Isaiah - Verse By Verse

Isaiah - Day 13

versebyverse | May 20, 2008 20:00

Scripture:  Isaiah 1:13 (NIV):  "Stop bringing meaningless offerings!  Your incense is detestable to me.  New moons, Sabbaths and convocations--I cannot bear your evil assemblies."

Thought:  To me, it is a sad day when people inspire only meaninglessness, detestability and intolerance in our precious Heavenly Father.

Question:  Am I aware of God's reaction to my behaviors?

God is concerned with our hearts.  To merely go through motions without being attuned to God in a worshipful manner nullifies every sacrifice, every altar of incense, every new moon, sabbath and convocation.  Anything done emptily to Him becomes hateful to Him.  God is always looking much more deeply into us--probably more than we would like!  And yet this is the intimacy He created us for and we are not truly happy with anything shallow. 

Animals brought haphazardly for sacrifice and incense burned in anticipation of appeasement of God are an insult to Him.  No wonder He is angry!

"New moons, Sabbaths and convocations--I cannot bear your evil assemblies."  The purposes behind these meetings had changed.  It was no longer to honor God but to redesign each get-together into a device of men, allowing room for their sins and transgressions.  Each vain holiday only magnified Israel's emptiness, increasing God's disgust.  Though He commanded these feasts through Moses, they had become meaningless through insincerety and impure motives, as sin was allowed to co-exist alongside.

God is near the "full" mark, bearing with Israel's "emptiness"! 

Prayer:  Father God, keep me from angering You with unconfessed sin and a facade of religious behavior.  Amen.

 

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