"Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.
"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 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."
To whom is the Lord addressing these verses? From verse 10, one might assume it is the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. But they were destroyed long ago for their iniquity. Who is the Lord actually speaking to? The Lord is actually speaking to his people--the House of Israel, particularly those of the tribe of Judah--yet he addresses them as the "rulers of Sodom...ye people of Gomorrah." Why?
I think some verses in Ezekiel 16:46-52 explain why. Here the Lord basically says to the people of Jerusalem that their sisters, those people of Samaria (the northern tribes, who had intermarried with the Assyrians who had taken them captive) and those of Sodom--both being groups of people who were despised of Judah for their iniquity and uncleanness--were actually not so corrupt as they themselves have become.
In verse 47-48 he says, "Yet hast thou not walked after their ways, nor done after their abominations: but, as if that were a very little thing, thou wast corrupted more than they in all thy ways. As I live, saith the Lord God, Sodom thy sister hath not done, she nor her daughters, as thou hast done, thou and thy daughters."
So Judah, who despised Samaria and Sodom for their sins, is being told that though they haven't committed the same sins, they are indeed guilty of greater sins and corruption.
In that same spirit, here in Isaiah the Lord addresses them as the rulers of Sodom and the people of Gomorrah, showing that the sins they have committed are even more hated of the Lord as those committed by Sodom and Gomorrah. It also reveals their hypocrisy, having despised these people as unclean, when they themselves were guilty of greater sin.
I think we can apply this verse and this whole section of verses 10-15 to ourselves. Those of us who claim to be followers of Christ must beware of hypocrisy. We must avoid judging others as sinners, when we ourselves are guilty of a greater sin. Often the outward, visible sins are easily judged. But the inward sins, those we will detail in the following verses are easily hidden. Yet the Lord sees all and will hold us equally accountable, if not more so because of the knowledge we have, for our inward sins as well, especially if we are quick to pass judgement on others for their sins.
In verse 11 the Lord begins to describe the sin that Judah is guilty of. He asks, what is the purpose of all their sacrifices? He says he is full of the burnt offerings and delights not in their animal sacrifices.
Hadn't the Lord commanded them to offer such sacrifices? Why then, would He be angry at them when they seem to be following His command? Verse 12 and 13 offer some insight into the nature of their sacrifices and the reason for the Lord's anger.
"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.
He said the people had "tread" his courts. He is speaking of His holy temple and gives an indication that they are not showing the proper respect for its holiness and sacredness. Then He tells them to "bring no more vain oblations" and details all the things they are doing and says, "I cannot away with"--meaning He cannot endure it. Basically He tells them that this is not what He asked of them, He has not required these things just to be done as rituals to be performed, obligations to be performed with no thought or respect for their purpose.
He goes on with verse 14 and 15 saying, "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."
What He is trying to get across is that all these things they have been asked to do mean nothing when performed simply as ritual or tradition. Things that when done properly would be counted as acts of righteousness, when done improperly He hates and cannot endure. Vain prayers, no matter how lengthy or how often they are recited will not be heard if not offered in the proper spirit. "Your hand are full of blood" is an indication that their sacrifices count for nothing, and are instead counted to them as iniquity, much like Cain's sacrifice in comparison to Abel's sacrifice. Without a purpose behind it, it is just bloodshed.
I have thought a lot about Cain and Abel. I have in the past sympathized with Cain. Wasn't he trying? Didn't he do his best according to his understanding? He was a tiller of the ground so why didn't the Lord accept his offerings of the fruit of the ground? I like the insight we get from the account in the Pearl of Great Price. In Moses 5:18, it says, "And Cain loved Satan more than God. And Satan commanded him, saying: Make an offering unto the Lord." So Cain made the offering of the fruit of the ground and Abel made an offering to the Lord of the firstlings of his flock. The Lord had respect for Abel's offering, but not for Cain's offering. This made Cain mad. The Lord responds to Cain in verse 22-23 saying, "Why art thou wroth? Why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, thou shalt be accepted. And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door, and Satan desireth to have thee; and except thou shalt hearken unto my commandments, I will deliver thee up, and it shall be unto thee according to his desire."
We learn from these verses that Cain's offering wasn't motivated by a love for the Lord and desire to obey His commandments. In fact, he loved Satan more and offered the sacrifice according to Satan's commands. In much the same way as the Jews' offerings the Lord described in the Isaiah verses above, such an offering mocked God and turned it into iniquity.
The offering was also supposed to be in similitude of the Son, thus the first of the flock was to be offered. Much like the charge against the Jews, Cain had no respect for the symbolism of the act, for the sacredness of it. Such an act had no purpose other than to point the doer to Christ and to work within them that they may become like Him.
Cain also desired to be accepted on his own terms, with his own rules for what he would sacrifice. This is an important distinction between Cain and Abel that I think we would also do well to consider. Abel obeyed the commandment with exactness and sought to do according to the Lord's will. Cain sought to be accepted in his wickedness. He thought any effort should be accepted, even though it was not the Lord's will he sought and obeyed. He sought his own will and believed he should be accepted on his own terms. This was also really the key distinction between Christ and Lucifer as they each offered to be sent to redeem mankind. Satan said, "I will do it; wherefore, give me thine honor." Christ said, "Thy will be done, and the glory be thine forever." (Moses 4:1-2) We too, must learn to give up our will and do the Lord's will. This is our sacrifice--offering up our will and doing the Lord's will, even when it goes against our own desires. To the extent that we do this, we too become like Christ, who always did the Father's will.
We learn another distinction between Cain and Abel's sacrifice in Hebrews 11:4 & 6: "By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts...But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him."
So how do we avoid the same sin the Lord denounces in Isaiah 1:10-15? How do we offer sacrifices of righteousness and avoid performing vain oblations and rituals? We've already mentioned a few. We must seek to understand the purpose of these things we are asked to do and not "miss the mark" as the Jews did. When we take the sacrament each Sunday, are we too performing a vain ritual? Or do we seek to understand the meaning of what we do and do it with full purpose of heart, that it may work within us for our good? When we pray, do we just say the same things over again, or do we really seek to speak with our Father and "seek His face." These things we do each day or each week have purpose--to lead us to Christ. If they are not, if by doing them we aren't becoming more like Him, then perhaps we need to reevaluate the spirit in which we are performing them.
We must have faith if we are to please God and be accepted of Him, we must seek His will and not try to alter it to conform to our will. We cannot pick and choose which commandments we like and which we don't. To truly do His will, we must come to Him on the terms He has set, regardless of our opinion of them. I think of this a lot when I hear some criticize certain principles or aspects of the gospel, for example that they think women should hold the priesthood too. Whether you think it's fair or not, does that matter? If God has decreed that it should be done a certain way, does it matter what you think about it? Not if you are truly seeking to do His will. And would you be so bold as to say that you know what is better or more fair, than God? Can you possibly contend that you have more interest in or love for the children of men and their eternal happiness than He who created them? That you have more of an idea of what is right and fair than the Father of Righteousness? Truly, there is the element of humility required in order to conform one's will to that of the Father's.
So faith, humility, understanding, and a desire to do God's will all contribute to making our sacrifices and offerings accepted before the Lord. Psalms 51:16-17 & 19 also provide insight. "For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise...Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar."
So it is not the act the Lord loves, it is the heart with which it is offered--particularly a broken heart and contrite spirit--that makes these acts pleasing unto the Lord. That is in fact the required sacrifice, both in the Old Law of Moses and the New Commandment, as revealed in D&C 59:8, "Thou shalt offer a sacrifice unto the Lord thy God in righteousness, even that of a broken heart and a contrite spirit."
May we truly ponder and consider those things we have been commanded to do and reflect upon the spirit and understanding with which we do them, that we may not be guilty of the greater sin and that they may work within us that we may become as He to whom they were designed to direct us.
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