Stop doing wrong, learn to do right!

Isaiah 1:11-20 TNIV

“The multitude of your sacrifices—

what are they to me?” says the Lord .

“I have more than enough of burnt offerings,

of rams and the fat of fattened animals;

I have no pleasure

in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.

When you come to appear before me,

who has asked this of you,

this trampling of my courts?

Stop bringing meaningless offerings!

Your incense is detestable to me.

New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations—

I cannot bear your evil assemblies.

Your New Moon feasts and your appointed festivals

I hate with all my being.

They have become a burden to me;

I am weary of bearing them.

When you spread out your hands in prayer,

I will hide my eyes from you;

even if you offer many prayers,

I will not listen.

Your hands are full of blood;

wash and make yourselves clean.

Take your evil deeds

out of my sight!

Stop doing wrong,

learn to do right!

Seek justice,

encourage the oppressed.

Defend the cause of the fatherless,

plead the case of the widow.

“Come now, let us reason together,”

says the Lord .

“Though your sins are like scarlet,

they shall be as white as snow;

though they are red as crimson,

they shall be like wool.

If you are willing and obedient,

you will eat the best from the land;

but if you resist and rebel,

you will be devoured by the sword.”

For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.


My thoughts -

What good is the most beautiful prayer from the mouth of one who refuses to do God's will? What good is a great sacrifice from one who will not heed God's instruction? What good is it to have the trappings of a people who follow God while denying God's concern for the poor and the oppressed?

Here God tells his people that he doesn't need their sacrifices, he won't listen to their prayers. Their covenant involved worshipping God and only God and obeying God's decrees, among which was to care for the least of those among them. Offering up prayers and sacrifices while not caring for their people is a poor substitute for worship.

Those prayers and sacrifices, God says, are meaningless. More than just meaningless they are detestable.

Don't bring your offerings to me if they're just stuff, God says. Stuff is useless. Stuff is crap. Don't give just your money. Give yourself. Do my will. Live a life that reflects my love. Care for others, especially for the least, the lost, the broken, the poor, and the oppressed.

To worship God is to do God's will and to desire God's justice. Don't just go to worship and say the "right" words. Do what is right. Learn God's will and do it. Defend the helpless and the vulnerable. Care for the weak. Feed the hungry. Provide for the poor. A society that claims to worship God and yet refuses to do these things is detestable and anything but godly.

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