Stop Your Religion! (Part 1)

Pastor Bill Farrow

Isaiah 1:13-14

13  Bring no more futile sacrifices;
Incense is an abomination to Me.
The New Moons, the Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies—
I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting.

14  Your New Moons and your appointed feasts
My soul hates;
They are a trouble to Me,
 I am weary of bearing them. 

ISAIAH 1:13

Bring no more - God does not intend absolutely to forbid this kind of worship, but he expresses his strong abhorrence of the manner in which it was done. He desired a better state of mind; he preferred purity of heart to all this external homage.

Vain - Hebrew “offering of vanity” - offerings which were hollow, false, deceitful, and hypocritical. The KJV translates this “futile” and it is clear that they were futile, but they were futile because they were empty, with no real value before God because they were offered incorrectly and disingenuously.  This suggests some real matter for consideration – the idea that worship can be offered incorrectly, but still offered; and that it can be offered wrongly, and yet still offered is a powerful one for consideration.  It is worth our time to think through our own forms of worship to be sure that they are acceptable to God.  It is not just that we offer that makes it acceptable, but it is His own standards for worship that determines whether or not it is acceptable to Him!

Oblations - This word properly denotes a gift, or present, of any kind (Gen. 32:13), and then especially a present or offering to the Deity, (Gen. 4:3-5). It does not denote a bloody offering, but what is improperly rendered in the Old Testament, a meal-offering (Lev. 2:1; 6:14; 9:17) - an offering made of flour or fruits, with oil and frankincense. A small part of it was burned upon the altar, and the remainder was eaten by Aaron and his sons with salt, (Lev. 2:1, 9, 13). The proper translation would have been meal or flour-offering rather than meat-offering, since the word meat with us now denotes animal food only.

Incense - More properly frankincense. This is an aromatic gum, which is obtained from a tree called Thurifera. Its leaves were like those of a pear-tree. It grew around Mount Lebanon, and in Arabia. The gum was obtained by making incisions in the bark in the summer. It was much used in worship, not only by the Jews, but by other religions as well. When burned, it produced an agreeable odor; and hence, it is called a sacrifice of sweet smell, an odor acceptable to God; (compare Phil. 4:18). That which was burned among the Jews was prepared in a special manner, with a mixture of sweet spices. It was offered by the priest alone, and it was not lawful to prepare it in any other way than that prescribed by the law: (see Exo. 30:34, …)

Is an abomination - Is hateful, or an object of abhorrence; that is, as it was offered by them, with hollow service, and with hypocritical hearts. What is said here is that it was more than merely ineffectual – it was actual distasteful and irritating to God!  Instead of being pleasing to God it was an actual irritant!  Instead of making the offer-er more acceptable to God and bringing God’s pleasure, these false and ineffective offerings made them more unacceptable brought only judgment!

The new moons - On the appearance of the new moon. in addition to the daily sacrifices, two bullocks, a ram, and seven sheep, with a meal-offering, were required to be offered to God, (Num. 10:10; 28:11-14). The new moon in the beginning of the month Tisri (October), was the beginning of their civil year, and was commanded to be observed as a festival, (Lev. 23:24-25). The appearance of the new moon was announced by the blowing of silver trumpets, (Num. 10:10). Hence, the annual festival was called sometimes, ‘the memorial of the blowing of trumpets.’ The time of the appearance of the new moon was not ascertained, as with us, by astronomical calculation; but persons were stationed, about the time it was to appear, on elevated places in the vicinity of Jerusalem, and when it was discovered, the trumpet was sounded. Moses did not command that this should be observed as a festival except at the beginning of the year, but it is not improbable that the Jews observed each return of the new moon as such.

And sabbaths - “to cease to do anything”; “to rest from labor.” The words used here are all in the singular number, and should have been rendered ‘the new moon, and the Sabbath, and the calling of the assembly;’ though used in a collective sense. The Sabbaths here refer not only to the weekly Sabbaths, but to all their days of rest. The word Sabbath means properly a day of rest (Gen. 2:2-3); and it was applied not only to the seventh day, but particularly to the beginning and the close of their great festivals, which were days of unusual solemnity and sacredness, (Lev. 16:31; 23:24-39).

The calling of assemblies - The solemn convocations or meetings at their festivals and fasts.

I cannot away with – The Hebrew literally means: I cannot bear, or endure. Once again we note that the issue is not merely that they are ineffective; but that they actually harm the standing of the offerer before God – causing God to move against him in judgment.

It is iniquity - That is, in the way in which it is conducted. This is a strong emphatic expression. It is not merely evil, and tending to evil; but it is iniquity itself. There was no mixture of good. The irony is immense and profound; that which was intended for good, and which appears and is thought by all to be good, is, in reality grave iniquity.

Even the solemn meeting - The word which is used here comes from the verb which signifies to shut up, or to close; and is applied to the solemnities which concluded their great feasts, as being periods of unusual interest and sacredness. It was applied to such solemnities, because they shut up, or closed the sacred festivals. Hence, that day was called the great day of the feast, as being a day of special solemnity and impressiveness; see the note at (John 7:37; compare Lev. 23:3-36).