INSIGHT FROM ISAIAH

"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 calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: 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 judgement, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. Come now, and let us reason together saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be like wool. If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it." Isaiah 1: 11-20

Most of us have heard Isaiah 1: 18 preached upon or quoted in some context or another. Often it is shared as an invitation to the lost to come to Christ for salvation. Perhaps as we refer to it, images come to our minds of the deeply stained sinners, the prostitutes, the drug addicts, the convicts and the alcoholics. We invite these to find cleansing in the shed blood of Jesus Christ. And certainly that universal invitation of God to all men extends to them. But contextually, the Holy Spirit has directed his invitation to another group. Specifically, he had extended it to the most religious of people. If we will but read the entire passage, we will recognize, not the harlots, drunkards, or criminals, but the most scrupulous of upstanding individuals. These represented the pillars of the religious community. They faithfully observed the sabbath days, and the ceremonial holy days of the Levitical worship system. They offered the commanded sacrifices. They kept the Old Testament law. And yet, God expresses nothing for their religiosity, but contempt and disgust. How could this be? Did not the keeping of the Old Testament law please God? Was he unsatisfied with the fulfillment of his own commandments? The answer is found a few verses before in Isaiah 1: 5. There we read these words:

"Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the heart faint."

According to this verse, God had looked beyond the surface of an external form of worship. With all of the outward scruples of these religious individuals, when the Lord peered underneath to the head and the heart, to the thought life of the practicing worshippers the sight disgusted him. Inwardly, spiritual disease had wrought its decaying work of putrid corruption, leaving nothing but a hollow husk in the aftermath. Oh that we would learn from the example of the nation of Israel! External standards alone do not satisfy God! We may dress properly, have the right haircut, carry a Cambridge edition of the King James Bible, and attend an independent Baptist church, and still displease our Heavenly Father. With all of these outward elements, correct as they are, we can still so disgust our Saviour so much that he will spew us out of his mouth. Indeed, we ought to include these factors of external obedience, visible to the eyes of men, but the Lord wants to look within our hearts and find purity, spiritual well-being, and fervent, intense passionate love for him. If he finds our hearts and minds otherwise, none of the outward elements will save us from the disgrace of his displeasure. What a blessing to read in Isaiah 66: 23 the hopeful promise of God as the entire book comes to an end. We read there these words: "And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD." A day would come when the external practice of the Jewish religion would satisfy God because the inward problem had found healing through the shed blood of Jesus Christ that cleanseth us from all sin. With the inward man made righteous, the outward practice would become pleasing. May we too, maintain our inward relationship with the Lord, that at his appearing, we may rejoice, and not be ashamed!