing but the mercy of God has warded off from Israel the utter destruction which it so well deserved. He catches in spirit the remonstrances of his hearers. They would probably declare that the accusations which the prophet had brought against them were utterly groundless, and appeal to their scrupulous observance of the law of God. In reply to this self-vindication which he reads in the hearts of the accused, the prophet launches forth the accusations of God. In Isa 1:10, Isa 1:11, he commences thus: “Hear the word of Jehovah, ye Sodom judges; give ear to the law of our God, O Gomorrah nation! What is the multitude of your slain-offerings to me? saith Jehovah. I am satiated with whole offerings of rams, and the fat of stalled calves; and blood of bullocks and sheep and he-goats I do not like.” The second start in the prophet’s address commences, like the first, with “hear” and “give ear.” The summons to hear is addressed in this instances (as in the case of Isaiah’s contemporary Micah, Mic 3:1-12) to the kezinim (from kazah , decidere , from which comes the Arabic el – Kadi , the judge, with the substantive termination in: see Jeshurun, p. 212 ss.), i.e., to the men of decisive authority, the rulers in the broadest sense, and to the people subject to them. It was through the mercy of God that Jerusalem was in existence still, for Jerusalem was “spiritually Sodom,” as the Revelation (Rev 11:8) distinctly affirms of Jerusalem, with evident allusion to this passage of Isaiah. Pride, lust of the flesh, and unmerciful conduct, were the leading sins of Sodom, according to Eze 16:49; and of these, the rulers of Jerusalem, and the crowd that was subject to them and worthy of them, were equally guilty now. But they fancied that they could not possibly stand in such evil repute with God, inasmuch as they rendered outward satisfaction to the law. The prophet therefore called upon them to hear the law of the God of Israel, which he would announce to them: for the prophet was the appointed interpreter of the law, and prophecy the spirit of the law, and the prophetic institution the constant living presence of the true essence of the law bearing its own witness in Israel. “To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith Jehovah.” The prophet intentionally uses the word , not : this was the incessant appeal of God in relation to the spiritless, formal worship offered by the hypocritical, ceremonial righteousness of Israel (the future denoting continuous actions, which is ever at the same time both present and future). The multitude of zebachim , i.e., animal sacrifices, had no worth at all to Him. As the whole worship is summed up here in one single act, zebachim appears to denote the shelamim , peace-offerings (or better still, communion offerings), with which a meal was associated, after the style of a sacrificial festival, and Jehovah gave the worshipper a share in the sacrifice offered. It is better, however, to take zebachim as the general name for all the bleeding sacrifices, which are then subdivided into ‘oloth and C heleb , as consisting partly of whole offerings, or offerings the whole of which was placed upon the altar, though in separate pieces, and entirely consumed, and partly of those sacrifices in which only the fat was consumed upon the altar, namely the sin-offerings, trespass-offerings, and pre-eminently the shelamim offerings. Of the sacrificial animals mentioned, the bullocks ( parim ) and fed beasts ( m eri’im , fattened calves) are species of oxen ( bakar ); and the lambs ( C ebashim ) and he-goats ( atturim , young he-goats, as distinguished from se’ir , the old long-haired he-goat, the animal used as a sin-offering), together with the ram ( ayil , the customary whole offering of the high priest, of the tribe prince, and of the nation generally on all the high feast days), were species of the flock. The blood of these sacrificial animals – such, for example, as the young oxen, sheep, and he-goats – was thrown all round the altar in the case of the whole offering, the peace-offering, and the trespass-offering; in that of the sin-offering it was smeared upon the horns of the altar, poured out at the foot of the altar, and in some instances sprinkled upon the walls of the altar, or against the vessels of the inner sanctuary. Of such offerings as these Jehovah was weary, and He wanted no more (the two perfects denote that which long has been and still is: Ges. 126, 3); in fact, He never had desired anything of the kind.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| The Vanity of Mere Ritual Obedience. | B. C. 738. |
10 Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah. 11 To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats. 12 When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts? 13 Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. 14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them. 15 And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.
Here, I. God calls to them (but calls in vain) to hear his word, v. 10. 1. The title he gives them is very strange; You rulers of Sodom, and people of Gomorrah. This intimates what a righteous thing it would have been with God to make them like Sodom and Gomorrah in respect of ruin (v. 9), because that had made themselves like Sodom and Gomorrah in respect of sin. The men of Sodom were wicked, and sinners before the Lord exceedingly (Gen. xiii. 13), and so were the men of Judah. When the rulers were bad, no wonder the people were so. Vice overpowered virtue, for it had the rulers, the men of figure, on its side; and it out-polled it, for it had the people, the men of number, on its side. The streams being thus strong, no less a power than that of the Lord of hosts could secure a remnant, v. 9. The rulers are boldly attacked here by the prophet as rulers of Sodom; for he knew not how to give flattering titles. The tradition of the Jews is that for this he was impeached long after, and put to death, as having cursed the gods and spoken evil of the ruler of his people. 2. His demand upon them is very reasonable: “Hear the word of the Lord, and give ear to the law of our God; attend to that which God has to say to you, and let his word be a law to you.” The following declaration of dislike to their sacrifices would be a kind of new law to them, though really it was but an explication of the old law; but special regard is to be had to it, as is required to the like, Psa 50:7; Psa 50:8. “Hear this, and tremble; hear it, and take warning.”
II. He justly refuses to hear their prayers and accept their services, their sacrifices and burnt-offerings, the fat and blood of them (v. 11), their attendance in his courts (v. 12), their oblations, their incense, and their solemn assemblies (v. 13), their new moons and their appointed feasts (v. 14), their devoutest addresses (v. 15); they are all rejected, because their hands were full of blood. Now observe,
1. There are many who are strangers, nay, enemies, to the power of religion, and yet seem very zealous for the show and shadow and form of it. This sinful nation, this seed of evil-doers, these rulers of Sodom and people of Gomorrah, brought, not to the altars of false gods (they are not here charged with that), but to the altar of the God of Israel, sacrifices, a multitude of them, as many as the law required and rather more–not only peace-offerings, which they themselves had their share of, but burnt-offerings, which were wholly consumed to the honour of God; nor did they bring the torn, and lame, and sick, but fed beasts, and the fat of them, the best of the kind. They did not send others to offer their sacrifices for them, but came themselves to appear before God. They observed the instituted places (not in high places or groves, but in God’s own courts), and the instituted time, the new moons, and sabbaths, and appointed feasts, none of which they omitted. Nay, it should seem, they called extraordinary assemblies, and held solemn meetings for religious worship, besides those that God had appointed. Yet this was not all: they applied to God, not only with their ceremonial observances, but with the exercises of devotion. They prayed, prayed often, made many prayers, thinking they should be heard for their much speaking; nay, they were fervent and importunate in prayer, they spread forth their hands as men in earnest. Now we should have thought these, and, no doubt, they thought themselves, a pious religious people; and yet they were far from being so, for (1.) Their hearts were empty of true devotion. They came to appear before God (v. 12), to be seen before him (so the margin reads it); they rested in the outside of the duties; they looked no further than to be seen of men, and went no further than that which men see. (2.) Their hands were full of blood. They were guilty of murder, rapine, and oppression, under colour of law and justice. The people shed blood, and the rulers did not punish them for it; the rulers shed blood, and the people were aiding and abetting, as the elders of Jezreel were to Jezebel in shedding Naboth’s blood. Malice is heart-murder in the account of God; he that hates his brother in his heart has, in effect, his hands full of blood.
2. When sinners are under the judgments of God they will more easily be brought to fly to their devotions than to forsake their sins and reform their lives. Their country was now desolate, and their cities were burnt (v. 7), which awakened them to bring their sacrifices and offerings to God more constantly than they had done, as if they would bribe God Almighty to remove the punishment and give them leave to go on in the sin. When he slew them, then they sought him, Ps. lxxviii. 34. Lord, in trouble have they visited thee, ch. xxvi. 16. Many that will readily part with their sacrifices will not be persuaded to part with their sins.
3. The most pompous and costly devotions of wicked people, without a thorough reformation of the heart and life, are so far from being acceptable to God that really they are an abomination to him. It is here shown in a great variety of expressions that to obey is better than sacrifice; nay, that sacrifice, without obedience, is a jest, an affront and provocation to God. The comparative neglect which God here expresses of ceremonial observance was a tacit intimation of what they would come to at last, when they would all be done away by the death of Christ. What was now made little of would in due time be made nothing of. “Sacrifice and offering, and prayer made in the virtue of them, thou wouldest not; then said I, Lo, I come.” Their sacrifices are here represented,
(1.) As fruitless and insignificant; To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices? v. 11. They are vain oblations, v. 13. In vain do they worship me, Matt. xv. 9. Their attention to God’s institutions was all lost labour, and served not to answer any good intention; for, [1.] It was not looked upon as any act of duty or obedience to God: Who has required these things at your hands? v. 12. Not that God disowns his institutions, or refuses to stand by his own warrants; but in what they did they had not an eye to him that required it, nor indeed did he require it of those whose hands were full of blood and who continued impenitent. [2.] It did not recommend them to God’s favour. He delighted not in the blood of their sacrifices, for he did not look upon himself as honoured by it. [3.] It would not obtain any relief for them. They pray, but God will not hear, because they regard iniquity (Ps. lxvi. 18); he will not deliver them, for, though they make many prayers, none of them come from an upright heart. All their religious service turned to no account to them. Nay,
(2.) As odious and offensive. God did not only not accept them, but he did detest and abhor them. “They are your sacrifices, they are none of mine; I am full of them, even surfeited with them.” He needed them not (Ps. l. 10), did not desire them, had had enough of them, and more than enough. Their coming into his courts he calls treading them, or trampling upon them; their very attendance on his ordinances was construed into a contempt of them. Their incense, though ever so fragrant, was an abomination to him, for it was burnt in hypocrisy and with an ill design. Their solemn assemblies he could not away with, could not see them with any patience, nor bear the affront they gave him. The solemn meeting is iniquity; though the thing itself was not, yet, as they managed it, it became so. It is a vexation (so some read it), a provocation, to God, to have ordinances thus prostituted, not only by wicked people, but to wicked purposes: “My soul hates them; they are a trouble to me, a burden, an incumbrance; I am perfectly sick of them, and weary of bearing them.” God is never weary of hearing the prayers of the upright, but soon weary of the costly sacrifices of the wicked. He hides his eyes from their prayers, as that which he has an aversion to and is angry at. All this is to show, [1.] That sin is very hateful to God, so hateful that it makes even men’s prayers and their religious services hateful to him. [2.] That dissembled piety is double iniquity. Hypocrisy in religion is of all things most abominable to the God of heaven. Jerome applies the passage to the Jews in Christ’s time, who pretended a great zeal for the law and the temple, but made themselves and all their services abominable to God by filling their hands with the blood of Christ and his apostles, and so filling up the measure of their iniquities.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Va. 10-15: THE EMPTINESS OF MERE RELIGIOUS EXERCISES
1. Addressing her rulers as “Sodom”, and her people as “Gomorrah”, the prophet pleads with the nation to “Hear the word of the Lord” and “Listen to the teaching of our God”! (Verse 10)
a. This suggests that their wickedness is very great, (Isa 3:9; Eze 16:46-51).
b. It implies that the judgment awaiting them will be very severe, (Amo 4:11).
c. How vitally important, therefore, that they “Hear (give heed to) the word of the Lord”! (Isa 8:20; Isa 28:14-15).
2. How can one expect to profit from a flurry of pious religious activity, if his heart is not in it? (Jer 6:19-20).
a. The Lord is “fed up” with their burnt offerings, without obedience, (Verse 11; Amo 5:21-24).
b. And He takes no pleasure in the multitude of their blood sacrifices so long as the attitude of their hearts is not right toward Him, (Mal 1:10; Mic 6:6-8).
3. Who has deceived them into believing they can profit by such defilement of His courts with their unholy feet? (Jer 7:9-10; Jer 7:21-26).
4. They must not appear before Him again with such vanity, (Verse 13; Isa 66:3-4).
a. Their burning of incense is abominable to Him; their celebration of the monthly and yearly feasts are such a wearying grief that He cannot continue to endure, (Verse 14). ,
b. He will, henceforth, close his eyes and stop His ears when their blood-stained hands are lifted toward Him in prayer! (Verse 15; Deu 31:16-18; Mic 3:4; Jer 14:12; Isa 59:1-2).
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
10. Hear the word of the Lord He confirms what he had formerly said, that the Lord’s vengeance is not cruel; because they deserved far more severe punishment. For although there was a difference between them and the inhabitants of Sodom as to punishment, yet their guilt was the same; so that equal punishment might have been inflicted, if the Lord had not spared them. It amounts to this, that, if they have received milder treatment, it is not because they have sinned less heinously than the inhabitants of Sodom, but it must be ascribed to the mercy of God.
When he gives to the rulers the name of Sodom, and distinguishes the people by the name of Gomorrah, this does not point out that there is a difference, but rather that their condition is alike. But by repeating the same thing twice, the diversity of the names lends additional elegance; as if he had said, that there is no greater difference between the rulers and the people than there is between Sodom and Gomorrah. There is, no doubt, an allusion to the various ranks of men, by assigning to them, separately, as it were, two cities; but as Sodom and Gomorrah mean the same thing, we perceive that he throws them, as it were, into one bundle. In short, the meaning is, “If any one shall form an opinion about the people and the rulers, he will find that there is as close a resemblance between them as between Sodom and Gomorrah, or between one egg and another; for no one part is more sound than any other part.”
The Prophet begins with stripping the Jews of their disguises, and justly; for while all hypocrites are accustomed to employ strange coverings for concealing themselves from view, that nation was particularly addicted to this vice, and on no subject did the prophets contend with them more keenly or fiercely. Along with their vaunting about pretended holiness pride also reigned, and they boasted of the grandeur and excellency of their nation as much as of ceremonies and outward worship. So much the more were they offended at the great harshness with which Isaiah addressed them. But it was necessary to drag their wickedness from their lurking places, and therefore the more haughty their demeanour, the greater is the vehemence with which the Prophet thunders against them. In the same manner ought we to deal with all hypocrites.
The word of the Lord The Prophet takes the word and the law for the same thing; and yet I fully believe that he purposely employed the term law, in order to glance at their absurd opinion; because, by imagining that the offering of sacrifices, unaccompanied by faith and repentance, can appease God, they put an absurd interpretation on the law. By these words he reminded them that, by quoting Moses to them, he introduces nothing new and makes no addition to the law; that it is only necessary for them to hear what the will of God is; and that on this subject he will faithfully instruct them. Lest they should suppose that, by an unfounded belief of their own righteousness, they can deceive God, he likewise reminds them that the law gives no countenance to them in this matter.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
THE SUMMONS TO JERUSALEM
Isa. 1:10. Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.
The prophet being about to make a still more terrible announcement, puts forth a renewed call for attention. It is well worthy of our study. We find in it
I. A STARTLING DESCRIPTION. Rulers of Sodom, people of Gomorrah. What an astonishing declaration is this, that Sodom, Gomorrah, and Jerusalem are synonymous terms! It reminds us
1. That men may be morally alike to those from whom they think themselves the furthest removed. Many a Protestant who hates the very name of Rome is himself a little Pope: he never doubts his own infallibility, and is ready to anathematise all who dare to dissent from him. Many a man who has never stood in the felons dock is a thief at heart [243] The people of Jerusalem were ready to thank God that they were not as Sodom and Gomorrah, whereas they really resembled the people they despised. For, like the inhabitants of those guilty cities, they had been living
(1) In habitual self-indulgence. Self-indulgence may vary in its forms, but in its essential nature it is ever the same. The inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah had pandered to the lusts of the body, the inhabitants of Jerusalem to the lusts of the mind (see Isa. 1:17; Isa. 1:23; Isa. 3:16, &c.)
(2) In habitual defiance of God. The sins of which they were guilty were as plainly condemned in Gods Word as were those by which the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah polluted themselves. All sin is rebellion against God [246] and the manner in which we sin is comparatively unimportant (Jas. 2:10). If we rebel against God, it does not matter much with what weapons we fight against Him.
2. That men may be utterly unconscious of their own real character. Self-delusion as to character is almost universal. Man can live in the practice of gross sin without any compunction of conscience. Laodicea and the foul criminal David are at peace until the rebukes of God begin to crash like thunders over their heads (Rev. 3:17; 2Sa. 12:7). As such delusion is most common, so also it is most disastrous. It renders reform impossible. It sends men blindfolded into eternity to the most appalling surprises [249] The remedy for it is earnest, searching, prayerful self-examination, conducted in the light of Gods Word [252]
3. That God describes men according to their essential character. He does not take men according to their own estimates of their character and conduct, and ticket them accordingly. His description of men is often precisely the opposite of that which they would give of themselves, and even of what men would give of them. His neighbours as well as himself would doubtless have described the prosperous farmer (Luk. 12:16) as a shrewd and wise man, but God pronounced him to be a fool. So here, these men who prided themselves that they were rulers of Jerusalem, the holy city, were declared to be rulers of Sodom, the vilest of cities. Are we quite sure that God describes us as we have been accustomed to describe ourselves?
[243] To us there seems a wide difference between the judge, with the robes of office on his back, mind in his eye, and dignity in his mien, and that poor, pale, haggard wretch at the bar, who throws stealthy glances around, and hangs his head with shame. Yet the difference that looks so great to man may be very small in the eyes of God; and would look small in ours if we knew the different upbringing and history of both. The judge never knew what it was to want a meal; the felon often went cold and hungry to bed. The one, sprung of wise, kind, reputable, and perhaps pious parents, was early trained to good, and launched, with all the advantages of school and college, on an honourable and high career; while the other, bred up a stranger to the amenities of cultivated and Christian society, had no such advantages. Born to misery, his struggles with misfortune and evil began at the cradle. None ever took him by the hand to lead him to church or school. A child of poverty, and the offspring of abandoned parents, he was taught no lessons but how to swear, and lie, and drink, and cheat, and steal. The fact is, it is just as difficult for some to be honest as it is easy for others. What merit has that judge in his honesty? None. He had no temptation to be else than honest. And so, I suspect, much of the morality of that unblemished character and decent life in which many trust, saying to some poor guilty thing, Stand aside, I am holier than thou, and pluming themselves on this, that they have not sinned as others have doneis due, less to their superior virtue, than to their more favourable circumstances. Have they not sinned as others have done? I reply, They have not been tempted as others have been. And so the difference between many honest men and decent women on the one hand, and those on the other hand on whom a brand of infamy has been burned, and the key of a prison turned, may be just the difference between the green branch on the tree and the white ashes on the hearth. This is bathed in the dews of night and fanned by the breath of heaven, while that, once as green, has been thrust into the burning firethe one has been tried in a way that the other has not.Guthrie.
[246] As every sin is a violation of a law, so every violation of a law reflects upon the lawmaker. It is the same offence to coin a penny and a piece; the same to counterfeit the seal of a subpna, as of a pardon. The second table was writ by the hand of God as well as the first, and the majesty of God, as He is the lawgiver, is wounded in an adultery and a theft as well as in an idolatry or a blasphemy.Donne, 15731631.
[249] Is there anything more terrible than a false confidence? It is an awful thing to wake up and find that what we have been trusting in is rotten. To embark gaily in a ship that on mid-ocean proves to be worm-eaten and leaky; for a man who believed himself to be wealthy to receive tidings that the failure of a bank has made him a beggar; for a sick man rejoicing in the cessation of his pain to be told by his physician that that is due only to the setting in of mortification that precedes death;what horrible disappointments are these! But what poor and faint images they furnish of the horror of that man who lives in a state of delusion as to his spiritual condition, who dies in peace, imagining falsely that he is Christs, and who, when he has traversed the valley of the shadow of deathwhen he has reached that point from which there is no return, finds that the doors of heaven are shut against him, discovers that he is shrouded by thick darkness, and begins to feel the fires of hell kindling upon him! Can you picture to yourself his astonishment, his terror, his despair? Do not tell me that such a case is not conceivableChrist declares that such cases are frequent (Mat. 7:21-25).
[252] Examine yourselves: a metaphor from metal, that is pierced through to see if it be gold within. Self-examination is a spiritual inquisition set up in ones soul: a man must search his heart for sin as one would search a house for a traitor: or as Israel sought for leaven to burn it.Watson, 1696.
This duty of examining and proving supposes that there is some sure standard, which if we go by, we are sure not to be deceived. Now that rule is the Word of God. But as in matters of doctrine men have left the Scripture, the sure rule, and taken up antiquity, universality, tradition, and the like for their pride, and by this means have fallen into the ditch; so in matters of godliness, when we should try ourselves according to the characters and signs that the Scripture deciphers, we take up principles in the world, the applause of others, the conversation of most in the world. And thus it is with us as men in an hospital, because every one is either wounded or lame, or some way diseased, therefore none are offensive to each other.Burgess.
Men compare themselves with men, and readily with the worst, and flatter themselves with that comparative betterness. This is not the way to see spots, to look into the muddy streams of profane mens lives; but look into the clear fountain of the Word, and there we may both discern and wash them; and consider the infinite holiness of God, and this will humble us to the dust.Leighton, 16111684.
II. A SOLEMN SUMMONS. Hear the word of the Lord; give ear unto the law of our God. What is the law to which attention is thus emphatically called? It is the great truth announced in the following verses (1115), that worship offered by ungodly men is not only without value, but is positively hateful in the sight of God. The most flaming zeal concerning the externals of religion is often found in men of unholy life [255] Judas was evidently so zealous in such matters as completely to delude his fellow-disciples: even when Christ announced that there was a traitor in their midst, no suspicion turned towards him; the eleven were more ready to suspect themselves than him (Mat. 26:21). Attention to the externals of religion is in itself a good thing; but unless it be conjoined with integrity and benevolence, it will secure for us at the last not the commendation but the condemnation of the Judge (Mat. 23:23).
[255] Fruit-trees that bring forth the fairest and most beautiful blossoms, leaves, and shoots, usually bring forth the fewest and least fruits; because where nature is intent and vigorously pressing to do one work, spending its strength there, it is at the same time weak about other works; but distinct and several works of nature, in moderate and remiss degree, are all promoted at the same time. Generally those persons who are excessive and most curious about the forms of duties, have least of the power of godliness. The Pharisees were excessively careful about the outside of Gods worship. So it was among us of late years; bowing at the name of Jesus, the communion-table, surplice, common prayer, &c.,those and suchlike were pressed with all eagerness and strictness. The body of religion was large and monstrous, but without a soul; or, if any, it was lean and feeble. These persons are like the Indian fig-tree that Pliny speaks of, which had leaves as broad as targets, but fruits no bigger than a bean. This is a foul fault among us at this day: men stand more about the forms of worship than about the power of it: they look so much after the way, manner, and circumstances that they almost lose the substance; things which are but as husks or shells to the kernels, or as leaves in respect of fruits.Austen, 1656.
Many are set upon excess of ceremonies, because they are defective in the vital parts, and should have no religion if they had not this. All sober Christians are friends to outward decency and order; but it is the empty self-deceiver that is most for the unwarrantable inventions of man, and useth the worship of God but as a masque or puppet-show, where there are great doings with little life, and to little purpose. The chastest woman will wash her face; but it is the harlot, or wanton, or deformed, that will paint it. The soberest and the comeliest will avoid a nasty or ridiculous habit, which may make them seem uncomely where they are not; but a curious dress and excessive care doth signify a crooked or deformed body, or a filthy skin, or, which is worst, an empty soul, that hath need of such a covering. Consciousness of such greater want doth cause them to seek those poor supplies. The gaudiness of mens religion is not the best sign that it is sincere. Simplicity is the ordinary attendant of sincerity. It hath long been a proverb, The more ceremony, the less substance; and the more compliment, the more craft.Baxter, 16151691.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
b. JEHOVAH’S CORRECTION
TEXT: Isa. 1:10-17
10
Hear the word of Jehovah, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.
11
What unto me is the multitude of your sacrifices? saith Jehovah: I have had enough of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he-goats.
12
When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to trample my courts?
13
Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; new moon and sabbath, the calling of assemblies,I cannot away with; it is iniquity and the solemn meeting.
14
Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth; they are a trouble unto me; I am weary of bearing them.
15
And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you; yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.
16
Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;
17
Learn to do well; seek justice, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.
QUERIES
a.
Is God here contradicting His commandments to make sacrifices?
b.
Does God really refuse to hear anyones prayer?
c.
How were the people to wash themselves clean?
PARAPHRASE
An apt comparison! Listen, you leaders of Israel, you men of Sodom and Gomorrah, as I call you now. Listen to the Lord. Hear what he is telling you! I am sick of your sacrifices. Dont bring Me any more of them. I dont want your fat rams; I dont want to see the blood from your offerings. Who wants your sacrifices when you have no sorrow for your sins? The incense you bring Me is a stench in my nostrils. Your holy celebrations of the new moon and sabbath, and your special days for fastingeven your most pious meetingsall are frauds! I want nothing more to do with them. I hate them all; I cant stand the sight of them.
From now on, when you pray with your hands stretched out to heaven, I wont look or listen. Even though you make many prayers, I will not hear, for your hands are those of murderers; they are covered with the blood of your innocent victims.
O, wash yourselves! Be clean! Let Me no longer see you doing all these wicked things; quit your evil ways. Learn to do good, to be fair and to help the poor, the fatherless and widows.
COMMENTS
Isa. 1:10 THE CALL TO CONSIDER: Be still and give attention for it is Jehovah who speaks. One does not truly hear Gods Word unless he obeys that word (Cf. Jas. 1:22). Until a person is in an attitude of willingness to do the Lords will, he cannot know it (Cf. Joh. 17:17). If one does not obey, it is as though he had not even heard.
Isa. 1:11-15 THE FALSE APPROACH: Sacrifices without their heart in them. Sacrifices without faith in the One (God) to whom they were supposedly being offered. Ceremony without obedience (Cf. 1Sa. 15:22; Jer. 6:16-20; Amo. 5:21-24). To worship without doing Gods commandments in the rest of life is no true worship, and any ritual of worship without faith is a hollow mockery. All that is done in a religious way if it is not accompanied with faith in the Person of God is vain and offensive to God (Cf. Mat. 15:1-20; Mar. 7:1-23). Without faith it is impossible to please God! And, of course, worshipping Him in violation of any expressed commandment is to make void the Word of God. Worship and sacrifice and solemn assembly, without faith, becomes a weariness to Godit vexes His innermost soulit disgusts Him. Who required of them such a steady stream of traffic in faithless sacrifices? Not God! They willfully forced these rituals upon Him. He loathed them. Their worship and their living were incongruousthey did not go togetherbecause iniquity and solemn assembly are totally incompatible. God was fed up with them, sick of them, tired of them and would spew them out of His mouth (Cf. Rev. 3:16). They were there in bodily presence but their hearts were far from Him. This is totally unacceptable to God. Goodness, love and faith begins in the mind and heartthis is what God wants!
Isa. 1:16-17 THE TRUE APPROACH: Get your heart right! Wash, cleanse, repent! The O.T. abounds in the use of the figure of washing to refer to repentance (Cf. Psa. 51:2; Psa. 51:7; Jer. 4:14; Eze. 36:24-26; Zec. 13:1). Repentance is the condition which God demands in order to work His cleansing in man, (Cf. 1Pe. 1:22-23). Repentance is: ceasing to do evillearning (become skilled in) to do well. Doing well is: being just and seeing that justice is given; correcting and chastening the oppressor; championing the orphans cause and that of the widow. God cannot even be approached by man unless man is in an attitude of repentance (change of mind). Wm. Chamberlain, in his book, The Meaning Of Repentance, defines repentance: A pilgrimage from the mind of the flesh to the mind of Christ. Repentance is surrender; a change of thinking, willing, acting; a life directed toward the will of God as revealed in His Word.
QUIZ
1.
When does one hear the Word of God?
2.
Why is worship without faith unacceptable to God?
3.
What is Gods attitude toward faithless sacrifice?
4.
Why must worship and manner of life go together?
5.
When does God cleanse us?
6.
What is repentance?
7.
How is repentance manifested in ones life?
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(10) Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom.The Hebrew text, by leaving a space between the two verses, indicates the beginning of a new section. It is noticeable that the prophet does not address the king. It may be that he trusted him, but not his ministers. We have to remember that the rulers (better, judges; same word as kadi) thus addressed were probably those who were outwardly active in Hezekiahs work of reformation, or had taken part in the older routine worship under Uzziah. For princes and people alike that reformation was but superficial. The priestly writer of the Book of Chronicles might dwell only on the apparent good in either reign (2Ch. 27:2; 2 Chronicles 29-31); but the eye of Isaiah saw below the surface. In the word of the Lord, and the law of our God, we have two different aspects of the revelation of the Divine will, the first being the prophetic message of the prophet, the second pointing primarily, perhaps, to the law given by Moses, but including also, as in Psa. 19:7; Psa. 119:1; Isa. 42:4; Isa. 42:24; Isa. 51:7, all forms of direct ethical teaching, especially, perhaps, such as were actually based upon the law or Torah as a text.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
10, 11. The appeal, continued from Isa 1:10-20, rather supposes the prophet to observe that the people are conscious of their delinquencies, and that to make up for them, they make an extravagant show of ceremonial devotion. Hence this abrupt chiding.
Ye rulers of Sodom Gomorrah The prophet had already said, that but for God’s mercy the nation would have been in condition like to those vile cities utterly destroyed; now he says, they are positively like to them in character.
To what purpose Denoting unacceptableness and valuelessness, because of the insincerity of the offerers.
I am full Have had enough of them.
Burnt offerings of rams Rams, bullocks, lambs, goats, were of-feted on festivals of new moon, passover, feast of weeks, feast of trumpets, day of atonement, and feast of tabernacles, the first three as “burnt offerings,” (Num 28:13; Num 28:24,) the last as a sin offering. Num 28:15; Num 28:22.
Moses instituted Jehovah-worship on the new moon to extinguish heathen superstitions on that occasion among his people. The feast of the new moon was the moon of Tisri, our October, the opening of the civil year, announced by the blowing of silver trumpets and other ceremonies.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
What God Has Against His People ( Isa 1:10-15 ). God’s Hatred of Any Outward Religion Which Is Not Matched By Inner Response.
In these verses Isaiah stresses that there is little benefit in continuing with outward forms of religion unless they also respond to its inner demands.
Analysis.
a Hear the word of Yahweh, you rulers of Sodom. Give ear to the instruction of our God, you people of Gomorrah (Isa 1:10).
b “To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to me?” Says Yahweh. “I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts” (Isa 1:11 a).
c “And I do not delight in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he-goats” (Isa 1:11 b).
d “When you come to appear before me, who has required this from you (‘at your hand’), to trample my courts?” (Isa 1:12).
e “Do not bring vain oblations any more” (Isa 1:13 a).
e “Incense is an abomination to me” (Isa 1:13 b).
d “New moon and sabbath, the calling of assemblies. I cannot endure iniquity and the solemn meeting” (Isa 1:13 c)
c “Your new moons and your appointed feasts, my soul hates” (Isa 1:14 a).
b “They are a trouble to me, I am weary to bear them. And when you spread forth your hands, I will hide my eyes from you” (Isa 1:14-15 a).
a Yes, when you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood.” (Isa 1:15 b).
This again from Isa 1:10-15 presents us with a chiasmus, with their description as Sodom and Gomorrah paralleling their not hearing and their hands being filled with blood (10 with 15b); their offerings in which He has no delight being paralleled with the feasts that He cannot abide (Isa 1:11 with Isa 1:14); their trampling of His courts being paralleled by the iniquity and the solemn meeting (Isa 1:12 with Isa 1:13 c), and the vain oblations being compared with the offering of incense unacceptably (Isa 1:13 a with Isa 1:13 b).
Isa 1:10
‘Hear the word of Yahweh, you rulers of Sodom.
Give ear to the instruction of our God, you people of Gomorrah.’
‘Hear the word of Yahweh.’ Both rulers and people are called on to hear what Yahweh has to say. Taking the idea up from Isa 1:9 they are spoken of vividly as being like rulers of Sodom and like people of Gomorrah, cities renowned for their wickedness, cities which had already experienced judgment long before and had been totally wiped out (Genesis 19). There is an indication here of how God saw Jerusalem and Judah, and an implied threat as a result. If the rulers and the people do not hear, and if they continue to behave in the way that they do, they too will be utterly wiped out. Like all His judgments, this judgment is a morally based judgment. Its purpose is to win them back to the covenant. But if they will not hear, then destruction, similar to that which was inflicted on Sodom and Gomorrah, can only await them.
Other nations saw their gods as fickle and unreliable, acting on a whim or a preference, their behaviour totally unpredictable and thus requiring that they be manipulated or bribed. None of them saw their gods as deeply concerned about the morality of their people. But the prophets revealed that Yahweh, the true God was not like them. His behaviour towards His people was always morally based and consistent, and had only in mind the triumph of goodness and the people’s final good. It stressed that only if they were morally true could God truly accept them as His people. That was to be their destiny, whatever refining fires would be required to make them so. And it also stressed that because He was holy He would have to eradicate sin and wickedness, and that that required, and would always result in, judgment unless they repented and became truly reconciled to Him.
Isa 1:11-13
“To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to me?”
Says Yahweh.
“I am full of the burnt offerings of rams,
And the fat of fed beasts,
And I do not delight in the blood of bullocks,
Or of lambs, or of he-goats.
When you come to appear before me,
Who has required this from you (‘at your hand’),
To trample my courts?
Do not bring vain oblations any more,
Incense is an abomination to me,
New moon and sabbath, the calling of assemblies.
I cannot endure iniquity and the solemn meeting.”
God declared that He now received no pleasure from their sacrifices and offerings. They were meaningless to Him, and unacceptable. He had had enough of them. This is not an indictment of the sacrificial system and feasts of Israel, but of its total present misuse. Samuel had said to Saul in a similar situation, “Has Yahweh as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as obeying the voice of Yahweh? Behold to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams” (1Sa 15:22), and Saul’s failure had resulted in his final rejection by God.
Thus God is here stressing that without moral response and behaviour, without love for Him and obedience to His laws, all religious ordinances are in vain. Such do not work automatically. He is the God of the covenant, and within that covenant the offerings and sacrifices are ways of finding mercy and propitiation for sin in both personal and public responses towards God, and the feasts are a means of fellowship with God. But without responsive obedience to the covenant they are worthless. The God of the covenant demands full response to the covenant, and that includes primarily trust in Him and obedience to His requirements for living. Then the remainder too is acceptable and will achieve its purpose. But without that it is all nothing
‘To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to me?” says Yahweh. “I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts, and I do not delight in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he-goats.’ Sacrifices and offerings were still being multiplied in the temple. The priests still went about their daily service. There was more than enough of it all. But their hearts were not in it. There was no loving response, no dedication. It had all become meaningless ritual (compare Ecc 5:1-7). It had become an automatic ritual, a routine without significance. So God was satiated with their hypocritical offerings. He had had enough of them. He no longer delighted in what they did. Woe betide us when God no longer delights in what we do and what we offer.
Especially poignant is the rejection of the blood. It was the shedding of blood, the life poured out, that made atonement (Lev 17:11). It was therefore that on which the people’s hopes would have rested. But it no longer ‘delighted’ God. It was no longer acceptable. It was therefore no longer effective. They achieved no atonement. Without response and obedience in their daily lives all their religious activity was dross. Without repentance there was no forgiveness.
For the similar views of other prophets see Amo 5:21-24; Hos 6:6; Mic 6:6-8; Jer 7:21-23. The prophets did not reject the ordinances of the Mosaic covenant, but they did stress their secondary importance to responsive obedience (trusting and obeying). Without the latter their ordinances were worse than useless. Their purpose was to establish a vibrant and living relationship with God, and a true means of atonement. Without responsive obedience they did neither.
‘When you came to appear before me, who has required this from you (‘at your hand’), to trample my courts?’ Note that God still acknowledges at this point that the temple could be seen as His earthly dwellingplace, for He speaks of ‘My courts’. They have the great privilege of having His earthly dwellingplace among them. But His point is that they treat it lightly without due regard to Him. They forget that they are His courts that they are entering. Instead of being invitees, and treading lightly and discerningly with true regard, they are behaving like trespassers, trampling over everything without discernment. They treat it as their own. Was this really what they thought that God would accept of them?
‘Do not bring vain oblations any more, incense is an abomination to me, new moon and sabbath, the calling of assemblies – – . I cannot endure iniquity and the solemn meeting.’ He no longer wants oblations that mean nothing. There is no point in offering incense when it is just a ritual to pander to God, and not a loving, responsive offering from the heart. It has by this become an abomination to Him, as also have the new moon celebrations, and the sabbath, and the calling together of His people at special times, for they are but automatic ritual while their hearts are elsewhere. It is all meaningless and fruitless.
‘I cannot endure iniquity and the solemn meeting.’ The idea of a combination of iniquity and the solemn meeting with God are incompatible, and yet these people partake in both at the same time. It is the essence of hypocrisy. Even while they engage in the solemn required meetings ‘with God’ they carry iniquity in their hearts, and even practise it, as though God did not see (compare 1Co 11:21-22). But they should recognise that their iniquity separates them from God (Isa 59:2). Thus the solemn meetings have become pointless. They are a meaningless act. He cannot even bear to be there, for they make Him sick. It is a sad day when God cannot bear to be at our church gatherings, and when we make Him sick (compare Rev 3:16).
This phrase cuts into the theme which continues in Isa 1:14, and demonstrates how deeply God feels about it all. He is so moved that He has had to break in and point out that while there is iniquity present and undealt with, nothing that they do can please or satisfy Him or enable them to meet with Him, for He cannot bear it. Compare Jer 7:11; Mat 21:13.
Isa 1:14-15
“Your new moons and your appointed feasts,
My soul hates,
They are a trouble to me,
I am weary to bear them.
And when you spread forth your hands,
I will hide my eyes from you.
Yes, when you make many prayers,
I will not hear.
Your hands are full of blood.”
Here the positive aspect of approach to God is dealt with. They celebrate the new moon monthly, they gather at the appointed feasts. Outwardly all seems well. But God hates these feasts and their presence at them. He is troubled and disturbed by them. They distress Him. They weary Him. And He will thus not hear their prayers. He deliberately turns His eyes away. He refuses to hear them. And why? Because their hands are full of blood. They are disobeying His Instruction (His Law) in the covenant and going their own way. Not all actually commit murder, but all participate in what occurs without protest. They are satisfied with conditions as they are, and because they do not protest, they are thus participators in it. They are to blame for what they allow.
The main appointed feasts were those commanded in the Law; Passover and Unleavened Bread (Exo 23:15; Lev 23:5; Exodus 12; Num 28:16-25; Deu 16:1-8), the Feast of Weeks (Harvest, Firstfruits – Exo 23:16; Exo 34:22; Num 28:26) and the Feast of Tabernacles or Ingathering (Exo 23:16; Exo 34:22; Lev 23:34; Deu 16:13). They were intended to be joyous feasts during which they rededicated themselves to the covenant and gave thanks for God’s goodness to them as revealed in their harvests of lambs and kids, harvests of grain, fruit and vintage, while at the same time remembering how He had delivered them from bondage, and continually delivered them from sin as they brought their sacrifices of atonement.
But their feasts were no longer a joy to God. ‘My soul hates’. The expression indicates that He hated them with all the intensity of His being because they were an outward act with no inner meaning. They were a sham. During them their hearts were not turned towards Him and to His Instruction, but to their own sin and pleasure.
‘And when you spread forth your hands I will hide my eyes from you. Yes, when you make many prayers, I will not hear.’ God would not, and will not, hear the prayers of those who are not committed towards Him. This applies as much today as it ever did. Instead of His face shining on them, His eyes will be hid from them. He will not hear. He will be deaf to their prayers.
Modern man has a glib view of prayer, assuming that God will listen to anyone. But Isa 59:2 explains that God does not hear those whose sins have separated them from Him, Psa 66:18 tells us that if we regard iniquity in our hearts the Lord will not hear us, and Pro 28:9 (compare Pro 15:8; Pro 15:29; Pro 21:13) tells us that the prayers of one who turns away from God’s instruction are an abomination. This is the Biblical view of prayer. The New Testament similarly requires the lifting up of ‘holy’ hands (1Ti 2:8), and a true heart (Heb 10:22; Jas 4:3; 1Pe 3:12). So all warn us that a man’s heart must be right if his prayers are to be heard. It is not that he must be worthy and deserving. None are that. It is that he must be in a right relationship with God (and Jesus adds that he must have a forgiving heart – Mat 6:15).
‘Your hands are full of blood (literally ‘bloods).’ To have the hands full was to be dedicated to something. Thus these people are dedicated to the way of violence. They approve a leadership that resorts to violence, they benefit from violence, they make no complaint against it, they are ready to go on benefiting by it, and thus they partake in its guilt. This description parallels their description as Sodom and Gomorrah (Isa 1:11).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
God’s Second Indictment Against Israel (Mental) Isa 1:10-20 contains the second indictment that God declares against Israel. This indictment will reveals Israel’s vain efforts of Temple worship and contrast it to a brief description of God’s standard of right standing before Him.
Outline Here is a proposed outline:
1. Israel’s Vain Worship Isa 1:10-15
2. A Description of True Worship Isa 1:16-20
a) Pureness of Heart Isa 1:16-17
b) God Reasons with Israel Isa 1:18
c) Physical Blessings Restored Isa 1:19-20
Isa 1:10-15 A Description of Israel’s Religious Vanity In Isa 1:10-15 the prophet Isaiah describes Israel’s religion vanity, where they practiced religious traditions outwardly, but their hearts were far from the Lord. The backslidden nation of Israel tried to appease God thru rituals such as animal sacrifices and official holidays. They were overwhelmed with God’s chastisement and judgment through sickness and calamities. Thus, they were seeking favor from God in order to be delivered from their problems. Yet, their lifestyle and their rituals imitated those of the heathen around them. Despite their efforts for deliverance, they would not cleanse their hearts. Therefore, in the following passage God calls them to repentance, which was the only way out of their problems (Isa 1:16-17).
Since the book of Isaiah is prophetic of Christ’s First Coming, we can see in Isa 1:10-15 a description of the Palestinian Jews during the time of Jesus’ earthly ministry.
Isa 1:10 Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.
Isa 1:11 Isa 1:12 Isa 1:13 Isa 1:13
ESV, “New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly.”
NCV, “I can’t stand your New Moons, Sabbaths, and other feast days; I can’t stand the evil you do in your holy meetings.”
NIV, “New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations–I cannot bear your evil assemblies.”
NLT, “ As for your celebrations of the new moon and the Sabbath and your special days for fasting they are all sinful and false. I want no more of your pious meetings.”
RSV, “New moon and sabbath and the calling of assemblies I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly.”
Isa 1:14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them.
Isa 1:15 Isa 1:15
Isa 1:16-20 A Description of True Worship In Isa 1:16-20 God reveals to Israel the true form of worship, which will establish a right standing before Him so that He can bless them again.
Isa 1:16 Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;
Isa 1:17 Isa 1:18 Isa 1:18
Isa 1:19 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:
Isa 1:19
Mat 21:28-31, “But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard. He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went. And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not. Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you.”
Illustration – The Lord once said to me, “Obedience is the key that unlocks all doors, for in My will you will find My blessings.” (November 2002)
Illustration – Kenneth Hagin tells the story of his struggle to be willing and obedient when the Lord told him to do something. He had pastored a church in Farmersville, Texas, left premature and had returned to finish what God had called him to do. Later in his ministry, there was a time when he struggled with the Lord’s leading to go back to this church a third time. He spend many nights in prayer struggling with this issue, saying, “No, God. I don’t want to go back there the third time, and that’s a cinch.” Finally, after a long struggle, he gave in and told the Lord that he was willing to go back. The Lord then spoke to him and said, “I don’t want you to go back to Farmersville. I just want you to be willing to go. Son, if you are not willing to go back to that church, then I can’t use you in other areas when I want to use you.” [16]
[16] Kenneth Hagin, Following God’s Plan For Your Life (Tulsa, Oklahoma: Faith Library Publications, c1993, 1994), 43.
Illustration – Bob Nichols says that in his early years as a pastor, he was working hard to remodel his church. He worked long hours himself on the building and often by himself. One day he was working, but with a complaining attitude. The Lord quickened to him Isa 1:19, “If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land.” This statement was followed by the words, “There is a reward for those who are willing and obedient.” [17] This is why Paul the apostle said, “For if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward: but if against my will, a dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me.” (1Co 9:17) God rewards those who serve Him.
[17] Robert B. Nichols, “Sermon,” Calvary Cathedral, International, Fort Worth, Texas.
Isa 1:20 But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
Rebuke of Hypocritical Worship
v. 10. Hear the Word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom, v. 11. To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto Me? saith the Lord, v. 12. When ye come to appear before Me, v. 13. Bring no more vain oblations, v. 14. Your new moons and your appointed feasts My soul hateth, v. 15. And when ye spread forth your hands, Isa 1:10. Hear the word of the Lord, &c. The singular wickedness of the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah was so enormous, that it was at last used as a proverbial expression, to convey the idea of the most black and incorrigible wickedness. The preceding words, which shew that the people of Sodom and Gomorrah could not now be addressed, because there were none left, shew likewise that it is the Jewish nation which is called by these names. This verse alludes to the song of Moses, Deu 32:32 and perhaps the prophet uses these allusions to shew that the times predicted in that song by the Jewish legislator were now come.
DISCOURSE: 858 Isa 1:10-17. Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrha: To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the Lord: I am full of the burnt-offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he-goats. When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts? Bring no more vain oblations: incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with: it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul haleth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them. And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood. Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; learn to do well: seek judgment; relieve the oppressed; judge the fatherless; plead for the widow.
THOUGH tenderness and compassion are essential requisites for a Christian minister, yet is fidelity also indispensable for a due discharge of his duties. If even a young minister, like Timothy, was to reprove and rebuke with all authority, it must become every servant of God, especially when dealing with hypocritical professors or hardened sinners, to use great plainness of speech. It is true, a minister in this day has not the same license as was given to the prophets of old: we should not altogether think him justified in calling his audience Rulers of Sodom, and people of Gomorrha: but, when speaking in Jehovahs name, we must expostulate with all, even with the greatest of men, and declare to them, as the prophet does, the only way in which they can please and serve God. With this view the prophet used the language in our text; and in prosecution of the same end, we shall now declare,
I.
The inadequacy of ritual observances
The Jews were prone to rest in a compliance with the ceremonial law: and our text is, as it were by anticipation, an answer to their self-justifying remarks. They are supposed to have said, How can you justly complain of us? We have served God with the most commendable zeal: we have offered him sacrificesyea manyand of the best kindand in the appointed mannerand with great reverenceand we have abounded in spiritual services also, no less than in carnal rites. But, in answer to all this, God indignantly replies, that, instead of being pleased with these services, he lothed and abhorred them; since, in the midst of all their boasted regard for him, they held fast their besetting sins [Note: ver. 1015. The particular expressions throughout this whole passage are very emphatical, and worthy of attentive observation.]
The Jewish ritual being abolished, it may be thought that this address is inapplicable to any of the present day: but it may justly be applied,
1.
To self-righteous formalists
[There is still, as Solomon expresses it, a generation that is pure in their own eyes, but are not washed from their filthiness. There are many whose whole religion consists in a performance of outward duties. Among the Papists this is an acknowledged fact: but it is also true of us Protestants, though to a less extent than it was a century ago. A regular attendance on all the public ordinances; a strict observance of the fasts and feasts of our Church, particularly of the time of Lent; a daily reading of the Psalms and Lessons for the day, and a recital of certain prayers; a rigid adherence to some particular forms, with an uncharitable censuring of all who are not equally strict in their attention to them; these, and other similar habits, form the ground of their hopes, and of a self-complacent confidence towards God. But, with all these apparently religious habits, their views, desires, and pursuits are altogether earthly: their friends and associates are men of this world: and vital godliness, together with all who possess it, is regarded by them with suspicion and dislike. 2.
To many who make a profession of vital godliness
[Many there are whose views of the Gospel are correct, but who are far from experiencing all that it is designed to teach them. Their zeal for the Gospel is great and ardent: they will go miles to hear it faithfully proclaimed: they will lose no opportunity of attending their favourite minister: their very life seems to be spent as it were in hearing sermons. They will subscribe largely for building places of worship, especially for the use of those who are of their own sect and party. They are fond of prayer-meetings, and religious societies; and perhaps of shewing forth their own talents too in exposition or prayer. But, instead of using these things as means to a farther advancement in holiness, they regard them only its sources of present gratification, and as evidences of a pious mind; while at the same time they are destitute of all those tempers and dispositions, which are the chief ornament of religion, and the surest evidences of its existence in the soul. We read of Ezekiels hearers, that they attended his ministrations with great delight, and listened to him as persons fond of music would to a great proficient in that science; and laid claim to superior piety on that account: but, though they heard his words, they would not do them; for their heart went after their covetousness [Note: Eze 33:31-32, See also Isa 58:2.]. Now this is an exact description of the persons we refer to: they are conceited of their own knowledge and attainments, uncharitable towards those who differ from them, contemptuous towards those who are less instructed than themselves, regardless of the prejudices of others, and indifferent about the effect of their conduct upon them: they often make religion a cloak for idleness in their respective callings: they are headstrong and untractable, and insolent towards their superiors: they often cannot be depended on, even for truth in their words, or honesty in their dealings. What shall we say of such professors as these? Are they in a state pleasing unto God? No verily: they are an offence both to God and man; and their very best sacrifices are no better than the cutting off of a dogs neck, or the offering of swines blood [Note: Isa 66:2-3.].]
Whilst our text thus forcibly declares the insufficiency of outward duties to please God, it sets forth in the strongest terms,
II.
The necessity of moral attainments
In relation to these, two things are required;
1.
A renunciation of accustomed sins
[Every person has some sins which more easily beset him, and which he is in a more especial manner called to mortify. We will not speak of gross open sins, as swearing and drunkenness, and such like: for no man who reflects at all, can suppose it possible to please God, whilst he is guilty of such flagrant abominations. But one man is naturally addicted to anger and passion; another to discontent and envy; another to lewdness and impurity; another to sloth and idleness; another to covetousness: one is filled with conceit and vanity; another with scepticism and infidelity; another with unbelieving fears: in a word, however the conduct of men may differ as to the immediate line which they pursue, they all, in their natural state, affect pleasure, or riches, or honour, and feel abundantly more satisfaction in the things of time and seuse, than they do in the service of their God. Now every man is concerned to find out what his besetting sin is: for if we must all without exception become new creatures in Christ Jesus, if old things must pass away, and all things must become new, then is it necessary that we all should experience this change, and have an evidence of it in our own souls. 2.
A performance of neglected duties
[True piety will not consist with any allowed sin, whether of commission or of omission. But if we look back to our unregenerate state, how many duties are there, both to God and man, that we have neglected! By nature we are satisfied with doing acts of kindness when they come in our way: but to live for God, and our fellow-creatures, we know not: we do not search out occasions for the exercise of our benevolence, nor do we redeem our time in order to effect the greatest good within our reach. But, if we would please end honour God, we must imitate him who went about doing good: our time, our talents, our influence must all be put forth for the relief of the needy, the comfort of the afflicted, the succouring of the oppressed, and for the spiritual, as well as temporal, benefit of all. We must also cultivate every kind of grace: not only putting off what is evil, but putting on what is good. In particular, as the elect of God, we should put on bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering, forbearing one another and forgiving one another, even as God for Christs sake hath forgiven us [Note: Col 3:8; Col 3:12-14.]. These are the things which God prefers to all the sacrifices that can be offered [Note: Psa 50:8-14. Mic 6:7-8.]; and without these, all that we can possess is in his estimation lighter than vanity itself [Note: 1Co 13:1-3.].]
From hence then we may see, The nature of true religion
[That there are many who greatly mistake its nature, is evident from our text: but, when duly received into the heart, it neither insists on spiritual exercises to the neglect of moral virtues, nor on moral virtues to the neglect of communion with God: it has equal respect to both the tables of the Law. Let not any then attempt to put asunder what God has so inseparably joined. Let not any trust to their moral virtues on the one hand, nor to their spiritual exercises on the other; but let it be the endeavour of all to have respect unto all the commandments, and to stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.]
2.
The danger of self-deceit
[We think it evident, that the persons here addressed as Rulers of Sudom and people of Gomorrha, had by no means formed a just estimate of their own character. And we all see among those around us many who lie under a similar delusion: the conceited professor sees the blindness of the Pharisee, whilst the Pharisee notices with equal clearness his vain conceit. Professors too notice each others failings, and often, with too much reason, stand in doubt of each other. But all are blind to their own failings: they make far too much allowance for their own evils; and sometimes glory in them as virtues: and so confident are many, of their own acceptance before God, that they will almost at the bar of judgment challenge heaven as their desert [Note: Mat 25:44.]. But, whilst they remain under the power of any allowed sin, their religion is vain [Note: Jam 1:26.], and their Judge will disclaim all knowledge of them [Note: Mat 7:22-23.]; yea, their unmortified lust, whatever it be, will plunge their souls into everlasting perdition [Note: Mat 5:29-30.]. We say not this to discourage the sincere, but to put all upon their guard, and especially to bring to self-examination those who are most confident that all is well with them. For it is certain that the hypocrites in heart heap up wrath, and tearfulness will surprise them in the day of judgment [Note: Isa 33:14. ].]
3.
The excellency of the Gospel
[The Gospel not only teaches us these things [Note: Tit 2:11-12.], but shews us where pardon for all our transgressions may be obtained, and how strength may be acquired for the discharge of all our duties. Even under the law, these views were revealed; for, in the words following our text, God told his people, that their scarlet sins should, if mourned over and forsaken. become white as snow: and in other places he promised his Spirit to write his laws upon their hearts, and to cause them to keep his statutes [Note: Eze 36:27.]. But under the Gospel dispensation, the efficacy of the Redeemers blood to cleanse from sin, and of his grace to renew the heart, is declared in the strongest terms [Note: 1Jn 1:7; 1Jn 1:9.]. Hence then, when it is said, Wash you, make you clean, there is no room to say, I cannot; for the grace of Christ is sufficient for all, and we can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth us [Note: Php 4:13.]. Seek then to be washed in his blood, and to be sanctified by his Spirit, and then the smallest of your offerings, even a cup of cold water, shall be an acceptable sacrifice in the sight of God [Note: 1Pe 2:5.].]
I make no break in this address of the prophet. The whole forms but one sermon, and a most striking one it is. I beg the reader to remark with me the very pointed terms made use of by the man of God. He calls them by the name of the men of Sodom and Gomorrah. Perhaps to intimate, that their place and people merited equal judgment. And had the Lord done so, there would have been no injustice on the part of God. Reader! let us pause over this thought, and not too hastily dismiss the solemn consideration from both our minds. As a nation, how awful do we stand, in the crying and abounding sins of our guilty land! And are we not visited as they? To what shall we ascribe it? Oh! the unknown treasures of grace in covenant love! Precious, precious Jesus! who shall calculate the infinite value of thine atoning blood; which speaks more for thy people, than all their sins against them? Reader, mark what is said in those verses concerning the inefficacy of sacrifices! And do not fail to connect with it, how and in what terms they are spoken of. The Lord calls them your sacrifices. Yes, Jehovah hath an eye only to one sacrifice, and that one of his own appointing. Reader! it is the sweetest and most precious of all thoughts; that while you and I are looking up to God in Christ for acceptance, by virtue of that one offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all, whereby he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified; we are looking up by the express appointment and authority of God our Father, in his own way, for salvation. See those Scriptures, Heb_5:1-6; Heb_10:1-14 .
Isa 1:10 Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.
Ver. 10. Hear the word of the Lord, ye princes of Sodom. ] Having mentioned Sodom and Gomorrah, Isa 1:9 he maketh further use thereof, probrosa hac appellatione auditores suos conveniens; sharping up his hearers in this sort, whom he knew he should not wrong at all by so calling them. see Eze 16:46 ; Eze 16:48 Non tam ovum ovo simile; like they were, both princes and people, to those of Sodom and Gomorrah; (1.) In their ingratitude toward God; (2) In their cruelty toward men. Our prophet, therefore, is “very bold,” as St Paul also testifieth of him, Rom 10:20 fearing no colours, although for his boldness he lost his life, if at least that be true which Jerome a out of the Rabbis telleth us – viz., that this prophet Isaiah was sawn asunder, first, Because he said he had seen the Lord; Isa 6:1 secondly, Because he called the great ones of Judah princes of Sodom, &c., giving them a title agreeable to their wicked practices. The like liberty of speech used Athanasius toward Constantius; Agapetus toward Justinian; Johannes Sarisburiensis toward the Pope, &c.
a Jerome in Isa. i.
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Isa 1:10-15
10Hear the word of the Lord,
You rulers of Sodom;
Give ear to the instruction of our God,
You people of Gomorrah.
11What are your multiplied sacrifices to Me?
Says the Lord.
I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams
And the fat of fed cattle;
And I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls, lambs or goats.
12When you come to appear before Me,
Who requires of you this trampling of My courts?
13Bring your worthless offerings no longer,
Incense is an abomination to Me.
New moon and sabbath, the calling of assemblies –
I cannot endure iniquity and the solemn assembly.
14I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts,
They have become a burden to Me;
I am weary of bearing them.
15So when you spread out your hands in prayer,
I will hide My eyes from you;
Yes, even though you multiply prayers,
I will not listen.
Your hands are covered with blood.
Isa 1:10-15 Israel’s defense against God’s charges of Isa 1:2-6 is her religiosity!
Isa 1:10 Hear. . .Give ear The two IMPERATIVES of Isa 1:2 are repeated.
You rulers of Sodom. . .You people of Gomorrah Judah is like Sodom and Gomorrah, both her leaders and people are morally corrupt. This phrase was a shocking slur on the covenant people, as was goy of Isa 1:4.
NASBinstruction
NKJVlaw
NRSV, TEVteaching
This is the term Torah (BDB 435). Notice the possible connotations. In this context it could refer to (1) Scripture; (2) the preaching of the prophets; or (3) the teachings of the priests. They knew God’s revealed will, but chose not to follow it.
Isa 1:11 What are your multiplied sacrifices to me It must be remembered, this is not an attack on sacrifice as such, but the attitudes in which people bring their sacrifices (cf. Isa 29:13; Hos 6:6; Amo 5:21-27; Mic 6:6-8). Ritual can be meaningful if accompanied by a right attitude toward God (cf. Psalms 50). See Hard Sayings of the Bible, pp. 207-208, 274-275.
I have had enough This VERB (BDB 959, KB 1302, Qal PERFECT) means bloated or sated.
burnt offerings This refers to totally burnt sacrifices which symbolized total dedication to God.
The fat of fed cattle This refers to sacrifices when only part of the animal (fat of lower viscera) was offered on the altar and the rest was given to the priest or to the person bringing the sacrifice to eat as a communal meal with God and family, friends, and neighbors. The meat of large animals could not be preserved and had to be eaten quickly.
I take no pleasure in This VERB (BDB 342, KB 339, Qal PERFECT) denoted YHWH’s acceptance of a sacrifice. The usual idiom was a soothing aroma (cf. Gen 8:21; Exo 29:18; Exo 29:25). However, YHWH rejected these people’s worship (cf. Isa 1:10-15).
Isa 1:12 to appear before Me This refers to one’s personal attendance at the Tabernacle/Temple (i.e., Exo 23:17). They were not coming for true worship, but for ritual liturgy!
Isa 1:13 worthless offerings This term (BDB 996) means empty, vain, nothing. See special topic below.
SPECIAL TOPIC: Empty, Vain, False, Nothingness
Incense is an abomination to Me The term incense (BDB 882) means that which goes up. Therefore, it could refer to
1. the smoke of sacrifices
2. the smell of incense (usually spices placed on top of the sacrifice) or smoke from the incense altar before the inner veil of the tabernacle/temple
These are strong words! It reminds me of Jeremiah’s Temple sermons of Jeremiah 7. Ritual and liturgy had replaced repentance and faith. They were blind and deaf (cf. Isa 6:9-10). They had a form of godliness, but denied true faith (cf. 2Ti 3:5). The tragedy is that they thought they were right with God! They thought they were His people! They were wrong, as are so many religious, normal, active religionists in every age.
The term abomination (BDB 1072, see Special Topic: Abomination ) is used primarily in Deuteronomy, Proverbs, and Ezekiel. It describes God’s reaction to many things.
1. homosexuality, Lev 18:22
2. other sexual sins, Lev 18:26-27; Lev 18:29-30
3. idolatry, Deu 7:25-26; Deu 12:31; Deu 14:3; Deu 17:4; Deu 27:15; Deu 32:16; 2Ki 16:3; 2Ki 23:13; Jer 32:35
4. blemished animal sacrifices, Deu 17:1
5. occult practices, Deu 18:9; Deu 18:12
6. confusion of gender, Deu 22:5
7. sacred prostitution, Deu 23:18; 1Ki 14:24
8. remarriage after divorce, Deu 24:4
9. commercial cheating, Deu 25:15-16; Pro 11:1; Pro 20:10; Pro 20:23
10. the crooked man, Pro 3:32; Pro 6:16-19; Pro 8:7; Pro 11:20; Pro 12:22; Pro 15:26; Jer 7:10
11. sacrifice of the wicked, Pro 15:8-9; Pro 21:27
12. the proud, Pro 16:5
13. arrogant leaders, Pro 16:12
14. bribed judges, Pro 17:15
15. ritualistic offering of incense without lifestyle faith, Isa 1:13
New moon and Sabbath, the calling of assemblies Remember the Hebrews used the lunar calendar. Every Sabbath was significant and every new moon (cf. Num 28:11-15; 2Ki 4:23; Isa 66:23) had a religious orientation as well as the three yearly feasts appointed in the Mosaic law (cf. Exo 23:14-17; Exo 34:18-26; Leviticus 23; Deu 16:1-17). See Special Topic: Sabbath .
Isa 1:14 The Hebrew syntax here is broken because of the great emotion expressed by Isaiah on behalf of God. The first three VERBS are all PERFECTS (completed).
Isa 1:15 you spread out your hands in prayer Notice that in prayer is in italics, which means it is not in the Hebrew text. The spreading out of hands (cf. Exo 9:29; Exo 9:33; 1Ki 8:38; 1Ki 8:54; 2Ch 6:12) and the lifting up of the eyes to heaven (cf. Joh 11:41; Joh 17:1) were the normal Jewish postures for prayer. God refuses to hear (cf. Isa 8:17; Isa 54:8; Isa 59:2; Deu 31:17; Jer 11:11; Eze 8:18) the prayer of sinful Judeans in their time of need because they came to Him in prayer like they came to Him in sacrifice. Whereas, many sacrifices do not appeal to YHWH, neither does much prayer without heart-felt faith and repentance.
Your hands are covered with blood This refers to violent murder or premeditated murder of the innocent.
rulers of: i.e. rulers who ruled as in Sodom.
the law. Reference to whole Pentateuch. Twelve times in Isaiah (Isa 1:10; Isa 2:3; Isa 5:24; Isa 8:16, Isa 8:20; Isa 24:5; Isa 30:9, &c.
people of: i.e. people who acted as the people in Gomorrah acted.
Isa 1:10-17
Isa 1:10-17
“Hear the word of Jehovah, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah. What unto me is the multitude of your sacrifices? saith Jehovah: I have had enough of the burnt-offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he-goats. When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to trample my courts? Bring no more vain oblations; for incense is an abomination unto me; new moon and sabbath, the calling of assemblies, – I cannot; away with iniquity and the solemn meeting. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth; they are a trouble unto me; I am weary of hearing them. And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you; yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear; your hands are full of blood. Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; learn to do well; seek justice, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.”
“Ye rulers of Sodom … people of Gomorrah …” (Isa 1:10). This line is addressed to Jerusalem, and therefore Jerusalem, which was spared in both of the invasions which commentators suppose produced the conditions Isaiah was describing in this chapter, cannot possibly be the “righteous remnant” referred to in Isa 1:9. The most helpful comment we have discovered with reference to that “righteous remnant” is that of Eiselen who said:
“It was the birth of a new era in Old Testament religion, for it was the birth of the conception of the Church, the first step in the emancipation of spiritual religion from the forms of political life, a step not less significant that all its consequences were not seen until centuries had passed away.
The language of this paragraph has been used to disparage the observance of all forms, ceremonies, and sacrifices connected with holy religion; but such a usage is an irresponsible device for “wresting the Holy scriptures.” What God protested against in this paragraph is certainly not the faithful observance of those very ceremonies and sacrifices which God had commanded his people to observe, but the substitution of a meaningless observance of such forms and sacrifices without the heartfelt devotion and faithful obedience to all of God’s commandments which were supposed to accompany such external observances. As Jamieson put it, “God does not here absolutely disparage sacrifice, which is as old and universal as sin itself, but sacrifice unaccompanied by obedience of heart and life. Any other view of this passage becomes impossible when it is seen that the very same teaching on forms and sacrifices here is also given with reference to prayer (Isa 1:15); and in view of the Holy Saviour’s command that his human children should continue steadfastly in prayer, it becomes impossible to misunderstand the true teaching of Isaiah in these verses.
“Bring no more vain oblations …” There is an ocean of difference in this commandment and the dishonest understanding of it as a command to “Bring no more oblations!” Evil men prefer the dishonest version of it.
Isa 1:10 THE CALL TO CONSIDER: Be still and give attention for it is Jehovah who speaks. One does not truly hear Gods Word unless he obeys that word (Cf. Jas 1:22). Until a person is in an attitude of willingness to do the Lords will, he cannot know it (Cf. Joh 17:17). If one does not obey, it is as though he had not even heard.
Isa 1:11-15 THE FALSE APPROACH: Sacrifices without their heart in them. Sacrifices without faith in the One (God) to whom they were supposedly being offered. Ceremony without obedience (Cf. 1Sa 15:22; Jer 6:16-20; Amo 5:21-24). To worship without doing Gods commandments in the rest of life is no true worship, and any ritual of worship without faith is a hollow mockery. All that is done in a religious way if it is not accompanied with faith in the Person of God is vain and offensive to God (Cf. Mat 15:1-20; Mar 7:1-23). Without faith it is impossible to please God! And, of course, worshipping Him in violation of any expressed commandment is to make void the Word of God. Worship and sacrifice and solemn assembly, without faith, becomes a weariness to God-it vexes His innermost soul-it disgusts Him. Who required of them such a steady stream of traffic in faithless sacrifices? Not God! They willfully forced these rituals upon Him. He loathed them. Their worship and their living were incongruous-they did not go together-because iniquity and solemn assembly are totally incompatible. God was fed up with them, sick of them, tired of them and would spew them out of His mouth (Cf. Rev 3:16). They were there in bodily presence but their hearts were far from Him. This is totally unacceptable to God. Goodness, love and faith begins in the mind and heart-this is what God wants!
Isa 1:16-17 THE TRUE APPROACH: Get your heart right! Wash, cleanse, repent! The O.T. abounds in the use of the figure of washing to refer to repentance (Cf. Psa 51:2; Psa 51:7; Jer 4:14; Eze 36:24-26; Zec 13:1). Repentance is the condition which God demands in order to work His cleansing in man, (Cf. 1Pe 1:22-23). Repentance is: ceasing to do evil-learning (become skilled in) to do well. Doing well is: being just and seeing that justice is given; correcting and chastening the oppressor; championing the orphans cause and that of the widow. God cannot even be approached by man unless man is in an attitude of repentance (change of mind). Wm. Chamberlain, in his book, The Meaning Of Repentance, defines repentance: A pilgrimage from the mind of the flesh to the mind of Christ. Repentance is surrender; a change of thinking, willing, acting; a life directed toward the will of God as revealed in His Word.
Religion without Righteousness Vain
Isa 1:10-20
The prophet points out, first the misery that had overtaken the country, Isa 1:4-9; and then the sins of the ruling classes, Isa 1:10; Isa 1:17; Isa 1:21-23. What may be called personal and private sins, such as drunkenness, vanity, bribery, and the oppression of the poor, are viewed in their public hearing, as bringing wrath and disaster on the whole nation. No man can sin by himself. His most private sins react on the whole community. Thistle-down floats far and wide. In reply, the nation pointed to the splendid ritual and innumerable sacrifices of the Temple service. But these observances only added to the tale of their sins, because they were formal and perfunctory. The sacrifice of God is a broken and contrite heart. The outward is absolutely worthless, unless it is the expression of the inward and the spiritual. But where a pure and holy spirit is present, the simplest forms are magnificent in their significance and value. To atone becomes the base of a ladder to heaven, and the thorn-bush flames with Deity. But forgiveness is freely offered to the guilty. Crimson and scarlet are the most lasting of all colors, and their removal impresses the completeness of Gods pardoning love.
Hear: 1Ki 22:19-23, Amo 3:1, Amo 3:8, Mic 3:8-12
Sodom: Gen 13:13, Deu 32:32, Jer 9:26, Jer 23:14, Eze 16:46, Amo 9:7, Rev 11:8
Reciprocal: Gen 14:2 – Sodom Gen 34:24 – every male Exo 34:5 – the name Num 16:15 – Respect Num 23:14 – built seven 2Sa 15:12 – while he offered 2Ki 7:1 – Elisha said 2Ki 20:16 – Hear 2Ch 18:18 – hear the word 2Ch 35:9 – gave Neh 13:17 – I contended Psa 59:5 – the heathen Pro 15:8 – sacrifice Isa 28:14 – ye Isa 48:1 – not in truth Jer 7:2 – Hear Jer 7:10 – come Jer 10:1 – General Jer 22:2 – Hear Jer 44:24 – Hear Lam 4:6 – punishment of the iniquity of the daughter Eze 11:1 – Pelatiah Eze 13:2 – Hear Eze 16:3 – Thy birth Eze 16:35 – hear Eze 34:3 – ye kill Eze 34:7 – General Hos 4:1 – Hear Hos 11:8 – Admah Amo 8:4 – Hear Mic 3:1 – Hear Zep 2:1 – O nation Zec 12:5 – the governors Mat 5:23 – thou Mat 21:33 – Hear Luk 11:42 – and pass Luk 15:15 – he went Luk 16:15 – for Joh 4:23 – true Joh 18:28 – and they Act 4:5 – rulers
Before taking up the comments of each verse, I request the reader to indicate, either in bis Bible if he Is marking it, or in whatever place he is making notes, that all of the verses from the present one through the end of the chapter, and through the first 6 verses of the next chapter, are to be regarded as one paragraph with one general subject. That has to do with one of the outstanding apparent contradictions in God’s tbreaten- ings and predictions against His people. In more than one place they have seemed to be condemned for doing some of the very things that the Mosaic system required. We cannot be-lieve that God would tell a man to do something, and then condemn him for doing it. When it seems to he so, there Is an explanation in the premises and we should examine them for it. I have composed at length a note, based on the truths and facts of history, both sacred and profane, that fully clarifies this seeming difficulty, and the reader is urged to consult that note again with extreme care, before proceeding with the study of these comments. That note is offered in the comments on Isaiah 1: 10, volume 3 of this Com:- MENTABY. 1 shall now take up the comments on the verse of this paragraph, followed with the others in their order, explaining them in the light of the general subject of the suggested general paragraph. The note referred to will explain why God hated their feast days. In their solemn assemblies they used sweet incense under the law, and the only use that could be made of it would be to smell it. God refused to smell the odor of their incense for the same reason that he hated their feast days.
Isa 1:10. Hear the word of the Lord I bring a message from your Lord and governor, to whom you owe all reverence and obedience; ye rulers of Sodom So called for their resemblance of them in wickedness. Compare Deu 32:32; Eze 16:46; Eze 16:48. The incidental mention of Sodom and Gomorrah in the preceding verse, suggested to the prophet this spirited address to the rulers and inhabitants of Jerusalem, under the character of princes of Sodom and people of Gomorrah. Two examples, of an elegant turn, of the like kind, may be observed in St. Pauls epistle to the Rom 15:4-5; Rom 15:12-13. Bishop Lowth. Give ear unto the law of our God The message which I am now to deliver to you from God, your great lawgiver.
Isa 1:10-17. This connects admirably with Isa 1:9. By a fine transition Isaiah intimates that it is no merit in the rulers which has averted Sodoms fate. Let these lawless and shameless administrators listen to the teaching (mg.) of their outraged God. What end, He asks, do their sacrifices serve? He loathes them, has not demanded them, bids the worshippers trample His courts no more to send up the reek of their oblations, hates their new moons (p. 101) and sacred seasons, and will not listen to their prayers. For on their palms, uplifted in the customary attitude of prayer, beneath the blood of sacrifice, He sees a darker stain, the blood of their fellows. Yet they may cleanse themselves from guilt of the past by amendment for the future, especially by restraint of the oppressor (mg.) and succour of the defenceless. The desperate outlook had probably led to multiplied sacrifices; to those who were thronging the Temple to offer them Isaiah seems to have uttered these scathing words (cf. Amo 5:21-25; Mic 6:6-8; Hos 6:6; Jer 6:20; Jer 7:21-23). The prophets do not attack sacrifice in itself so much as sacrifice divorced from morality; yet their tone suggests that they attached very little intrinsic value to the sacrificial ritual.
Isa 1:10. law: a most unfortunate rendering, as the Pentateuchal Law is not intended, since it demands many sacrifices. Torah means instruction (p. 121, Deu 1:5*, Pro 3:1*); here, like the word of the Lord it is equivalent to the utterance which follows
Isa 1:11. Burnt-offerings (Leviticus 1*) were totally consumed on the altar, the fat of peace offerings (Leviticus 3*) was burnt, the blood of all sacrifices was sacred to God. He rejects it all.
Isa 1:12 f. Perhaps we should render: When ye come to see my face, who hath required this at your hand? No more shall ye trample my courts to bring vain oblations, reek of sacrifice is abomination to me; new moon and sabbath, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with, fasting (LXX) and festal assembly. Fasting is, among many peoples, a preliminary to the taking of sacred food.
1:10 Hear the word of the LORD, ye {r} rulers of Sodom; give ear to the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.
(r) You who for your vices deserved to be destroyed, as they of Sodom, save that God from his mercy reserved a little number, La 3:22 .
3. God’s solution 1:10-20
The prophet laid out two alternatives for the people to choose between in relating to God in their pitiful condition. They could continue to rely on religious ritual (cult) to manipulate God (Isa 1:10-15), or they could change their ways and live morally and ethically pure lives (Isa 1:16-17). The choice was theirs (Isa 1:18-20).
Ritual contrasted with reality 1:10-17
Even though God had not yet destroyed Jerusalem as He had Sodom and Gomorrah, the city was like those corrupt towns in that the people and their rulers had turned from God’s holy standard. The people needed to heed the instruction (Heb. torah) of their God.
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
THE SERVICE WHICH ALONE IS PLEASING TO GOD
Now, whatever such persons may think of themselves, they are by no means in a state acceptable to God. Instead of looking with humility and contrition to the Lord Jesus Christ for mercy, they are ready to claim heaven as the reward of their good deeds: and instead of loving, for the Redeemers sake, every member of his mystical body, they are among the foremost to despise and persecute his believing people. Whilst therefore they, in effect, say, Stand off, I am holier than thou, they are, as God declares, a smoke in his nose [Note: Compare Isa 65:5. with Luk 18:9; Luk 18:14.].]
Earnestly would we press this thought upon the minds of those who have been externally blameless in their conduct: for it is common for persons of this description to be satisfied with a change in their sentiments, when they have never experienced any change in their hearts and lives. We all have, though certainly in different degrees, a need of that exhortation, Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes. It is possible that very little change can be needed by us that is visible to man; but there is no natural man under heaven, who does not need to be greatly changed in the sight of God: and to him it is that we must approve ourselves, if ever we would be accepted in his sight.]
1.
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)