When God Hates Your Worship - Isaiah 1

Isaiah 1

Copyright January 2, 2022 by Rev. Bruce Goettsche

This morning we embark on a new kind of adventure. We are going to begin a study of one of the Major (larger) Prophets, Isaiah. The book of Isaiah has sometimes been called the 5th Gospel because it points to Christ in profound ways. It has specific prophecies about His birth, His character, His life, and contains a description of the crucifixion with such precision that it is staggering.

Unlike most other studies we have done we are not going to go through every verse of Isaiah. Prophetic books are sometimes tough to read. This is because they frequently contain numerous passages of judgment on various nations. Though it is important to know God does judge sin and will only put up with the rebellion of a nation for so long, passage after passage like this can be a little mind-numbing and we will start to dis-engage from the text. Therefore, as we study Isaiah there will be some passages on judgment that we will skip.

The very beginning of the text gives us the context of Isaiah’s writing.

These are the visions that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. He saw these visions during the years when Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah were kings of Judah.

Isaiah tells us very little about himself only that he was the son of Amoz. This is not “Amos” who was one of the prophets. The reigns of the kings under which he served span over 100 years. However, Isaiah’s ministry did not start until the year King Uzziah died which was in 740 BC (we will see more on this in chapter 6). All we know about Isaiah is what he tells us in this book. Because he seems to have ready access to the King(s) some suggest Isaiah may have been of royal birth. Some do not believe Isaiah wrote the entire book (others added material later) we believe Isaiah was the sole author as traditionally understood.

The first chapter of Isaiah is really a summary of what the rest of the book is about. In other words, we will see some of these themes repeatedly throughout the book.

Sinful Rebellion

The book starts right off with the indictment of the nation of Israel. Israel has drifted from the Lord.

2 Listen, O heavens! Pay attention, earth!

This is what the Lord says:

“The children I raised and cared for

have rebelled against me.

3 Even an ox knows its owner,

and a donkey recognizes its master’s care—

but Israel doesn’t know its master.

My people don’t recognize my care for them.”

God formed the nation of Israel and has been their guardian throughout their existence, but they have rebelled repeatedly. Isaiah pointed out that animals have more sense than Israel. An animal knows who feeds and cares for them, and they defer to that person and are loyal to their masters. Israel, much like our present society had distanced themselves from God. Any nation that decides they can make up their own rules (“I’m going to do what I want because you only live once”) will eventually face judgment for their godlessness.

Much of what we see on the news today is the result of this disregard for the Lord. People rebel against God’s rule in their lives. They attack each other to gain an advantage. Even professing Christians feel quite free to disregard the law of God when it suits them. Some will say, “God’s Law is outdated, too restrictive. It is a violation of our freedom to be required to live according to God’s commands.” Those words reveal the attitude Isaiah is speaking to.

One author rightly points out that requiring a railroad engine to stay on the tracks is not an infringement of its basic rights, it merely defines the circumstances under which the engine must operate to reach its full potential. Likewise, we do not consider the Law of Gravity to be an infringement of our freedom, it is a fence in which that freedom can operate. Such is the Law of God. God shows us how we were made and designed to live. If we want the optimal life, we must live it the way He designed it to be lived!

Israel doesn’t know its master.

My people don’t recognize my care for them.”

4 Oh, what a sinful nation they are—

loaded down with a burden of guilt.

They are evil people,

corrupt children who have rejected the Lord.

They have despised the Holy One of Israel

and turned their backs on him.

Isaiah points out that the nation of Israel was a sinful nation. Before a nation (or individual) can be made right with God they must first recognize that they are NOT right with God. Before we can move forward in our relationship with God, we must come to grips with an awareness of our sin addiction and the indictment this brings. But this is where the problem is, people do not see themselves as sinners who “hate” God (as shown by their unwillingness to submit to Him.)

Ray Ortlund relays this account,

A colleague at Boston College … once asked members of his philosophy class to write an anonymous essay about a personal struggle over right and wrong, good and evil. Most of the students, however, were unable to complete the assignment. “Why?” he asked. “Well,” they said—and apparently this was said without irony, “we haven’t done anything wrong.” We can see a lot of self-esteem here, but little self-awareness.

It sounds absurd but how often do we think of “sinners” as “those people out there?” This is a human race problem! Every one of us is addicted to sin until we turn to Christ! And here is the thing, until we recognize that problem, we will not turn to Christ!

Isaiah says Israel was experiencing the consequences of her rebellion. God asks, in essence, “When are you going to wake up and turn to me?” They were beat up, hungry, and vulnerable, but instead of turning to the Lord they turned everywhere else. They refused to submit to the Creator!

I think we can ask this question of our own problems. When are we going to stop trusting political parties, our skilled military, scientists and drug companies, our political lobbying groups and even the Supreme Court? When will we instead begin to seek the Lord God and do what He says?

Unfortunately, this is only the beginning of God’s indictment.

Empty Ritual

“What makes you think I want all your sacrifices?”

says the Lord.

“I am sick of your burnt offerings of rams

and the fat of fattened cattle.

I get no pleasure from the blood

of bulls and lambs and goats.

12 When you come to worship me,

who asked you to parade through my courts with all your ceremony?

13 Stop bringing me your meaningless gifts;

the incense of your offerings disgusts me!

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.

14 I hate your new moon celebrations and your annual festivals.

They are a burden to me. I cannot stand them! (1:11-14)

Imagine, if you will, the religious leaders as they listened to Isaiah. They were nodding their heads because of “the people” Isaiah was talking about. What they did not realize was: “They were part of those people!” They felt smug and secure because they were going to church, they were performing their religious duties. They felt outside God’s judgment, but they were wrong! They believed they were doing what God had told them to do . . . but what they were doing was making God sick! They were probably quite impressed with their religious devotion, but God was not! What was the problem?

The Israelites were doing good things but with the wrong heart. They were not seeking God, they were soothing their own consciences. Perhaps subconsciously they were “buying God off” with their religious observances.

You may hear your friends and neighbors tell you they “are spiritual people.” And what many of them mean is, they believe in God, but they don’t believe in the church, in the authority of the Bible, or in Jesus being the ONLY way to Heaven. They soothe themselves with their “spirituality even though they are far from God.”

But it is not just those outside the church! We sing our songs, have our devotions, serve in the church, attend worship, and give some money! We believe God is surely quite pleased with us. And we could be very wrong! God may, on the contrary, be quite annoyed by our superficial devotion and me-focused worship.

Think about how many times we evaluate times of worship by testifying to what “we got out of it.”

· The music lifted our hearts, or they sang our favorite songs.

· The video tugged at our heart strings.

· The message was engaging.

· The people were friendly.

· I stayed awake.

All these things could be true about a time of worship where God is honored but many people may not please Him. Such approaches to worship are often not directed to Him, but it was geared toward us! (i.e. the consumer!) The goal was to satisfy and impress the person in the pew. When the focus of worship is no longer entering into the presence of the Holy God with fear and trembling, it becomes entertainment, empty ritual, or something worse! When our worship is directed at feeling good, we are worshipping and giving devotion to our feelings!

True worship is God-directed. The lyrics of songs spotlight the character and attributes of God. People give attention to the Word of God to learn of Him, repent of sin, and to be more resolved in our discipleship. The question is not “What did we get out of it” but “Was God honored and glorified?” The real issue is how much of us was given to the Lord? Did our heart bow before Him? Did our life bend to His will? Did we confess our sin and praise Him for His grace and forgiveness?

But that’s not all . . . let’s continue in the text

Abandoned Righteousness (Integrity)

15 When you lift up your hands in prayer, I will not look.

Though you offer many prayers, I will not listen,

for your hands are covered with the blood of innocent victims.

16 Wash yourselves and be clean!

Get your sins out of my sight.

Give up your evil ways.

17 Learn to do good.

Seek justice.

Help the oppressed.

Defend the cause of orphans.

Fight for the rights of widows.

Not only were their words and devotion selfish, all their professions of faith and devotion were left at the door after the worship service! Some churches have a sign above the door to the outside that says, “You are now entering your mission field.” God tells Israel that it appears the sign over their door says, “Please leave your devotion at the door so it will be available for you next week.”

The Lord says their hands were “covered with the blood of innocent victims.” They were doing evil rather than good. The remainder of the chapter continues with the list of ways the leaders of Israel had lost their integrity and godliness. They were not seeking justice; they were engaging in their own injustices and crimes. The Lord wants us to treat others as He treats us. Instead, they were victimizing the weakest people among them. This is why He tells them to defend the cause of orphans and fight for the rights of widows.

Imagine, if you will, a person who is a scam artist (getting people to give them money or information they can use to rob people through phony stories, “great investment opportunities,” or the chance to receive a valuable gift). Imagine this person coming to church, standing in the front row, singing with gusto, and gives His testimony of how much Jesus means to Him. Would the Lord be pleased with the worship of such a man? No. Worship should have ONLY the Lord in focus. Everything in the services should point us to Him.

Sometimes you hear people talk about going back into the “real world.” Even by saying this they alert us to the fact that they consider our time with the Lord to be an unreal, pretend, or superficial world. People believe the teaching of Jesus was “inspiring” it just had no real purpose in everyday life. The unspoken belief is that there is a chasm between our everyday lives and our religious devotion. Someone might say, “You can’t live the way Jesus teaches in our daily living because you would be swallowed up and spit out by the world!”

We don’t have much time for the Lord during the week because, frankly, we view this as of no personal and practical value. It is just one other thing to do like clean the house or go grocery shopping. The Lord does not want to be an “extra-curricular” activity or simply one of your “interests” in the “real world.” He wants to lead you in every part of your life! He is not only the Savior, He is the Lord! He is the energizing force, He is the lover of our souls, He is the true authority in all of life. He should be our leader, our master, our friend.

Heartfelt Repentance

The Lord does next what He does regularly in this book: he moves from judgment to hope. We will see this pendulum swing often in Isaiah. The Lord has established the fact that the people were sinful and rebellious. They deserved judgment but God offers His mercy and grace.

18 “Come now, let’s settle this,”

says the Lord.

“Though your sins are like scarlet,

I will make them as white as snow.

Though they are red like crimson,

I will make them as white as wool.

19 If you will only obey me,

you will have plenty to eat.

20 But if you turn away and refuse to listen,

you will be devoured by the sword of your enemies.

I, the Lord, have spoken!”

God called the people to repentance. In 2 Corinthians true repentance is called “godly sorrow”

10 For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death.

For this kind of sorrow to take place several things have to happen.

1. We must confront our own excuses and stop lying to ourselves (by making excuses, blaming others, or redefining behaviors) In other words, we need to see our actions for what they really are.

2. We need to recognize that the Lord deserves better from us. He deserves our devotion, our respect, and our obedience.

3. We must confess these things to God, asking for forgiveness and a new heart.

4. We must make the necessary changes in our lives and in our hearts. We do this by changing the way we use our time, the things we put in our mind, the people we allow to influence us, the way we spend our money, and the priorities by which we live our life.

If we do this, the Lord made the staggering promise that though our sin stain us deeply, He will make us white as snow again. Though we have failed, He will forgive and restore. His mercy abounds even to those who have greatly sinned.

What God asked of Israel was not unreasonable: He asked to be treated with dignity, respect, and as One who really exists. He asks the same from us. He is not looking for outwardly religious people, He is looking for those who will sincerely trust, honor, and worship Him. The Lord not only deserves this respect and honor . . . He will have it! One way or another.